Four Seasons of Creative Writing by Bryan Cohen

Four Seasons of Creative Writing is a follow on book to Creative Writing Prompts: Volume 2: More Ideas for Blogs, Scripts, Stories and More, which I reviewed here.

Like its predecessor, this gem of a book is packed full of creative prompts to make you think and create blog posts, articles or stories, to explore issues, stimulate conversations or to share in creative writing classes. The prompts are arranged seasonally and designed to explore ideas rather than technique. Most of the prompts are specifically designed for younger people, but can be adapted to suit all ages and are ideal for schools and writers groups. There are plenty of ideas for nature writing, citizen science and for exploring environmental issues, in non-threatening ways, such as the examples below:



Summer

Sometimes it gets so hot in an area that people have to conserve their water because of

drought conditions. Imagine that there was a drought in your area so you couldn't play

in the pool or run through the sprinkler. How would this change your typical summer day

and why?

Imagine that you are a tiny hummingbird drinking from a feeder in a beautiful garden.

What would it be like to fly around so fast? What might be some dangers you would

face on a daily basis? Where would you live and why?

Fall

 

Create a conversation between two leaves that are about to fall from a tree. One is scared

and the other is excited about the long trip to the ground. What do they talk about and

why?

  

You have placed a tracker on an acorn in an effort to find out exactly where your backyard

squirrels go during the day. After a squirrel takes the bait, where does it go and why? Are

you surprised to find out where the squirrel stashes its goods? Why or why not?

 Winter

 

What do you think it would be like to be the following animals during the winter and why:

horse, gorilla, deer, and Chihuahua?

 

Many ancient cultures celebrated the winter solstice by constructing monuments or

holding wild celebrations. How would you have chosen to celebrate the solstice thousands

of years ago? What would your family today think about your celebration idea and why?

Spring

How do the smells of spring differ from the other three seasons? How do spring smells

make you feel? What makes spring smell the way it does?

  

Why did the bee fall in love with the flower and start the process of pollination? Create

a mythical origin story about when bees realized that flowers should be a part of their lives.

 Each prompt can probably be used to good effect many times over, so this book is a great resource for any writer.

Thanks Story Cartel for my free download of this book.