53 Writing Prompts 2020-2021

These are prompts I came up with in my fifth year of judging "The Writer's Cramp" .

You are free to use any of them if they will help you in your writing:


1. Please use this title for your poem or story

"Time For a Change"

The genre is up to you.

Given April 7 - 8, 2020 = 4 Entries


2. Please END your story or poem with this line in bold} for judging convenience:

"I remember that night as well as I remember the rain."

The genre is up to you.

Given April 14 - 15, 2020 = 5 Entries


3. Please BEGIN your story or poem with this line in bold for judging convenience:

"I was afraid to go into the store."

The genre is up to you.

Given April 21 - 22, 2020 = 3 Entries


4. Please END your story or poem with this sentence, bolded for judging convenience.

"The memory haunts me."

The genre is up to you.

Given May 5 - 6, 2020 = 6 Entries


5. Please use the following as the title for your short story or poem:

"Funny Numbers"

Pick "Comedy" as one of your genres. Have fun!

Given May 12 - 13, 2020 = 3 Entries


6. Get inspired by the following quotation and write a short story or poem. The quote does NOT need to be included in the text:

"Think where man's glory begins and ends, and say my glory was I had such friends."

William Butler Yeats

Please pick "Friendship" as one of your genres.

Given May 19 - 20, 2020 = 3 Entries


7. END your story or poem with this passage, bolded for judging convenience:

"the difference between things that are important

and those that only seem important at the time."


The genre is up to you.

Given May 26 - 27, 2020 = 4 Entries


8. Give your poem or short story this title:

"Melody of Shadows"

Pick Music as one of your genres and have fun!

Given June 2 - 3, 2020 = 6 Entries


9. Include this phrase, in BOLD for judging convenience somewhere in your poem or short story:

"shattered window to the past"

The genre is up to you! Have fun!

Given June 9 - 10, 2020 = 3 Entries


10. Include this phrase (in BOLD for judging convenience) at the END your poem or short story:

"the chill of that June rain"

The genre is up to you.

Given June 16 - 17, 2020 = 4 Entries


11. Include this phrase (in BOLD for judging convenience) at the BEGINNING of your poem or short story:

"No sense of irony or humor to be found that spring"

The genre is up to you.

Given June 23 - 24, 2020 = 1 Entry


12. Write a poem or short story about the year the main character turned ten years old.

The genre is up to you.

Given June 30 - July 1, 2020 = 3 Entries


13. Write a poem or short story using one of these Beatles' song titles as the title. Just select one of them, you don't have to use the others:

"Penny Lane"
"Nowhere Man"
"A Day in the Life"
"Eleanor Rigby"
or
"Paperback Writer"

The genre is up to you. Have fun!

Given July 7 - 8, 2020 = 8 Entries


14. Write a poem or short story using the following (in bold) in the last line:

"should have known better"

The genre is up to you. Have fun!

Given July 14 - 15, 2020 = 5 Entries



15. Write a poem or short story using the following (in bold) in the FIRST LINE:

"found music in a summer storm"

Pick "Music" as one of your genres please. Have fun!

Given July 21 - 22, 2020 = 4 Entries



16. Write a poem or short story using the following (in bold) in the LAST LINE:

"lingering shadows framed July"

The genre is up to you. Have fun!

Given July 28 - 29, 2020 = 2 Entries


17. Write a poem or short story using the following (in bold) somewhere in the text:

"and then the truth was unmasked"

The genre is up to you. Have fun!

Given August 4 - 5, 2020 = 4 Entries


18. Write a poem or short story using the following (in bold) somewhere in the text:

"color of the sky at daybreak"

The genre is up to you. Have fun!

Given August 11 - 12, 2020 = 10 Entries


19. Write a poem or short story using the following (in bold) somewhere in the text:

"sitting on a bench in a gallery in Paris"

The genre is up to you. Have fun!

Given August 13 - 14, 2020 = 3 Entries


20. Write a poem or short story using the following passage: (in bold)

"just another lost generation"

Given August 18 - 19, 2020 = 3 Entries


21. Write a poem or short story using the following passage: (in bold)

"true color of the night..."

The genre is up to you. Have fun!

Given August 25 - 26, 2020 = 4 Entries


22. Use the following phrase bolded at the start AND end of your story or poem:

Holding on to memory's dream

The genre is up to you.

Given Sept. 8 - 9, 2020 = 2 Entries


23. Use the following title as the title of your story or poem:

Tears Into Flowers

The genre is up to you.

Given September 15 - 16, 2020 = 5 Entries


24. Please use the following, bolded somewhere in your story or poem:

"reason to believe"

The genre is up to you.

Given September 17 - 18, 2020 = 10 Entries


25. Please use the following, bolded somewhere in your story or poem:

"silence said it all"

The genre is up to you.

Given September 22 - 23, 2020 = 4 Entries


26. Please use the following as the title of your story or poem:

"Season of Glass"

The genre is up to you.

Given September 29 - 30, 2020 = 2 Entries


27. Please use the following, bolded, as the ending of your story or poem:

"it couldn't be fixed that year"

The genre is up to you.

Given October 6 - 7, 2020 = 1 Entry


28. Please use the following as the title of your story or poem:

Leave it to the Rain

The genre is up to you.

Given October 13 - 14, 2020 = 6 Entries



29. Please use all of the following four phrases bolded somewhere in your story or poem:

black cats dance
silence on Halloween
broken ladder
empty treat bags

Pick "horror" as one of your genres please.

Given October 27 - 28, 2020 = 3 Entries


30. Please use the following bolded at the end of your story or poem:

the night that revealed everything

Given November 3 - 4, 2020 = 5 Entries


31. Please use the following as the title of your story or poem:

Shades of Intolerance

The genre is up to you.

Given November 10 - 11, 2020 = 6 Entries


32. Please use the following in bold as the opening line of your story or poem:

An echo of music resonated in the dark.


Pick "Music" as one of your genres please.

Given November 17 - 18, 2020 = 4 Entries


33. Please use the following in as the title of your story or poem:

"Roses in the Rain"

The genre is up to you!

Given November 24 - 25, 2020 = 2 Entries


34. Please use the following as the title of your story or poem:

Closely Watched Trains

The genre is up to you.

Given November 26 - 27, 2020 = 3 Entries


35. Please use the following as the last line (in BOLD) of your story or poem:

"to draw a line under you"

The genre is up to you.

Given December 1 - 2, 2020 = 2 Entries


36. Please use the following song lyric from John Lennon's "Imagine" as the first line (in BOLD) of your story or poem:

"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one"


Please select "Music" as one of your genres.

Given December 8 - 9, 2020 = 4 Entries


37. Please use the following as the last line (in BOLD) of your story or poem:

"chasing rainbows in the rain"

The genre is up to you.

Given December 15 - 16, 2020 = 2 Entries


38. Please use the following as the title of your story or poem:

"Mittens and Paws"

The genre is up to you.

Given December 22 - 23, 2020 = 3 Entries


39. Please use the following as the last line: (in BOLD) of your story or poem:

"One Candle in the Window to say goodbye"

The genre is up to you.

Given December 29 - 30, 2020 = 1 Entry


40. Please use the following as the first line: (in BOLD) of your story or poem:

"Silence was everywhere that winter"

The genre is up to you.

Given January 5 - 6, 2021 = 6 Entries


41. Please use the following as the title of your story or poem:

"Fool in the Rain"

The genre is up to you.

Given January 12 - 13, 2021 = 7 Entries



42. Please use the following as the title of your story or poem:

"Pizza and Fairy Tales"

The genre is up to you.

Given January 19 - 20, 2021 = 2 Entries


43. Please use the following 60s Rolling Stones' song title as the title of your story or poem:

"Nineteenth Nervous Breakdown"

Please select "Music" as one of your genres. Have Fun!

Given January 26 - 27, 2021 = 7 Entries


44. Please use the following, in bold as the first line AND last line of your story or poem:

"Only the winter hawk remained."

The genre is up to you.

Given February 2 - 3, 2021 = 3 Entries


45. Please use the following as the title of your story or poem:

"Beyond the Reflection"

The genre is up to you.

Given February 9 - 10, 2021 = 3 Entries


46. Please use the following as the title of your story or poem:

"Red Bird in Snow"

The genre is up to you.

Given February 16 - 17, 2021 = 5 Entries


47. Please use the following in bold somewhere in your story or poem:

"time to find your heart"

Please select "Romance/Love" as one of your genres.

Given February 23 - 24, 2021 = 1 Entry


48. Please use the following as the title of your story or poem:

"Black Cat on a White Fence"

The Genre is up to you.

Given March 2 - 3, 2021 = 3 Entries


49. Please use the following as the title of your story or poem:

"Take the Rain Away"

The Genre is up to you.

Given March 9 - 10, 2021 = 3 Entries



50. Please use the following as the title of your story or poem:

"Dance Over the Green"

The Genre is up to you.

Given March 16 - 17, 2021 = 1 Entry


51. Please use the following four phrases in bold somewhere in your story or poem:

breaking news
fool on the hill
around every corner
waiting forever

The genre is up to you.

Given March 18 - 19, 2021 = 2 Entries


52. Please use the following as the title of your story or poem:

Scrapbook Season

The Genre is up to you.

Given March 23 - 24, 2021 = 2 Entries



53. Please use the following as the title of your story or poem:

Soup of the Day

Please pick "Food/Cooking" as one of your genres.

Given March 30 - 31,2021 = 2 Entries