Dear Snow Day, and Your Pile of Prompts!
Hey, Snow Day, let’s tell it like it is before we start with the prompts: Everybody loves you, I think. Especially the mayor– you make him popular. Which makes you more popular than basically anyone ever.
You make school children freak out with joy and relief. Most of us stress-balls appreciate when Mother Nature throws us a bone, and gives us a free pass to play hooky, and play– and in this case, respond to a prompt.
By choice– can you believe it?– some of us weirdos use the extra time you give us to write. BECAUSE WE LIKE IT, AND IT MAKES US FEEL ALIVE. It makes us feel as powerful as a blizzard, as impactful as bad weather, as connected to everything. In case you were wondering.
So for those folks “stuck” at home, who are not “busy” binging on video games, pretending to clean, or youtube-ing until their eyes cross, here are some personal essay writing prompts. Courtesy of Essay Intensive and our partner, Snow Day, who really looks out for our creative well-being.
These five writing prompts were all derived from an article on how to escape an avalanche (literally, but consider the metaphorical implications). Please check out the details of avalanche-escapsim here. Then, get to pleasurable work.
The Writing Prompts
- Write about a time you got snowed under.– literally or metaphorically.
- Write about a time you had to thrash to save your life.
- If spitting helps us know which way is down, write about not knowing which way is up and what to do about it.
- Write about something you witnessed in extreme weather– say, your neighbor’s skirt blowing over her head, or someone on a sled being towed by a car.
- Beacon, Probe, Flotation–respond to these words any way you like. OR Write a short essay in three parts, each part themed around one of these words.
How to Deal with Snow Day Prompts:
Freewrite— set your timer: 5-20 minutes per prompt. And just keep going if you hear the beep but you’re on the trail of some bit of gold, like, you know, urine in the snow.
Trust your mind– it ALWAYS has more interesting things in it than what you can access consciously. That is a general rule and privilege of having a mind.
Write for as long as you want, or as long as you can, but don’t judge your work while you’re in process.
Then what?
Got something you think might be valuable? Great. Either– keep going OR send it to us. We love helping you shape your avalanche of words into snow-people– that is, something that’s got legs, body, and presence against the white backdrop.
Also, we’re chasing a toddler around the house, listening to “loud mic”, and listening to him shout, “Free your mind, don’t be so shallow!” You’re welcome. .
With heart,
SARA
