Writing prompts
Freewriting Friday: Combating Stress
What are your stressors, how do you manage them, and do celebrate the rainbow after the storm?
“In times of stress, the best thing we can do for each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and to be assured that our questions are just as important as our answers.” ― Fred Rogers, The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember
April is Stress Awareness Month (I don’t know about you, but I’m aware of stress each month ::smile::) which inspired this month’s Freewriting Friday exercise.
Also just a housekeeping note I’ll be posting these writing exercises on the first Friday of each month, instead of each Friday which I haven’t been able to keep up.
Remember that you can respond to any of these Freewriting Friday prompts at any time. Use the tag “freewriting” so they are linked on our home page.
Let’s write!
Set the Mood for Your Writing
Instructions
Use this time to write something personal or write from the perspective of a character from a fictional story you are working on. Or write a poem.
Allow your mind to wander, not worrying about the final product.
- Allow yourself at least 15 minutes for a freewriting session.
- Write in a place with no distractions.
- Only allow yourself to write and use this exercise as a guide.
- Only use your phone for the timer and turn off notifications.
- Move from one prompt to the next or focus on one.
- Don’t stop writing for the time allowed.
- Don’t edit yourself.
Freewrite in response to all the prompts or focus on one. Whichever calls out to you. Use these prompts as a springboard to your next article, flash fiction, or short story. You can also write these as satire or rant pieces.
There is no right or wrong.
As a fiction writer, you can use any of these prompts from your character’s perspective to get to know them better; maybe a story will form through your freewriting.
First Prompt
The word “stress.” Write whatever comes to your mind when you read the word “stress.”
Some ideas to get you started. Create a word bank by listing words that pop into your head. Names of people, nouns, verbs. Don’t edit yourself.
Then start writing. What stresses you now in your life? How has that evolved since you were a child? This can be something as simple as a tag on your shirt when you were a child to a job that has caused you never-ending stress.
Remember as a fiction writer, you can use these prompts from the perspective of a fictionalized character.
Set a timer for five minutes and write.
Second Prompt
“Managing stress.”
How have you managed the stress you described in the first prompt? Has that changed over the years? Do you manage it in healthy and/or unhealthy ways and if so, how?
Set a timer for five minutes and write.
Third Prompt
“Celebrating stress!” Say what?!
Think of it as the rainbow after the rainstorm. Rainstorms never go away (we hope!) and rainbows don’t always appear but sometimes they do, if you’re paying attention.
How has stress helped you in your life? How have you grown as a person because of stress? How has the stress you felt as a child, a teenager, a young adult helped you as a parent?
Revision
When you freewrite, always allow your words to simmer before putting your editor hat on. When I write, I either only freewrite, with no editing or stopping. Or I edit and revise. Never at the same time.
After some time, go back over your words and add structure. Take away, add. Polish it up!
Submit your work to Flint & Steel
You can submit your writing to any of the freewriting exercises found at Flint & Steel anytime. There are no deadlines for these prompts.
If you publish your article with another publication, tag me so I can stop by and comment on your piece.
Visit the submission guideline page to sign up to be a writer at Flint & Steel.
More Freewriting Friday exercises
✍ Written by Ellie Jacobson, @2022 all rights reserved.
✨ I’m a freelance writer and editor from Minnesota, writing my first novel, a psychological suspense novel. Are you a writer? Check out Sparks, my newsletter filled with writing prompts to spark your creativity.
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