The first time it struck me that newspaper headlines can be a good source of creative writing prompts was around 2016-17, when I was pursuing flash fiction writing seriously. I realised that whenever I sat down to write a story, I would always finish – in terms of length or word count – much before estimated. My stories always ended up short and concise.
So I said to myself – why not focus on flash fiction to practice writing crisp and impactful stories. I gave myself a target of writing one flash fiction every day.
I wanted to have 30 flash fiction stories at the end of the month and 100 at the end of three months. Ambitious, you would say and I agree with you completely.
But I thought if I set a target of 30 in one month, I might end up having at least 20. Or for a target of 100 in three months, I might have at least 75.
And let me tell you I was not wrong in my realistic estimation. I did have 20 stories at the end of the first month, some of which I published in my first collection – Flashes from Life.
But where to get story ideas from
Now, if I had to write one story every day the problem was getting the idea.
In the second week, as I was browsing through the newspaper, I found a headline that sent my creative juices into overdrive. I ended up writing a flash in 20 minutes flat. I guess the heightened creativity was because it took off from a real life situation. Remember,
Fact is stranger than fiction.
Daily creative writing prompts from newspapers
Since then, newspaper headlines have been my go to resource for writing prompts. The best part is that it is an unending source!!
Over the years, I have found that my Hindi newspaper headlines are juicier and give me better ideas!! May be, because they talk in my mother tongue? I can’t say with certainty bit that seems to be the reason behind it. Or may be these newspaper give more local news, which I identify with better. And I find it easier to weave stories around them.
The golden rule for making newspaper headlines work as a writing prompts is this:
Read only the headline, not the story below it.
Why?
Because you want to right your own story, without being influenced by anything else.
But getting prompts was not as easy this time
Since promising you all last week that I will share some writing prompts from newspaper headlines, I set about searching for those headlines. If you remember from last time, I told you I have stopped reading newspapers for the past many months because all they seem to contain is morbid news about the pandemic. They depress me no end and I find it more important to keep my sanity than be up-to-date with the latest on the pandemic.
Anyways, coming back, I had a difficult time finding headlines I could use in the last week’s newspapers. I looked for three consecutive days without any luck. I waited for Sunday when I get two English dailies.
Also, I hoped that the Sunday editions would have something besides the Corona news.
I was not disappointed. Between the two newspapers – the Times of India and Hindustan Times – I collected these 10 prompts for you.
Deepak feeling good after answering online critic
I don’t care who Deepak is. I just know that someone felt good after answering an online critic. Let your creative juices run wild about what the critics might have said and then weave a situation around it. If you want it to be even more spicy, replace critic by troll and see what happens.
Smalling says family shaken up but unharmed
This prompt seems perfect for a thriller story.
How do you wear virtual outfits
Answer this question in creative ways and you will have different stories. Here is one prompt that could yield multiple stories. Go ahead and try.
Get ready to add pixelated and augmented clothing to your wardrobe
This prompt reminded me of the movie Matrix. I could imagine those green numbers being spewed out not by a computer but by the bodies or clothes of human beings. Another perfect prompt for sci-fi stories.
Here is why some people are hungry all the time
Hungry for what? Don’t let hunger mean only food for your own story. This is the reason I advised you never to read the story below the headline that you plan to use as a writing prompt.
Some people trust computers more than other humans
Wow, what a study. But this opened a plethora of ideas in my mind. I could imagine people sharing their deepest of secrets with computers just so they could de-stress. In fact, how about a machine that you could actually talk to and it would save everything automatically, to be retrieved later as voice memo or text.
Or, imagine the grief of children whose mother has died without sharing any will or financial details. Everything is in there in that black box and they don’t know how to get it talking.
My open marriage caused me emotional grief
I smell a soap opera style story brewing here. It can even double up as the opening line of the story or a scene.
Junta pardons prisoners
Who or what is Junta? Why are they pardoning the prisoners? Are they allowed to do that or are they doing it out of turn, as an action of rebellion? So many questions, which when answered can become a story.
I have faced ageism
Again an ideal prompt for a slice of life story. Think of old people you have seen around you. How they look and how they actually come across as when you interact with them. Remember Ove?
Next steps
Choose any one of the prompts and write a story.
Set yourself a deadline. Say 2 or 3 days, or even 1 week. Whatever works for you.
Then post that story in the comments here or share with your tribe on social media. Don’t forget to tag me!!
Happy Writing…
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