Things Lost and Found Creative Writing Prompts

What Have You Lost?

Begin your writing session by freewriting about something you’ve lost. (For a masterpiece in the genre, read Elizabeth Bishop’s sestina, “One Art.” For more examples, see Naomi Shihab Nye's collection What Have You Lost?, the inspiration for the exercise.) Don't censor yourself; for now, just write whatever comes to mind.

After working with the theme of loss, you may either choose to revise what you've written so far, or try a different direction, focusing on things found. Again, spend some time writing without the help of your critical mind. You might even want to wait several days or weeks before you try to do anything with what you've written. For now, just get the words down on paper. There's plenty of time to revise and your writing will be fresher and more interesting if you let your subconscious do the heavy lifting now.

Review other creative writing prompts.