20 Writing Prompts for Mindfulness

November is National Novel Writing Month. I’m not participating this year as I’m far too unmotivated, but picture me standing behind everyone participating and cheering with banners, noisemakers, and sparklers. If you’re embarking on writing 50,000 words this November, I applaud you! Either way, if you’ve been meaning to dip your pen in some ink this autumn, now is the time! Hopefully these prompts will help inspire some prose!

1. Write down the first 15 random words that pop into your head. Now create a story with them or take time to explore their meaning to you.
2. Imagine you’ve fallen asleep. Write about everything that continues around you from within your dream-state.
3. Fill a page with a stream-of-consciousness. Cross out every other word. What can you make from it?
4. Write 26 haikus, each starting with a different letter of the alphabet.
5. Compose a biography of yourself from the eyes of another. What does this say about you?
6. Brainstorm a list of completely non-tangible things.
7. Create a character that you have never met, but would like to. What makes them special?
8. Write about the single most important thing to you, without naming it in plain language.
9. Turn nouns and adjectives into verbs. What are these new actions you’ve created?
10. Compile a list of your favorite words. Save them for special occasions.
11. Daydream about a far-away land. What do you see?
12. Fill a page with only questions.
13. Fill the next page with all the answers to the best of your abilities.
14. Describe, in detail, how it feels to wait.
15. Write a list of negative qualities or emotions. Assign them each a color and explain why.
16. Use beautiful imagery to describe a less-than-beautiful scene.
17. Imagine you woke up 30 years from now. What is the world like?
18. Use the second person perspective to detail your day-to-day life. What would “you” like to do differently?
19. Explain a rainbow to someone who has never seen one before. Do so non-scientifically.
20. Set a calm and quiet scene. Then, add drama and exaggeration out of nowhere. How will you quiet the setting again once this occurs?