We’ve found writing prompts to be helpful as they trigger inspiration and make us practice skills outside of our usual writing area. The piece can be a sentence, a paragraph or however long the writing muse dwells.

Group members attending each meeting brainstorm and agree on the writing prompt for the next meeting. 

2022

December 3: Pick a historical figure, and write their resume.

November 5: Write about an unforeseen event in your life, or an event that had an unexpected outcome. What was a surprise? Was it good or bad? What were the consequences (if any)?

October 1: Something Wicked (in honor of the ACCC Literary Committee-sponsored event on October 13, AND in honor of All Hallows’ Eve and Spooky Season)! To celebrate the eerie, mysterious, and macabre, write a piece with a horror or supernatural theme.

September 10: Write about The Storm, in whatever form that takes. The storm outside, or the storm within? Thunder, dust, snow, or fire? Terrifying, or rejuvenating? Use all your senses.

August 6: Write about an unexpected package.

July 9: Pick one (or more) of the following word prompts:
*Farewell
*The Meadow
*Someday
*Forever
(These prompts coincide with the themes for “August Inspirations”: an ACCC-sponsored musician/writer collaboration event on August 4th! See our Events page for more details about this event!)

June 4: It’s a free write! Share what writerly wordage has inspired you over the last month.

May 7: Write a letter to your nemesis (human or nonhuman).

April 2: If you could do anything today (within your current financial situation/living circumstances) without fear, what would you do?

March 5: Write about something you used to do when you were young, that you won’t ever do again.

February 5: Forgotten Spaces, Forgotten Things (aka, “write about something you found in your junk drawer/closet/forgotten space”)

January 8: Pick one (or more) of the following:
*Starry Night
*Winter Sundays
*Home Blue
*Missing You
(These prompts coincide with the themes for the ACCC Winter Celebration on January 27th! See our Events page for more details about this event!)

2021

December 4: Traditions

November 6: Take a fairy tale character(s) out of their story and put them in a different setting/situation: *Another fairy tale *Real life/contemporary life *A different time period
*Focus on their character traits/character history from their regular story: have they changed? Have they learned a lesson?

October 2: See above.

September 4: Write a piece about change.

August 7: Write a piece that includes a body of water and makes use of all five senses.

July 10: The most annoying thing

June 12: The smell of hamburgers cooking…

May 15th: Write about an encounter with law enforcement.

April 10th: “Inspired By Actual Events” (use a story from the news or history books to inspire a short work of fiction)

March 6th: Eavesdropping on a conversation

February 6th: Winter Day

January 2nd: How Are You?

2020 Prompts

2019 Prompts

2018 Prompts

2017 Prompts

2016 Prompts

2015 Prompts