Modern Women: September Writing Prompts

It’s time for some inspiration.

With the shift in the seasons it can take us a moment to move from one creative flow to another. For most of us summer pulls us out in to the world and away from our computers and the more introspective practice of writing. As we come back inside, finding our rhythm again can sometimes use a kick start and that is exactly what we offer in our month theme.

A theme is a way you invite your imagination to think about something familiar from a new perspective. To ask yourself questions that you never thought to ask and see where your writing leads you. We’re often surprised at the answer that arise, but like a deja vu, our words and sentiment are a memory of an unspoken conversation now let out into the light.

As always I invite to you to follow wherever your imagination leads you, to not worry about the structures or styles you think are ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, just to walk through whatever door in your mind chooses to open and enter willingly.

I often start with journaling, or doodling in free association just to see what pops up to the surface, and then only once that first draft is complete need you deliberately shape it into something you feel comfortable sharing. Remember, the theme and the prompts without it are there for you to do what you will with, to let them sit for a week, a day, a minute or right until the last day of the month, if you need.

But before we get to the prompt for this month can we take a moment to celebrate some of the amazing pieces that came our way in response to the prompt ‘tell me a story about your dreams’.

Chantelle Atkins put a name to an experience some of you will recognise and a big part of who you are as a creative, and I’m sure most of us will resonate with memories of being told we live in a dream world.

inthewaves offered us a piece which highlights the closure and messages we can show ourselves in dreamscape that perhaps are harder to see and accept in the cold light of day.

And BJ The Blogger shared a personal essay that reflects on the dreams we sometimes have to say goodbye too so new ones can be fully experienced.

The topic of dreams is always inspiring. As we reader about the dreams of other it somehow becomes easier to know our own and to see where in reality, we are already living many of them.

And now, with no further ado…

The prompt for September is:

Migration

As the birds fly south above our heads, there is a sense of nostalgia watching them as they follow their internal radar towards home. Where is home for you? Is the place where you currently live, or some far off destination. Are you still seeking that illusive location in which your body shall sing to you of safety and rest?

Have you created a home for others, or left a house that wasn’t the home you wished it could be?

What does the idea of leaving bring up for you? A sense of excitement, possibility and adventure, or a sadness and maybe even guilt?

Do you have children leaving home for the first time this September, heading to school for the first time and leaving toddlerhood behind or perhaps college or university, and embarking on their first step on their adult journeys? What does that feel like for you, are you ready for the space that might open up in your life?

In addition to these questions, I’d like to offer these quotes to inspire you further…

Our homes should inspire us to go out into the world to do great things and then welcome us back for refreshment. Melissa Michaels.

Leaving home in a sense involves a kind of second birth in which we give birth to ourselves. Robert N. Bellah

Migration isn’t a one-directional process; it’s a colossal process that has been happening in all directions for thousands of years. Mohsin Hamid

For those new to our monthly prompts please note that they are open to you not just for the month in which we release them but for whenever they strike the cord of inspiration within you, so feel free to look back through previous months.

Whether you respond to one of the questions I pose or the overall theme in your own way is entirely up to you, and we welcome work in any style, whether that is poetry, prose, fiction or an essay. The choice is yours.

Our only request is that you share genuine, heartfelt and down-to-earth stories that you think other women might be inspired or empowered by.

If you are submitting a response to a prompt, please include the tag ‘prompt’ when sending it to us and add a link at the bottom of your piece to the prompt you are responding to.

If you’ve never written for Modern Women before, then please do take a moment to read our ‘how to’ guide below.