In Need of Inspiration? Discover Writing Prompts Are Coming in April

Odds are that your world has changed quite a lot in the past few weeks, whether it became more chaotic, more challenging, or more limited. Writing is a way to process complicated thoughts and feelings — especially when we write as part of a supportive community. So we wanted to help.

During the month of April, we’ll publish a new writing prompt every day right here on Discover. If you’re struggling to find the time or focus for your blog, prompts are a quick, low-friction way to get going. And if you wish to connect with other writers and bloggers around the world, with prompts it’s easy to find new readers and extend your community.

Hmm, writing prompts… say more?

For anyone looking for quick instructions, we have a cheat sheet just for you.

How to participate:

• Check out the daily Discover Prompt.
• Write a new post on your site in response to the prompt.
• Tag your post with Discover Prompts and click Publish.
• Head to the Reader to engage with other participants’ posts.

Need more details? Here you go:

• Every day at 10 a.m. UTC (that’s 6 a.m. in New York, 11 a.m. in London, 3:30 p.m. in Mumbai, and 9 p.m. in Melbourne), we’ll post a new, one-word writing prompt. It’s always fun to see how people’s interpretations vary despite identical starting points. In case you enjoy more guidance, each prompt will include a few ideas on how to respond.

 

• Once you see the prompt, gather your thoughts and start writing away on your own site. Don’t overthink it — just go wherever your mind takes you. Any format, genre, or media are welcome (photographers and other visual artists: please join us too!), and you’re free to adapt the prompt to your (and your website’s) needs.

 

Not sure how to add a tag? Here’s a quick how-to.

As a totally optional step, consider adding the prompt word to your post title (for example, “Day 22: Clowns”) so others can find posts from specific days more easily.

• Ready to publish? Fantastic — there’s just one thing left, but it’s an important one. Add the Discover Prompts tag to your post so that everyone else can find you in the WordPress.com Reader. All posts tagged with Discover Prompts will appear on the tag’s Reader stream.

 

• Once you’ve hit “Publish” and taken a second to bask in the glory of your own post, it’s time to venture out and pay a visit to some of your virtual neighbors: head to the Discover Prompts tag stream, and check out what others have shared. Click on a few, read them, and, even better, leave a comment on at least three other posts. Nothing kicks off a good conversation — and sometimes, an actual friendship — like a thoughtful comment.

A couple of final notes

Yes, we plan to publish a prompt every day in April, but this isn’t a “Write X Posts in X Days” challenge. If you’d like to take part every day and not miss a single prompt, that’s amazing! But we also know it’s a tough time for many, and whatever level of participation you can pull off will earn you an admiring, virtual pat on the back.

That’s it — we wanted this to be as straightforward and accessible a process as possible, so everyone can focus on sharing, reading, and connecting. If you have any questions about these prompts or on how to participate, feel free to ask in the comments.