Journal Writing Prompts
Journal Writing Prompts
Journal Writing Prompts
7. Finish this thought: if I could change one thing about myself (if you can't think of
anything, you might want to consider telling how you got to be perfect!)
17. Imagine yourself in a different century and describe an average day in your life.
18. Which character from a book would you most like to meet and why?
20. What would you do if 300 mice had just gotten out of their cages in a pet shop
where you work
21. What would you do if you were locked inside your favorite department store
overnight?
22. What would you do if you woke up one morning to find yourself invisible?
23. What would you do if you were able to communicate with animals?
24. What would you do if you could travel into the future?
25. What would you do if you could travel into the past?
28. What would you do if you could travel free anyplace in the world?
29. What would you do if the dinner served to you in a fancy restaurant came with a
fly in the mashed potatoes?
30. Write a list of at least 50 things that make you feel good.
31. Describe the perfect day. Put in as many details as you can. Make it a possible
day, not a "dream day."
32. Who is the person from history that you would most like to meet and talk to?
Why? What would you like to ask?
33. Who is the person from literature that you would most like to meet and talk to?
Why? What would you like to ask?
34. Compile a list of words that describe you as a child. Compile a second list that
describes you as you are now. How are these lists the same? How are they different?
35. Compile a list of inanimate or animate objects to which you might compare
yourself metaphorically. (I am a windmill. I change direction or my thoughts whenever
someone talks to me...)
39. What is the best book you have ever read? Why did you like it? Did reading the
book change you in any way? What way?
41. Think about an incident that happened to you and exaggerate in the telling. Make it
into a tall tale.
42. If you were ruler of the world, what things would you banish absolutely for all time
(rain on weekends, eggplant, and so forth)? Make a list. Use your imagination.
43. If you could go back in time anywhere and "anywhen," where/when would you go
and why?
44. What law would you like to see enacted which would help people? How would it
help?
45. What commercial on TV do you dislike beyond all others? What about it is
particularly annoying to you?
46. Design some gadget, machine, building, or other creation that might enrich the
future. What does it look like? What does it do? How does it function? In what ways
might it benefit people?jour
48. Convince someone why music or art or computers are important in your life. Make
them appreciate your viewpoint.
50. Be a building you know well. Talk about your life and memories.
51. You are to tell a person from a distant planet or from another era what pollution
is. Make that person understand what causes it and why it is bad.
52. If you could do something that you never have done before, what would it be?
Why would you want to do it?
53. Begin a list of questions that you'd like to have answered. They may be about the
future or the past.
54. What do you consider your greatest accomplishment to date and why?
55. Write one characteristic or habit about yourself that you like and describe it. Or
write about one thing you don't like about yourself.
57. If you could go somewhere where you've never gone before, where would you go
and why?
58. What's, if anything, would you be willing to fight or even die for? Explain your
answer.
59. If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be? Why would you
make this change?
60. Is there a machine you feel you could not live without? Explain.
61. Write about what you think you will be like and what you will be doing 10 years or
20 years from now.
65. Describe a great fort you built for a great game you played as a child.
74. Write about learning to skate, to ride a bike, to climb a tree, or to turn a cart
wheel.
76. Were you ever locked in or out? What did you do?
77. What was it like to spend your first night away from home?
78. What was it like to come back home after a long vacation?
80. Write about something minor that turned into a big deal.
. Did you ever win or lose a contest? Tell the story about what happened.
82. Write about something you desperately wanted when you were younger.
84. Write about the time as a child you played in one of the following: treehouse, a
cornfield, a construction site, a junkyard, an abandoned house or barn, a stream, a
cemetery, a swamp, a pasture, railroad tracks.
85. Did your mom or dad ever make you wear something you hated?
86. Write about a time you were talked into something and you regretted it.
87. Were you ever in a helicopter, limousine, racecar, hot-air balloon, submarine, or
horse-drawn carriage?
88. Did you ever forget something really important? What happened as a result?
90. Were you ever accused of something that you didn't do?
92. Were you ever given a responsibility that you couldn't handle? journal writing
prompts
95. Write about a window you broke or something valuable you lost.
97. Write about a time you tried to help and ended up making things worse.
100. Describe an outdoor game you used to play in the summer time.
103. Write about mowing the lawn, burning leaves, or weeding the garden.
110. Did you ever turn someone in or tell on someone and feel bad about it later?
111. Imagine that you are an animal in the zoo. What type of animal are you? How
do you feel about being caged? How do you feel about people that visit and watch
you?
115. Write about the funniest thing that ever happened to you.
116. If you had to escort a visitor from outer space for a 30-minute tour of your
community, where would you begin and end?
117. Be a grape that becomes a raisin: describe how it feels to shrink, to shrivel, to
become dry and wrinkled.
118. Be an icicle that becomes water. Describe how it feels to be cold and firm and full
of beautiful crystals but only to melt and lose your shape.
119. You go to the store with your parents and baby brother. Your parents go into a
store and tell you to watch your brother. You take your eyes off your brother for just a
minute and you can't find him. You...
122. What would you pack in your suitcase if you could not go home again?
123. You have just met an alien from another planet. He wishes to take a student
back to his planet. Convince him you would be the perfect specimen for him to take.
124. If you could change one law, what law would it be and how would you change it?
125. How forgiving are you when a friend lets you down? Explain. Give an example.
126. What if you were named principal for the week? What would you do?
127. If you could only speak twenty words for the rest of your life, what words would
head your list and why?
129. As I approached the deserted house at the end of the road, I saw...
130. Do you think girls are raised differently from boys? If so, in what ways?
131. Do you think you are treated differently because you are a boy or girl?
132. Do you think men and women are equal in today's society? Why or why not?
133. Do you think a woman will be President of the United States in the near future?
134. Two men or women have it easier in our culture? If so, why do you think so?
135. Have you ever wished you were either older or younger? What would you
consider to be the benefits? The problems?
143. Visualize a time when your mother was laughing. Recall a time when you two
shared a good laugh over something.
144. Write a physical description of your mother. Write as if you were looking at a
movie rather than a photograph.
145. Concentrate on a particular habit that your mother has and write about it.
146. If you had three wishes, what would they be? (Do not ask for three more
wishes)
147. What is something special and/or different about you? Why do you think it is
special or different?
148. Write about two things that your family has taught you.
149. Write about some of the things that you worry about.
152. Name one thing you like about yourself and why you like it.
153. Imagine yourself as a teacher. What type of student would you like to teach and
why?
154. Name and describe a teacher who made a difference in your life. What did that
teacher do that was so special?
156. Describe the one thing that gives you the most comfort.
157. If you could be a character in any book, TV show, or movie, who would you be
and why?
158. If you had to work in any store at your favorite mall, which store would it be and
why?
159. Describe the most difficult thing about being your age.
163. If you could study one subject in school that wasn't offered, what would it be and
why?
164. If you had a chance to live anywhere you could, where would it be and why?
165. Write about the pros/cons of year-round school or a four-day school week.
169. Who should be paid more, professional athletes or teachers? Why or why not?
171. Write about the worst fight you ever had with a friend.
172. If you had only one month to live, what would you do?
175. What would be your ideal job when you grow up? Explain.
176. If you could guest star on any TV show, what would it be and why?
177. What do you think your life will be like in 10 years? 20 years?
178. Describe how you would manage your own radio or TV station.
180. The saying goes, "Money cannot buy happiness." Do you agree or disagree?
Why? j