If you are a writer who is in a creative stump or someone who wants to unleash their inner J. K. Rowling, a writing prompt can be a good place to start. The important thing to remember about prompts is that they are meant to just get you writing. You may not end up with a manuscript or a masterpiece, but they will get you started.

1. The random word

Pick up any book and turn to page 46. Find the second noun in the first paragraph. Write something about that word.

2. Lit-riff

Think about your favorite song. Rewrite that song as a story.

3. Endless thoughts

Start writing out your thoughts. Make one continuous page of thoughts. Do not plan, edit, or censor.

4. Dream on

Think about the last dream that you had. Bullet point what you remember, events, people, and anything else from your dream. Use everything on that list to create a coherent story.

5. Go adventuring

Everyone has that usual writing spot. Go find a corner of the world that you have never been to and write there. You do not have to travel to do this. It could be in your hometown, college town, or in your backyard.

6. Abstract art

Get a blank piece of paper and a set of different colored markers or crayon. Randomly select three colors and close your eyes. With the three colors, create a picture. After a couple minutes, open your eyes and see your creation. Use your picture as your prompt.

7. Coffee date

Think about a favorite character from a book, movie, or television show. This character just invited you to a coffee date. Write about this meeting from the character’s perspective.

8. To the dark side

Think of a story that has a strong, complex antagonist. Rewrite a section of the story with that character as the protagonist.

9. World-building

Draw an ambiguous shape with no openings then draw dots inside the shape. Your shape is now a country and the dots are towns and cities. Pick one dot and describe what is happening in that place in that moment.

10. Nom, nom, write

Try to remember the last thing you have eaten. From that memory, describe every detail about that food without saying what it is.

11. The worst possible thing

Make a list of the worst things, excluding death, that could happen to a character. Pick one of those points and write a scene in which that thing happens to a character.

12. Just for fun

Pick a small random thing (like a thumbtack, a coffee cup, a button, etc.). Imagine that you are the same size as that object. Write about yourself in relation to the item.