We love a good writing prompt here at Derbyshire Writing School. Sometimes a single sentence can spark a whole character. Or even a single line of dialogue can have the potential to shape a novel.

That is the power of a writing prompt.

Writing prompts can come in many forms – a sentence, a picture, or even bespoke items, such as those in Derbyshire Writing School’s Prompt Box (like old vintage photographs and unopened letters). But what value do they offer us as writers? How useful can they be? And can you turn a writing prompt into a full story?

The purpose of a creative writing prompt is to ignite ideas. Leading us to new places and thoughts that we might not have come across on our own. In this blog, we’ll be exploring the reasons why writing prompts are a useful tool for writers.

Prompt - /prɒm(p)t/- verb

Definition - (of an event or fact) cause or bring about (an action or feeling).

Are you trying to write a story online? Have you blocked out on creative writing essays, or stuck on writing an original blog post? Are you searching for "creative writing groups near me" and looking for ideas? If yes, then maybe all you need is the perfect writing prompt to get started.

Why Are Writing Prompts A Useful Tool For Writers

1. Helps Us Overcome Writer’s Block

Whether it’s struggling to come up with ideas or not knowing which idea to focus on, there are a number of different ways that we can feel stuck in our writing. Writing prompts can help us cut through this struggle by providing us with a sense of focus and specificity.

Pinpointing a single thing to write about can release our creativity by encouraging us to get some words down on the page. Even if nothing comes from the lines you write, the sense of focus the prompt generates can help get you to switch into a writing mindset.

Lots of writing prompts begin with a writing sprint, and this is a great tool for providing focus. Set a timer and keep writing until it goes off. This process helps force your mind to concentrate on getting something down, and those few minutes of writing can help ignite your creativity.

2. Opens Up New Creative Channels

Sometimes, by giving ourselves a creative challenge to write about something unfamiliar to us, we can produce exciting results.

Although writing within creative constraints can sound contradictory to creative writing, it can be a powerful exercise for gaining a fresh perspective and trying something new with our writing process.

Writing prompts can act as the start of a new writing journey. New ideas might arise, or unexpected creative writing paths might emerge for us to follow. Who knows, you could even develop a new writing interest that you wouldn’t have explored without the writing prompt. The possibilities are endless.

3. A Form Of Writing Practice

Writing prompts are a great way for us to practice our writing without requiring long paragraphs or too much thought. The aim is to help us get words on the page and our creativity flowing. That simplicity of focus can be a powerful tool when we are facing a creative challenge or we’re struggling with imposter syndrome or trying to get the perfect first draft down. No matter the challenge, writing prompts help us to break through that barrier and simply write. Sometimes, that is the most important thing.

Plus, the way we get better at writing and grow in confidence is to write consistently. A simple writing prompt can help us show up even when we might not feel at our creative best.

The Power of Writing Prompts

Writing prompts are like a trusted sidekick throughout our writing journey. They’re endless, everywhere and easy to access. Whether you want to experiment with a new genre or are trying to break through the barrier of writer’s block, writing prompts can be an incredibly useful tool for writers. But it’s more than just a tool, a writing prompt can also lead to a longer story, maybe even a novel or a finished book…

How To Turn a Writing Prompt Into a Story…

Often you can feel like your story idea has lots of room for growth and potential, yet the minute you start writing, you feel stuck. It's as if the full idea is right in front of you, but you can't grasp it. It's not tangible. Prompts can be great for starting stories but sometimes you need a little bit more structure to turn the start of an idea into something bigger. What do you do?

The trick is to keep going.

Keep expanding your idea and see how far you can get. The more you start to expand your story, the more you’ll start to plot and add structure. You’ll see how by stretching your idea and your imagination, you’ll bring the story to life.

Start to explore different writing prompts and try to link these thoughts to your original idea. Or start to use some other formal writing tools to explore how far you can take your story.

While you can keep writing and expanding, eventually you'll run out of steam.

Here Are Our 5 Top Tips & Starting Points For Crafting Simple Writing Prompts Into Amazing Stories

Can you turn your one-sentence idea into a paragraph? Expand the idea you've got into a blurb you might find in the back of a book.
Flesh out your characters. This is critical. Once you see your characters and get to know them, they'll try to write the story themselves. No kidding! Describe who your story is about. What do they look like? What is their personality type? And most importantly, what do they want? What are their goals and motivations? A story is about a character that wants something. What does your character want?
Think about the problems your character might face in achieving what they want. List these in bullet points. In a nutshell, once you know what your character wants, it's your job to create as many problems and obstacles for them as possible. What is stopping them? What's getting in their way? Be mean, make their journey to getting what they want difficult.
Develop 'a hook'. What makes this story interesting to you? What makes it different? Is the setting unusual? Does it have a clear theme? Or is it your character that makes your story so intriguing? Identify 'the hook', - what you are basing the core question, theme or idea of your book.
Can you now turn the one-paragraph blurb into a page? Next, can you break it down further and turn your one-page page into a five-page story plan? Can you now take these paragraphs?

Here's the deal — you’ve got to keep working on expanding these ideas.

At this point, you may be thinking, how long does it take to write a book? It takes a word at a time. Remember, day by day, word by word, you write a book. When you get stuck, the answer is to look for the simple writing prompt that helps you craft an amazing story.

Creative Writing Prompts.png — **The Prompt Box**

**Stop! Would you be interested in receiving writing prompts through your letterbox?**
You don’t need to worry about finding those ideas anymore because our **writing prompt box** is here to help!
You’ll get a collection of bespoke and unique creative writing prompts delivered to your door, to get you unblocked and writing again.

What Is Next?

If you've liked this method of story expansion, you might find planning your novel chapter by chapter useful. If you've found this method difficult, it might mean you're more of a discovery writer, and you might enjoy experimenting with free writing and seeing where the story takes you, rather than spending lots of time planning.

There isn't a right or a wrong way to write a novel, but there are lots of tools and structures you can use. We talk about this in detail in our 'Writing Your First Novel Course.’ You can book your space now for our next creative writing course HERE.

It's essential that you enjoy the process of writing and that you have fun along the way! That's how we can help you!