Quick-Start/Fast-Finish Writing Prompt! For Writers with Little Time

THIS IS A QUICK WRITING PROMPT, great for when you want to stretch your creativity but don’t have much time to play!

Writing prompt

First, pick a short form to write in today. Poem? Flash fiction? Short story? Snapshot memoir? Profile? Exposé?

Next, pick the first line of a published novel, poem, essay, or even a particularly enticing recipe!

For instance:

• It was the best of times, it was the worst of times …
  • A TALE OF TWO CITIES, by Charles Dickens, or
• Last night watching the Pleiades …
  • “An Autumn Morning in Shokoku-ji,” by Gary Snyder, or
• Soak the pearl barley enough to cover …
  • Pearl barley and Asian mushroom pilaf recipe, from VEGGIE FOOD, edited by Kay Scarlett

Then, pick the last line of a different published novel, poem, essay, recipe or _____ (fill in the blank), that’s not necessarily in the same genre as the first line.

For instance:

• … and wake up to ourselves, nourished and surprised.
  • “For the Sleepwalkers,” by Edward Hirsch
• … Don’t let anything take it away.
  • “Wanting It Bad,” by Natalie Goldberg, in WILD MIND: Living the Writer’s Life
• … So I ask you, now what?
  • ON BEING HUMAN: A Memoir of Waking Up, Living Real, and Listening Hard, by Jennifer Pastiloff

Finally, using the published (or found) first line as your first line, and the published (or found) last line as your last line, write your way from first line to last line, taking as many lines as you need to incorporate the ending in a way that makes (some) meaning of the journey from first to last.

Writing inspiration

Need more examples? Writer’s Digest has a list of Best Opening Poetry Lines just for you!

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That photo of someone stretching a rubber band like you stretching your creativity is from Science Generation.