So often people carry the false belief that creative writing requires hours of uninterrupted time clacking away inside a bubble far from the distractions of the world. The reality is that writing for just 1 minute each day will strengthen your creative muscles more than writing for 20 minutes every two weeks—and minutes are a lot easier to come by than hours. After all, creative potential doesn’t just exist within large swaths of unhurried time, but in life’s in-between moments too. Moments like standing by the front door waiting for your work carpool to arrive or zoning out in the dentist’s office while your kiddos get their teeth cleaned. These typically unmemorable micro-periods of time are available for your creative benefit. With the help of The 1-Minute Writer, you can reclaim them and painlessly bring writing into your day-to-day life.
Each of the prompts in this book contains an unfinished idea that—with the striking of a conceptual match (i.e., putting pen to page or fingers to keyboard)—can spark your creativity. They can help you break through whatever obstacle is in the way of your writing, whether it’s exhaustion or a nasty creative block. They’re also just a whole lot of fun. You can use these prompts to keep your writing muscles flexed or you can use them to kick-start new projects.
Whichever way you work with these prompts, do so with an eager sense of discovery. Your creative potential is vast, and it lies in wait like a field of dormant seeds. The only thing needed to stimulate that growth is a single spare minute.