When you are faced with a blank page or screen, it can cause you to shut down creatively. This is where a list of fantastic creative writing prompts for adults can be super helpful.

How do you use this list? Well, that is up to you!
These topics are also good for teenagers who are preparing to step into adult roles. You’ll find creative ideas about occupations and the real world, right alongside science fiction and fantasy prompts. Take your pick of topics or genres and keep the rest saved for later days when you need some creative stimulation and inspiration for your writing practice.
Use this list of creative writing prompts for adults to help you brainstorm an innovative idea for your next short story, blog post, personal essay, or journal entry!
30 Creative Writing Prompts for Adults
- What was your best year ever, so far in your life? Give a timeline of events and describe everything that made it so spectacular.
- If you could visit anywhere on Earth for a one-month vacation, where would you go and what would you do?
- Make your own adult-aged imaginary friend. Describe in detail who they are, what they look like, what you talk about, etc.
- If you have a pet, describe their day from their perspective. No pets? Choose your favorite animal.
- Today is the last day of the planet because a flaming meteor is going to wipe us out at midnight. Describe what the day would be like.
- You’ve just woken up to discover that your country has been taken over by robots. They decide that humans need to become the new pets of the world.
- You are on a spaceship flying through the universe on your way to Mars to colonize it for humans. Your job is to write down everything you see as the first journalist and report back to Earth.
- Starting today your job is to work on a submarine in search of the Loch Ness Monster or prove that the monster doesn’t exist. But your day starts out wild when you see a giant eye staring back at you through the windshield underwater.
- You are climbing Mount Everest and have almost reached the top when an avalanche separates you from your team. You have all of your equipment and aren’t hurt, but you need to get help immediately or you’ll die.
- Your goal is to create a weekly menu with meals all of a certain color for each day. On Monday, all meals have to be red, on Tuesday they are orange, etc. Bonus points if you include foods your family will actually eat and enjoy.
- You get to meet your hero. Tell what happens during your visit.
- You are walking your dog when you see [insert favorite celebrity] walking toward you with their dog. They start yelling at you. What do you do?
- You have the technology to invent anything you want to do whatever your imagination thinks up. What is this grand invention, and what happens when you invent it?
- For one day only you are the richest person in history. Describe your spending spree.
- If you could do one thing to change humanity, what would it be?
- You are the leader of a new country on a formerly undiscovered island. What is the culture, i.e., laws, religion, food, language, clothing, etc., like in this country?
- You’ve quit your job to live out the rest of your days on your favorite beach. Describe your new way of life and mentality as a literal beach bum.
- You get dropped off at a nearby exit ramp and have nothing with you but the clothes on your back and a backpack with a few supplies. Essentially you are homeless. How will you get food, find a place to sleep, etc.?
- You go to pick up your child from school, but they never come out. You ask the principal and teachers where your child is and they’ve never heard of them.
- Everything you see is in green as if the world is one giant green screen. Think about how you would learn to do things and experience life in this way.
- Create the magazine you wish you could find on newsstands.
- Budget is no problem. What would your dream birthday look like?
- You are living in an alternate universe where you can see everything from the ‘real world’ but you can’t be part of it. It’s like you are a living ghost. How do you get back to normal?
- As a zoologist working in a jungle deep in the Amazon rainforest, you discover a new species of life. Turns out it’s actually an alien.
- In a room in your house, you find a small claymation stage with people who look just like you and your family sitting in a house just like your own. You can shape the claymation people to look and do things that become your reality tomorrow.
- If you could “live” in any book you’ve ever read, what book would that be and which character would you choose to be?
- Imagine you are a superhero character from the Marvel Universe, such as Thor, Wonder Woman, or Black Panther. Explore a situation where your skills come in handy.
- Quickly write down the first five words that come to mind. Create a story using these as the main ideas.
- You sit down in a movie theater to watch the latest flick. Yet what shows on the screen is actually your own life, completely unbeknownst to you.
- Open the dictionary at your desk, turn to a random word, and use that as the title of your story or post.
More Writing Resources for Adults
Imagine the horrors of being plagued by writer’s block whenever you pick up a pen to write…the good news is that you don’t have to with the endless categories of writing prompts, creative writing ideas, and journal prompts that have access to here! Kids and teens will be inspired, too!
Writing prompts and story ideas improve your writing skills like magic! If fiction writing prompts, romance writing prompts, fantasy writing prompts, or thriller writing prompts are what get your creative juices pumping, you are in the exact right place. Go ahead and combine as many different genres as you want, too – come up with a great adventure in the first person set in a fantasy world with a horror story ending if that is what inspires you!
Until next time, write on…
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Jill
journalbuddies.com
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