A difficult goodbye
A lie you told yourself.
Most selfless thing you ever did.
Most selfish thing you ever did.
What makes you insecure. List. Pick one.
Something you got from an ex.
Worst bad habit.
Something unusual you think is awesome.
When will you feel good enough?
The hardest thing you’ve ever done.
A biography of your body.
How is your worst flaw your best asset?
College days.
Library.
Cell phones.
Your most inconsequential problem.
Biggest fear.
Yesterday.
A time you got in your own way.
Worst sex.
First love.
First crush.
A time you were picked last.
A time you were picked first.
A time you did something you knew was wrong.
A time you wanted attention, but didn’t get it.
Ghosted.
Friendship breakup.
Everything you believed at 17.
Unrequited love.
A time you stayed quiet.
I time you felt jailed.
A time you felt free.
Last bad day.
Something you used to love.
A time you changed for another person.
A time you were clueless.
Someone you wish you’d never met.
A chance you didn’t take.
A conversation when you lied.
Something you need.
How to be a know it all.
How to be a third wheel
How to be a mistress.
The Ten Things I Will Not Think About in My Last Seconds of Life.
A time you got lost.
Suffering.
A place that you know well—your kitchen, your office, or a spot you often visit.
Take a path you know well. Try to find details you hadn’t noticed before.
Regret.
Disappearance.
Darkness.
Your alter ego.
Your childhood closet.
Wilderness.
A time you embarked upon something new and challenging, maybe something frightening, or dangerous.
The Woven Essay. Choose a topic like an animal, a scientific process, or a historical event. Research it. Next, think of an unrelated experience from your life. Write about both, see if you can relate the two.
The moment everything changed.
The Polaroid.
Write about a small part of the country or the world you’re intimately familiar with.
Personalize something historical.
Earliest scary memory.
A stranger comes to town.
After Tolstoy. A person goes on a journey.
Write about a time when you were in transit of some kind—on a train, plane, bus, or bike, in a car or even on foot.
Dear John,
Write a letter to a lost friend.
Write an advice column response to yourself about a problem or challenge you have faced.
Compose a table of contents for your life.
Summer.
Write an essay about a time when you faced a near-death experience, or believed you were in serious danger.
Where did you go when you wanted to run away?
My Hometown.
Recurring dream.
Most recent dream.
Kill Your Darlings.
Assimilate or differentiate?
Write about a time you traveled to a place where you didn't speak the language.
Lost in Translation.
Tell a story by telling how to tell a story.
Playing with Time. Write a story you know by heart in reverse chronology.
Five Fears.
Which foods do you hate and why?
Were you a picky eater as a kid?
Favorite meal.
Do you see food as merely sustenance or as emotional comfort?
Foodie.
Thanksgiving.
Something passed down through your family for generations.
Inheritance.
Write a scene about a very specific experience using only sensory imagery.
What are you an expert in and why does that suck?
Take a look in the mirror.
What does your job say about you?
What are some lessons from childhood you had to unlearn?
What’s the stupidest thing you used to believe?
List the things that make you angry. Pick one. Write!
The richest you’ve ever been.
The poorest you’ve ever been.
A taste that excites you.
I have never felt this way before or since…
What is the most expensive thing you own. What did it feel like buying it?
Describe your relationship to technology.
What was your most difficult decision?
Describe a typical day hour by hour.
What is the worst thing you ever did?
Write about a family event. Then interview a family member about that event and write about the difference between the two memories.
A time you peed in your pants.
Describe in great detail the most boring thing imaginable.
Describe your last visit to doctor or hospital.
Rant about something you hate.
Write a family story from the point of view of a different member of the family.
How do you get up in the morning?
A conversation you regret never having.
Where do you go to escape?
What are you worried about?
Wisdom you learned from an unsuspecting person or event.
The way things should have been.
What are you superstitious about?
Describe the last time you cried.
Why do you like those shoes?
How is it that you are right so much of the time?
What ordinary object are you obsessed with?
Describe a person you see every day.
An ethical dilemma.
Describe a moment when you were in physical pain.
Worst experience playing a sport.
Worst family dinner.
A time you played a mean prank on someone.
A time you were a total asshole.
Worst experience in a bar.
The last time you changed your mind about something important.
What do people misunderstand about you most?
Five objects that say something about you.
Write down something you’re afraid to say outloud.
The last time you cried.
Biggest family secret.
Your last fight.
Your first fight.
A time you wanted to orgasm but couldn’t.
Write about the person who loved you that you didn’t love back.
Write about the person you loved who didn’t love you back.
What are you embarrassed that you know nothing about?
What do you think your shrink really thinks?
Justify the one thing in life you should be rid of but can’t bear to give up.
How do you feel about grocery shopping?
What you ate for breakfast.
Describe the smell of a place you love.
Where would you be if you’d married your first love?
With only an hour to go…
An hour ago…
A time everyone was laughing except you.
A time someone saved your life.
Think of a person you despise. Write all the wonderful things about that person.
Write your will.
The strangest thing you’ve found in your purse/car.
Write about a death in the family.
A never-ending breakup.
Most embarrassing moment.
Write about a song.
A time you were a bully.
Worst birthday.
Worst experience on an airplane.
What are you most talented at?
A conversation with a grandparent.
A time you lost an argument.
Something you wish your mother had never told you.
Describe a bad smell.
Rewrite your college essay.
First time you were exposed to naked pictures or porn.
How do you fight life? Why?
A moment of forgiveness.
Going it alone.
The story of a time you lost an argument.
The last time you lied.
The last time you cheated.
A piece of clothing you keep just for the memory.
The last thing you’d want to do.
Most recent incident that upset you.
Describe how you’re exactly like your mother/father.
What did you wear to prom?
Is there anything else we should know?
A bad gift.
Your favorite hiding place.
Describe something you can’t throw away.
I am telling you this because I know you are the only person who will not judge me…
I’ve always wanted to say…
Describe an irresistible temptation.
Something you used to do that you don’t do anymore.
Who people think you are compared to who you know you are.
Lessons from childhood you had to unlearn.
Truth and lies.
Write about the thing you’re most ashamed of.
Who is the person in your life you’re most jealous of?
A time you were a stalker.
The first lie you were caught in.
Describe a room in your house.
What comes to mind first when you think about home.
Describe an object that describes you.
A time you came across Homophobic?
A time you sounded Sexist?
Write about the first time you worried that you came off sounding racist?
What you would shoplift.
What nobody ever said to you.
Write about the car your father drove.
Describe one of your bad habits and why you secretly get joy out of it.
There are three reasons for something: the reason we tell others, the reason we tell ourselves, and the real reason. Write about the war among the three.
It was the first time…
Write about difficult conversation. Then rewrite it saying what you really wanted to say.
Boxers or briefs?
Write about a cultural event that impacted you.
Write in ridiculous detail, directions to your house.
What would you be doing if you weren’t doing this?
The moment you knew you were no longer a child.
A bad situation that turned out for the best.
Write about the first death you remember.
A time you were terrified.
A time you couldn’t stand to be in your own skin.
Describe exultation.
Something you’ve always regretted saying.
Describe each person in your family with one word. Pick one, expand.
Write a list of songs that represent your life in each decade. Pick one, expand.
Write a list of family memories. Pick one.
The meanest thing you ever said.
The meanest thing anyone has ever said to you.
A life-altering moment in high school.
Describe a time you couldn’t think of something to say.
Describe the most recent moment when you couldn’t think of anything to say.
Describe the trees in your neighborhood where you grew up.
Write about something you wanted badly, but once you got didn’t want anymore.
Describe yourself in the 3rd person—physical appearance and personality.
Write about a family heirloom.
Write about a beloved family tradition.
The college roommate.
Something you had that was stolen.
Worst Thanksgiving dish.
What can happen in a second.
Being a girl/boy.
I love…
I hate…
Turning points.
What surprises you about your life right now?
What keeps you up at night?
What I no longer know.
A time you got rejected.
A time you overreacted.
I time you had no sensor.
I time you faked it.
I remember…
An aha moment.
Go outside. Notice something in nature. What is it saying?
Fat
Write from the point of view of a body part.
A conversation with a parent about sex.
Something you thought you’d never forget.
What does it feel like to vomit?
Rain.
A time you lost faith.
Someone you give your power to.
Write a letter to someone you have unfinished business with.
Someone you’re rooting for.
Someone you’re rooting against.
Race.
A conversation with a parent about money.
Yay…boo…
Your inner critic. What does it look like? Sound like? What is your inner critic saying? Why is it showing up now? Is there anything you can learn from it?
How did you make your escape?
Describe a gesture that signaled something.
If you really knew me…
A time you crossed someone to get what you wanted.
A time you said yes, but meant no.
The moment you knew it was over.
Something you pursued with intense passion.
How could you do that to me?
I want you to go.
I want you to stay.
Yes and…
Delusions. A time you were delusional. Or a time you deluded someone else.
I am________________. Write 5 to 10 declarative statements.
Describe a character physically.
Write an acceptance speech for an award you will win in ten years.
Write a letter to a dead person.
Love hurts.
Write about your relationship to an object over time.
An object you love/hate.
A time you didn’t listen.
Scars.
Flirting with danger.
Busted.
Last minute.
Accident.
A time you stayed.
A journey.
Hunger.
Home.
Anxiety.
Escape.
Something you’d like to do over.
God.
Ambition.
Pride.
Altered.
Why do you keep secrets?
What do other people think of you?
Why write?
What themes keep coming up for you?
What would you beg for?
Contradiction.
Food.
The thing is…
Something you thought was awesome that turned out terrible.
Something you thought was terrible that turned out good.
I never thought I would…
The moment you understood.
A mentor that believed in you.
A moment of power.
What do you want to change? Why haven’t you?
The things you do for love.
What’s the worst that can happen?
What do you have to lose?
How do you edit the truth when talking to friends?
Divide life into three epochs. List up to six events in each epoch.
Worst thing that ever happened to you.
Secret resentment.
A miracle.
What are you waiting for?
A time you wanted to have sex, but didn’t.
A time you should not have done it (anything), but did.
Cunt.
What defines you?
Being alone.
Tell a story that reveals something specific about a place.
A time you bought something too expensive.
Something you wish you didn’t know.
What’s in your refrigerator.
Hair.
Penis.
Write for four minutes on three of these people. Or write a list of these people. Write about the person you still have the most questions about.
Somebody who came.
Somebody who left.
Somebody who should have protected, but didn’t.
Somebody who frightened.
Somebody who fascinated.
Somebody who disappointed.
Beds.
Now.
The last time.
The first time
The 50s? Whatever era.
The 80s.
An experience in a stranger's house.
An experience in a place of worship.
An experience in a school.
An experience in an automobile.
An experience with a stranger.
An experience with an animal.
An experience with a child.
An experience with an insect.
Your birth.
Write about your conception.
Write about your parents wedding night.
Actor who’d play you.
Write about your parents the day they met.
Surreal or Speculative Memoir: Write a list of things you don’t remember, but were told about, like you as a baby, family lore, gossip, rumors, etc.
Record and transcribe two minutes of dialogue.
Write a list of people who seem to suffer.
Most things won’t happen, but ________ will.
Something someone told you that still hurts you.
Look at a photo. What’s off to the side? What happened right after the picture was taken?
Write a memory of the radio.
Scenes of your life in a movie trailer.
Write a memory of a window.
Something you understand with age.
Write a memory of a photograph.
Write from your ten-year-old voice: I am, I want, I fear, I hope.
I remember…
Write three dramatic moments on the same theme. Five mins each.
Rebellion
Death
Siblings
What do you know a lot about? Write list.
Take yourself or your character out of your book. Favorite article of clothing. Favorite hobby. Fears. Wants.
Write observation of a couple.
The last time you had butterflies in your stomach.
Describe your character head to toe.
What do you want to change about yourself? Why haven’t you changed it already?
Write your obituary.
Write about your funeral.
How do you think you’ll die?
What are you afraid of about yourself?
List five people that frighten you. Write scenes.
Write about three events that make you profoundly happy.
Write three events that made you profoundly unhappy.
Write about the future.
Write about the here and now.
Write about a time you did something wrong or wish you acted differently.
Write a description of something from nature.
Describe an object in different light
Describe your neighborhood
Take an ordinary object and write about all the reasons it angers you.
Describe a literary event in your life.
Work
A typical day
Write about someone you love, starting with what you hate.
Situation you thought was one thing that turned out to be something else.
Supernatural
Bad Parenting
Spanish
Holiday
What don’t you want to write about?
Time you made a wrong turn
I say I don’t care about _____, but I do.
I don’t need…
I need…
I love…
I hate
Family secrets
Secrets
I’m guilty of…
I’m embarrassed about…
Why I’m in a pissy mood.
Open letter to someone who most likely won’t respond.
Boobs
Age
Fight
Afro
Lying
First time you understood the meaning of love.
Write about a time you thought you were getting one thing, then got something else.
Play random music. Listen. Write.
Smell _______________. Write.
Worst sexual experience.
Bad parenting.
Something you regret.
What would you do if you opened your window and saw a yard full of armadillos?
Time when you put yourself in danger.
In the beginning…
Who do I hate?
Who are you in your stories?
Panic attack.
One thing that defines you.
Write your coming out story.
A person you don’t talk to anymore.
A time you felt cool.
The 1970s.
Bad drunk.
Your contradictions.
What delights you?
List your obsessions? Pick the one you don’t want to write.
List stories you want to tell. Pick one. Write.
Biggest lie.
Write a scene for your reality show.
Who are you? Now create scenes that illustrate who you are.
Where are you going?
Describe your house or childhood house, room by room.
Money
Family
Detours
Traffic
Write about a time you were an asshole.
Who are you? Now write scenes to illustrate these qualities.
How are you? Tell the real answer.
Stand up and retell your story.
Identity
Insecurity
Love
My name is _______________. If I could be anything or anyone, I’d be____________...
Write a dialogue where there was a misunderstanding.
Write about a time you learned something about yourself.
Describe an extraordinary human moment.
Write a scene in which a character (or you are) is trying to get something.
Write using the voice of an old man without teeth who sits in front of the post office.
Write using the voice of your teacher.
Writing using the voice of your best friend.
Writing using the voice of your sister.
Write using the voice of your mother.
Write a dialogue about one thing that is actually about another.
A moment in your life that changed you forever.
Record dialogue for two minutes. Rewrite by cutting the number of words in half.
When, where, who, what?
Interview your partner. Write a character sketch.
Describe an action that conveys emotion.
An object you remember from childhood.
What needs to be fixed?
How has race shaped who you are?
Write about a time when justice prevailed.
Write about a time you were scared.
What are you really good at?
In what ways do you take after your father?
In what ways do you take after your mother?
Write about a time you didn’t quit
Write about a time you quit.
Write a letter to your first ex-lover.
Write a letter to someone you’ve lost touch with.
I’d rather be…
Road trip. One you’ve taken or one you want to take.
First memory.
Beach.
If you were to get a tattoo, what would you get and where?
Describe your ten-year-old bedroom.
Write a letter to yourself today, from yourself 20 years ago.
Write a letter to yourself to open in five years.
Write a letter to yourself to open one year from now.
Write about a time when you wish you made a different choice.
Describe your favorite childhood toy from the POV of you as a child.
What body part needs your attention?
What do you have in the back of your closet?
Look at what you’re wearing right now. Pick one item.
Write about something you’ve lost.
What is the story of your name?
Write about something you wish to let go of or left behind.
Write about a time when you made a new start.
Last intimate moment was…
DAILY PROMPTS
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