There's something a little bit, well, intangible that happens when people say, "Hey, your writing is worth something. I want you to keep doing it. Here's some money to make that possible." The effect can’t be measured, but there’s an extra skip in my step. Ideas grow bolder. I reconnect with feelings of deeper investment and purpose.
So, to my paid subscribers, consider this writing prompt a token of my gratitude. I hope it sparks ideas, gives you time to exercise your creative muscles, and reminds you that you don't need to devote hours of your day to your writing practice to call yourself a writer. There's so much you can do in just twenty minutes.
Here’s one thing to remember: the writing that happens in this twenty minutes will not arrive fully formed and finished. It won’t feel done. It probably won’t even be something that you’ll share. It may consist of a few lines. Perhaps a paragraph or two. It might be a bulleted list. After writing for twenty minutes, you might be left with only one line that you like, or an idea that you want to explore further. Or maybe you won’t ever revisit it. Maybe it was writing for the sake of writing.
The point of a prompt is not to finish something, or write a whole story, or to write an essay. Let’s lower those expectations right now. A prompt is designed to jolt you from your usual thoughts, to get your mind thinking in ways you can’t predict. A prompt is that space between you and the page, where you can try new things, push yourself, and see what happens. A prompt is an opportunity to flex your writing muscles, and make them a little stronger, to start forming muscle memory so that when you start your timer for twenty minutes, your brain knows it’s time to write. A prompt is only the beginning.