Creative Writing Prompts Inspired by Hana Matsuri and Gratitude

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Today's Creative Writing Prompts are Inspired by Gratitude

Today Hana Matsuri, Buddha's birthday, is celebrated in many parts of the world.  Children in Japan will take turns pouring sweet tea over a Buddha with flowers.  For those celebrating, it is a day of gratitude. 


Starter Prompt for EVERYBODY today:

In the spirit of gratitude, make a list of 10 things you are grateful for.  Taking moments to reflect on gratitude has been proved to lift moods, so this is something I recommend you do on a regular basis.  Your list can include simple things such as your warm cup of morning coffee, to something super-big, like a project you recently finished at home, work or school. 

Creative Nonfiction Prompt:  Pick one thing from your gratitude list and write a little testimony about how it is important to your life. 

Fiction Writing Prompt:  Pick something from your list that you can turn into a conflict.  Then create a character who struggles before the good ending comes full circle.  For example, if you are grateful for a new bike, perhaps this could be turned into a story about a character who crashes his bike, but through some great miracle, he is okay and somehow gets another bike by winning a contest or ???? 

Poetry Writing Prompts:

1.  Pick something from your gratitude list and write a poem that shows how and why you are grateful for it.  Make sure to include details about the thing you are grateful for. 

2.  Research the story of the Buddha's birth.  It is quite fantastic as far as images are concerned.  Dragons apparently flew from the sky, and they poured fragrant water all over the land.  Collect some of the vibrant images from the story and write a poem about anything that uses some of those images.


Why not celebrate National Poetry Month by buying yourself a new journal?