What makes a good writing prompt?

Yes, an imagination-sparking phrase or paragraph is essential. But for me the delivery method is just as important.

From my experience, a writing prompt needs to be used as soon as it is first seen, otherwise its effectiveness wears off.

But if your writing prompts are delivered by blog post or by e-mail, chances are they’re not arriving at the time most suitable for you.

That’s where Punch for Prompt comes in! It displays random writing prompts whenever you need at the click of a button!

But how did this all come about?

The History

Several months ago, Charlotte Rains Dixon mentioned she had a backlog of writing prompts and wasn’t sure of the best way to provide them to her writers. Thanks to a sudden moment of clarity while kneading cookie dough (doesn’t it always happen when your hands are wet or slimy or floury?), I realised that the answer to her problem was some fancy coding! We could feed the prompts into the back end, add a big button and each click would display a random prompt.

Of course, it’s rather complicated to build something like that, so I enlisted my brother’s help (he’s the brains, I’m the brawn) and we set to work bringing the idea into reality.

And here we are, months later, finally ready to share it with the world.

How to Use Punch for Prompt

When you’re ready to sit down and start writing, make your way to the Punch for Prompt page on Charlotte Rains Dixon’s site.

Simply click the button and read the prompt that appears.

If you don’t like that prompt, click again for another.

Once you’ve found a prompt you like, click on the Copy to Clipboard button. Open up your word processor, right click on the page and from the menu select Paste. Your prompt should appear on the page and you’re good to go!

It’s really that easy.

If you enjoy using Punch for Prompt, let us know! We can keep you in the loop for any further updates.

Please note: The prompts currently shown in Punch for Prompt are all written by Charlotte Rains Dixon. I’m still working on the list for Creativity’s Workshop and hope to have my own Punch for Prompt page soon.

Stay Tuned for More Punch for Prompt Goodness

Starting next Friday, I’m planning on taking a four week break from my Myths of Innovation posts and doing something a little different. I’ll be taking four prompts from Charlotte’s Punch for Prompt and seeing where they lead me. Short stories, poems, weird characters. Who knows where things will end up. Tune in next week to find out.

*****

P.S. In other news, I’m now on Twitter! @JessBaverstock