1-MINUTE PROMPT:
Remember your very first date? Pretend you’re being questioned by police about it. Write a short witness statement about something seemingly benign that occurred on your date.
5-MINUTE PROMPT:
First days of school are memorable, but not always in the best way. Sometimes not-so-pleasant things happen, like peeing your pants in kindergarten, or being called out by your professor in a lecture hall full of hundreds of your peers, or overhearing kids making fun of the substitute teacher who happened to be, um, you. Do some freestyle writing about an unfortunate experience on the first day of school.
10-MINUTE PROMPT:
Think of a maiden voyage you took on a set of wheels—whether it was a skateboard, a tricycle, a car, or some other method of transport. Recall the feeling of nervous excitement as you first started to roll. Write a memoir excerpt about it.
20-MINUTE PROMPT:
Graduation days can be bittersweet occasions. Sometimes there’s uncertainty about the future, or sadness about leaving friends behind. Remember something that triggered a mixture of sadness and happiness in you on a day that you or someone else graduated. Create a character study based on the real-life graduate, then write a passage from a novel in which details of the graduation—and your accompanying emotions—are featured.