A good writing prompt opens up infinite possibilities
When you allow your imagination to play with a prompt, rather than trying to understand rationally what the image is or “figure out” what you ought to write, the possibilities are infinite. Playful or somber, personal or communal, sensory or philosophical.
Usually we feature just one piece of writing, but this time, to demonstrate the range inspired by a single image (it’s the posterior wall of the left atrium of the heart, with radiofrequency ablations done by Dr. Luis Constantin, who kindly supplied the image) we’re featuring three. You’ll notice some words are used in all three pieces—they come from the community list that we create each Saturday in our Zoom writing group. To see the community list of words for this prompt, and to read what other people wrote, visit us on Circle.
And if you’d like to join our writing group, send us a message here.
The first is by musician Daniel Barber:
It's just a feeling in my solar plexus, very faint can't put my finger on it kind of like some sort of tectonic drift in my belly that's been tugging on the tiny thread of my attention for decades. Super quiet but ludicrously persistent, it sure acts like it has something it thinks I should hear.
It seems to me that if it was that important, surely I would have been notified earlier, made aware in school when everybody seemed dedicated to making sure I didn't miss a beat, got everything right, and learned the most important stuff.
What could it be that would be so damn vital to keep nagging, one neuroreceptor at a time, until everything else I've tried dissolves in a tangled heap of trying.
If it's all that big a deal, and if everything else has proven itself unsustainable, am I now to turn to ask it, if only in pure surrender, what the hell it wants? And is it possible I might actually be ready, at long last, to listen?
The second is by visual artist Zebith Thalden:
Though it’s quiet
(I am surrounded only by self and paid generosity)
I am trying to find my body.
Not the surface so much
or the flesh of it all…
but the aliveness.
The relax of exhale and
invigoration of expand
but . . . I am not here.
My choice,
turning solitudinal stillness to…
jackhammer, painted lines, jack hammers, whizzing cars, flashing signs, concrete, jack hammer…
People
All moving
Bombardment
Like a fish in the wild
360°
possible predators
Temporary comfort
within glass walls
surrounded by couture and knowledge
The state. of. The Art.
Witness
Immersed
Overwhelm
Courage
Looking beyond,
white curves
(construction fabric) billow
backgrounded by steel grid
High
Rise
And now in my solitude
As I listen to a song sparrow and a fire engine sing together…
This is what I mean.
The third is by Imaginative Storm co-founder Allegra Huston:
Stoned love. Wish you were here. Great balls of fire. The soundtracks of the solar plexus, molecules dancing, heart pistons firing fast and slow, hectic and nostalgic. Expanding our fishbowl to the size of the world, encompassing everyone who ever jived down a cracked sidewalk with a boombox on their shoulder, snuggled lonely in bed with a round blue radio with dials for eyes, lost themselves in the music from a tin and cardboard shack down the way while mangy dogs chase rats through the garbage, lounged around a campfire under Himalayan stars singing songs everyone knows, or will know soon and will never quite forget. A welcome viral load, the art of our pareidolic universe, pillow talk between distant islanded strangers. Pigs fly, tethered forever in the mind's eye. Year after year, lyrics splotchy and tenacious in the mind's ear.
Click here to order Write What You Don’t Know: 10 Steps to Writing with Confidence, Energy, and Flow by Allegra Huston and James Navé, founders of the Imaginative Storm method, or buy it from your favorite online retailer. It’s also available on Kindle and all other e-book platforms.
In April 2023, the online video course, Write What You Don’t Know: Imaginative Storm Writer Training, will be available. Join our mailing list now for updates and a 25% discount.
Follow @imaginativestorm on Instagram for a daily writing prompt, or discover our extensive archive of visual and audio writing prompts on our YouTube channel. Then, publish what you write on the Imaginative Storm Circle platform! We’d love tor read it.