Stuck No More: Writing Prompts to Help Tell Your Story (Pt. 2)

Workshop leader Laura Munson shares time-honored advice for breaking up with your inner critic

This is the second installment of a two-part series for those who feel “stuck” in their writing or self-expression. Read part one here.

I have found in my Haven Writing Retreats and Programs, that the number one reason why people become stuck and stay stuck has to do with this fact: We’ll never bridge to readers if we haven’t bridged to ourselves. It starts there.

Here are some more writing prompts to help you. I’ve divided them into sections to help you break down your process:

1. Think of a specific moment when you felt that what you wanted to say didn’t matter, or that your way of expressing yourself was wrong, meaningless, or dangerous even. Write the scene, including setting, people, dialogue, thoughts, actions, and sensory details. (This moment can come from any time in your life, but try to choose a defining moment.) Take at least fifteen minutes.
2. Now that you’ve tuned into this time in your life, answer this question: What does “stuck” mean to me? Take at least ten minutes.
3. Now, we’re going to get playful with “stuck.” The child in you knows exactly how to do this. Characterize the word “stuck” as if it is a living creature. What does it look like, smell like, act like? How does its voice sound? Does it remind you of anyone from your childhood? What is Stuck’s enemy? What is Stuck’s superpower? What does Stuck eat for breakfast? What does Stuck do on a full moon? On a holiday? On its birthday? Let your mind go! Take at least fifteen minutes.
4. If you could tell that creature called Stuck to leave you alone, what words would you choose? Let yourself riff for at least five minutes.
5. Now that you’re warmed up, find one phrase that you feel just might keep Stuck at bay based on what you just came up with. Don’t overthink it. Take at least three minutes.
6. Write out that phrase and put it somewhere that you can refer to often. Memorize it. Use it when Stuck attacks! (i.e. Gandalf’s “You shall not pass!”)
7. Now answer these questions: What would the child in you say to the character Stuck? How does this way of thinking about Stuck feel in your gut? In your mind? In your heart?
8. Now, re-write your defining scene. This time, I’d like you to use your imagination. Instead of reacting the way that you did in that moment, I’d like you to imagine a different reaction. I’d like you to imagine that you, in your own unique way, found a path to create a safe space for your expression. I’d like you to imagine that you gave yourself permission — whether by tenderness, or rage, or playfulness — to say what you truly needed to say. “Thanks anyway, Mom. I’ll go find Grandma. She’s always told me that she thinks I’m a poet at heart and that the only reason I play tennis is to make you happy. Just this moment, I realized how much I hate tennis. From now on, I’m going to write poems instead. I’ll clean up my room after I read my poem to her over and over, while she braids my hair and kisses my forehead.” Take ten to twenty minutes for this one. Truly imagine a different outcome.
9. Finally, in three words, write your personal antidote for being stuck. What’s the opposite of “Stuck” after doing these writing prompts? What is a positive “I” statement that you can say to keep Stuck…well…stuck? (i.e. I am free!)

I hope these exercises help you understand that finding your unique voice begins with a dedication to becoming aware of how you speak to yourself. It begins with becoming aware of how a person can spend a lifetime in a story that doesn’t serve them, and that they can rewrite that story if only that person has the courage to say “Yes” to a new way of thinking and being.

And believe me, if I can do it, you can, too. I want you to feel like writing is a free zone for you, a safe place to be exactly who you are. The child in you knows just how to do it. Let that child show you the way.

Laura Munson is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir This Is Not The Story You Think It Is, and the USA Today bestselling novel Willa’s Grove. She lives in Montana where she leads the acclaimed Haven Writing Retreats and Programs (just a few spots left for autumn 2021 and now booking 2022!). Lauramunson.com