5 Ways Prompts Improve Your Poems & Stories

I’m a big fan of prompts, and love using them as part of my own writing practice. Here are 5 ways I think prompts can help us all improve our poems and stories.

1.) Prompts get you started

The only way to finish a story or poem is to first start it! Prompts often come with timing suggestions or other ‘limitations’ that offer a framework for you to work with. These help you start writing – a whole poem or story may be daunting, but setting your timer for 5 minutes and writing 6 lines or 2 paragraphs about a toothbrush is do-able.

2.) Prompts encourage a daily practice

Prompts make it easier to write every day and/or establish a regular writing routine. The more you write, the more your ideas will flow and the easier you’ll find it to start, revise, and finish your work. You’ll also show yourself that you have an infinite capacity for writing and creating new work.

3.) Prompts promote play

Creative play always yields benefits, loosening up your writing muscles and allowing you to try out new forms, ideas, or language. Through using prompts, you may find that you love writing in rhyme even if previously you snubbed it or felt it was too tricky, for example.

4. ) Prompts provide fresh ideas

A prompt can get you thinking about things you’d never normally write a poem or story about. Or, even better, they can get you looking at something from a fresh angle. Sometimes all it takes is a small shift in perspective for a creative idea to sparkle.

5. ) Prompts help overcome fear

Prompts are a great way to move through any form of resistance to writing. They take the pressure off the idea of having to create a ‘perfect’ piece of work and invite you to focus on the act of free writing a poem or story draft, which you can later polish if you choose to.

Do you use prompts in your writing practice?

Happy writing! You might like these posts: “3 Spring Poetry Prompts for KidLit Writers” (not just for KidLit writers btw!), “5 Spring Writing Warm-Ups,” or my latest books of prompts: Write Your Own Joy.