Prompts to start you writing provides a link to a site to help you get into the writing mood. The Imagination Prompt Generator actually generates topics for you to write about.
Some examples that came up when I tried it out:
“One thing I want to learn right now is…”
“If you could pass on a piece of advice that meant a lot to you when you received it, what would it be?”
“____ was my favorite cartoon because…”
And you can just keep going until you find one that appeals to you, write for a few minutes, and BOOM, you’re in the writing mood and can start writing whatever it is you wanted to write. It reminds me of the creative writing exercises I did in grade school.
I searched for a similar site for hacking prompts, but I decided that it probably isn’t a good thing to encourage people to code creatively. It’s not like writing. I thought that maybe I can get into the coding mood if I write a simple, 10-line program based on a suggestion. I think it is more accurate to say that if I am having issues getting into the mood to program, I probably don’t have a very clear reason to program. I shouldn’t just sit down to a blank file and start hacking. I should have some specific goal. Why am I coding? I should design it on paper and try to figure out what details I’ll need. I can be creative coming up with solutions in that phase, but I should not be creative with the actual code.
2 replies on “Creative Writing Prompts”
Take a look at Dave Thomas from The Pragmatic Programmer’s Code Kata. It may be what you are looking for.
Thanks, I’ll look into it!