Picture Writing Prompts

Picture prompts or, rather, picture writing prompts are a great creative writing exercise. The object of these creative writing exercises is to take a picture or photo and look at it, trying to imagine a story behind it. The picture can be of a scene, an object a person or some combination of the three and you as the writer have to write a story that the image inspires. This method is also very good for writing poems and the more and more popular flash fiction pieces. Picture prompts are a great form of creative writing exercises because they allow so much creative freedom. Instead of being given a set of phrases or words to write a story from you just get a picture and this picture is supposed to inspire you to write a story. Usually emotions and feelings play a big part here, since this is what is most often invoked when looking at a picture or a photo.

The instructions for using picture prompts to do your daily writing exercises are to look at the image sitting quietly and relaxing your mind, letting ideas flow freely. You should however, focus your thoughts on the image. Do this until a story behind the photo forms in your mind. Once this happens start writing immediately either on the computer on by hand and the goal is to write the whole story in one sitting. This is merely the first draft so it doesn't have to be perfect, as it will have to rewritten a few times before the story can be said to be finished. The reason why you should write the whole story from beginning to end once you sit down to begin is to ensure the best continuity of the story, and also because it is usually only by following the story through to the end that the real meaning comes out. This does not mean the story needs to be long, though, just that it has to nave a beginning, middle and a conclusion. You might even consider it a blueprint for a longer story, something to start from.

In order to become a good writer you need to practice often and well, daily I would suggest, but I do realize that schedules can be quite full. So try for three or four times a week at least. Creative writing exercises in the form of picture prompts are a great way to practice your writing. They are not constricting and allow you to really let your hair down, so to speak. So go check out some picture prompts right now, and remember to stay creative!