15 Outside-The-Box Poetry Prompts to Get You Writing

If you’ve ever googled “writing prompts,” you’ve probably realized many of the prompts available on the internet are incredibly similar to each other. This can be frustrating when you’re trying to write something outside your comfort zone or write more often (more often than the ideas are coming to you, maybe). 

I’ve dealt with this problem too. Looking for inspiration can get old fast, and before you know it you’re not even in a creative mood anymore! I developed a list of poetry prompts for this specific reason. 

Below is a sample of the prompts from my new ebook: 101 Poetry Prompts: Outside-the-Box Ideas to Get You Writing. If you like the quotes I’ve decided to share below, take a peek at the rest of the prompts from the ebook on Amazon and Nook. 
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1. Think of a time you felt scared. Make a list of the things or places that sparked the fear. See if any themes pop up.
   
2. Write a poem from the perspective of your favorite animal.
   
3. What three things do you dislike about yourself? How can you rewrite these as positives? Write a poem exploring these negatives turned positive.
   
4. What are five things you can’t live without? Try to create a list that is made up of both physical items and relationships/intangible things. Write a poem where you mention each of these things.
   
5. Write about a time your hero became a real, flawed person in your life whether it was in a big way or a small way.
   
6. What’s the last dream you can recall? What feeling does it bring up as you think back to the setting and occurrences of the dream?
   
7. If you could rewrite a scene of your favorite movie, how would it go? Write a poem about it, letting the “story” of the poem unravel in front of you on the page.
   
8. Write a poem in which the first word starts with the letter X. Get creative and utilize Google!
   
9. Write a poem addressed to an imaginary person.
   
10. Write a poem about a community, fandom, organization, or ideology you are part of.
    
11. Write a poem about distance. What things feel far away from you? What things do you wish were far away from you?
    
12. Write seven steps to falling in or out of love. The number of steps is arbitrary. Choose whatever gets you to writing.
    
13. Imagine you’re above an interesting landscape. Maybe a forest, a beloved city, or a mountain range. Write a poem about what you see.
    
14. Think of a hard lesson you learned but you’re grateful for. List out some of the things that happened. Write a poem exploring what you learned.
    
15. Write a letter to your former self in the form of a poem.