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BRYN DONOVAN

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Things to Write About Yourself: 100 Writing Prompts for Self-Discovery

Things to Write About Yourself: Writing Prompts for Self-Discovery | image of a pen lying on an open journal

Writing is a great tool for personal growth, but it can be challenging to think of things to write about yourself. That’s why I put together this list of creative writing prompts for adults or teens. These may be used as memoir writing prompts if you’re interested in telling the story of your life, or the could be idea starters for blog posts or journal prompts for self discovery.

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You may not be able to relate to all of them, but I tried to make them pretty general! These creative writing exercises can also help you develop the characters in your short story, novel, or screenplay — just imagine your character answering them instead of you.

If you like these prompts for writing about yourself, you might want to pin or bookmark them for future reference. Take a look!

THINGS TO WRITE ABOUT YOURSELF | 100 writing prompts for self discovery | bryndonovan.com | open journal, cup of cafe au lait

Describe one of your earliest childhood memories.
Write about what you see as one of your best qualities.
Do you have the same religious beliefs that you had as a child? If so, why? If not, how and why did they change?
Write about the benefits of being an only child—or the advantages of having siblings.
Write about how a person can tell if they’re really in love. If you don’t know, write about how you don’t know.
Are you shy about your body, such as when you change clothes in a locker room? Or are you comfortable with it? Why?
Write about one of the most admirable classmates or coworkers you’ve ever had.
Write about one of the worst classmates or coworkers you’ve ever had.
Tell your story about the time you succeeded at something because you just. Didn’t. Give. Up.
Write about how you’re a typical resident of your city or town… or about how you’re different from most people there.
Write about how you fit the stereotype of people from your country… or about how you don’t fit it at all.
Describe your favorite toy or game when you were five years old.
Write about one of your most useful talents.
What superstitions do you believe in or follow? Do you do certain things to avoid bad luck, or make wishes in certain ways?
Write about a death in your family.
Write about a birth in your family.
Tell your story about your first best friend as a child. How did you meet them? How did you play together?
Describe a physical feature of yours that you really like.
Is your home usually neat, or usually messy? Why is that? Do you think it matters? Why or why not?
Describe a part of your job or everyday work that you love.
Describe a part of your job or everyday work that you loathe.
Tell your story about how you won something, like a contest, a game, or a raffle.
Do you think your hometown is a good place to live? Why or why not?
Do you fit your astrological sign? Why or why not?
Write about when you think it’s morally acceptable to lie. If your answer is “never,” write about why you think that.
Write about a trait you inherited or picked up from a parent.
Write about a way in which you are very different from a parent.
Discuss one of the most important qualities you think people should look for in a romantic partner.
Discuss a quality that you think is overrated when choosing a romantic partner.
Write about a kind of exercise or physical activity you enjoy.
Describe the contents of a desk drawer or junk drawer in your home, and write about the thoughts or memories that the objects in there inspire.
Write about what you wish people knew about your job, profession, or calling in life.
Write about a habit or addiction that you’ve been struggling with for years.
Discuss something you love about the people in your country.
Discuss something you wish you could change about the people in your country.
What was something you misunderstood as a child? It could be the definition of a word, or something about adult life.
Describe the benefits of being an introvert or an extrovert (whichever one you are.)
Describe the challenges of being an introvert or an extrovert (whichever one you are.)
Tell your story about the time you spoke up for something you believed in. How did it feel? Were there any consequences?
If you don’t have children – do you or did you want them? Why or why not?
If you have children – what is one thing that surprised you about being a parent?
Tell your story about when a friend (or a group of them) made your day.
Tell your story about when a friend (or a group of them) broke your heart.
Describe an experience at a doctor’s office, dentist’s office, or hospital.
Describe your dream home in detail.
Tell your story about how a teacher, coach, or boss supported or inspired you.
Tell your story about how a teacher, coach, or boss was so awful, they didn’t deserve to have their job.
Write about something you did in the past year that made you proud.
Do you live in the city you grew up in? Why or why not?
Tell your story about a trip or a visit you enjoyed when you were little.
Discuss whether you think people should share their religious beliefs openly, or whether they should keep it private.
Discuss why you do or don’t consider pets to be family members.
Describe what you think would be a perfect romantic date.
Write about a type or style of clothing that you feel uncomfortable wearing, or that you simply dislike.
Describe your personal style in clothing and whether it’s changed over the years.
Write about the worst house or apartment you’ve ever lived in.
Tell your story about a time when, rightly or wrongly, you got in trouble at school or at work.
Do you always vote in elections? Why or why not?
Do you think people make snap judgments about you based on your appearance? Are they accurate or not?
What’s something that people don’t learn about your personality unless they get to know you very well?
Write about something that terrified you as a child.
Write about a particular phobia or fear you have now. If you’re not scared of anything, write about that!
Write about something you believe that isn’t a particularly popular belief.
What’s something you wanted badly as a child? Did you get it? If so, was it everything you hoped? If not, did it matter?
When you’re feeling sad or down, what are ways that you make yourself feel better?
What is something that makes you almost irrationally angry?
Write about an object you own that has religious, spiritual, or symbolic significance to you.
Do you consider yourself hopeful or cynical about romance? Why?
Write a note apologizing to a part of your body for insulting it in the past.
Write a note thanking a part of your body for doing such a good job.
Tell your story about when you had a delightful guest in your home.
Tell your story about when you had an unwelcome visitor in your home.
Describe the time you were a guest in an unusual home.
What was the strangest course or class you ever took?
Write about a time when you tried your best – and it didn’t pan out. How did you get over it?
Write about a small thing you accomplished this week.
Write about the ways that your hometown has changed over the years.
Write about a way your country is changing for the better.
Describe someone who bullied you as a child. Why do you think they did it?
Do you believe that things happen for a reason, or do they just happen randomly? Why do you think this?
Do you believe that you have a lot of control over your destiny or future? Why or why not?
Write down a funny story that your family likes to tell again and again.
Tell your story about a time you got injured or you were in an accident.
Write about some of the things you do at home when you’re completely alone.
Tell your story about how you learned a new skill.
Describe the way you get to school or to work every day.
Propose a frivolous or ridiculous law that you would like to implement, and explain your reasoning.
Write about something you did (or didn’t do) that you’re proud of from a moral or religious standpoint.
Tell your story about having a great time at a party.
Tell your story about a party you wish you had never attended or hosted.
Tell a story that has to do with your hair, or the lack of it.
Write about a feud or rift in your family.

THINGS TO WRITE ABOUT YOURSELF | 100 writing prompts for self discovery | open journal, white flowers, cup of coffee

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If you want to do more self-discovery and you could use a fresh start right about now, check out my journal, The Book Of Dreams Come True ! It’s a journal about goals and manifestation, and I’m really excited to share it with you. I’m even making a sample available—here’s the free PDF download of that.[spacer height=”20px”]

THE BOOK OF DREAMS COME TRUE: A JOURNAL OF SELF-DISCOVERY, GOALS, AND MANIFESTATION | #best gratitude journal #manifestation journal #best gratitude journal #daily gratitude prompts #gratitude journal #barnes and noble Egratitude journal prompts #gratitude list #gratitude writing prompts #thanking the universe

[spacer height=”20px”]Do you have more ideas of things to write about yourself, or advice on how to do it? Let us know in the comments! Thanks so much for reading, and happy writing!

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Self-Expression in Creative Writing

by Melissa Donovan | Aug 6, 2020 | Creative Writing | 4 comments

Do you use creative writing to express yourself?

A lot of people first come to creative writing because they want to express themselves. Emotions are running high, ideas are flying, and opinions are in full supply. What better way to get it all off your chest than writing it down?

Self-expression is the act of giving form to our thoughts, ideas, experiences, and emotions, and it’s the heart and soul of all forms of art.

Creative writing is one of the most flexible and accessible mediums for self-expression. We can put our feelings into abstract poetry or share our real-life experiences in personal essays. We can explore the human condition by writing fiction. And of course, we can delve into our own inner workings by keeping a journal.

The Benefits of Self-Expression

“I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.” ― Joan Didion

There are numerous benefits to self-expression, and the benefits are different for everyone. Some people use morning pages (three pages of handwritten stream-of-consciousness every morning) to purge the clutter from their minds, which can enhance concentration and focus, while others use storytelling to understand sociological and humanitarian issues. Here’s a look at a few common benefits of self-expression:

Therapeutic: Through writing, we can better understand our problems, focus on fixing them, and find the solutions we need.
Self-Development: Journaling is encouraged in many fields of self-development, from fitness to career growth. Writing allows us to articulate our goals and track our progress toward achieving them.
Liberating: It’s liberating to give yourself a personal writing space that isn’t influenced by the possibility of someone else reading what you’ve written. There’s freedom in writing without inhibition.
Discovery: The act of writing forces you to articulate your thoughts, which often leads to new discoveries. You might discover forgiveness through writing, or you might unearth viewpoints that you didn’t realize you held.
Catharsis: Creativity, in general, is cathartic. There’s something thrilling about creating something. But there’s also catharsis in expressing bottled-up feelings and suppressed thoughts, and freeing the mind of its clutter.
Relationship-building: We cannot forge a relationship of any kind without communication that includes self-expression. Each of us needs to feel understood and heard. By sharing our self-expressive writings with others, we build connections, but it’s just as important to have a healthy relationship with oneself.
Sharing: Our self-expressions can include knowledge or experiences that we share to benefit others. Our writing could make someone else feel less alone or offer valuable information or wisdom that helps people.
Validating: Even if we don’t publish or share our written self-expressions, putting our thoughts and feelings down in words can help us acknowledge them and feel validated. Although we might share our writing with others and get a sense of validation from their reception, we don’t need external validation; it’s more powerful if it comes from within.
Relief: Holding in difficult thoughts and emotions is not healthy. We certainly don’t want to obsess over them and write incessantly about negativity — but it’s healthy to explore these feelings and then find a way to heal and move on. The act of writing about our challenges can be a relief, especially when dealing with private matters that we might not want to share with others.

Best Practices for Self-Expression with Creative Writing

Self-expression can be an exercise in exploring our beliefs, sharing our values, or offering our experiences. You might also want to turn your self-expressions into poems, stories, or essays that people will read. Or maybe you just want to keep a journal that nobody except you ever sees. As you pursue self-expression through creative writing, here are some best practices that you can apply:

Identify a purpose. If you’ve decided to use creative writing for self-expression, take some time to consider your purpose. Are you working through feelings? Sorting out your thoughts? Creating stories and poems that contain your beliefs or values? Are you journaling for self-development or for therapeutic reasons? It always helps to know why you’re doing something and what you hope the results will be.

Be creative. Journals are by far the most common creative writing tool for self-expression. But most types of creative writing contain self-expression, so consider writing essays and poems and stories.

Establish boundaries. Are you writing for yourself? If you don’t want to share your writing with others, or if you just want to keep it private, take steps to ensure that others don’t have access to your writings. Create a password-protected digital journal or create a burn journal (a notebook you burn when you’re done with it).

Be reflective: If you’re writing about your lived experiences, include your thoughts and feelings about those experiences.

Honesty is the best policy: The best writing is full of truth. Even fiction and poetry, however abstract or fantastical, contain a kind of honesty that comes from the writer being forthright. That means we must embrace who we are. We have to be ourselves. Don’t write what you think people want to hear and don’t hold back your personal truths.

Don’t hold back: When writing material that is self-expressive, let your truth flow. If your writing is so personal that you’d never want anyone to read it, you can always burn it afterward. If you want to share it, you can always revise it to clean it up for publication. But feeling open and free to express yourself during the initial writing often results in a more cathartic experience.

Acknowledge and appreciate the experience: With self-expression, the act of writing is its own experience. It feels good to let it all out! This is why honesty is the best policy and you shouldn’t hold back. Sometimes it’s painful, other times it’s thrilling, but it’s always a ride. So be present for the experience and take it all in.

How Do You Express Yourself in Writing?

Do you practice self-expression in creative writing? What do you write? Do you keep a diary or journal? Do you write personal essays or poems? Have you ever burned (or otherwise destroyed) a piece of writing that you didn’t want anyone to read? Have you ever produced a self-expressive piece that you wanted to share or publish? Share your thoughts and experiences with self-expression in writing by leaving a comment, and keep writing.

Ready Set Write a Guide to Creative Writing

Hello Melissa

You wrote a very interesting article about expressing yourself through your writing.

I am not a great speaker, but I can express myself much better through my writing.

I like writing fiction stories because I have an overactive imagination.

Thank you for this helpful article.

R.G. Ramsey

Thanks for your kind words, R.G. I think a lot of writers are more comfortable with written expression. I’ve thought about this a lot over the years…writing forces us to sort through our thoughts and feelings, which allows us to communicate more clearly and make sure we’re expressing ourselves accurately. Thanks again!

Oh let me count the ways! I have been away from doing any writing to speak outside of intermittent journaling. I scrapbook, but haven’t been able to go to my usual getaways thanks to COVID, and when I am home from work, household duties and appointments interfere with any “brainwork”. But reading this is sparking some of the old desire to put pen to paper. (That requires “butt in chair,” and I sit all day in my paying job, so I like to be more mobile!)

COVID has many of us discombobulated. I’ve lost count of articles from writers saying they haven’t written or they’ve lost their flow or discipline. I’m a bit torn on this: Sometimes I think it’s best to push ourselves and stick with our plans and routines–even in difficult times, doing so can keep us grounded. But other times, world events are just so overwhelming, it’s unreasonable to expect ourselves to be unaffected. We all must find our own balance. The most important thing, of course, is to make sure we’re taking care of ourselves and our loved ones.

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Writing Prompts About Yourself: 27 Ideas to Spark Your Creativity

By: Author Paul Jenkins

Posted on August 3, 2023

Categories Writing , Journaling

Are you struggling to find inspiration for your writing? Look no further than yourself! Writing prompts about yourself can be a great way to explore personal identity, relive memories, examine relationships, and express gratitude. Whether you are journaling for self-reflection or working on a creative writing project, writing prompts about yourself can help you grow as a writer and as a person.

Exploring personal identity through writing prompts about yourself can help you gain a deeper understanding of who you are and what makes you unique. Reliving memories through writing can be a powerful exercise in self-reflection, allowing you to examine past experiences and learn from them. Examining relationships through writing prompts can help you understand the people in your life and how they have shaped you.

Writing prompts about yourself can also be a great way to set goals and explore your future aspirations. Whether you are focusing on personal growth or career development, writing about your goals and dreams can help you clarify your vision and take action towards achieving them. So why not give it a try? You might be surprised at what you discover about yourself.

Key Takeaways

Writing prompts about yourself can help you explore personal identity, relive memories, examine relationships, and express gratitude.
Writing about your goals and aspirations can help you clarify your vision and take action towards achieving them.
Whether you are journaling for self-reflection or working on a creative writing project, writing prompts about yourself can help you grow as a writer and as a person.

27 Writing Prompts About Yourself

Here are 27 writing prompt ideas to help you write about yourself:

1. Describe your personality in 3 words. Explain why you chose those words.

2. Write about your biggest accomplishment so far in life. What did you do and why was it meaningful?

3. Describe a time you failed at something. What did you learn from that experience?

4. What are your strengths and weaknesses? Provide examples.

5. Who has had the biggest influence on your life so far? Describe how they have impacted you.

6. What are your goals and ambitions in life? Why are they important to you?

7. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Why?

8. What is your favorite childhood memory? Describe it in detail and why it stands out.

9. Write about a time you felt truly happy. What made you feel that way?

10. Describe your ideal future. What does your life look like 10 years from now?

11. What is your biggest fear? Where does this fear come from and how has it impacted you?

12. What is your best and worst habit? How have they shaped your personality?

13. Describe your family background and how it has influenced you.

14. What is your most valued possession and why? What memories does it hold?

15. What is your favorite book, movie, or song? Explain why it resonates with you.

16. Who is your role model or hero? Why do they inspire you?

17. If you could live anywhere, where would you choose to live? Why?

18. What is one skill you would like to get better at? Why is this important to you?

19. Write about a time you felt courageous. What gave you courage in that situation?

20. Describe one of your quirks or eccentricities. How does this contribute to your personality?

21. What is your biggest regret so far in life? If you could, what would you do differently?

22. What are you most passionate about? How does this passion influence your life?

23. Describe your ideal day. Consider what you would do, who you would see, and how you would feel.

24. If you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

25. What is one misconception others often have about you? What is the truth?

26. Describe a challenge you have overcome. How did you manage to do it?

27. What is a lesson you had to learn the hard way? What happened and what did you learn?

Understanding Self-Reflection

Self-reflection is a process of introspection that allows you to connect with yourself, gain clarity, and develop a deeper understanding of your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. It is a powerful tool that can help you improve your self-awareness, mindfulness, and emotional intelligence.

Importance of Self-Reflection

Self-reflection is important because it helps you identify your strengths and weaknesses, and understand how your experiences have shaped you. By reflecting on your thoughts and emotions, you can gain a deeper understanding of your values, beliefs, and goals, and make more informed decisions.

Self-reflection can also help you develop a more positive outlook on life. By focusing on your strengths and accomplishments, you can build self-confidence and self-esteem, and feel more optimistic about your future.

Self-Reflection Through Writing

One of the most effective ways to engage in self-reflection is through writing. Writing allows you to capture your stream of consciousness and express your thoughts and emotions in a safe and private space.

To engage in self-reflection through writing, you can use writing prompts that encourage you to explore your thoughts and emotions. For example, you can write about a challenging experience you had and how it affected you, or reflect on your values and how they guide your decisions.

Writing prompts can also help you connect with yourself on a deeper level. By asking open-ended questions, prompts encourage you to explore your inner world and gain insight into your thoughts and emotions.

Overall, self-reflection is an important tool for personal growth and development. By engaging in self-reflection through writing, you can connect with yourself, gain clarity, and develop a deeper understanding of your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

Exploring Personal Identity

When it comes to writing prompts about yourself, exploring your personal identity can be a great starting point. Personal identity refers to the characteristics, traits, and beliefs that make you who you are. By reflecting on these aspects of yourself, you can gain a deeper understanding of your own identity and values.

Traits and Personality

Your traits and personality are a fundamental part of your personal identity. Take some time to reflect on your character traits, such as whether you are an introvert or extrovert, and what values and beliefs guide your actions. Think about your strengths and weaknesses and how they contribute to your personality. You can use prompts like “What are your top five strengths, and how do they contribute to your identity?” or “What is a character trait that you admire in others, and why?”

Appearance and Style

Your appearance and personal style can also be a reflection of your personal identity. Consider the clothes you wear, the way you style your hair, and any accessories you use. Think about how your appearance and style contribute to your sense of self. You can use prompts like “What is your favorite outfit, and why?” or “What is a physical feature that you love about yourself?”

Personal Beliefs and Values

Your personal beliefs and values can shape your identity and guide your actions. Think about what you believe in, whether it’s a religious or spiritual belief, a political ideology, or a personal philosophy. Consider how your beliefs and values impact your decisions and interactions with others. You can use prompts like “What is a personal belief that you hold dear, and why?” or “What is a value that you try to live by, and how does it impact your life?”

Reflecting on these aspects of your personal identity can be a powerful tool for self-discovery and personal growth. By gaining a deeper understanding of who you are, you can become more confident and knowledgeable about yourself.

Reliving Memories

Reliving memories is a great way to get to know yourself better and explore your past experiences. Writing about your memories can be a powerful tool for self-discovery, and it can help you gain insight into your personality, values, and beliefs. In this section, we will explore some writing prompts that can help you relive your memories.

Childhood Recollections

Childhood memories are some of the most vivid and powerful memories we have. They can shape our personality and our beliefs, and they can influence the way we see the world. Writing about your childhood memories can help you understand how your past experiences have influenced your present self.

Here are a few writing prompts to help you relive your childhood memories:

What was your hometown like? Describe the sights, sounds, and smells that you remember.
Who were your grandparents? What memories do you have of them?
What was your favorite childhood memory? Why was it so special to you?

Memorable Life Events

Memorable life events are those events that stand out in our lives. They can be positive or negative, but they are always significant. Writing about these events can help you gain insight into your personality, values, and beliefs.

Here are a few writing prompts to help you relive your memorable life events:

What was the most significant event in your life? How did it change you?
What was the happiest moment of your life? Why was it so special to you?
What was the most difficult moment of your life? How did you overcome it?

By exploring your childhood memories and memorable life events, you can gain a deeper understanding of yourself and your past experiences. Use these writing prompts as a starting point to explore your memories and gain insight into your personality, values, and beliefs.

Examining Relationships

When it comes to writing prompts about yourself, examining your relationships with others can be a powerful exercise. Relationships play a significant role in shaping our lives, and reflecting on them can help us gain a better understanding of ourselves.

Family Dynamics

Your family is often your first introduction to relationships, and the dynamics within your family can have a lasting impact on your life. Consider the following prompts to explore your family relationships:

What is your birth order, and how has that affected your relationships with your siblings?
How has your relationship with your parents evolved over time?
What are some of the values and beliefs that your family holds, and how have those influenced you?

Friendships and Social Connections

Friendships and social connections are also essential relationships that shape our lives. Consider the following prompts to reflect on your friendships:

Who are the people in your life that you consider to be your closest friends, and what makes those relationships special?
How has your social circle changed over time, and what has influenced those changes?
What role do you play in your friendships, and how does that impact your relationships with others?

Love and Romance

Love and romance can be some of the most complex relationships we experience. Consider the following prompts to explore your romantic relationships:

What are some of the qualities you look for in a romantic partner, and how have those evolved over time?
How have your past relationships influenced your current views on love and romance?
What role does communication play in your romantic relationships, and how do you navigate conflicts?

By taking the time to reflect on your relationships with family, friends, and romantic partners, you can gain a better understanding of yourself and the role that relationships play in your life.

Personal Growth and Future Aspirations

As you reflect on your life and personal growth, it’s important to consider your future aspirations. This can help you set goals and work towards achieving them, as well as give you a sense of purpose and direction. In this section, we’ll explore some writing prompts that can help you delve into your future plans and aspirations.

Overcoming Challenges

Challenges are a natural part of life, and they can help us grow and develop resilience. Think about a time when you faced a challenge and overcame it. What did you learn from that experience? How did it shape you as a person? Write about how you can use that experience to overcome future challenges and achieve your goals.

Setting and Achieving Goals

Setting goals is an important part of personal growth and achieving success. Think about some short-term and long-term goals that you have. What steps can you take to achieve those goals? Write about the progress you’ve made towards achieving your goals, and any obstacles you’ve encountered along the way. Reflect on how you can adjust your approach to overcome those obstacles and stay on track towards achieving your goals.

Dreams and Aspirations

Dreams and aspirations are a powerful motivator for personal growth and success. Think about your dreams and aspirations for the future. What steps can you take to make those dreams a reality? Write about the skills and knowledge you need to acquire to achieve your dreams, and how you can work towards acquiring those skills. Reflect on the impact achieving your dreams would have on your life and how it would make you feel.

By reflecting on your personal growth and future aspirations, you can gain clarity and direction in your life. Writing about your challenges, goals, dreams, and aspirations can help you stay focused and motivated, and give you a sense of purpose and meaning. Keep writing and exploring these topics to continue growing and achieving success in your life.

Expressing Gratitude and Acknowledging Accomplishments

Recognizing your strengths and accomplishments is an important part of building self-awareness and self-confidence. One way to do this is by expressing gratitude and acknowledging your successes. Here are some tips on how to do it:

Recognizing Strengths

Take some time to reflect on your strengths and what makes you unique. This can be challenging, as we often focus on our weaknesses rather than our strengths. However, recognizing your strengths can help you build confidence and feel more positive about yourself.

Here are some tips for recognizing your strengths:

Make a list of your strengths and read it regularly.
Ask friends or family members to describe your strengths.
Think about times when you felt confident and successful. What strengths did you use to achieve that success?

Appreciating Successes

Acknowledging your accomplishments is another important aspect of building self-confidence. Celebrating your successes, no matter how small they may seem, can help you feel more positive about yourself and your abilities.

Here are some tips for appreciating your successes:

Keep a journal of your accomplishments, no matter how small.
Celebrate your successes with friends or family members.
Take time to reflect on how you achieved your success and what you learned from it.

Expressing gratitude is another way to appreciate your successes. Gratitude can help you feel more positive and optimistic about your life, and it can also help you build stronger relationships with others.

Here are some tips for expressing gratitude:

Write a thank-you note to someone who has helped you or inspired you.
Take some time to reflect on the things you are grateful for in your life.
Practice gratitude daily by keeping a gratitude journal or sharing what you are grateful for with a friend or family member.

By recognizing your strengths, appreciating your successes, and expressing gratitude, you can build self-confidence and feel more positive about yourself and your life.

Exploring Interests and Passions

When it comes to writing about yourself, exploring your interests and passions can be a great starting point. By focusing on what you love, you can tap into your creativity and imagination, and come up with unique and engaging writing prompts that reflect who you are.

Hobbies and Talents

Think about your hobbies and talents. What do you enjoy doing in your free time? Do you have any special skills or talents? Perhaps you love playing an instrument, painting, or cooking. Maybe you’re an avid reader or a sports enthusiast.

Consider how you can incorporate your hobbies and talents into your writing prompts. For example, if you love cooking, you could write a story about a chef who discovers a new ingredient that changes the culinary world. If you’re a musician, you could write a novel about a struggling artist who finds success through their music.

Travel and Exploration

Travel and exploration can also be great sources of inspiration for writing prompts. Think about the places you’ve been, the cultures you’ve experienced, and the people you’ve met. Have you ever had a life-changing travel experience?

You could write a memoir about your travels, or create a fictional story set in a place you’ve visited. Alternatively, you could write a blog post about your favorite travel destinations, or create a guidebook for travelers.

Art and Creativity

Art and creativity can also be great sources of inspiration for writing prompts. Whether you’re a visual artist, a writer, or a musician, there are many ways to incorporate your creativity into your writing.

For example, you could write a short story inspired by a painting or a piece of music. You could also write a blog post about the creative process, or share tips and tricks for other artists and writers.

By exploring your interests and passions, you can come up with writing prompts that are unique, engaging, and reflective of who you are. So take some time to think about what makes you tick, and start writing!

Health and Wellness

Taking care of your health and wellness is essential for leading a happy and fulfilling life. Writing about your health and wellness can help you keep track of your progress, identify areas that need improvement, and celebrate your successes. Here are some writing prompts to help you reflect on your physical health, mental health, and self-care practices.

Physical Health

Your physical health is an important aspect of your overall well-being. Writing about your physical health can help you identify patterns, track progress, and make necessary changes. Here are some physical health journal prompts to get you started:

What did you eat today? Did you make healthy choices?
How much water did you drink today? Did you stay hydrated?
Did you get enough sleep last night? How did you feel when you woke up?
Did you exercise today? What kind of exercise did you do?
How do you feel physically today? Do you have any aches or pains?

Mental Health

Your mental health is just as important as your physical health. Writing about your mental health can help you identify triggers, track progress, and develop coping mechanisms. Here are some mental health journal prompts to get you started:

How are you feeling emotionally today? Are you feeling happy, sad, anxious, or stressed?
What is causing you stress right now? How can you manage that stress?
What are you grateful for today? What positive things happened to you?
What are your goals for the day/week/month? How can you achieve those goals?
What self-care practices can you incorporate into your day to improve your mental health?

Self-Care Practices

Self-care is essential for maintaining your health and well-being. Writing about your self-care practices can help you identify what works for you and what doesn’t, and develop a self-care routine that is tailored to your needs. Here are some self-care journal prompts to get you started:

What self-care practices do you enjoy? How often do you do them?
What self-care practices have you been neglecting? Why?
What self-care practices can you incorporate into your day/week to improve your overall well-being?
Write a letter of gratitude to yourself for looking after your own well-being.
What helps you slow down and feel more present? Can you incorporate that into your daily routine?

Remember, taking care of your health and wellness is a journey, not a destination. Use these writing prompts to help you reflect on your progress, identify areas that need improvement, and celebrate your successes.

Engaging the Senses

When it comes to writing about yourself, engaging your senses can be a powerful tool to help you connect with your experiences and emotions. By focusing on the sights, sounds, tastes, and textures of your memories, you can bring your writing to life and create a more immersive experience for your readers. Here are some prompts to help you engage your senses and bring your writing to life.

Sight and Sound

When writing about yourself, describing the sights and sounds of your experiences can help your readers feel like they are right there with you. Think about the colors, shapes, and movements that you remember from your experiences, and try to capture them in your writing. You can also describe the sounds that you heard, including the tone of voices, background noise, and music. Here are some prompts to help you get started:

Describe a place that you love using vivid colors and shapes.
Write about a memory that is associated with a particular sound.
Describe a time when you felt overwhelmed by the sights and sounds around you.

Taste and Touch

Our sense of taste and touch can be powerful triggers for memories and emotions. When writing about yourself, think about the tastes and textures that you remember from your experiences, and try to describe them in detail. You can also describe the physical sensations that you felt, such as the warmth of the sun on your skin or the softness of a blanket. Here are some prompts to help you engage your sense of taste and touch:

Write about a food that is associated with a particular memory or emotion.
Describe the feeling of a particular texture, such as sand or silk.
Write about a time when you felt a physical sensation that was particularly memorable.

By engaging your senses in your writing, you can create a more immersive experience for your readers and connect with your experiences on a deeper level. Use these prompts to get started, and experiment with different sensory details to find what works best for you.

Random Prompts and Ideas

Looking for some writing prompts to help you explore yourself? Here are some random prompts that can get your creative juices flowing.

Fun and Light-hearted

Describe your favorite season and what you love about it.
Write about your favorite food and why it’s your favorite.
Who is your very best friend? What makes them special to you?
If you could have any pet animal in the world, what would it be and why?
What is your favorite holiday and why?
What’s the story behind your name? Is there a special meaning or reason why you were named that?
Do you believe in astrology? What’s your astrological sign and do you think it fits your personality?
If you could take any course or class, what would it be and why?

Deep and Thought-Provoking

Write about a time when you had to confront a fear or challenge. How did you overcome it?
What is your biggest regret in life? What have you learned from it?
What is something that you are currently struggling with? How are you working to overcome it?
Describe a moment when you felt truly happy. What made you feel that way?
Write about a time when you had to make a difficult decision. How did you make your choice?
What is something that you are really passionate about? Why is it important to you?
Describe a moment when you felt truly grateful. What were you grateful for?

These prompts are just a starting point. Use them to delve deeper into yourself and your experiences. Remember, writing about yourself can be a powerful tool for self-discovery and personal growth.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are some unique experiences that have shaped who you are today.

Your unique experiences are what make you who you are today. They may include things like traveling to new places, meeting new people, overcoming challenges, or experiencing loss. Reflecting on these experiences can help you understand how they have shaped your perspective, values, and beliefs.

How do you envision your future self?

Envisioning your future self can help you set goals and work towards achieving them. Think about where you want to be in five, ten, or twenty years from now. What kind of person do you want to be? What kind of life do you want to have? Visualize yourself achieving your goals and living the life you want.

What are some of your proudest accomplishments and why?

Your proudest accomplishments may be big or small, but they are all important. They may include things like graduating from school, getting a job, completing a project, or overcoming a personal challenge. Reflect on why these accomplishments are important to you and what you learned from them.

What are some challenges you have faced and how have you overcome them?

Challenges are a natural part of life, and overcoming them can help you grow and develop as a person. Think about some of the challenges you have faced in your life, whether they are big or small. Reflect on how you overcame them and what you learned from the experience.

What are some important values or beliefs that guide your life?

Your values and beliefs are the principles that guide your decisions and actions. They may include things like honesty, respect, kindness, or justice. Reflect on what values and beliefs are important to you and how they influence your life.

What are some things you are passionate about and why?

Passions are the things that bring you joy and fulfillment in life. They may include things like hobbies, interests, or causes that you care about. Reflect on what you are passionate about and why these things are important to you. Pursuing your passions can help you live a more fulfilling and meaningful life.

How To Write About Yourself: Step-by-Step

This step-by-step process will take the pressure out of writing about yourself.

“Tell me a little about yourself?” This request sounds so simple, a real softball question, but it leaves many people tongue-tied. Whether it’s a job application cover letter, a brief biography for a website, a blog entry with a personal touch, or countless other situations, periodically, you will face the challenge of writing about your own life.

If you’re a memoirist, you might even be challenged to write three hundred pages about yourself. But, on the other hand, it may be even tougher, to sum up the entire subject on which you are the world’s foremost expert (yourself) in just a few sentences.

Regardless of the length or format, creative writing about yourself doesn’t have to be a daunting task. The following six steps will help you tackle any personal writing project with ease and confidence.

Step 1: Identify The Reader And Their Expectations

Step 2: identify your goal, step 3: choose your topic, step 4: dig for details, step 5: self-promote with humility, step 6: write with style, the final word on how to write about yourself, should i write about myself in the third person, what should i write in my introduction.

Apart from journaling, most of the time, when you write about yourself, it’s for a practical reason. If there’s a reason for writing, then there is also an intended reader.

The intended reader might be one specific person or group of people, such as a scholarship committee or hiring manager. On the other hand, it might be a large unknown audience, such as anyone who follows your blog or searches for a specific topic. Or it might be a targeted unknown audience, for example, a cancer survivor who writes a memoir essay meant to inspire other people fighting cancer.

Regardless of the form or purpose of your writing, you should always start by identifying the reader. Then keep their perspective in mind as you plan and write. You want to give them what they expect, but at the same time, you must not give them what they expect. What does that mean?

You must give the reader(s) what they expect. Why is the reader bothering to read your writing about yourself? Stay focused on delivering on their expectations. The Costco hiring manager isn’t interested in how your family members beat cancer, and the cancer-surviving memoirist would be foolish to include a long digression about her breadth of customer service experience.

At the same time, you must not be predictable or rely on cliché. Your cover letter is probably in a stack of hundreds, and memoirs are not in short supply. Your goal is to deliver on the reader’s expectations, and at the same time to surprise them with the detail that makes your story unique.

Sometimes this is easy. In a cover letter, you want to persuade the reader to offer you an interview, and ultimately the job. In a dating profile, you want the reader to swipe right.

Other times the objective might be a little less transactional. For example, in comments on your blog articles, perhaps you’ve noticed that your readers respond positively when you include personal anecdotes, and you want to improve real-life engagement. Or maybe you just want to make some stranger with an experience similar to yours feel a little less alone.

Another way to look at it is to identify the particular emotion you want to inspire in your reader. If it’s a cover letter, perhaps you focus on conveying your competence and enthusiasm. If it’s a scholarship application, you might want to inspire sympathy and belief in your potential. If you are presenting a seminar in a crowded time slot at a conference, you want your program bio to be impressive and intriguing.

Thinking about your writing’s purpose concretely is an essential step in choosing the right tone, style, subject, theme, and details for your writing.

You might think that once you’ve identified the audience and purpose for your writing, this question answers itself, but that isn’t true. Often prompts are so broad that they allow you to approach the answer in many ways.

The first rule when writing about yourself is that your first thought is rarely your best thought. Force yourself to write a list of at least ten ideas. Even if you believe that your first or second idea is what you want to write about, forcing yourself to make a longer list can help you find unexpected connections that will elevate your writing from cliché to insight.

Check out this article ADD HYPERLINK for more suggestions on brainstorming and developing ideas for writing about personal experience, including prompts.

When I was a kid, my father explained the impact of a vividly evoked memory by quoting Firesign Theater : “Then it all came rushing back to me, like the hot kiss at the end of a wet fist.” Thirty years later, I remember that quote. Details have an impact; generalities don’t.

Just like when you choose a topic, the first detail you think of is rarely the best. Usually, it is a cliché. Same with the second and third. Stick with it.

It is of paramount importance to be specific and creative and choose the right details. Not all details are useful. Some are distracting. Some might be offensive. Some are mundane. The right information provokes a reader to react, not just generally but in the way the author intended.

For example, as a legal aid lawyer, I applied for many program grants. I learned that it was ineffective to write, “Our program has provided legal representation to 243 demographically diverse victims of domestic violence in family law cases.”

On the other hand, it was effective to write something like, “Louise became a client of our program at age seventy-eight when she sought help in divorcing her abusive husband the day after her first great-grandson was born.” Both statements were factual, but only one used detail to enable the reader to understand that truth at a gut level, and so only one brought in grant money.

Vivid, personal, targeted details slow the reader down. They focus the reader’s attention. They provoke an emotional response. But, above all, they are memorable.

Usually, if you’re writing about yourself, it is a form of self-promotion. Maybe it’s an author bio to be published with your byline, which you hope will inspire people to check out more of your writing. Perhaps it’s a personal statement for a grant application. Maybe you’re creating an online dating profile that will help you find your true love. Regardless, you are portraying yourself in a positive light for a purpose. You are selling yourself.

It can be a challenge to walk the fine line between egotism and confidence and to show the right amount of humility. Here are a few tips.

Use specifics rather than generalities.

Avoid: I am a writer with years of experience.

Instead, try: I wrote my first spooky story at age six and have worked on my craft ever since.

Leave out anything unnecessary.

Avoid: The following is a list of my accomplishments, beginning with my second place ribbon in the junior high science fair…

Instead, try: Among other awards, last year, I won second prize in a robotics competition using technology related to the project I would pursue if hired as your postdoc.

Focus on external metrics, not only your subjective opinion.

Avoid: You won’t find another server with better customer service skills.

Instead, try: I was the highest-tipped server at my previous job, ten out of the last twelve months.

Inject humility, vulnerability, and humor where appropriate, without undermining yourself.

Avoid: My blog is based on my experience as a world-renowned expert and influencer regarding feline breeding, temperament, and training.

Avoid: Don’t listen to me; I’m just a crazy cat lady!!

Instead, try: I may have literally “written the book” on training cats, but even I can’t get my cats to scoop their own litter box.

Your style should be consistent with the intended reader and the purpose of the writing. A short author bio for your blog is a good place for whimsy. An application for a federal research grant is not.

A cover letter for a Halloween costume store and a cover letter for a law firm have the same purpose (to get a job interview), but the style should be different because the intended reader is different. The Halloween store manager is looking for reliability and a deep appreciation of the spooky, while the law firm is looking for a professional with strong attention to detail. Your cover letter’s style (even when separated from the content) should demonstrate that you understand the job.

Sticking with a clear, easy-to-read style is almost always the right choice. Your primary expression of style should be through your choice of details. However, the standard rules of good writing apply. Vary your sentence length and structure for pacing and emphasis. Choose active verbs. Avoid cliché.

Above all, be brief. As tempting as it may be to write a three-page cover letter or a twenty-page personal essay about your dying cat, nobody wants to read that. So when you write about yourself, use restraint. Then cut your draft by half. Then cut it some more. Then even more. If you end up too short, that’s great! Now you have space to add in one or two of the shiny new details that occurred to you during the revision process. You might also find our guide on how to write a business proposal helpful.

It is a cliché that most people’s favorite subject is themselves, but that doesn’t make it easy to write about yourself under pressure. However, if you stay focused on your audience and the purpose of your writing and use well-selected details, you’ll get it right.

FAQ About Writing About Yourself

Write in first person unless either (1) the prompt specifies that you should use third person, or (2) there is an established convention in that genre for third-person writing.

For example, if your boss asks you to write your mini-bio for the company website, and all the rest are written from the third-person perspective, use third-person for your bio. For most purposes, however, it is not appropriate. For example, a cover letter written in the third person could get mixed up with letters of recommendation and confuse the reader, costing you a job. Being creative and memorable is great when it is consistent with the purpose of the writing. But, at the same time, you want to avoid standing out for the wrong reasons. For example, a cover letter for a retail job written in the third person or the form of a poem might make your cover letter memorable, but in the way a glitter bomb is memorable.

Your content is where you want to stand apart, rather than your form. Unless experimental writing style is a qualification for the job, keep it simple. Stick with first-person.

That said, sometimes it feels awkward writing about yourself, and in that situation, writing in the third person can be a great first draft strategy. Write about yourself as if “yourself” was actually not you but a friend you are proud of and happy to recommend. Or choose an actual friend, and imagine how they would write your bio. Then create a second draft by rewriting it in the first person.

Some writing has no real introduction. A sixty-word mini-bio, for example. When writing a longer piece, however, you need to give a lot of thought to your lead-in sentences.

Not knowing where to start a piece can be a huge stumbling block. For some writers, this happens because of a lack of ideas, but the problem is often too many ideas. I’ve written dozens of different beginnings for a project before settling on one.

For many writers, that is a workable process. No writing is wasted if it is a step on the path to a good final draft. That said, eventually, you will have to make a decision.

While the choice of where to start your first paragraph is entirely personal, here are five examples of ways you could approach the problem of the introduction.

Introduce the topic by stating it plainly. Jane Austin didn’t exactly bury the lede with the title of her book (Pride and Prejudice) or its famous first line, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” She announced her themes, making promises to the reader right off the bat, and then delivered, and you can do the same thing when writing about yourself.
Set up your story with a separate but related story. If you’re writing an essay about your grief after your father’s death, you might start with a memory of him teaching you to fish. There should be a clear thematic or substantive connection between the teaser and the primary subject matter of your writing. Make sure to call back to the fishing story, even if briefly, at some later point in the essay.
Begin with the most dramatic detail. Sometimes the best order of information is the simplest (chronological), but more often, you want to choose and order the information you include based on its impact. If you don’t grab your reader right away, they might stop reading, so don’t save the best stuff for the end.
Start with a question. Don’t get too literal or cutesy with this, but writing an introduction that engages with a question the reader finds meaningful is an excellent way to get the reader interested fast.
Establish the stakes. You’ve worked holiday retail before and know how badly one unreliable employee can mess up a manager’s week. Start your Halloween store cover letter acknowledging those stakes. Then mention that one of your references can confirm that you worked there for a year without being late once.

For some more specific prompts for writing about your own experiences, check out this article on Writing About Personal Experience.

Bryan Collins is the owner of Become a Writer Today. He's an author from Ireland who helps writers build authority and earn a living from their creative work. He's also a former Forbes columnist and his work has appeared in publications like Lifehacker and Fast Company.

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WEEKLY WRITING PROMPTS

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Begin or end your story with a character taking a selfie..

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Write about a character who sees a photo they shouldn’t have seen.

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Write a story about a character who risks their life to take a photo.

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Creative Writing Prompts

When the idea to start a weekly newsletter with writing inspiration first came to us, we decided that we wanted to do more than provide people with topics to write about. We wanted to try and help authors form a regular writing habit and also give them a place to proudly display their work. So we started the weekly Creative Writing Prompts newsletter. Since then, Prompts has grown to a community of more than 450,000 authors, complete with its own literary magazine, Prompted .

Here's how our contest works: every Friday, we send out a newsletter containing five creative writing prompts. Each week, the story ideas center around a different theme. Authors then have one week — until the following Friday — to submit a short story based on one of our prompts. A winner is picked each week to win $250 and is highlighted on our Reedsy Prompts page.

Interested in participating in our short story contest? Sign up here for more information! Or you can check out our full Terms of Use and our FAQ page .

Why we love creative writing prompts

If you've ever sat in front of a computer or notebook and felt the urge to start creating worlds, characters, and storylines — all the while finding yourself unable to do so — then you've met the author's age-old foe: writer's block. There's nothing more frustrating than finding the time but not the words to be creative. Enter our directory! If you're ready to kick writer's block to the curb and finally get started on your short story or novel, these unique story ideas might just be your ticket.

This list of 1800+ creative writing prompts has been created by the Reedsy team to help you develop a rock-solid writing routine. As all aspiring authors know, this is the #1 challenge — and solution! — for reaching your literary goals. Feel free to filter through different genres, which include...

Dramatic — If you want to make people laugh and cry within the same story, this might be your genre.

Funny — Whether satire or slapstick, this is an opportunity to write with your funny bone.

Romance — One of the most popular commercial genres out there. Check out these story ideas out if you love writing about love.

Fantasy — The beauty of this genre is that the possibilities are as endless as your imagination.

Dystopian – Explore the shadowy side of human nature and contemporary technology in dark speculative fiction.

Mystery — From whodunnits to cozy mysteries, it's time to bring out your inner detective.

Thriller and Suspense — There's nothing like a page-turner that elicits a gasp of surprise at the end.

High School — Encourage teens to let their imaginations run free.

Want to submit your own story ideas to help inspire fellow writers? Send them to us here.

After you find the perfect story idea

Finding inspiration is just one piece of the puzzle. Next, you need to refine your craft skills — and then display them to the world. We've worked hard to create resources that help you do just that! Check them out:

How to Write a Short Story That Gets Published — a free, ten-day course by Laura Mae Isaacman, a full-time editor who runs a book editing company in Brooklyn.
Best Literary Magazines of 2023 — a directory of 100+ reputable magazines that accept unsolicited submissions.
Writing Contests in 2023 — the finest contests of 2021 for fiction and non-fiction authors of short stories, poetry, essays, and more.

Beyond creative writing prompts: how to build a writing routine

While writing prompts are a great tactic to spark your creative sessions, a writer generally needs a couple more tools in their toolbelt when it comes to developing a rock-solid writing routine . To that end, here are a few more additional tips for incorporating your craft into your everyday life.

NNWT. Or, as book coach Kevin Johns calls it , “Non-Negotiable Writing Time.” This time should be scheduled into your routine, whether that’s once a day or once a week. Treat it as a serious commitment, and don’t schedule anything else during your NNWT unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Set word count goals. And make them realistic! Don’t start out with lofty goals you’re unlikely to achieve. Give some thought to how many words you think you can write a week, and start there. If you find you’re hitting your weekly or daily goals easily, keep upping the stakes as your craft time becomes more ingrained in your routine.
Talk to friends and family about the project you’re working on. Doing so means that those close to you are likely to check in about the status of your piece — which in turn keeps you more accountable.

Arm yourself against writer’s block. Writer’s block will inevitably come, no matter how much story ideas initially inspire you. So it’s best to be prepared with tips and tricks you can use to keep yourself on track before the block hits. You can find 20 solid tips here — including how to establish a relationship with your inner critic and apps that can help you defeat procrastination or lack of motivation.

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Write About Yourself: Tips and Prompts

by Joe Bunting and Sue Weems | 199 comments

When you have to write about yourself, do you hit a roadblock? If so, you're not alone. There are a number of situations when you have to write about yourself for school, work, or publication. Let's break down a few ways to make it easier and then use some prompts to get you started.

Write About Yourself with blue hello name tag

When Do You Have to Write About Yourself?

Several scenarios might require you to write about yourself from personal essays to job applications and biography blurbs.

The key for each is to think about the purpose and the target audience. Then shape your personal history or life experience into a well-crafted piece of writing that meets those needs of purpose and audience.

Let's look at a few of the most common scenarios where you have to write about yourself.

Personal Essays

Personal essays aren't just for high school. A personal essay typically reflects some aspect of your life that you are sharing for a specific purpose. Many college applications or scholarship applications ask for a college essay or personal statement to help them get to know you as a student or applicant.

If it's for a university or school application, you might write about:

academic achievements
personal accomplishments
difficult experiences that helped you grow
personal stories that relate to your desired field of study

Personal essays will have a friendly tone regardless of the essay topic. The personal examples you include or the personal stories you tell will need to be focused tightly on the audience and purpose. If you're trying to get into a university engineering program, you don't want to write about a pet's passing.

Your story of losing a pet is likely moving and will tell committee members about you and your personality traits, but it won't communicate why you might be a good fit for their school or program.

If you're writing a personal essay for a course in narrative or memoir, then of course, your story of your pet's passing would likely be a solid choice.

Personal Essay Prompts

1. Tell about a time you overcame a significant hardship.

2. Describe an interest that makes you lose track of time.

3. Tell the story of an experience or person who changed the way you thought or lived.

4. Describe a time you overcame rejection or fear.

5. How has your community shaped you as a person?

Job Applications

More and more job applications include personal statement sections or questions that ask you to describe your professional experience in more detail. Job seekers are often used to listing out bullet points on a resume, so writing about yourself can feel uncomfortable, even in a letter of introduction.

In professional settings and applications, you want to focus on four elements as you write about yourself:

relevant experience
recent professional accomplishments
personal details that enhance your qualifications
specializations

Again, keep your purpose and audience in mind. If you're having trouble narrowing down your relevant experience, consider looking at the job listing to see what they require of applicants. That way, you tailor your experience to what the position requires.

Some common job application prompts

1. Tell us about yourself. (They aren't asking about your favorite food or vacation last year! Focus on professional experiences.)

2. What are your strengths and weaknesses?

3. How have you managed conflict in former roles?

4. Describe your strongest professional accomplishments.

5. Why do you want to work here?

Remember, each of these questions is designed to help a company get to know you as a professional—share only relevant stories and details that align with that purpose.

Author or Speaker Biographies

As a writer (or speaker!), you need an author biography to include on any publications. These can be short 100 word statements that give the audience a sense of who you are as a person.

Again, the purpose and audience matters. If you are a scholar writing and speaking on a topic in your academic field, it's appropriate to list your relevant degrees and major publications to build a sense of credibility and authority.

If you're a fiction author, your biography will likely reflect a few personal details that are meant to connect with readers in a positive light.

The best way to know what will connect with your intended audience, is to look at the biographies and About the Author pages in books like your own.

A few things you might include in an author or speaker biography:

where you live (generally speaking—not your personal address)
themes you explore
awards, recognition, or other publications
relevant personal background info

You can see our full guide here on writing an author biography here .

Prompts for author or speaker biographies

1. What are the two most important things for your audience to know about you?

2. Find two authors writing in the same genre you are. Write your biography using their bios as models.

3. What themes do you explore in your work and why are they important to you? Write them out, and then condense.

4. What experience or awards are relevant to your work? List them out and pick the top two.

5. Make a list of all the things that you likely have in common with your target audience. Choose two to include in your biography.

How to Write About Yourself

Whenever you're asked to write about yourself, take it as a challenge to share relevant personal experiences with vivid details and your unique point of view. Remember that you're not sharing your entire life story. Stick to short personal anecdotes and pay attention to your purpose and audience.

How do you feel about writing about yourself? What tips have made it easier? Share in the comments.

Choose one of the prompts above. Set the timer for 15 minutes and write about yourself without stopping. If you don't have an essay, job app, or bio to write, then simply try to capture something true about yourself and your experience in the world today.

When time is up, share your practice in the Pro Practice Workshop here and leave feedback to encourage a few other writers too.

Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

Want best-seller coaching? Book Joe here.

Sue Weems is a writer, teacher, and traveler with an advanced degree in (mostly fictional) revenge. When she’s not rationalizing her love for parentheses (and dramatic asides), she follows a sailor around the globe with their four children, two dogs, and an impossibly tall stack of books to read. You can read more of her writing tips on her website .

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Ultimate Guide to Creative Writing Therapy (with Writing Therapy Prompts)

March 22, 2023

I believe that taking care of yourself should always come first. So, my job is to help you create a slow and mindful life that aligns with your values and goals so you can finally go from a state of constantly doing to peacefully being.

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Creative writing therapy, or therapeutic writing is a form of therapeutic intervention that uses writing as the tool to explore and express your thoughts, feelings and emotions. It’s also known as journal therapy – and it’s essentially the art of writing in a journal to heal yourself.

Writing therapy can be a useful tool for people who struggle with mental health, have experienced trauma or grief, or are simply looking for a creative outlet to process their thoughts and feelings. Today we’re going to explore what creative writing therapy is, how it works, and the potential benefits of writing therapy. We’ll also share writing therapy prompts to help you get started and explore writing therapy today.

Please keep in mind that there is no true substitute for seeing a licensed therapist, and if you feel like you could benefit from talking to someone and getting help with what you’re going through – you’re not alone! There are tons of incredible therapists out there to help you. Here at Made with Lemons we’re big advocates for therapy and if you’d like a more inside scoop to our own journey with therapy, join On Your Terms . It’s a wellness newsletter that shares a more inside look to our own wellness journey as well as tools to help you along yours. Learn more about On Your Terms here.

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What is Creative Writing Therapy?

Writing therapy, also known as therapeutic writing, is a form of creative and expressive therapy that involves writing about your personal experiences, thoughts and feelings. It can take many forms, including journaling, poetry, creative writing, letter writing, or memoirs. Writing therapy can be done individually or in a group setting. It can also be facilitated by a therapist, counselor or writing coach.

The purpose of creative writing therapy is to help you express and process your emotions in a safe and supportive environment. It’s helpful to be able to write out your thoughts and feelings that might be hard to articulate in other ways.

You might also see therapeutic writing used to help explore issues that are difficult to discuss in traditionally talking therapy sessions. And when your therapist invites you to try writing therapy, it’s also used in conjunction with other forms of therapy, such as trauma-focused therapy, to enhance its effectiveness.

An example of creative writing therapy could be writing a letter to a person who hurt you, and then shredding or burning the letter to release some of the hurt and anger.

How Does Therapeutic Writing Work?

Writing therapy works by allowing individuals to express their thoughts and feelings in a way that is both private and creative. The act of writing can help you organize your thoughts and gain clarity on your emotions. Writing can also be a way to release pent-up emotions and relieve stress.

For example, if you’re feeling stressed after a long day of work, taking a few moments to write down what’s stressing you out and allowing yourself to let it go, can help you have a calm and more relaxing evening.

Writing therapy should be a truly non judgemental space. It’s a time to write without worrying about grammar, punctuation, or spelling. The goal here is to let words flow freely, without judgment or criticism. Creative writing therapy sessions can be structured or unstructured, and sometimes it’s helpful to use prompts or exercises to help you get started. (i.e. what in your life is bringing you the most anxiety, or writing a letter to your friend to express ___________ hurt you when they said that.)

Oftentimes we find it easier to write about our hurt, our pain and the experiences that caused that, as opposed to opening up to talk about those things. In this way, writing can be a way to explore and process complex emotions such as grief or anger in a safe and supportive environment, where no one can get hurt further by what’s being felt and expressed.

Potential Benefits of Writing Therapy

Now let’s talk about some of the benefits of therapeutic writing.

Improved mental health

Writing therapy can be a tool that helps you manage symptoms of depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions. You can use journaling therapy to express and process difficult emotions, which over time can lead to improved mental regulation and a better sense of control over your thoughts and feelings.

Increased self-awareness

Creative writing therapy can help you gain a better insight into your thoughts and behaviors. By reflecting on your experiences through writing, you can start to identify patterns and gain an understanding of yourself.

Stress relief

Therapeutic writing can be a way to relieve stress and reduce anxiety. Writing is often cathartic, allowing you to release pent-up emotions and start to feel relief from things that would otherwise feel overwhelming.

Improved communication skills

Journal therapy can also help you improve your overall communication skills. When you practice expressing yourself through writing, you can develop more confidence to communicate more effectively in both your personal and professional relationships. In essence, writing your feelings can help you communicate them better when needed.

Increased creativity

Lastly, creative writing therapy can also be a way to tap into your creativity and imagination. We talk a lot about your inner child around here, and journal therapy can be another helpful way you can interact with your inner child. Through writing you can explore new ideas and perspectives, leading to your own personal growth.

How to try Creative Writing Therapy Today

Now let’s talk about how you can try therapeutic writing for yourself today. These tips are going to help you get started with writing therapy from home, as a personal activity to help heal yourself.

Set aside dedicated time for writing therapy

Like most self improvement and self care techniques, it helps to set aside a dedicated time to write regularly. We know this can be a challenging task, especially if you’re struggling with mental health issues or challenges in your life. A good place to start is to set aside a few minutes each evening to write and decompress from your day. It can be just 2 minutes before bed. Remember, therapeutic writing is a non judgemental activity, so the amount of time you dedicate isn’t important, it’s just important to show up for yourself.

Find a quiet and comfortable space

Find a place that’s quiet and comfortable, and where you can write without interruptions. Some people find it helpful to create a writing ritual, such as lighting a candle or playing soft music to create a sense of calm and focus. Find what works for you, in a space where you can be alone for a few minutes.

Choose a writing therapy prompt or topic

At the end of this guide we’re going to share writing therapy prompts to help you explore creative writing therapy and give you a starting point. You can also talk to your therapist to get prompts, or find some online. Prompts can be general, such as “write about what makes you grateful or happy”, while others can be more specific, such as “write about a time that you felt overwhelmed.”

Write freely and without judgment

The most important thing about writing therapy is to write freely, without judging yourself. Allow yourself to write without worrying about grammar, punctuation or spelling. Don’t put a time limit on your writing, or feel like you have to write a certain number of words or pages. The goal here is to allow your thoughts and emotions to flow freely without any judgment at all.

Write honestly and openly

Along with being judgment free, it’s also so important that you write honestly and openly. Writing therapy is a space for honesty and openness. This space is created for you to share your thoughts and emotions, even if they're difficult or uncomfortable to confront. Just be open to exploring them, and remember that you don’t have to share this with anyone, so it’s a space where you can be fully honest with yourself.

Reflect on your writing

After writing, you can take a few moments to reflect on what you have written. It might even be helpful to come back to what you have written at another time, when you have a clear head or have left the emotions behind. This can help you consider the emotions and patterns that you have expressed. Doing this reflection can help you gain more insight into your thinking patterns and emotions for future sessions.

Consider sharing your writing with a therapist or counselor

Lastly, consider sharing your writing with a therapist or counselor. They can help you process emotions and gain a deeper understanding of yourself. Sharing your writing can also help you feel less alone in your struggles and provide important validation for your experiences.

20 Writing Therapy Prompts

When do I feel the most like myself?
How do I feel at this moment?
What do I need more of in my life?
What do I look forward to every day?
What is a lesson that I had to learn recently?
Based on my daily routine, where do I see myself in 5 years?
What don’t I regret?
What would make me happy right now?
What has been the hardest thing to forgive myself for?
What’s bothering me? And why?
What do I love about myself?
What are my priorities right now?
What does my ideal day look like?
What does my ideal morning look like? Evening?
Make a list of 30 things that make you smile
Make a gratitude list
The words I’d like to live by are…
I really wish others knew this about me…
What always brings tears to my eyes?
What do I need to get off my chest today?

Creative writing therapy can be a powerful tool for exploring and processing thoughts and emotions. When you set aside a dedicated time to write, and create a safe and supportive space for yourself, you can gain insight into your emotions and develop better tools to manage them. With practice and commitment, writing therapy can become a habit for your self care routine.

If you’d like to build the habit of writing therapy in your own life, then we’d like to invite you to download our habit tracker. It’s super easy to use, beautifully designed and completely free. All you need is a google account to access it. Grab a copy of our habit tracker here.

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87 Self-Reflective Prompts To Help You Write About Yourself

Having trouble deciding what to write about yourself ?

Whether you’re writing for your journal, your memoir, or a class assignment, you have plenty of topics about yourself to choose from.

You’re more interesting than you might think.

So are the people you live with, work with, and meet — if only for a moment.

Once you look through the prompts listed below, the real challenge will be choosing which one to write about first.

What Is a Unique Way to Write about Yourself?

The point of writing about yourself is to grow in self-knowledge and understanding of where you are and where you want to be.

With that in mind, it makes sense to write about what you’ve learned so far and how you learned it.

It also helps to explore what you’re good at as well as what areas need work.

Consider the following categories of self-knowledge:

Mistakes you’ve learned from
Changes to your beliefs and the catalysts behind them
Painful experiences and what you’ve learned from them
Favorite things and why you love them
Things that make you angry or that motivate you to fight for change

Things to Write about Yourself: 87 Writing Prompts

Enjoy these all about me writing prompts . Start with one that leads your mind to a specific, vivid memory. Then free-write to your heart’s content.

1. Describe something you’re good at.

2. What do you want to be when you grow up and why?

3. How do you want people to remember you?

4. What personal beliefs of yours have changed over the years?

5. What would you like to invent and why?

6. If you won $1 million, what would you do with it?

7. If you had all the money you needed to create a nonprofit organization, what would its mission be?

8. What would you change about school or your country’s education system if you could?

9. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go first and why?

10. Where do you want to live, and what kind of lifestyle would you like to afford easily?

11. What’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever learned from?

12. Would you rather get paid well for a job you can tolerate or paid little for work you love?

13. What is your favorite food and why? Do you make it yourself, or do you prefer paying others to do so?

14. What superstitions do you believe in or have you believed in, and why?

15. Do you believe in luck (good or bad)? If so, do you think a higher power is pulling strings on your behalf — or working against you? How much control do you have over your life?

16. Describe your first job, what you learned from it, and whether (and why) you’d recommend it to anyone?

17. What do you love about yourself? And who in your life sees that in you? Who doesn’t?

18. Describe your best friend and how you met. What keeps your friendship going?

19. Write about an animal with whom you’ve felt a close kinship and describe the relationship between you.

20. If you could design your own home, what would be its most important features?

21. What’s your favorite outfit (including footwear and accessories) and why?

22. What’s your biggest dream for the future, and what are you doing to get closer to it?

23. What makes you angry? When was the last time something made you so mad you took action to change it?

24. What’s your favorite holiday and why? What do you do to celebrate it?

25. If you have a romantic partner, what do you love most about them and your relationship? What would you change if you could?

26. What do you most want to accomplish in your life and why?

27. Have you ever gotten something you wanted, only to realize it wasn’t what you really wanted after all?

28. Do you want to be more like one of your parents or grandparents? Why or why not?

29. Describe one of your earliest childhood memories.

30. Write about the benefits and challenges of having siblings — or of being an only child.

31. How much of your body are you comfortable with people seeing? Has that changed?

32. What do you find gross that other people don’t — or vice-versa?

33. Are you interested in marriage, or would you prefer a romantic partnership without marriage? What are your reasons?

34. If you could design your own end, what manner of death would you choose and why?

35. How do you want your body dealt with after you die? Do you want your remains buried or scattered, and why?

36. Describe a favorite game from your young childhood (aged 0 to 10).

37. Write about something you succeeded at because you did NOT GIVE UP.

38. Write about a favorite elementary school classmate and what you liked about them.

39. Write about an interesting high school classmate and what you liked about them.

40. Write about the best coworker you’ve ever had and why you loved working with them.

41. Write about the best job you’ve ever had and what you loved about it.

42. How would you build the perfect sandwich (with or without bread)?

43. Write about a death in your family and how it impacted you.

44. Write about a birth in your family and how it affected you.

45. Write about a marriage or divorce in your family and how it impacted you.

46. Write about your intimate social circle, how it was formed, and how it influences you.

47. Write about your chosen family — the people in your life who have become family to you — and how they have become so important.

105 Creative Writing Exercises To Get You Writing Again

You know that feeling when you just don’t feel like writing? Sometimes you can’t even get a word down on paper. It’s the most frustrating thing ever to a writer, especially when you’re working towards a deadline. The good news is that we have a list of 105 creative writing exercises to help you get motivated and start writing again!

What are creative writing exercises?

Creative writing exercises are short writing activities (normally around 10 minutes) designed to get you writing. The goal of these exercises is to give you the motivation to put words onto a blank paper. These words don’t need to be logical or meaningful, neither do they need to be grammatically correct or spelt correctly. The whole idea is to just get you writing something, anything. The end result of these quick creative writing exercises is normally a series of notes, bullet points or ramblings that you can, later on, use as inspiration for a bigger piece of writing such as a story or a poem.

Good creative writing exercises are short, quick and easy to complete. You shouldn’t need to think too much about your style of writing or how imaginative your notes are. Just write anything that comes to mind, and you’ll be on the road to improving your creative writing skills and beating writer’s block .

Use the generator below to get a random creative writing exercise idea:

List of 105+ Creative Writing Exercises

Here are over 105 creative writing exercises to give your brain a workout and help those creative juices flow again:

Set a timer for 60 seconds. Now write down as many words or phrases that come to mind at that moment.
Pick any colour you like. Now start your sentence with this colour. For example, Orange, the colour of my favourite top.
Open a book or dictionary on a random page. Pick a random word. You can close your eyes and slowly move your finger across the page. Now, write a paragraph with this random word in it. You can even use an online dictionary to get random words:

Create your own alphabet picture book or list. It can be A to Z of animals, food, monsters or anything else you like!
Using only the sense of smell, describe where you are right now.
Take a snack break. While eating your snack write down the exact taste of that food. The goal of this creative writing exercise is to make your readers savour this food as well.
Pick a random object in your room and write a short paragraph from its point of view. For example, how does your pencil feel? What if your lamp had feelings?
Describe your dream house. Where would you live one day? Is it huge or tiny?
Pick two different TV shows, movies or books that you like. Now swap the main character. What if Supergirl was in Twilight? What if SpongeBob SquarePants was in The Flash? Write a short scene using this character swap as inspiration.
What’s your favourite video game? Write at least 10 tips for playing this game.
Pick your favourite hobby or sport. Now pretend an alien has just landed on Earth and you need to teach it this hobby or sport. Write at least ten tips on how you would teach this alien.
Use a random image generator and write a paragraph about the first picture you see.

Write a letter to your favourite celebrity or character. What inspires you most about them? Can you think of a memorable moment where this person’s life affected yours? We have this helpful guide on writing a letter to your best friend for extra inspiration.
Write down at least 10 benefits of writing. This can help motivate you and beat writer’s block.
Complete this sentence in 10 different ways: Patrick waited for the school bus and…
Pick up a random book from your bookshelf and go to page 9. Find the ninth sentence on that page. Use this sentence as a story starter.
Create a character profile based on all the traits that you hate. It might help to list down all the traits first and then work on describing the character.
What is the scariest or most dangerous situation you have ever been in? Why was this situation scary? How did you cope at that moment?
Pretend that you’re a chat show host and you’re interviewing your favourite celebrity. Write down the script for this conversation.
Using extreme detail, write down what you have been doing for the past one hour today. Think about your thoughts, feelings and actions during this time.
Make a list of potential character names for your next story. You can use a fantasy name generator to help you.
Describe a futuristic setting. What do you think the world would look like in 100 years time?
Think about a recent argument you had with someone. Would you change anything about it? How would you resolve an argument in the future?
Describe a fantasy world. What kind of creatures live in this world? What is the climate like? What everyday challenges would a typical citizen of this world face? You can use this fantasy world name generator for inspiration.
At the flip of a switch, you turn into a dragon. What kind of dragon would you be? Describe your appearance, special abilities, likes and dislikes. You can use a dragon name generator to give yourself a cool dragon name.
Pick your favourite book or a famous story. Now change the point of view. For example, you could rewrite the fairytale , Cinderella. This time around, Prince Charming could be the main character. What do you think Prince Charming was doing, while Cinderella was cleaning the floors and getting ready for the ball?
Pick a random writing prompt and use it to write a short story. Check out this collection of over 300 writing prompts for kids to inspire you.
Write a shopping list for a famous character in history. Imagine if you were Albert Einstein’s assistant, what kind of things would he shop for on a weekly basis?
Create a fake advertisement poster for a random object that is near you right now. Your goal is to convince the reader to buy this object from you.
What is the worst (or most annoying) sound that you can imagine? Describe this sound in great detail, so your reader can understand the pain you feel when hearing this sound.
What is your favourite song at the moment? Pick one line from this song and describe a moment in your life that relates to this line.
You’re hosting an imaginary dinner party at your house. Create a list of people you would invite, and some party invites. Think about the theme of the dinner party, the food you will serve and entertainment for the evening.
You are waiting to see your dentist in the waiting room. Write down every thought you are having at this moment in time.
Make a list of your greatest fears. Try to think of at least three fears. Now write a short story about a character who is forced to confront one of these fears.
Create a ‘Wanted’ poster for a famous villain of your choice. Think about the crimes they have committed, and the reward you will give for having them caught.
Imagine you are a journalist for the ‘Imagine Forest Times’ newspaper. Your task is to get an exclusive interview with the most famous villain of all time. Pick a villain of your choice and interview them for your newspaper article. What questions would you ask them, and what would their responses be?
In a school playground, you see the school bully hurting a new kid. Write three short stories, one from each perspective in this scenario (The bully, the witness and the kid getting bullied).
You just won $10 million dollars. What would you spend this money on?
Pick a random animal, and research at least five interesting facts about this animal. Write a short story centred around one of these interesting facts.
Pick a global issue that you are passionate about. This could be climate change, black lives matters, women’s rights etc. Now create a campaign poster for this global issue.
Write an acrostic poem about an object near you right now (or even your own name). You could use a poetry idea generator to inspire you.
Imagine you are the head chef of a 5-star restaurant. Recently the business has slowed down. Your task is to come up with a brand-new menu to excite customers. Watch this video prompt on YouTube to inspire you.
What is your favourite food of all time? Imagine if this piece of food was alive, what would it say to you?
If life was one big musical, what would you be singing about right now? Write the lyrics of your song.
Create and describe the most ultimate villain of all time. What would their traits be? What would their past look like? Will they have any positive traits?
Complete this sentence in at least 10 different ways: Every time I look out of the window, I…
You have just made it into the local newspaper, but what for? Write down at least five potential newspaper headlines . Here’s an example, Local Boy Survives a Deadly Illness.
If you were a witch or a wizard, what would your specialist area be and why? You might want to use a Harry Potter name generator or a witch name generator for inspiration.
What is your favourite thing to do on a Saturday night? Write a short story centred around this activity.
Your main character has just received the following items: A highlighter, a red cap, a teddy bear and a fork. What would your character do with these items? Can you write a story using these items?
Create a timeline of your own life, from birth to this current moment. Think about the key events in your life, such as birthdays, graduations, weddings and so on. After you have done this, you can pick one key event from your life to write a story about.
Think of a famous book or movie you like. Rewrite a scene from this book or movie, where the main character is an outsider. They watch the key events play out, but have no role in the story. What would their actions be? How would they react?
Three very different characters have just won the lottery. Write a script for each character, as they reveal the big news to their best friend.
Write a day in the life story of three different characters. How does each character start their day? What do they do throughout the day? And how does their day end?
Write about the worst experience in your life so far. Think about a time when you were most upset or angry and describe it.
Imagine you’ve found a time machine in your house. What year would you travel to and why?
Describe your own superhero. Think about their appearance, special abilities and their superhero name. Will they have a secret identity? Who is their number one enemy?
What is your favourite country in the world? Research five fun facts about this country and use one to write a short story.
Set yourself at least three writing goals. This could be a good way to motivate yourself to write every day. For example, one goal might be to write at least 150 words a day.
Create a character description based on the one fact, three fiction rule. Think about one fact or truth about yourself. And then add in three fictional or fantasy elements. For example, your character could be the same age as you in real life, this is your one fact. And the three fictional elements could be they have the ability to fly, talk in over 100 different languages and have green skin.
Describe the perfect person. What traits would they have? Think about their appearance, their interests and their dislikes.
Keep a daily journal or diary. This is a great way to keep writing every day. There are lots of things you can write about in your journal, such as you can write about the ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ of your day. Think about anything that inspired you or anything that upset you, or just write anything that comes to mind at the moment.
Write a book review or a movie review. If you’re lost for inspiration, just watch a random movie or read any book that you can find. Then write a critical review on it. Think about the best parts of the book/movie and the worst parts. How would you improve the book or movie?
Write down a conversation between yourself. You can imagine talking to your younger self or future self (i.e. in 10 years’ time). What would you tell them? Are there any lessons you learned or warnings you need to give? Maybe you could talk about what your life is like now and compare it to their life?
Try writing some quick flash fiction stories . Flash fiction is normally around 500 words long, so try to stay within this limit.
Write a six-word story about something that happened to you today or yesterday. A six-word story is basically an entire story told in just six words. Take for example: “Another football game ruined by me.” or “A dog’s painting sold for millions.” – Six-word stories are similar to writing newspaper headlines. The goal is to summarise your story in just six words.
The most common monsters or creatures used in stories include vampires, werewolves , dragons, the bigfoot, sirens and the loch-ness monster. In a battle of intelligence, who do you think will win and why?
Think about an important event in your life that has happened so far, such as a birthday or the birth of a new sibling. Now using the 5 W’s and 1 H technique describe this event in great detail. The 5 W’s include: What, Who, Where, Why, When and the 1 H is: How. Ask yourself questions about the event, such as what exactly happened on that day? Who was there? Why was this event important? When and where did it happen? And finally, how did it make you feel?
Pretend to be someone else. Think about someone important in your life. Now put yourself into their shoes, and write a day in the life story about being them. What do you think they do on a daily basis? What situations would they encounter? How would they feel?
Complete this sentence in at least 10 different ways: I remember…
Write about your dream holiday. Where would you go? Who would you go with? And what kind of activities would you do?
Which one item in your house do you use the most? Is it the television, computer, mobile phone, the sofa or the microwave? Now write a story of how this item was invented. You might want to do some research online and use these ideas to build up your story.
In exactly 100 words, describe your bedroom. Try not to go over or under this word limit.
Make a top ten list of your favourite animals. Based on this list create your own animal fact file, where you provide fun facts about each animal in your list.
What is your favourite scene from a book or a movie? Write down this scene. Now rewrite the scene in a different genre, such as horror, comedy, drama etc.
Change the main character of a story you recently read into a villain. For example, you could take a popular fairytale such as Jack and the Beanstalk, but this time re-write the story to make Jack the villain of the tale.
Complete the following sentence in at least 10 different ways: Do you ever wonder…
What does your name mean? Research the meaning of your own name, or a name that interests you. Then use this as inspiration for your next story. For example, the name ‘Marty’ means “Servant Of Mars, God Of War”. This could make a good concept for a sci-fi story.
Make a list of three different types of heroes (or main characters) for potential future stories.
If someone gave you $10 dollars, what would you spend it on and why?
Describe the world’s most boring character in at least 100 words.
What is the biggest problem in the world today, and how can you help fix this issue?
Create your own travel brochure for your hometown. Think about why tourists might want to visit your hometown. What is your town’s history? What kind of activities can you do? You could even research some interesting facts.
Make a list of all your favourite moments or memories in your life. Now pick one to write a short story about.
Describe the scariest and ugliest monster you can imagine. You could even draw a picture of this monster with your description.
Write seven haikus, one for each colour of the rainbow. That’s red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.
Imagine you are at the supermarket. Write down at least three funny scenarios that could happen to you at the supermarket. Use one for your next short story.
Imagine your main character is at home staring at a photograph. Write the saddest scene possible. Your goal is to make your reader cry when reading this scene.
What is happiness? In at least 150 words describe the feeling of happiness. You could use examples from your own life of when you felt happy.
Think of a recent nightmare you had and write down everything you can remember. Use this nightmare as inspiration for your next story.
Keep a dream journal. Every time you wake up in the middle of the night or early in the morning you can quickly jot down things that you remember from your dreams. These notes can then be used as inspiration for a short story.
Your main character is having a really bad day. Describe this bad day and the series of events they experience. What’s the worst thing that could happen to your character?
You find a box on your doorstep. You open this box and see the most amazing thing ever. Describe this amazing thing to your readers.
Make a list of at least five possible settings or locations for future stories. Remember to describe each setting in detail.
Think of something new you recently learned. Write this down. Now write a short story where your main character also learns the same thing.
Describe the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen in your whole life. Your goal is to amaze your readers with its beauty.
Make a list of things that make you happy or cheer you up. Try to think of at least five ideas. Now imagine living in a world where all these things were banned or against the law. Use this as inspiration for your next story.
Would you rather be rich and alone or poor and very popular? Write a story based on the lives of these two characters.
Imagine your main character is a Librarian. Write down at least three dark secrets they might have. Remember, the best secrets are always unexpected.
There’s a history behind everything. Describe the history of your house. How and when was your house built? Think about the land it was built on and the people that may have lived here long before you.
Imagine that you are the king or queen of a beautiful kingdom. Describe your kingdom in great detail. What kind of rules would you have? Would you be a kind ruler or an evil ruler of the kingdom?
Make a wish list of at least three objects you wish you owned right now. Now use these three items in your next story. At least one of them must be the main prop in the story.
Using nothing but the sense of taste, describe a nice Sunday afternoon at your house. Remember you can’t use your other senses (i.e see, hear, smell or touch) in this description.
What’s the worst pain you felt in your life? Describe this pain in great detail, so your readers can also feel it.
If you were lost on a deserted island in the middle of nowhere, what three must-have things would you pack and why?
Particpate in online writing challenges or contests. Here at Imagine Forest, we offer daily writing challenges with a new prompt added every day to inspire you. Check out our challenges section in the menu.

Do you have any more fun creative writing exercises to share? Let us know in the comments below!

Marty the wizard is the master of Imagine Forest. When he's not reading a ton of books or writing some of his own tales, he loves to be surrounded by the magical creatures that live in Imagine Forest. While living in his tree house he has devoted his time to helping children around the world with their writing skills and creativity.

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Home › Study Tips › Creative Writing Resources For Secondary School Students

What Is Creative Writing? Is It Worth Studying?

Published October 31, 2022

As loose as the definition of Creative Writing is, it’s not always easy to understand. Sure, writing a story is Creative Writing. What about poems or personal essays?

Also, how does Creative Writing even help one succeed in university and career life? We empower our Creative Writing summer school students to grasp the power of creative writing and how to use it.

How? By giving them access to personalised tutorials with expert Creative Writing tutors from prestigious universities such as the University of Oxford and Cambridge.

Creative Writing doesn’t have to be confusing or intimidating. In this article, we’ll take you through a simple explanation of what Creative Writing is and why it’s helpful and relevant.

What is Creative Writing?

The simplest description of Creative Writing is what it’s not: it doesn’t revolve around facts like technical writing.

Technical Writing vs Creative Writing

You encounter technical writing in your daily life. You’ll find it in newspapers, journal articles, and textbooks. Do you notice how the presentation of accurate information is necessary in each of these mediums?

Because the goal of technical writing is to explain or relay information as it is .

But in creative writing, such is not the case. The primary goal of Creative Writing is not to present complex information for the sake of educating the audience.

Instead, the goal is to express yourself. Should you want to share information via Creative Writing, the objective becomes persuading your readers to think about it as you do.

Hence, if you contrast Technical Writing and Creative Writing within this context,

Technical Writing: share information without biases
Creative Writing: self-expression of how one feels or thinks about said information.

If reducing personal opinion in Technical Writing is virtuous, in creative writing, it is criminal .

Self-Expression in Creative Writing

One must express oneself in Creative Writing to entertain, captivate, or persuade readers. Since Creative Writing involves one’s imagination and self-expression, it’s common for Creative Writers to say that they “poured a part of themselves” into their work.

What are the different ways you can express yourself in Creative Writing?

Types of Creative Writing: 2 Major Types

The two major umbrellas of Creative Writing are Creative Nonfiction and Creative Fiction.

1. Creative Nonfiction

“Nonfiction” means writing based on actual events, persons, and experiences. Some forms of creative nonfiction include:

Personal Essay – here, the writer shares their personal thoughts, beliefs, or experiences.
Memoir – captures the writer’s memories and experiences of a life-changing past event.
Narrative Nonfiction – a factual event written in a story format.

2. Creative Fiction

The bulk of Creative Writing literature is found under the Creative Fiction category, such as:

Short Story – shorter than a novel, containing only a few scenes and characters.
Novel – a full-blown plot line with multiple scenes, characters, and subplots.
Poem – uses specific rhythm and style to express ideas or feelings
Play – contains dialogue and stage directions for theatre performances.
Screenplay – script to be used for film production (e.g. movies, video games.)

In short, Creative Fiction involves stories . Do you want more specific examples of Creative Writing? Then, you may want to read this article called “Creative Writing Examples.”

Why Is It Important to Learn Creative Writing?

It’s essential to learn Creative Writing because of the following reasons:

1. Creative Writing is a valuable skill in school and work

As a student, you know well why Creative Writing is important. You submit written work in various situations, such as writing essays for assignments and exams. Or when you have to write a Personal Statement to apply for University.

In these situations, your chances of getting higher grades depend on your ability to write creatively. (Even your chances of getting accepted into a top ranked creative writing university of your dreams!)

What about when you graduate? Do you use Creative Writing in your career? Convincing a recruiter to hire you via cover letters is an example of creative writing.

Once you’re hired, you’ll find that you need to write something up. It depends on your line of work and how often and complex your writing should be.

But mundane tasks such as writing an email response, coming up with a newsletter, or making a PowerPoint presentation involve creative writing.

So when you’ve practised your Creative Writing skills, you’ll find these tasks manageable. Even enjoyable! If you want to study creative writing at university, we put together what a-levels you need for creative writing .

2. Creative Writing enhances several essential skills.

Do you know that writing is thinking? At least that’s what the American Historian and two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, David McCullough said.

Many people find Creative Writing challenging because it requires a combination of the following skills:

Observation
Critical thinking and analysis
Reasoning skills
Communication

Many of these skills make you a valuable employee in many industries. In fact, Forbes reports that:

Critical Thinking
and Emotional Intelligence

are three of the Top 10 most in-demand skills for the next decade. That’s why Creative Writing is a valuable endeavour and if you take it at university there are some great creative writing degree career prospects .

3. Creative Writing Is Therapeutic

Do you know that Creative Writing has a significant beneficial effect on your mental and emotional health?

A 2021 study in the Counselling & Psychotherapy Research reports that Creative Writing brought significant health benefits to nine people who worked in creative industries. Writing helped them in their cognitive processing of emotional difficulty.

Result? Improved mood and mental well-being.

A plethora of studies over the decades found the same results. Expressing yourself via creative writing, especially by writing in your daily journal, is beneficial for your mental and emotional health.

4. You may want to work in a Creative Writing-related Career

Creative employment in the UK grows 2x faster than the rest of the economy. In fact, did you know that jobs in the creative industry grew by 30.6% from 2011 to 2018?

Compare that to the average UK growth of 10.1% during the same period, and you can see the potential.

How about in the US? The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates a 4% increase in employment for authors and writers from 2021 to 2031. Resulting in about 15,200 job openings yearly over the next 10 years.

The median yearly salary? It was at $69,510 as of May 2021.

So if you’re considering a Creative Writing career, now would be a great time to do so!

How To Be A Creative Writer?

You want to be a Creative Writer but don’t know where to start. Don’t worry! The best way to start is to learn from Creative Writing experts .

That’s why we ensure our Creative Writing summer school students have access to 1:1 personalised tutorials with expert Creative Writing tutors.

Our Creative Writing tutors come from world-renowned universities such as the University of Cambridge and Oxford. So you’re in excellent hands!

Here you’ll learn creative writing tips and techniques , such as character creation and plot mapping. But the best part is, you’ll come out of the course having experienced what a Creative Writer is like!

Because by then, you’ll have a Written Portfolio to show for your efforts. Which you presented to your tutor and peers for receiving constructive feedback.

Another surefire way to start becoming a Creative Writer is by practising. Check out this article called “ Creative Writing Exercises .” You’ll begin building a writing routine if you practice these exercises daily.

And trust us, every great writer has a solid writing routine!

Creative Writing is a form of self-expression that allows you to use your imagination and creativity. It can be in the form of personal essays, short stories, or poems. It is often used as an outlet for emotions and experiences. Start with creative writing by reading through creative writing examples to help get you in the mood. Then, just let the words flow daily, and you’re on the road to becoming an excellent Creative Writer!

How to Teach Yourself Creative Writing

Whether you write fiction , poetry, plays, or screenplays you can absolutely teach yourself how to be a creative writer.

Letter Review believes that in each great work of art are all the rules and lessons you need to create a great work of art. So grab your favourite piece of creative writing and start analysing it!

Read, Read, Read

Books can be expensive, so remember that you can always visit your local library (if you have one), and you can find lots of resources for free online.

The more you read the more you will know what has been done in your genre and medium before, and the more confident you will be about what it is you need to write , and how to contribute to the field!

Don’t reinvent the wheel each time you pick up the pen . Learn from what others have done, and build on their successes! Or deviate from them entirely to forge your own path.

Write, Write, Write

It’s absolutely true that writing is a skill , and you don’t learn skills just from theory. You learn them from doing!

This is actually great news because it means that boffins and nerds can’t come along and trump you just by reading up quickly in the area.

It actually takes years and decades of practice to learn the craft, which means that to some extent all your hard work is being rewarded as you slowly improve .

Of course there is an underlying element of natural talent, but talent never wrote a book.

Most writers would agree that the more you write , the better you get!

Letter Review recommends you get into a regular writing pattern and stick to that! 1000 words in the morning before work. Or one poem a day.

Whatever it is, let time be your friend by writing regularly, and watch the word count mount up over the weeks and years!!!

Read Books by Experts

They say ‘those who can’t do, teach’. This is a mean way of saying only those who can’t actually perform the skill in question resort to teaching. Otherwise, wouldn’t they just be making all their money from their creative writing?

Letter Review believes this is a reductive way of thinking about creative writing teachers. The ultimate proof is when someone who is extremely good at creative writing says that a certain writing teacher knows what they are talking about, and has really helped them.

If you can find a creative writing teacher like this, then it’s totally worth investigating what they have to say.

Check out the best books on screenwriting here , and the best books on fiction here.

Also try to find books on writing by your favourite creative writers. Aaron Sorkin gives plenty of classes , for example. There is a book that summarises all the tips on writing that Hemingway wrote.

Watch Classes Online

Now that you are reading books and watching lectures online, are you still teaching yourself? I think you are.

It’s just a matter of doing it at your own pace, and not paying anyone to be your instructor, right? Some of us are autodidacts and just don’t like to be told what to do or what to think.

Youtube has so many great videos featuring the leading creative writers talking about their craft. Start by putting the names of your favourite authors into the site along with ‘interview.’

Creative Writing Workshops

Start a writing workshop with your friends. This can be a low stress and fun way for you to share work with people you trust, and get the benefit of their wisdom. If you hear everyone else’s feedback too then you get lots of wisdom.

Creative Writing Groups and Book Clubs

Sometimes workshops can be a bit overwhelming, or difficult to organise. In that case, just jump in a creative writing group or a book club.

You can meet for dinner, or coffee and discuss a certain book , or discuss any upcoming opportunities or any thoughts you have about creative writing.

Just getting into the society of like minded writers can be a wonderful way to expand your horizons, make friends, and learn a lot about creative writing!

Self-Expressive Writing Worksheets: A Collection of PDF’s

Bottling up emotions can lead to stress and sometimes depression and as such, writing can increase mental health because it offers a safe and confidential way to express emotions instead of bottling them up.

This article discusses the many benefits of self-expressive writing to clients and how they can overcome their fears and get started on writing.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Goal Achievement Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or your clients create actionable goals and master techniques to create lasting behavior change.

This Article Contains:

Benefits of writing, instructions for the practitioner, working with writing therapy, a collection of self-expressive writing worksheets, further writing resources, a take-home message.

The positive effects of self-expressive writing are:

A significant healing effect in individuals who have experienced a traumatic or extremely stressful event. Participants in a study who wrote about their most traumatic experiences for 15 minutes, four days in a row, experienced better health outcomes up to four months later (Baikie & Wilhelm, 2005).
Over 100 asthma and rheumatoid arthritis patients showed similar results as above. Participants who wrote about the most stressful event of their lives experienced better health evaluations related to their illness (Smyth, Stone, Hurewitz, & Kaell, 1999).
A recent study suggested that expressive writing may even improve immune system functioning, although it may need to be sustained for the health benefits to continue (Murray, 2002).
In a study by Burton and King (2004), mood measures were taken before and after participants wrote about either an intensely positive experience (IPE) or a neutral topic for 20 minutes each day for three consecutive days. The results showed that writing about IPEs was associated with an enhanced positive mood along with significantly fewer health center visits for illness, compared to controls.

In addition to these more concrete benefits, regular therapeutic writing can help the writer:

Find meaning in their experiences, view things from a new perspective, and see the silver linings in their most stressful or negative experiences (Murray, 2002).
Experience important insights about themselves and their environment that may be difficult to determine without focused writing (Tartakovsky, 2015).

Writing therapy has proven effective for many different conditions or mental illnesses, including (Lepore & Smyth, 2002; Pennebaker, 1997, 2004):

Posttraumatic stress
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Grief and loss
Chronic illness issues
Substance abuse
Eating disorders
Interpersonal relationship issues
Communication skill issues
Low self-esteem
Increased feelings of wellbeing
Reduced physician visits
Reduced absenteeism from work
Improved academic grades
Enhanced immune system functions

People who reported having a highly traumatic experience and who kept the experience a secret showed far more health problems than people who openly talked about their trauma.

His research also showed that, compared to people who were told to write about non-emotional topics, those who wrote about trauma showed improved physical health.

“[…] emotional writing boosted immune function, brought about drops in blood pressure, and reduced feelings of depression and elevated daily moods.”

(The Secret Life of Pronouns, 2011)

Your help as a practitioner can be hugely beneficial to your client. When reading or listening to your client’s writing, try to discover in what way the client is expressing their emotions. Are there any signs of emotions being talked over too quickly or being suppressed? Is there repetition in their choice of vocabulary?

If clients are using a high number of what is referred to as ‘negative emotion words’ in their writing, this is not only a sign that something is wrong but also a sign that it may be time for you as a therapist to intervene.

Pennebaker found that the more people used positive emotions while writing about emotional upheavals, the more their physical and mental health improved in weeks and months after the experiment.

Pennebaker’s research also concluded that people whose health improved the most from writing used only a moderate number of negative emotion words.

“People who expressed negative emotion language at very high rates did not benefit from writing – almost as if they were awash in their unhappiness.”

This means as a helping professional, it is your job to make sure that a client uses a healthy mix of positive and negative emotional words to express themselves.

You can do this by asking your client to describe:

The situation from both a positive and negative point of view.
Both the positive and negative emotions they experienced.
What good things a certain negative experience led to later in life.

Note that it’s not about stimulating your client to be overly positive or negative in a forced way. Rather, it’s about helping your client to use a healthy mix of positive and negative emotional words when expressing themselves, correcting the imbalance between the two.

To summarise, when discussing your client’s writing with them, try to discover:

The reason why they are sharing these particular emotional experiences.
What kind of adjustment the client is showing in their writing.
Whether they are using a healthy balance between positive and negative emotional words to express themselves.

Start with your confidentiality agreement

You can start by telling your client that – as with the rest of the therapy – nothing they share in writing will be read by anyone without their consent, including you.

Let your client decide whether they want you to:

Read all of their writing.
Read only what they feel comfortable sharing with you.
Don’t read any of their writing.
You can also ask your client to read aloud what they feel like sharing. This way you can gauge their response, hear their tone, and see their emotions.

Explain the goal of these writing exercises

Make it clear what the goal of the writing exercise is before the client starts. This should prevent frustration and strengthen the client’s resolve to follow through.

The client should not be concerned with anything else except writing a certain amount of words for a certain amount of time. We have found this approach works best with writing exercises.

Instruct your client not to be concerned about:

Spelling or grammar
Word use (all curse words allowed)
Consistency
Sticking to a topic
Whether their writing is “any good”
Anyone else but you reading their writing
Succeeding or failing
Writing too much

Know that your client often carries not just their problems within them, but also the solutions. Writing is a way to extract both the problems and the solutions. As a helping professional, you facilitate and guide them through this process.

It is why it’s recommended that you, the practitioner, have done these writing exercises yourself before giving them to a client. Insight is key!

Download 3 Free Goals Exercises (PDF)

These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or your clients create actionable goals and master techniques for lasting behavior change.

Download 3 Free Goals Pack (PDF)

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Advice from practitioners working with writing therapy:

I’ve been a big believer in writing as a superhighway to the subconscious since I began my practice many years ago. For many people, it can be a great outlet and effective tool. I have found adding a component of ritual is particularly useful as well. For example, journaling about letting go of trauma or pain is supercharged by adding the ritual of burning the pages when the writer feels like he or she is ready. As the brain registers the literal release of the pain, all the senses become involved and the message of moving past the issue is absorbed fully into consciousness.

– Marilynn Halas

Usually, when I work with writing I like to start the session in a relaxed manner (guided meditation). We will then discuss a subject that I propose and immediately following the clients are given 10-15 minutes to write freely. Afterwards, the clients in the group who would like to share, read out what they have written within the circle. For the last step, I like to get everybody to share in one word, what they are taking home from the writing session.

– Tiziana De Giosa

A lot of client struggle is with letting go of their addict-life and getting in touch with who they are and where it is they want to go to. For clients, it is useful to have small exercises, (autonomic) goal-oriented, to make the transition from their self-destructive addicted life towards a value-based life. At this moment, writing is not regularly implemented in therapy sessions. Sometimes I ask clients, to briefly evaluate the day in the evening by writing three things for which they are grateful. I have to note that the intellectual and introspective capacities among clients often differ very much.

-Berber Jacquemijns

I notice that not all of my clients are comfortable expressing their feelings. Some do, some shy away, whilst others just can’t. Of course, in all cases, I use writing therapy little or more depending on the responses I get from them. I use it as a catharsis tool. I literally call it the ‘vomit’ time! I ask my clients to write on a topic, which we then read together in order to gain perspectives on the emotions that they have transferred to paper. These are in the form of questions. The brain becomes aware of why a particular, paragraph, sentence or word has been written as it has just been transferred from the subconscious mind. When we read it together, there is a deeper level of understanding to that feeling/emotion. Stay with the client even if the writing does not make any sense at a conscious level but as a practitioner, we can recognise that the writing comes from a place of hurt, pain, grief and/or happiness and joy. Emotions can cloud writing and it takes time to separate the water from the mud. This form of therapy helps make the client an expert of their own experience. From a trauma-informed approach, it gives the client/writer the ability to literally re-write their trauma narrative which could be considered the integration phase of trauma recovery. Also, it allows clients to identify, look up words and use examples which they may not have the confidence to communicate through speech. Research is just starting to catch up now on the healing powers of writing. Writing therapy allows room for story-telling which many cultures engage in and use to pass on their history and traditions. I would imagine from Eastern philosophy this is what one would refer to as “speaking their truth”..

– Anu Krishna

Most of the time, a topic of what to write about will come up during a session. From there they may be asked to do a writing assignment based on what is said. For example, a client that has 30+ years of sobriety almost killed himself at the age of 21 while driving under the influence. During one of the sessions, he lamented that he wished someone had talked to him about his behavior because he may be in a better place at this point in this life. The accident caused significant spinal injuries so he has some physical deficits associated with gross motor movements. His assignment was to write a letter to his 21-year-old self to let him know how his life was turning out. My goal was to help him see how much he had accomplished in his life, what he was currently doing, and how the accident contributed in some positive ways as well. We discussed the assignment and since it was developed during the session, I had not had the opportunity to think about clear examples to answer the client’s questions. We spent a few sessions after he wrote the letter to flesh out some additional information and he was able to gain closure. When I request writing assignments, clients invariably ask how to do it. I typically ask them questions to help them think about what’s important to them. Sometimes it’s still unclear for them, so I will verbally start a letter with them and ask them to fill in the blank.

– Diane Shepard

Motivation for the Client

This worksheet contains basic instructions on writing to help your client get started.

It will help the client understand why they are writing and learn something about themself and gain insight into the thought process behind choices and decision-making.

Fear Setting

The fear setting worksheet will help clients identify their fears and actions to overcome said fears.

It’s a structured checklist to identify clients’ fears and highlight the benefits and rewards of taking the action needed or the results of inaction.

Healing from Trauma Through Writing

Since writing is a form of expressive therapy , the goal of this exercise is to help clients find meaning and resolution in their trauma.

This exercise is intended to focus on your most traumatic life experience. Let your ideas flow fluidly as you recount the past, the present, or the future. As you write, explore the emotions.

Reflection Prompts

Reflection prompts are a great tool to make daily journaling easy and fun. They are simple, quick questions to be asked regularly.

They can also overcome the paralysis and mind blankness that can happen when faced with staring at nothing but a blank page.

Self-Reflective Writing Exercises

This worksheet contains a list of self-reflective writing exercises. It is beneficial to spend more time reflecting on and working through the topics in these exercises.

Working Towards Your Ideal Self

The Working Towards Your Ideal Self worksheet will encourage your client to place themselves in their ideal future — a life of their own making.

It will allow the client to visualize what the best version of themselves would look like and establish a framework of goals whilst highlighting harmful or non-conducive behavior.

Writing About Intensely Positive Experiences

Writing About Intensely Positive Experiences for 20 minutes over three consecutive days will help improve the client’s mood.

17 Tools To Increase Motivation and Goal Achievement

These 17 Motivation & Goal Achievement Exercises [PDF] contain all you need to help others set meaningful goals, increase self-drive, and experience greater accomplishment and life satisfaction.

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

“The truth knocks on the door and you say: “Go away, I’m looking for the truth,” and so it goes away. Puzzling.”

― Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

1. Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, Creativity – David Lynch

Ideas are like fish. If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water.

But if you want to catch the big fish, you’ve got to go deeper.

Available on Amazon .

2. Naikan: Gratitude, Grace, and the Japanese Art of Self-Reflection – Gregg Krech

This collection of introductory essays, parables, and inspirations explains what Naikan is and how it can be applied to life.

3. Expressive Writing: Words that Heal – James Pennebaker and John Evans

Revealing research results, this book shows the effect expressive writing has on physical health.

The book reveals why writing therapy, as opposed to talking therapy, can be more effective, especially when dealing with trauma.

From the instructions: “Write about what keeps you awake at night. The emotional upheaval bothering you the most and keeping you awake at night is a good place to start writing.”

In summary, there are great therapeutic benefits to writing and writing therapy. Keeping a journal can be extremely helpful for the user.

It is a low-cost, easily accessible, and versatile form of therapy. It can be done individually or guided by a mental health professional. It can be practiced within a group and even added as a supplement to another form of therapy.

These benefits are certainly not trivial, as the potential positive outcomes of self-expressive writing therapy reach much further and deeper than simply writing in a diary.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Goal Achievement Exercises for free .

Credits to Craig Smith for helping me put all this together.

Baikie, K. A., & Wilhelm, K. (2005). Emotional and physical health benefits of expressive writing. Advances in psychiatric treatment , 11(5), 338-346.
Burton, C. M., & King, L. A. (2004). The health benefits of writing about intensely positive experiences. Journal of research in personality , 38(2), 150-163.
Lepore, S. J., & Smyth, J. M. (2002). The writing cure: How expressive writing promotes health and emotional well-being . American Psychological Association.
Murray, M. (2002). Beyond the myths and magic of mentoring: How to facilitate an effective mentoring process . John Wiley & Sons.
Pennebaker, J. W. (1997). Writing about emotional experiences as a therapeutic process. Psychological science , 8(3), 162-166.
Pennebaker, J. W. (2004). Theories, therapies, and taxpayers: On the complexities of the expressive writing paradigm .
Pennebaker, J. W. (2011). The secret life of pronouns. New Scientist , 211(2828), 42-45.
Smyth, J. M., Stone, A. A., Hurewitz, A., & Kaell, A. (1999). Effects of writing about stressful experiences on symptom reduction in patients with asthma or rheumatoid arthritis: A randomized trial . Jama, 281(14), 1304-1309.
Tartakovsky, R. (2015). The case for pace. Style , 49(1), 65-77.

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Thank you for sharing your experience.. Its really brave and Im grateful to you for I learned as well poetry does not come as often as I want to

Im wishing you all the best I hope by now you are book is published..

This is amazing and very helpful!

I just have a question…Is one allowed to use these worksheets to work with, say, vulnerable youth within a certain youth-focused programme? I am currently a mentor and have a strong passion for the use of Expressive writing for therapy, and plan on having a workshop with a strong focus on this. What are the restrictions to using your worksheets? Do I have to reference you? What exactly do I need to do especially if I am going to use it constantly, as I believe it is your intellectual property?

Hi Kimberly,

Glad you enjoyed this post, and thank you for asking 🙂 You are welcome to use these worksheets consistently with your clients provided you use them on their present template, which includes our website as the source. What you can’t do is onsell them commercially to your clients, or republish them in another printed or online outlet.

Hope that helps and all the best with your work.

– Nicole | Community Manager

Hi The article 83 Benefits of Journaling for Depression, Anxiety, and Stress By Courtney E Eckerman is SPOT ON I’m 51 Began Journaling when I was 17 because I was a 1. Loner 2. Depressed person (didn’t know it then – diagnosed Bipolar by a psychologist who I sleeked help from…..didn’t work out…long story) 3. Had a disassociated Personality – stemmed from childhood ( had emotional abandonment disorder – from my mom leaving me at 4 years old for 4 years – I’m Eastern European and was brought up in a household where you don’t talk about your problems so I began to write because I had no one to talk to, I discovered all this through writing in a Journal for over 28 years – And I self- healed. I combined my disassociated personalities accidentally through a practice I had never heard about prior to doing it called MINDFULLNESS – but this MINDFULLNESS EXPERIMENT came about from journaling – My Journaling took many type of forms * Poetry – ( Came through me in a Rushing Outpour – I can not write poetry now to save my life) * Self- Help Note taking * Dialogue from favorite Movies – Usually deep ones dealing with Artist’s Biographies * Spiritual Undertones This Last One – Spiritual Undertone – I felt it through my writing – Not right away For most of my life I wanted to die -because the emotional pain was very overwhelming The Journal Was My Best Friend – it helped ease the Pain When I’d write things such as I’m a loser – I never do anything right There would be answers back with my own pen ( At the time I didn’t reflect on it – never did) such as You’re more than you know. A conqueror of Life . A Power to be reckoned with Messages Like that ( If you are a Depressed Person – You know that there’s no way that you can have such feelings off low self worth and in the next line be able to pump yourself up So there is a SPIRITUAL FORCE that begins working through you when you start asking and Probing WHO AM I ? I was obsessed with this because I was going crazy with my disassociated personalities. And abscessed with figuring out my PURPOSE in life. While I was going through this obsessive quest I couldn’t understand why it was that I was so abscessed with it – in the end I figured out it’s because it’s a CALLING – A SPIRITUAL CALLING – and once I accepted it and began working towards it I felt fully whole and at peace The only time I’m not at peace within myself is when I seriously say within ” I GIVE UP – THIS IS TOO HARD” My CALLING? Put out a 4 Voulume Series – MEMOIR of my 27 YearJourney – My 1st Book done – I’m working on applying my Editor’s suggestions Sorry for the messy writing – thought jumping If anyone wants to contact me – I’m living proof that Journaling works It saved my life / helped me discover my Purpose Simona Adina [email protected] THANK YOU GREAT ARTICLE AND GREAT RESOURCES YOU ARE INSPIRATIONAL

Hi Simona, Thank you for sharing the phenomenal impact that journaling as had on your life — that’s amazing! Best of luck with your upcoming book. – Nicole | Community Manager

Thank you so much for the resources! It’s enormously valuable and very much appreciated!

Hi Claudia, So glad to hear you found the materials valuable. Thanks for reading! – Nicole Celestine | Community Manager

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Craft the perfect creative writing prompt from Microsoft Designer's AI images

march 22, 2024

by Monica Jayasinghe

Hello, fellow educators! I recently discovered an exciting way to create engaging writing prompts for my students using AI and Microsoft Designer . The results were amazing, and I can't wait to share this fun and innovative approach with you!

Describing the Vision:

To get started, head over to Microsoft Designer . We'll use the power of AI to generate an image that will serve as the foundation for our writing prompt.

We'll use Image Creator , where you can describe the image you want to create. The goal is to generate an image that will capture your students' imagination and inspire them to write.

For this example, I entered the prompt, A spacecraft landing near a house, futuristic, mysterious.

The results of the prompt "A spacecraft landing near a house, futuristic, mysterious."

Choose the image you want to work with

Once you select Generate , Microsoft Designer will provide you with a variety of AI-generated images. Since we're creating a writing prompt, look for an image that has space for adding instructions and is easy to read.

You'll be amazed by the number of options available! When you find an image you like, click on it and select Edit image .

Customize the image

After selecting your preferred image, it's time to customize it.

Click on Resize in the top panel and adjust the dimensions to match a PowerPoint slide. This will ensure that the image fits perfectly when you're ready to present it to your students. You can also align the image anywhere on the page to create the perfect composition.
In the box labeled AI tools , you'll see additional customization options. Consider playing with the filters to update the mood and color scheme of your image.

Add instructions and text

To make the writing prompt clear and easy to read, click on the existing text and customize it. To add a heading, click on Text in the left panel. The right panel will populate with even more ideas you can use.

Designer's text suggestions for the image

In this example, I changed the color to white and added a story starter.

The spaceship image with the words "A visitor arrives"

Engage your students

The possibilities for using AI-generated images as writing prompts are endless! Here are a few options:

Get inspired by the artwork

The most obvious way to use these images is as direct inspiration for student writing. Generate a bold, fantastical, emotional, or silly image and have students write a story about what's happening in the image.

Try this prompt: A whimsical classroom under the sea. The teacher is a wise old octopus. The classroom is decorated with shell desks and seaweed streamers .

The results of the prompt " https://designer.microsoft.com/image-creator?p=A+whimsical+classroom+%5Bin%2Funder%5D+%5Bthe+sea%5D.+The+teacher+is+a+wise+old+%5Boctopus%5D.+The+classroom+is+decorated+with+%5Bshell%5D+desks+and+%5Bseaweed+streamers%5D.+&referrer=PromptTemplate Edit Edit Remove Remove A whimsical classroom under the sea. The teacher is a wise old octopus. The classroom is decorated with shell desks and seaweed streamers."

Bring stories to life

Another great idea is to take an excerpt from a story you're reading in class and use the AI to generate an image that matches that specific part of the story. This will spark engaging discussions among your students and bring the story to life in a whole new way.

Bring units to life

Why stop at a story? You can also generate images that fit the theme of a unit you're working on, whether you're exploring weather patterns or reliving life on the Oregon Trail.

Consider setting aside some time each day or week for students to free write or journal. Kick off the writing session with an AI-generated image, then throw on some light classical music and let them write. Mix up the kind of images you show them, from lush landscapes to abstract pop art, and see what it inspires.

Try this prompt: An abstract painting in vivid colors

The results of the prompt "An abstract painting in vivid colors"

You can even include animated options. After you generate your image in Microsoft Designer, select the image and Create Design . In the right-hand panel that appears, you'll see several design options. Usually, one or more of these options will be animated. Select the animated option and add it to your PowerPoint!

Accessing your AI-generated images

One of the best features of Microsoft Designer is that all the images you create using AI are saved in the My Media section. This means you'll never lose your creations and can easily access them whenever you need them.

This feature enables educators to curate a collection of visuals for various writing themes, be it aliens, dragons, or any other imaginative scenario.

Wrapping up

Microsoft Designer is a game-changer for educators looking to inspire their students' creativity. The AI-generated images, customization options, and easy access to your creations make this a powerful tool for any classroom.

Head over to designer.microsoft.com today and start creating unforgettable writing prompts!

Touring the Top 10 Moscow Metro Stations

By Claudia Looi 2 Comments

Komsomolskaya metro station looks like a museum. It has vaulted ceilings and baroque decor.

Hidden underground, in the heart of Moscow, are historical and architectural treasures of Russia. These are Soviet-era creations – the metro stations of Moscow.

Our guide Maria introduced these elaborate metro stations as “the palaces for the people.” Built between 1937 and 1955, each station holds its own history and stories. Stalin had the idea of building beautiful underground spaces that the masses could enjoy. They would look like museums, art centers, concert halls, palaces and churches. Each would have a different theme. None would be alike.

The two-hour private tour was with a former Intourist tour guide named Maria. Maria lived in Moscow all her life and through the communist era of 60s to 90s. She has been a tour guide for more than 30 years. Being in her 60s, she moved rather quickly for her age. We traveled and crammed with Maria and other Muscovites on the metro to visit 10 different metro stations.

Arrow showing the direction of metro line 1 and 2

Moscow subways are very clean

To Maria, every street, metro and building told a story. I couldn’t keep up with her stories. I don’t remember most of what she said because I was just thrilled being in Moscow. Added to that, she spilled out so many Russian words and names, which to one who can’t read Cyrillic, sounded so foreign and could be easily forgotten.

The metro tour was the first part of our all day tour of Moscow with Maria. Here are the stations we visited:

1. Komsomolskaya Metro Station is the most beautiful of them all. Painted yellow and decorated with chandeliers, gold leaves and semi precious stones, the station looks like a stately museum. And possibly decorated like a palace. I saw Komsomolskaya first, before the rest of the stations upon arrival in Moscow by train from St. Petersburg.

2. Revolution Square Metro Station (Ploshchad Revolyutsii) has marble arches and 72 bronze sculptures designed by Alexey Dushkin. The marble arches are flanked by the bronze sculptures. If you look closely you will see passersby touching the bronze dog's nose. Legend has it that good luck comes to those who touch the dog's nose.

Touch the dog's nose for good luck. At the Revolution Square station

Revolution Square Metro Station

3. Arbatskaya Metro Station served as a shelter during the Soviet-era. It is one of the largest and the deepest metro stations in Moscow.

Arbatskaya Metro Station

4. Biblioteka Imeni Lenina Metro Station was built in 1935 and named after the Russian State Library. It is located near the library and has a big mosaic portrait of Lenin and yellow ceramic tiles on the track walls.

Lenin's portrait at the Biblioteka Imeni Lenina Metro Station

5. Kievskaya Metro Station was one of the first to be completed in Moscow. Named after the capital city of Ukraine by Kiev-born, Nikita Khruschev, Stalin's successor.

Kievskaya Metro Station

6. Novoslobodskaya Metro Station was built in 1952. It has 32 stained glass murals with brass borders.

Novoslobodskaya metro station

7. Kurskaya Metro Station was one of the first few to be built in Moscow in 1938. It has ceiling panels and artwork showing Soviet leadership, Soviet lifestyle and political power. It has a dome with patriotic slogans decorated with red stars representing the Soviet's World War II Hall of Fame. Kurskaya Metro Station is a must-visit station in Moscow.

Ceiling panel and artworks at Kurskaya Metro Station

8. Mayakovskaya Metro Station built in 1938. It was named after Russian poet Vladmir Mayakovsky. This is one of the most beautiful metro stations in the world with 34 mosaics painted by Alexander Deyneka.

Mayakovskaya station

One of the over 30 ceiling mosaics in Mayakovskaya metro station

9. Belorusskaya Metro Station is named after the people of Belarus. In the picture below, there are statues of 3 members of the Partisan Resistance in Belarus during World War II. The statues were sculpted by Sergei Orlov, S. Rabinovich and I. Slonim.

10. Teatralnaya Metro Station (Theatre Metro Station) is located near the Bolshoi Theatre.

Teatralnaya Metro Station decorated with porcelain figures .

Taking the metro's escalator at the end of the tour with Maria the tour guide.

Have you visited the Moscow Metro? Leave your comment below.

January 15, 2017 at 8:17 am

An excellent read! Thanks for much for sharing the Russian metro system with us. We're heading to Moscow in April and exploring the metro stations were on our list and after reading your post, I'm even more excited to go visit them. Thanks again 🙂

December 6, 2017 at 10:45 pm

Hi, do you remember which tour company you contacted for this tour?

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Writing Prompts About Yourself: 27 Ideas to Spark Your Creativity

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27 Writing Prompts About Yourself

Understanding Self-Reflection

Importance of Self-Reflection

Self-Reflection Through Writing

Exploring Personal Identity

Traits and Personality

Appearance and Style

Personal Beliefs and Values

Reliving Memories

Childhood Recollections

Memorable Life Events

Examining Relationships

Family Dynamics

Friendships and Social Connections

Love and Romance

Personal Growth and Future Aspirations

Overcoming Challenges

Setting and Achieving Goals

Dreams and Aspirations

Expressing Gratitude and Acknowledging Accomplishments

Recognizing Strengths

Appreciating Successes

Exploring Interests and Passions

Hobbies and Talents

Travel and Exploration

Art and Creativity

Health and Wellness

Physical Health

Mental Health

Self-Care Practices

Engaging the Senses

Sight and Sound

Taste and Touch

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Fun and Light-hearted

Deep and Thought-Provoking

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