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27 Writing Prompts For January



Happy January writers! We're so proud to be entering our second year of blogging here at Writing It Wells. We're dedicated to bringing you resources, tips, and advice to help you better your writing and get you one step closer to your goals. We've got exciting changes coming so make sure you subscribe on our homepage to never miss an update.


Inspiration may be around every corner but sometimes when the holidays come to an end and the new year begins we find ourselves falling into that post-excitement, sleepy, rich holiday food slump.


It can be difficult to get back into our writing when this happens. We might make fresh goals for our New Years Resolutions, but the reality may be that we get a late start.


If you're experiencing this lack of motivation or the desire to postpone returning to the work of writing- that's okay!


To start this year off right, we've made a list of 27 writing prompts to help prep you for another year of successful writing.


1. Potions, Inc.: After centuries of a small occult family developing successful potions for love, fortune, and health, the oldest son decides to launch the family business of magic into the corporate world.


2. The Invisible Castle: A group of friends decide to climb a tower near their home when they discover it leads to an invisible castle in the air that no one else knows exists.


3. Dancing Fever: As the townspeople are overcome with a feverish desire to dance, it’s up to you to find the cause and cure.


4. Forever Beautiful: You are a cosmetologist at a local gossip-filled beauty salon when you accidentally stumble across a map that outlines the path to the legendary fountain of youth.


5. Witchy Romance: It's 1692 and you have been accused of practicing witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. You fear for your life as no one believes in your innocence except the kind, handsome deputy constable. He helps you escape, and the two of you flee through the New England wilderness with the Salem authorities in hot pursuit, falling in love along the way.


6. High Society: At the turn of the 20th century, you meet a someone who is unlike anyone you've met, and not given to following the rules of Newport high society. A scandal leads you to fight to prove your love's innocence.


7. Spirit Radio: After a few too many songs come on the radio at random coincidence, you realize you have a gift to communicate with spirits through music.


8. The False Light Gods: A group of evil entities attempt to trick people into believing they are the good guys by disguising themselves as saints, angels, gods, and goddesses.


9. Viking Murders: Murder victims are found buried with some of their wordly goods, Viking style.


10. X-ray: A museum conservator is restoring an old painting, and an X-ray reveals something shocking or mysterious painted or written in the layer beneath.


11. The Affair: He’s always been a faithful husband, but someone has planted false evidence of his having an affair.


12. Bookstore Love: A bookstore patron falls for one of the booksellers, but is too shy to speak to them. One day, they buy a book with a note tucked inside.


13. Lyft Date: A woman’s on her way to her date an hour early and chats up her Lyft driver. He’s handsome and charming, and soon she realizes he’s the man she’s supposed to meet later.


14. Soul Fragments: When something tragic happens, it’s often said we lose a piece of ourselves. Your task is to travel through different lifetimes to find these lost parts of self to be whole again.



15. The VooDoo Queen: The fraudulent fortune teller makes her living by conning the local superstitious government officials. When they start to become suspicious, she decides to make a run for it through the bayou where she encounters the ghost of the real VooDoo Queen.


16. Reading the Heavens: Each person has a designated star in the sky above. When the stars align, they will be lifted to go home to their true planet.


17. Stolen: A detective is hired for a high price to find a thief who stole something that doesn’t appear to have any real value.


18. The Bird: Write a story about a creepy bird. Start your story with “It is perched on a branch, not far from my window, watching, staring with an unfathomable black eye.”


19. Piano: You’re alone in the house, and you want to relax. Playing the piano has always done wonders, so you play your favorite piece. When you finish, you hear a slow clap…but no one’s there when you turn around.


20. The Mirror, Cup, and Candle: Legend has it, if you stand in front of a mirror holding a cup and a candle you can jump between dimensions.


21. Banned Books: Write about how books have nearly been abolished. Your country is separated into three main regions with a dangerous “neutral” zone in the center. With a rumor of a way out located in the midst of the neutral zone, your main character must venture through two other regions to get there.


22. Tower: Write about a single tower that powers what’s left of the country’s population. When an outsider tampers with its mechanisms, the tower breaks down, leaving your main character and everyone else struggling to survive.


23. Tattoo: When people turn 20, a tattoo appears on their wrist–a clue to lead them to their soulmate. On your character’s 20th birthday, their wrist remains blank.


24. Letters: A woman studying for her history degree uncovers a series of letters in a digital archive written between two lovers fighting on the European front during World War One. What do the letters say?


25. Wrong: Write about a time when you were wrong and didn’t realize it for maybe years.


26. Morals: Write about a time your morals were compromised and how it affected your life.


27. Sanity: Emotions can be controlled. Thoughts can be stolen. In the world your character lives in, holding on to your own sanity is the difference between destruction and thriving. They must learn to push out anyone who tries to alter their perception of reality.


Hopefully these writing prompts will kick-start your creative buzz and help you come up with your next bestselling book idea. Happy writing!


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