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When I start feeling too concerned that all the words I write be VERY smart and about
something worthwhile, I find my urge to write replaced with an urge to draw monkeys. -Lynda Barry

Maybe not as “silly” as this, but the question is pertinent and relevant, especially in academia where our writing signals our worth, intellect, value. Words have so much weight and power, particularly in how others view our contributions. Quality is important, but so is proverbially “drawing monkeys” and experimenting with words in ways that are low stakes, but generative.

In the following 6 prompts are opportunities to experiment with writing as a creative act as novelist Gertrude Stein puts it, “writing in terms of a discovery”. In two sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, you’ll find prompts that consider writing and audience, in and out of academic spaces. We hope you’ll respond to each prompt, but you are not required to write about every one. You might also find yourself wanting to respond to a prompt more than once.

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LUKEWARM TAKE

How much water should you actually drink a day? How do you know you drink enough? *

MAGAZINE REFLECTION

All of us could probably reach back or reflect presently on how magazines re/shape and reflect our realities. Magazines embody a genre and form that has both wide and specific appeal to its audiences. Imagine you are having a conversation with one of the editors of a beloved magazine (from past or present). What questions would you ask them and how do you think they would answer those questions. Write about your speculations. *

DOCUMENTING FOR DELIGHT

On in his 40th birthday, Ross Gay made a commitment to write about a delightful encounter each day. Drawing from Gay’s work in which he eventually compiled these Book of Delights, write about something that delighted you within this last week. *

CRAFTING A LETTER

A LIFE IN RECIPES

PLAYED OUT

Think of a reading that “fractured your world”—something that really shifted and changed how you thought about the world, life, and/or your own experience or that of others. Write a letter by any means to that author. *

Put together a recipe that others would read and be able to follow in the future. What is it about this recipe that makes it worth trying? This could be something you’ve made or rests in your dreams or imagination. While it should be written in a way others could theoretically follow, feel free to incorporate impossible ingredients, lost techniques, or strange approaches. *

Sometimes, we just need to release a gripe, complaint, or something that is really weighing on us. From political issues to the state of vegetables at the grocery store to pizza toppings, rants can be one way to surface feelings and emotions. Tell us about something that really sets you off lately, especially if your name is not attached to it (which it won’t be). *

NOTICING THE MUNDANE

We all get asked this a lot: what is so special, significant, or unique about what you are saying/writing. Like you, sometimes, I get tired of trying to look for the overly glamorous, mind blowing thing, that we forget to notice the seemingly ordinary and mundane. Write about something that often gets overlooked in written form and see what happens. *

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