Trying to find inspiration for your writing can be challenging.
You browse through dozens of ideas.
You switch directions several times. “This one! No, wait. That one.”
And when this pattern continues for too long, you give up because your brain is tired & you're completely stuck.
Well, this happens to so many writers & students.
Because humans don't want to start anything until everything feels absolutely right.
The problem with that?
Perfectionism won't get your words onto the page.
A much better approach is to grab an unconventional writing prompt that's going to spark your imagination. Today, we are going to share ten writing prompts that can be used when you get stuck.
Before you can sit down to write your masterpiece, you need to get clear on unique perspectives. You need to write your story as if you're speaking from one specific non-human viewpoint.
And the more specific you can be in describing the real-life experiences this object might have, the better.
So think about what your favorite mug experiences every day. Does it resent being filled with hot coffee? Does it cherish being held in warm hands?
The best way to do this?
Think about objects you interact with daily. Consider their lives when you're not around, & dig into what emotions they might experience if they could feel.
Prompt: Write a diary entry from the perspective of your backpack. It should be found out that you're graduating.
The villain's perspective is what makes a story stand apart from the predictable hero's journeys.
In other words, why should readers care about yet another hero story? Are the villains misunderstood, justified, smarter, or more complex than we thought?
Your rewrite should be super engaging, thought-provoking, & surprising. You should be able to effectively communicate who this villain really is, what truly happened, & how the traditional story got it all wrong.
Here's a great example prompt:
Prompt: Retell “Little Red Riding Hood” from the wolf's point of view. What if he was just trying to deliver a cake?
Time travel stories are complex little narratives that are created to grab your attention. They're designed to keep you guessing & interested right up until the very end, so you never quite know what's coming next.
And this is why it's so important for you to not only play with time travel in your stories but to twist it in unexpected ways.
Prompt: You wake up one day & realize your consciousness is now living inside your 12-year-old body. But you still have all your adult memories. What's the first thing you do?
Create something truly original through unexpected combinations.
Whether it be romance-horror or sci-fi-mystery, remember your genre mashup needs to be believable.
Prompt: Write a mystery set in a candy-themed fantasy world. The chocolate river has dried up & no one knows why.
You just established your setting, but now you need to identify what strange rule makes it compelling.
Prompt: In your town, nobody is allowed to say the word “goodbye.” Ever. What happens when someone does?
As storytellers & writers, we're in the business of emotion & immersion. So the highest goal in any creative writing is to capture & keep your reader's emotional engagement.
How?
With sensory inspiration.
Music is an attention-grabbing medium that evokes feelings, moods, or atmospheres that enrich the writing experience.
Prompt: Write a short story based entirely on the feeling of the music. No copying lyrics. Just emotion, setting, & tone inspired by the sound.
Sometimes, the best writing doesn't come from lengthy prompts but from constraints. The 3-word starter is great in storytelling & makes getting started a lot easier.
Prompt: Take any three random words (like “lighthouse,” “scissors,” “birthday”) & use them as the first three words of your story. Then, keep writing without stopping for 10 minutes.
Memories define our reality & identity. Memory-based premises create instant conflict & character motivation.
Using memory loss in your storytelling is a powerful plot device when done well.
Prompt: You wake up & find that no one remembers who you are. Not your family. Not your friends. Your face isn't even in any photos. What do you do?
Confusion kills reader engagement, so your world-building needs to pack a serious punch. Your world's rule is the second most important part of your premise, after the characters!
Prompt: In this world, people are only allowed to speak 1,000 words per day. A “word meter” counts down with every word you say. What happens when someone runs out?
The final & most important thing to remember when plotting anything is to work backward. In storytelling, the destination can determine the journey. You want every scene to be strategically leading to your ending.
Most readers expect satisfying endings, so you want to make sure your conclusion is simple & logical yet surprising.
Prompt: Begin your story with the final line: “And that's how I accidentally became the president of a country that doesn't exist.”
Try these unconventional prompts today & see what happens.
Try our AI Tools
Rephraser
Humanize AI
Paragraph Rewriter
Article Rewriter
Plagiarism Remover
Essay Rewriter
Paraphrasing Tool
Summarizing tool
Grammar Checker
