Creative Writing Prompts Inspired by Little Things

 Tiny Star Flower Power © Digitalfestival | Dreamstime.com

 Little Things by Julia A. F. Carney

Little drops of water,
    Little grains of sand,
Make the mighty ocean
    And the pleasant land.

Little deeds of kindness,
    Little words of love,
Make our earth an Eden,
    Like the heaven above.

"Little Things" by Julia A. F. Carney. Public domain.

The Oak Ridge Boys had a famous line in one of their hit songs.  It was, "Baby, it's the little things that make me love you so."  Today we are going to think about little things and let them inspire our writing.

Fiction Writing Practice Prompt:  Start creating a new character by free-writing two paragraphs.  One paragraph will be about the little things that your character does that are not so positive, or little things that others do that bother the character, or things the character does that might be annoying to someone else.  And the other paragraph will will be about the little personality traits your character has that are very enduring.  Write a scene that shows your character portraying those traits.   

Journal Prompt:  A lot of people buy little things on their vacations as souvenirs.  Many people collect small things like toothpick holders, little dolls, and tiny cars.  Think about some little things you have and write about what your connection is with one of them.

Creative Nonfictin Prompt:  Write about the little things that make you love someone special even more.  How are those little things symbolic to who that person is?  Connect the little things to the special part of that someone you are thinking about.

Poetry Writing Prompt:  

1.  Poems are great for capturing details.  Today, write a poem that captures little details within your theme.  For example, if you would like to write a poem about a person you love, what are the little details in the mannerisms of that person you can capture?  Or, if you would like to write a poem about something in nature, what little details can you include about the theme?

2.  Write about the little things in life you love.

Tip:  Details are effective in writing when there are just enough.  Be careful not to over-do it.  For example, if you are starting a story about when you took your dog camping, you wouldn't spend a whole paragraph writing about every single tree you passed on your walk.  Too many details can bore your reader.  But just the right amount of interesting details will reel your reader in.