Journal Prompts: Mining Tools

In the September issue of Writer's Digest magazine writer Elizabeth Sims suggests memories are "buried treasure" for fiction writers. ("Ten Fast Hacks for Fiction Writers") To mine these treasures she suggests finding an object associated with a memory and study it, smell it, "experience it." She says that if you write about memories others will come. Again smell, taste, hear what is/was going on.

These are all important things for memoir writers, too. Whatever you can find or see or use to bring back a memory is a tool to writing your life.

Photo taken at Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Arizona.

Seven more journal prompts:

Which historical figure do you most admire?
Have you ever gotten a traffic ticket?
Write about a wedding other than your own.
Where did you and your family generally sit to watch television?
Write about spiders.
Write about receiving an unwelcome surprise.
Write about being lost.