My English professor commented on one of my papers, "You asked me to share my writing with you, but I'm afraid you'd put me to shame." Not true, incidentally. My husband, an English teacher himself, says he spent so many years focusing on style that he has a hard time coming up with content.
It's easy to write good essays for school because someone assigns the content. A decent prompt can spark a truly brilliant piece of writing. For those of you who fall into this category (Kerry, Aubrey, Mom, Leslie), I give you a selection of writing prompts. Choose one, write two pages, proper MLA format, double spaced in 12 point font. Send me your writing and, if I like it, I'll post it here for everyone to read. (If I don't like it, I'll red-pen it and send it back.) Happy writing!
Option 1) Where do you hang out in your free time? What do you do for fun? Take a notebook with you and watch what goes on around you. Who do you see? What are they doing? Do they notice your notebook, and how do they react to your note taking? Choose one or two of the people you see, and describe what their life might be like. Support your supposition with things you observe about them.
Option 2) What novel inspires you? What character do you identify with? What character do you admire? What book have you read and reread and reread? How has this novel influenced your thinking and the choices you make? Reflect on who you might be if you had never read this novel. Reflect on how you might have reacted to the situation in this novel. This should be a reflection piece, not an analysis.
Option 3) Think about the English and Writing classes you have taken. Which teacher most inspired you? Which teacher made you think about becoming an English teacher yourself? Think about the first English class you taught. How has your teaching style changed since then? What have you learned about teaching and writing?
Option 4) You know that short story you've been kicking around in your head since college? Write it already!
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