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Noticing the Little Things Writing Prompts
What are some things you do every day? Describe or explain them. Imagine you could time travel to any time and place. Write about it.
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Some Seriously Silly Writing Prompts
Writing 1 Write about social media. Describe the best meal you’ve ever had. Or about the worst. Once upon a time… Writing 2 Doris. Write about bugs: catching them, eating them, smashing them, running from them, etc. Write about the princess and the pee. Writing 3 Write a piece in which every sentence begins with…
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Laughter and Imagination Writing Prompts
Writing 1 The best kind of laughter is… Imagine and write about your perfect _______. (Day, meal, conversation, etc.) What’s on your mind this week? Writing 2 Write about helping. Either helping others or being helped yourself. Technology is… Social media is… (Finish the sentence.) You are an advice columnist. Someone writes in asking you…
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Speak Up writing groups need your help
Speak Up writing groups are for everyone. Labels are set aside at the door. Homeless and non-homeless, political diversity, a range of ages and backgrounds come together in shared purpose and pursuit. In these spaces, people from diverse backgrounds gather to pause, write, and notice. Certain consistent practices and values provide guardrails of focus and safety. Community forms. People share…
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Light and Beauty and Darkness and Death Prompts
Writing 1 Write about old folks, old-timers, and being old. Or write about youth and the young. Start with this sentence: I don’t know about you, but I… Write about your favorite _________. (Color, song, food, person, book, anything.) Writing 2 Respond to this quote by Jim Elliot: “Wherever you are, be all there.” Light.…
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Publish your work from the writing groups
For summer 2026, here’s a sharpened approach to Speak Up writing groups publishing.
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The need was shared and then quickly met
On Thursday, Qiana called me. She was facing a financial crisis and was hours away from ending up on the streets with her kids. I first met Qiana in one of the weekly Speak Up writing groups. In the writing groups, people come from diverse backgrounds to pause, notice, and write together. Lots of good…
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Community is Hard (and Possible)
Speak Up writing groups hit on multiple levels. They provide individual invitations. These spaces let people discover and uncover things within. Carving out time to pause and write can help us notice priorities, reclaim what is important. For some it is a brief reprieve from the treadmill of urgency and survival. They are ripe spaces…
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From the Group Writing Prompts
Here are some additional prompts from this week’s writing groups. These prompts were suggested in real time by group attendees. Write about hoarding and hoarders. Write about your dreams. Fortitude. What does it mean to you? Write about hope. Write about poverty. Why does it exist? What’s behind it? Write about light and darkness in…
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Here and Now Writing Prompts
Writing 1 “Today will be a great day if…” Write about flavors. Write about less versus more. Writing 2 Think of all the personal technology in your life, such as computers, email, chat, social media, smartphones, apps, AI, instant news, online shopping, dating, everything. Write about the role and impact of these technologies in your…
