The Book of Prompts

I began teaching “Writing for Artists” on zoom in 2020. I would later call my workshops “Life Writing” and as I introduced more specific autobiographical themes I taught “Death Writing” “Love Writing” “Sex Writing” and finally “Family Writing.”

I was interested in facilitating creative non-fiction for other artists and everyone really because I had been making autobiographical live performance for some time and I was having a very psychological blast with it. Over the years I had heard all of the classic judgments my peers associated with autobiography: it’s navel gazing, self obsessed etc. But it didn’t have to be that way in my opinion. So I set out to defend and demonstrate another way. A playful and imaginative method for using the self as not much more than the clay, the material for all kinds of art making.

My number one strategy for facilitating these workshops was writing very carefully worded prompts. And then I fell in love with prompt writing. So much so, that I started compiling the prompts from every workshop and every one-on-one mentoring session into “The Book of Prompts.”

Here are some of those prompts. And it is my earnest hope that they will be spark something new and tender in people. Maybe empathy for your own lived history. Maybe curiosity about the human experience. Or a renewed sense of “what the hell is this thing we are doing called life?!”

On Pleasure. Write about a candy, or food, that you loved as a child. Some treat you spent hours angling after. Write about the experience of eating it, did you have methods for savoring each bite? I want to hear about what happened inside of your mouth. Put more words about sensations, indulgence and pleasure than you have before. It should be something obsessive, something you lost yourself inside of.
On Naughtiness. Write about one naughty/impish thing you did as a child- could be once or a repeat offense. Could be solo or with accomplices. See how much you can really describe the feeling of naughtiness or sneakiness while you were plotting and executing the plan.
On the Night. Describe what it was like to be out at night as a teenager. Get into specifics about the night air, the trees and buildings, the street lights and roads. Describe other people- who was with you? Describe moving through the night. How did you move through it? Driving, walking, riding shotgun?
On Natural Death. Begin a list of your first experiences with death as a child. Keep them neutral for now. Many children have a calm curiosity when encountering death in the natural world for the first time. Start in this safe zone: the safety of your child-mind. Let the list be uneven. Some memories may be a couple words, like: a dead baby robin. Others may take a lot of focus, like the death of a pet. You can include anything from animal, plant or human death. Elaborate when you feel inspired to do so, otherwise be terse.
On Invented Death. What were some of the most evocative ways you experienced death in literature and film as a child? Can you remember a movie or a picture book that had a huge impact on you because of its inclusion of death? See if you can re-enter the vague images or thoughts that this work of fiction awakened in you. Imagine yourself as a child, going about your child duties: how is this death scene hanging out in your mind? You can try writing in the present tense if you’re curious about what that might do to your writing.
On Funerals. Rewrite a funeral from your childhood, but this time you get to do it your way. Imagine if your particular child self was allowed to invent a funeral: what would you do? Draw from memories of the ways you played as a kid. Draw from your specific personality. What would a serious child want a funeral to be? What would an impish child want? You could alter rituals that already exist or you could create ones that have never been tried. It could be impossible- aliens and dogs that speak could make an appearance. Irreverence is welcome.
On Avoidance. Why haven’t you written more about sex? Is it a language problem? If so, write about that problem. What are the words you hate and what are the experiences you wish there were words for? Is shyness stopping you? Then write all about the shyness. Maybe it’s sadness or fear or this lurking sense that someone will find your writing one day. Get curious about all the reasons you don’t write about sex.
On Humor. Tell us the story of something funny/odd/awkward that happened to you during sex or an erotic encounter. What made it interesting? Did it transgress social norms? Did it change you as a person? Get into the “why” of the funny if you have time. Peel back the layers of why until you get to the deepest humor underneath it all.
On Learning. Imagine for a moment you have found the safest teacher of the sexual arts. You intuitively trust this person/entity. You know you can ask anything. You feel hopeful delight: you feel you could master something new, ask all the questions. What sexual skill or experience would you want to learn? Describe the teacher, describe the ideal learning experience, describe your learning.