With inspiration drawn from recent county carnivals and the versatility of a single word, this week’s prompts are themed around fair (and fare). Go on a creative ride with the ideas below, in writing or whatever medium spins your wheel.
Remember: these prompts aren’t for overthinking or perfection—they’re for generating new ideas, knocking off the rust, and stretching/building muscle. Try not to get caught up in details, editing yourself, or worrying about the final outcome. Also try not to think too much about quality or other people’s judgement. Just go.
- Pick two “fair” idioms, one that will (literally or figuratively) begin a piece of writing and one to help conclude it. Write verse or prose that links them.
- Revisit an early instance (ideally from childhood) where you determined that something was unfair. Paint the scene with vivid description involving the five senses. Reserve judgement, even if you now understand why a thing happened or think it more just that you did at the time.
- Create a fare sheet for journeys that don’t have a traditional fee structure. What is the cost of a mind trip, a bad dream, or one revolution around the sun? Use traditional currency or invent a currency.
- Take inspiration from carnival ride origin stories.
- Think of subway tokens, MetroCards, city bus coin-drops, and other fare-related tools. Write a memory, or scene, involving the loss or absence of the same.
- Dig in to the problem of “fairness” as related to beauty.
- Kissing Booth, Ring-the-Bell, Balloon and Dart. Make a list of fair or carnival games, both real and imagined. Choose an imagined game and describe it in great detail (tools, rules, etc.).
- Fair Fare: using images only, come up with unique names for various kinds of food found at the fair — be as evocative and metaphorical in your naming as possible.
- Write a travel dispatch from a fair in another county, country, continent or planet.
- Start with a list of words that rhyme with “fair.” Next, make a list of words that incorporate the syllable (fairy, affair, etc.). List profusely, until a handful of words inspire you. Then: write.
If you missed one of our earlier prompts lists, they’re here. Try one whenever you’re having trouble getting started, whenever you’re between projects, or whenever you want to have a little creative fun.
Like what you’ve written? Put it away for a week, then revisit and when it’s ready to go, submit. If you have feedback, or ideas for prompts, please get in touch.
[Photograph by Nathaniel H. Freeman]