Writing Prompts, What Are They, and How Do I Use Them?

The story (sort of)

I was bleary-eyed and choking on the remaining dust that was still lingering in the air. I was still confused, and I also neglected to look up when I exited what remained of my unstable apartment building.

Fifty feet or so above the entrance, the last remaining roof turret on the 105-year-old apartment building, was starting to crumble. The dry cracking cement that had held the sections of weathered brick in place for so many years was slowly crumbling, grain by grain, and soon brick by brick, the turret was listing toward the street.

The news stations told of the catastrophic meteor that was rumored to pass close to the earth. They weren't lying.

I have never been one to follow the news. These days only about half is fact, and even that is questionable. The top government scientist on the 10 pm news said the "Zero Hour" was tonight at 10:28 pm.

I'm not sure exactly what happened between then and when I woke up in my bathroom this morning, but things were definitely not normal.

The moment I opened my eyes, I knew something was off. You get used to many sounds of your home, and you especially notice when those sounds go missing. As they say, the silence was deafening!

I didn’t think it wise to use the elevator, so I took the stairs. After reaching the ground floor, I pushed the ancient revolving door just enough to get through and out to the street ... (to be continued, maybe).

The Writing Prompt

You wake up and find out that you are the last person on earth. What would you do first?

How to use writing prompts

As a novice fiction writer, I have found writing prompts very useful. They have many uses, but the primary purpose is to get you moving, get the creative juices flowing, and get some words down on the page. There are no rules. You don't even need to finish the story. It is just a method of writing something and seeing where the story leads.

My top 5 favorite writing prompts

1. Write a story in the point-of-view of a flower being given from one person to another.
2. Create a story from an overheard conversation.
3. You’re a newly-minted superhero. Write about your first day on the job.
4. Write a story or poem that begins with the word “Hello”.
5. Write an end-of-days story from a non-human point of view (animal, tree, insect, etc.).

Now it’s your turn!

Find a writing prompt that interests you, grab a journal, and write. See where the story goes. It's as simple as that. And who knows, It just might lead to your next novel!