Writing prompts and exercises can be the perfect way to move your writing project forward. Some of our members have shared their favourite writing prompts to spark your creativity.

Personal loss disrupts our lives, taking away what we hoped for ourselves and those we love. But what if, in the realm of story, we could give back what loss took from us? What would we recover by writing the true story of what never happened?

Give yourself permission to speculate then fully imagine a short scene that might have taken place if loss hadn’t occurred. Where are you in this moment? What would you say and do? Bring in precise details – what do you notice? What can you see, hear, smell, taste, touch? Bring in body language, the subtle gestures of whoever is in this scene with you. Breathe into how it feels to write. What is happening in your body? Bring your embodied experience into the story.

To learn more ways to write into difficult material, check out Nicole’s workshop on writing about trauma, grief + loss at: https://www.nicolebreit.com/grief-workshop/

About Nicole Breit

Nicole Breit is an award-winning essayist, poet, and writing instructor. Her work has been widely published in journals and anthologies including Brevity, The Fiddlehead, Room, Hippocampus, Pithead Chapel, Event, Swelling with Pride: Queer Conception and Adoption Stories and Getting to the Truth: The Craft and Practice of Creative Nonfiction. Nicole’s essay about first love and loss, “An Atmospheric Pressure”, was selected as a Notable by the editors of Best American Essays 2017. Learn more at nicolebreit.com.