Prompts for your High School Writers

 I've been writing some writing prompts for my upcoming English 1 class for our homeschool co op and I thought I'd share with you.

• You’re digging in your garden and find a fist-sized nugget of gold.
• Write about something ugly — war, fear, hate, cruelty — but find the beauty (silver lining) in it.
• The asteroid was hurtling straight for…
• A kid comes out of the bathroom with toilet paper dangling from his or her waistband.
• Write about your early memories of faith, religion, or spirituality; yours or someone else’s.
• There’s a guy sitting on a park bench reading a newspaper…
• Write a poem about a first romantic experience or encounter.
• He turned the key in the lock and opened the door. To his horror, he saw…
• Silvery flakes drifted down, glittering in the bright light of the harvest moon. The blackbird…
• The detective saw his opportunity. He grabbed the waitress’s arm and said…
• There are three children sitting on a log near a stream. One of them looks up at the sky and says…
• There is a magic talisman that allows its keeper to read minds. It falls into the hands of a young politician…
• And you thought dragons didn’t exist…
• Write about nature. Include the following words: hard drive, stapler, phone, car, billboard.
• The doctor put his hand on her arm and said gently, “You or the baby will survive. Not both. I’m sorry.”
• The nation is controlled by…
• You walk into your house and it’s completely different — furniture, decor, all changed. And nobody’s home.
• Write about one (or both) of your parents. Start with “I was born…”
• The most beautiful smile I ever saw…
• I believe that animals exist to…
• A twinkling eye can mean many things. The one that is twinkling at me right now…
• Good versus evil. Does it truly exist? What are the gray areas? Do good people do bad things?
• Have you ever been just about to drift off to sleep only to be roused because you spontaneously remembered an embarrassing moment from the day?
• What color would you attribute to these words and why?  Anger, Honesty, Sweet, Confusion, Friendship, Lazy, Fun, Laughter, Cruelty, Ideas, Secrets, Monday, Math, Chaos, Whispers, Foolishness, Wisdom, solitary, busy, sadness, cleanliness, joy, flashy, and dreams.
• Write “Remember” 3x, then go with whatever comes next…
• Things to do on a rainy day…  Or when Mom goes away…
• A young man attempts a robbery and things go drastically wrong…
• Write a story from the perspective of an inanimate object.  A sock, a shoe, a song, a pencil, a bicycle, a statue, a toy…
• Write a story of an idiom literally happening.  (raining cats and dogs, time stopped, he was in a tailspin, don’t count your chickens, get one’s wires crossed, keep your fingers crossed, burning the midnight oil, pay the piper, etc. 
• Write about something blue.