Prompted to say more about . . . prompts!

Writers (and teachers of writing) seem to be polarized about using writing prompts. One good writing buddy stated categorically that he hated prompts and wouldn't participate in any endeavor that expected him to use them. Several other writing teachers said they never use them. Why this is, well, I'm uncertain.

Is it mentally "cheating" to rely on an outside stimulus to trigger your intrinsic creative genius? Are some writers fearful that following a prompt won't allow them to tap the organic story they're holding inside them, that's itching to be told?

Paint chips can inspire more than remodeling ventures

Prompts can be single words like fragrant, crimson, circus, three words I remember using in my first competitive flash fiction writing experience--all evocative, all working well for me. In fact, the story I wrote for crimson ended up being published here, a fine online compendium that, sadly, is no longer around.

Yes, prompts can be story starters several lines long or lines from other's writing, loosely followed. They can be images, photos, and objects. One of my faculty members at Wilkes University used paint chips, specifically the names given to different colors of paint to create a collection of poems--paint chip poems, if you will, based on names like Corn Husk Green, Grass Cloth, and Jungle Trail. A strikingly original, kitschy kind of prompt, that prompted some beautiful work.

I would say prompts may border on expedient, but are not cheating the "organic" writing process. I heartily argue in favor of giving prompts a try.

We are bombarded by so many stimuli day in and day out that our senses and sensibilities can become dulled. Sound, color, smells, tastes. My day is chock full of them. Does that mean I give each sensation its due? Absolutely not. Instead, it's almost like I've been desensitized to the concrete world and have to invent ways to re-engage--to see the world like a child, like Dorothea Brande recommends in her book Becoming a Writer. Prompts force me to focus on one idea, one sensation, one word. Maybe I have adult ADHD that has never been diagnosed. That's highly possible. But I don't think I'm the only writer who responds well to prompts. Another Wilkes faculty member remarked in a panel discussion that a single real-life image can and has prompted him to write whole books.

Lenore Hart Poyer

Writer Lenore Hart was my fiction foundations teacher in the Wilkes University Creative Writing Program. Her newest book The Raven's Bride is due in bookstores in February 2011. Lenore had this to say about using prompts:

I use writing prompts in workshops or writing classes for various reasons. They are great to get past the blank terror of a plain white page, because the hardest part is always just GETTING STARTED. I use them also in a targeted way to help people with specific craft issues (not understanding POV, or a need to stop using too much summary, or adding specific details to counteract vagueness).

For my Beginning and Advanced Undergraduate Fiction Workshops I made up different three-page-scene writing exercises for each student, in lieu of a final exam. It was specifically crafted to force that particular person to address his or her biggest weakness, or to just do something different than the usual safe default story line. After I passed these out, they all invariably gasped and whined and cried and no doubt cursed me up their sleeves, but then many came to my office later to say, "It's the best thing I ever wrote." So those for me have been the best uses for prompts. I don't tend to use them myself, I already have too many stories clamoring in my head to be told, and I'll never get to them all in this life! But I think a prompt can be very useful if you ever do feel stuck and need a good old-fashioned kick in the pants.

So, there certainly are applications for those teaching creative writing at the college level. What about in real-life practice?

Recently, I participated in a nine-round short fiction contest sponsored by The Write Idea. This year they added picture prompts, which I used more than I used the linguistic prompts. In fact, I won one of the rounds for which I used a picture prompt--a painting in Monet's Japanese series.

Suffice it to say, what inspires us to write is as varied as the kinds of stories we write. Some of us have different ways of connecting with our muse. The most important thing is use what works in order to keep yourself creating new content with as much regularity as your schedule permits.