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How To Write Shop

Articles on the craft and business of writing

writing prompts

How to Find Writing Inspiration in Your Garden

May 21, 2018 by Kathy Steffen Leave a Comment
how to find writing inspiration garden

Creating a garden (or even being in one) is wonderful inspiration for writing. Keeping a garden journal is the perfect way to enjoy both. If you are a gardener, you can use your journal to make notes, develop to-do lists, plan your space, keep planting records and include photos of your garden as it begins … [Read more…]

Posted in: Inspiration, Writing Craft, Writing Life, Writing Prompts Tagged: writing inspiration, writing prompts

Jump-Start Your Imagination with Story Starter First Lines

February 5, 2017 by Kathy Steffen 22 Comments

One way to fire up your imagination? Creative writing exercises focused on the first line of a story. Below is a list of first lines for you to use to hone your storytelling and writing skills.

Posted in: Writing Craft, Writing Prompts Tagged: amwriting, creative writing exercises, ideas, inspiration, muse, writing prompts

World Building Writing Prompts for Young Adult Novels

November 1, 2013 by KristiCook 2 Comments
world building writing prompts for young adult novels

When we talk about “world building” in young adult novels, people often think it only applies to fantasy/paranormal/urban fantasy genres, but world building is just as important in realistic fiction novels. Many times contemporary fiction writers forget that or need a few writing prompts to get their world building going. What exactly is world building? … [Read more…]

Posted in: By Genre, Worldbuilding, Writing Craft, Writing Prompts, Young Adult Teen Tagged: how to build a world, worldbuilding, writing prompts, young adult novels

Can You Use Fear for Writing Inspiration?

October 11, 2013 by Kathy Steffen 6 Comments

Haven’t considered using fear for writing inspiration? Well, I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite holidays is Halloween. As a child, I loved planning who I would morph into for the day. Would I be a cowgirl, a sleeping princess, a witch? I also loved haunted houses and ghost stories, and reveled … [Read more…]

Posted in: Inspiration, Writing Craft, Writing Life, Writing Prompts Tagged: creative writing prompts, fear, writing inspiration, writing prompts

Writing Prompts Memories and Shared Past

May 28, 2012 by Lori Devoti 1 Comment
writing prompts memories and shared pasts

Writing Prompts Memories and Shared Past… Kathy Steffen has posted on using significant objects as writing prompts. Today, I thought we’d take that a bit further and use objects from our shared past and our memories around those objects as writing prompts. Below is a list of things to stir your memories as writing prompts. … [Read more…]

Posted in: Inspiration, Writing Craft, Writing Life, Writing Prompts Tagged: creative writing exercises, creative writing prompts, writing prompts, writing with objects
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