To Prompt or Not to Prompt

This is for all you writers out there...

As I create Write Well U, I read a ton of books, books in general, books on writing, books on punctuation, curriculum guides... the list goes on...

One of the books I was reading stated that writing prompts rob a piece of its purpose and voice.  If people are writing from a stated prompt, they're less likely to be passionate about the subject, and that lack of passion will show through in the piece.

As I'm developing my own curriculum for three different programs, my students have a lot of writing exercises  :-).  As far as how I've structured the various writing exercises, many are of a "write about what you want from within this structure" nature (not quite a prompt, but not quite a free-for-all either); some are standard, old writing prompts; and some are wide open "write about whatever the heck comes to mind."

I think it's a good mix.  My following question isn't so much about if what I'm creating is okay, but really more around my curiosity and others' philosophy around writing prompts.  Do you like writing prompts?  Is it easier for you to get started with a prompt?  Would you rather come up with all your own ideas by yourself?  Do you use writing prompts at all?

Thank you for sharing!

Comments

[Cindy Hillsey]

Hi Dawn,

I would prefer a prompt of some sort. Perhaps a category or a topic or two? This way I can usually find something that jazzes me and when that happens it is easier to write about it!

[Stacy]

If I were your student, I'd appreciate prompts, as long as I also had the ability to write about a topic of my own choosing (if I preferred doing that).

:)

[Dawn Goldberg]

As for me, I write so much and about all the things in my head that I'm not at a loss for what to write about.

However, if I wasn't writing so much (creating WWU and such), I might need some prompts as part of my writing exercise routine.

Wow - that sounds nice - to be able to let someone else do the prompting!