A short book by Joe Bunting
Fourteen prompts that teach you to see like a writer.
Most prompt books give you a thousand ideas. This one gives you fourteen, one a day for two weeks, each with a short lesson and 30 minutes of writing. You could read it in an hour. It will keep you writing for months.
“14 Prompts does what most writing books don’t: gives you practical advice while also inspiring you to want to take it.”
Andrea Cumbo, author
What’s inside
Fourteen days, fourteen ways of seeing.
Out of Place
Write about a time you felt out of place, and let the room carry the feeling.
Discipline
One focus trick, then a basketball player getting ready for the big game.
Your Voice
Your critique group meets at a mansion, and one of you is murdered.
The 5 Types of Sentences
A campfire story told in action, dialogue, description, thought, and exposition.
Writer’s Block
Write for 30 minutes, then find the worst sentence in the world.
You Must Remember Every Scar
Tell the story of one of your scars.
Brush Strokes
Study a painting, then describe the room you’re in the way that painter would.
Be Still
Breathe for a few minutes, then write with your eyes closed.
Birds
Go outside and write about the birds you see.
Busy
Stop in the middle of a busy day and write the moment you’re in.
The Soldier and the Man Who Was Sick
Write a story about a soldier and a man who was sick.
Your City
Write as your city’s unofficial poet laureate.
Fall
One detail from an autumn memory, and keep going.
The Myth
Describe a child, real or imagined.
Each chapter is a short lesson, a question to ask yourself or your writing group, and the prompt. 62 pages in all.
Try one now
Set a timer. Write for thirty minutes.
That’s the whole method. Pick a prompt from the book, start the clock, and don’t stop until it rings. By hand if you can.
Prompt 6 of 14
You Must Remember Every Scar
Tell the story of one of your scars.
30:00
What readers say
“I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the new directions my own writing’s been led to since using the prompts.”
Audrey Chin, author
“14 Prompts is real, it is beautifully written, it is full of inviting and thoughtful ideas about the craft of writing and the life of a writer.”
Diana Trautwein, memoirist
“Every time I read one, I can feel my heart start beating a bit faster.”
Tom Wideman
“In small, explosive bites I have been handed the gauntlet.”
HL, on Goodreads
Free ebook
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Why I wrote it
Every moment can be a source of fresh writing.
I wrote these prompts when I had a hard time finding time to write and feeling creative at all. They were a reminder to myself to open my eyes, be present, and see the world the way a writer does. Over 100,000 writers have read them since, and for some it was the first creative writing they’d ever done.
I’m the founder of The Write Practice, where I lead a community of writers and teach them to write books and get them published. I live in Atlanta.
Joe Bunting