Writing: “A door you had locked is now wide open.”
Write about your life thematically. How can the above phrase serve as a metaphorical theme in your own life? How can you apply this metaphor to a moment or an area in your life? Start by thinking of a general theme and narrow it down to a specific life example. Art: Start by drawing a door and imagine what may appear after that door is open. It may not have to be literal! Think about the abstract feelings that may be unlocked. Try to make the viewer feel the tension between the door and the unlocked surprise that awaits you.
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Writing: Write about your most memorable moment from the first-person point of view. What makes it special to you? How did you feel when you experienced this event? Were you excited, scared, or joyful? Was it a happy or sad moment? Did you share it with others? Try to narrate the event in a way so that the reader can feel the emotions you felt.
Art: Recall your most memorable moment and draw your feelings from that event. How did you feel? Don't draw the setting or a depiction of what had happened. Focus instead on the sensations that you felt and try to allow the viewer to feel the same way when they look at your drawing. For instance, if you felt happy, use warm colors. If you felt sad, use cool colors. Writing:
Spring is my favorite season. And since today is officially the first day of spring, I thought that this week’s prompts should celebrate the new season. One of the most beautiful parts of spring (unless you have pollen allergies), is the rebirth of life and nature. Everything around us seems to be blooming, and the sun seems just a bit brighter and the sky just a bit clearer. Spring is a time that starting over seems more plausible, and the stress and gloom of the winter months fades to a memory. There are a few options for this week’s writing prompt: Number one, write about the blossoming of plant-life that you observe in your daily life. Whether it is the pink buds on cherry trees, the heavenly aroma of hyacinths, or or the multi-colored petals of tulips, there is no limit on the amount of poetry that can be inspired by this season. Another option is to write about memories you have of previous springs. The air during this time of year is particularly distinct in its spring-ness, and at least for me, always conjures images and feelings from the past. The final approach you can take, is to write about what this season means to you personally, in the present day, as you experience it. For example, do you notice that you have more or less energy than the winter months, a brighter outlook, or renewed optimism? Do you hate spring, and cannot understand why anyone else might appreciate it? Are you cautiously hopeful that the nicer weather might mean a happier next-few months? Have fun with it, and maybe work on this prompt outside! Art: Very much related to the writing prompt, this week’s prompt asks you to capture a moment that you feel is the epitome of spring. If you wish to practice photography, you can take a walk around your neighborhood and take photos of any scenes that particularly scream “spring” to you. You can do the same thing with drawing or painting, or you can depict images from your own mind or memory. These pictures can definitely be of flowers or trees, but they can also be less explicitly spring-like things. For example, if there are certain people on your block who like to sit outside on their stoops as the weather gets warmer, you can illustrate that. Or maybe you can draw all of the open windows in your building, or the people outside of school who are congregating instead of rushing home. Abstract art or collages can also be a really great way to convey certain images/associations that you have with this season. You can also bring your canvas or sketchbook outdoors, and try to do some drawing/painting of what you see in real time! Writing:
Imagine a world where it never rains; take this as optimistically or as pessimistically as you'd like, but explore all possible implications of this world without rain. Do the people suffer? Do they rejoice? How are the animals affected? Do they adapt? Art: Similarly to the writing prompt, create this rainless world visually. Have the plants taken on new colors? Does the sky look any different? The sky's the limit (pun intended). Writing:
If plants could talk, what would they say? Write a poem or a short story that features talking plants. You can choose to describe conversations between two flowers or narrate what a cactus would say to its owner. Would it complain about not getting enough water? Would they tell each other that they love transforming CO2 into O2? You can even tell the story of the everyday life of a plant. How does it see the world around it? Does it need to go to sleep and then wake up in the morning? Does it prefer one fertilizer over another? Art: Draw your favorite flower or plant. Why did you choose it? Highlight the aspects of it that you love the most. Is it the colorful petals? Is it because it is a hardy plant, or because it looks beautiful next to your desk lamp? Try to show all of the details of the flower or plant. Do the leaves have a fluffy or waxy texture? Use as many of your five senses to draw your chosen plant. Writing
Write about a character who strongly dislikes a specific event (a holiday, for example). Write a story explaining what made the character feel that way and what situations those feelings lead to. Art Draw a character in a situation that they can only describe as “well, it can’t get any worse.” Writing:
Look outside a window. It can be any window- your bedroom, a classroom, the subway- and jot down as many details as you can see. Notice the weather, the light or darkness, all objects or landscapes that you can see. You can create a story that begins, or entirely takes place, within the scene that you can see from your window. You can add a person, who for whatever reason is outside the window, and think about the steps that it took for the person to get there, or why they are there. Are they meeting someone? Are they lost? Maybe they are looking for a quiet moment of self-reflection? Another approach you could take to this prompt is choosing an object that you see from your window, and writing a poem from its point of view. If it had eyes, what does it see? What does it hear, feel, think about? How does the world change around it? Art: This prompt begins the same way as the writing prompt; by looking out a window. It can be any window- your bedroom, a classroom, the subway- and jot down as many details as you can see. Notice the weather, the light or darkness, all objects or landscapes that you can see. This can be a realistic assignment, where you try to accurately depict the scene by painting or drawing the image from your window. You can also be a bit more abstract, and only focus on certain shapes or parts of the view, and center other aspects of the image around them. Another option is to take an object from the image, like a tree, bench, or crosswalk, and place it in an entirely different landscape. For example, the tree that normally sits outside of your bedroom may now be perched on the dunes of a windy beach, or set deep within the crust of another planet, or is shrunk down to a fraction of its size and put into a small glass time capsule on an office desk. Writing:
In honor of Valentine’s day approaching, write about the best way you could envision spending the holiday. This could be as sappy/cliché as you’d like it to be. Art: Create a new symbol we could associate with Valentine’s day. Aside from red/pink/purple/white hearts, what else could we think about? Writing:
Describe what the world will look like in 2150 in detail. Will we live in a similar setting to how we live now? Will humans begin to move to other planets? How will we go to school and work? Where will we get our food? What will we wear? How will we communicate with each other? Art: Draw a scene from what you think the world in 2150 will look like. Try to depict most elements of the world, such as multiple people interacting with one another, people going to school and work, and people enjoying their free time. How do people go from one place to another? Do people still talk to one another? Draw this scene in detail. Writing:
Listening to music is always an excellent way to inspire great writing. For this week’s prompt, we will be creating our own playlists made up of songs that spark creativity in us. Step 1: Make a list of 2-3 songs (it can be more or less than this depending on how much you want to write) that you love, intrigues you, paints a very clear image in your mind, or for whatever reason resonates deeply with you. Step 2: Listen to the first song, and write a short story revolving around the ‘plot’ of the song. For example, you can think about what caused the artist to write this song, which moments led up to it, what the lyrics refer to. If short stories do not interest you, you can write poetry instead, using some of the lyrics or responding to them. You can also choose to write a creative nonfiction piece, writing about what the song means to you, or when you first discovered it. Step 3: Repeat the previous steps with however many other songs you have on your list! Art: For this week’s art prompt, we will also be creating a playlist made out of songs we love. Choose 2-3 songs (it can be more or less), that ideally vary in tone, style, message, or genre. Starting with the first song, choose a medium that you think represents the song. For example, watercolor might be effective for soft, dreamy acoustic music, while charcoal might work better for dark, moody indie music. Listen to the song, and draw/paint whatever comes to mind. You may focus on the colors or shapes that remind you of the music, or you can illustrate a specific scene from the song. Repeat this process with the other songs that you have on your playlist! Writing
Write something that takes a common trope and subverts it. Write a story where the reader expects an enemies to lovers storyline...but where it becomes clear they're not right for each other. Take a star -crossed lovers trope and make it clear that whatever is keeping them apart is actually legitimate. Have fun with it! Art Create a character through art. Make us understand something really important to them just by looking at them. Take "don't judge a book by its cover" and let us, somehow, judge the character by observing them. Writing: As we’re approaching the end of the semester, this week’s prompts will be a place for reflection. What are some things you did this term that you’re proud of? Where do you see more room for improvement? Every and any comments are encouraged.
Art: Take this time to reconstruct one of your first pieces. This harks on the reflection aspect, but see where you can incorporate new skills you’ve developed or utilize those you already have. Writing:
The Winter Solstice happened during the past week. Write about the changing of the seasons. You can look at symbols in the world around you that mark the transition from fall to winter. You can also talk about how you and your habits shift from one season to another. Art: A few days ago, there was a Google Doodle for the Winter Solstice. Draw your own Google Doodle! What would you like to depict? Do you want to incorporate the holiday season with its festive lights? Do you want to cover the ground with snow? Depict the Winter Solstice with your drawing. Writing:
There is never a lack of gossip nor intrigue surrounding the lives of celebrities. Writers are constantly looking for plot inspiration, and stepping into the life of a famous person is a sure way to draw in readers and appeal to their curiosity. When crafting your character for this prompt, you can either write from the perspective of a celebrity that already exists, or create your own. Keep in mind that “celebrity” does not only refer to pop stars and actors (although it definitely could!), but also well-known figures in certain academic fields, fashion designers, classical musicians, social media influencers, or even someone distinguished among a small group of people, like in a school community or neighborhood. Some ways to begin writing about your character includes describing a day in their life, brainstorming potential sources of tension or conflict, who their enemies/rivals might be, why/how they became famous (backstories are always fun!), and if they actually enjoy or regret anything about their careers. This does not only need to be in a short-story format; if your celebrity is a musician, you can try writing song lyrics from their perspective, if they are an actor, maybe write a script. Art: Connected to the writing prompt, we will be depicting celebrity lifestyles in our artwork this week. You can take this as literally or abstractly as you would like- you can draw portraits of famous people, scenes from their lives, places where they might live, or center your piece around symbols of fame and stardom. Think about the colors that are often used to represent celebrities- are they bright, shimmering, and neon, or mellow, dark, and discreet? Maybe there is a middle ground? Other motifs that can spark interesting ideas are the concepts of reflections, masks, reality vs perception, wealth, and influence. Be creative, and enjoy the process! Writing: Imagine the most outlandish donut, and create a story over its creation, ingredients, social settings, etc.
Art: Similarly to the prompt for writing, draw/paint this donut you imagine. In fact, it could be so outlandish that it doesn't even have to be legally edible. Writing:
Write a story that starts with two people making eye contact. What happens next? Does anything? Art: Draw something that hasn't been invented yet. Either because it can never be invented or because no one has thought of it yet. Writing: There are some symbols in this world that can represent conflicting ideas. For instance, fire can be seen as both destructive and comforting. Water can be both suffocating and healing. Find an object and write about its duality as a symbol of two different concepts. Why is this object a symbol for the ideas that you chose?
Art: Following the prompt for writing, draw the symbol you chose. Include the actual object and references to its dual and complex nature. Writing:
Sometimes it can be difficult to create new characters for every short story or poem that you write. That’s why, for this week’s prompt, we will be taking inspiration from characters that already exist. You can choose your favorite character of all time, whether it is from a book, poem, graphic novel, TV show, movie, or song. Then, try writing in their voice! There are many ways to approach this prompt, such as writing a continuation of the character’s story, their inner thoughts, placing the character in a modern setting, or simply using their unique voice in any setting/situation of your choosing! Art: Fanart is all the rage right now, which is why you will be creating some of your own this week! Your art can respond to a book, poem, graphic novel, TV show, movie, or song, and can take the form of any artistic medium. Some questions you can ask yourself to get started are: what do I wish was included in this already existing piece that I would love to illustrate? Is there a certain character that would be really interesting to draw based on the descriptions (or lack of descriptions) in the book? Is there a scene that I could recreate on paper? Could I use abstract colors, shapes, or designs to depict the tone of a certain part of the story? Do I love a certain aspect of the world where this story takes place to use as the setting for my artwork? Writing: Reflect on what you're thankful for. This can take any shape you'd like, but try to expand on everything you write you're thankful for.
Art: Draw the most exaggerated Thanksgiving feast imaginable. Take it to heights even Hollywood movies haven't gotten to yet. The sky's the limit with this one. Writing: Write a story that incorporates tears somewhere. Is the narrator crying? Does the narrator hear someone cry? Are the tears a symbol for something else entirely? Set the stage for us!
Art: Draw something centered around the idea of connection. Positive or negative. Between two people in a relationship or total strangers. What does connection mean to you in this very moment? Show us! Writing: Write about a regular day for you. It doesn’t have to be a day that actually happened. It should just be as realistic as possible. What did you see when you walked on the street? Did you talk to anyone? Describe in detail the mundane elements of that day.
Art: Draw a moment from the day above. It doesn’t have to be the most memorable or special. Include as many details as you can in your drawing. Writing:
Take a moment and search within yourself. What is the primary emotion that you are feeling at this very second? Try to stray away from vague words, such as happy or sad, and instead attempt to pinpoint the exact adjective for the feeling that you are experiencing. Are you melancholy? Anticipatory? Drained? With this word in mind, write a piece that captures the emotion, WITHOUT USING THE WORD. This could take the form of a poem that literally describes the feeling, a short story of a situation in which someone might experience this emotion, or just free written prose about what it means to you. If you choose to share your writing at the meeting on Friday, everyone can try to guess which emotion you have described. Art: Follow the first step of the writing prompt, by identifying the primary emotion that you are experiencing. Draw/paint/collage/etc.. an image that represents this feeling. Is there a certain color scheme that comes to mind? A texture? Maybe a specific landscape or person? Channel all of this into your work, so that in the end, you’ll be able to immediately know what emotion you were trying to convey by looking at the artwork (I specified you because everyone associates different things with different feelings!). If you choose to share what you have created at the meeting on Friday, everyone can try to guess which emotion you were using as the inspiration for your piece. Writing: In honor of the world finally starting to look like it’s fall, create a cozy fall narrative. This can follow any plotline you’d like, but have it rooted in fall-themed activities/goodies.
Art: In the same vein as the narrative, create a fall wonderland. No limits to subject matter except the fall basis should be clear. Writing: Write a short story with the moon either as the setting or as a symbol. Go in-depth with the places and things on the moon if you choose the setting option, or use the moon as a symbol multiple times throughout your story.
Art: Draw a moon. It can be as realistic as you want with craters, hills, and rocks, or it can be made out of cheese or be the "man in the moon." You can also draw whatever you think of when you hear the word "moon." Writing:
To mark the end of this school year, write about the end of the world and then the beginning of one. How would the world end?: zombie apocalypse, nuclear fallout, World War III? What does it mean by “the world ending?” Would it be the extinction of the human race or just the total destruction of planet earth? Or maybe, on a micro scale, it would just be the end of your life. Take “the world ending” to wherever you want it to go and run along with it. How would the world begin again? A single flower growing in a wasteland? You, opening your eyes, finding that you are a baby again? Art: Draw how you think the world would end and how it would begin, side by side. Be deliberate in the color scheme of the piece. |
The MoonlightHere is our collection of weekly prompts meant to inspire you. Explore and create! Have fun! Archives
April 2022
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