Ten Prompts To Help You Write For Change

Your next article or essay is on the other side of one of these

Photo by Liza Summer

Every time I read something about prompts these days it seems to be someone dishing out advice on the best AI prompts you can feed into ChatGPT, Midjourney or similar.

This is not that type of advice. These are prompts for you to feed into your brain. To produce your next article, essay or book outline.

Pick one. Journal it out into what will likely be a shitty first draft. Then polish it up for publication.

1. What makes you mad (and what can be done about it?)

2. What makes you sad (and what can be done about it?)

3. What have you learned recently that contradicts a previous (common) belief?

4. What coping strategies work for you in difficult times?

5. Is there an unusual solution to a specific problem you can share?

6. Can you review or summarise a book you’ve read recently that you think everyone should read?

7. Can you dive deep into one important lesson or takeaway from a book you’ve read recently?

8. Is there a quote you love, and could you share its meaning or impact?

9. Is there an experience that totally changed the way you think, feel or act, in general or in certain situations?

10. Is there a scary issue or situation you’re dealing with that feels very individual but that you suspect might be relatively common, or even universal?

Number 1 and 2 have led to articles like this and this for me. No 3 led to a 50-item list. Number 4 was the springboard for this piece. Number 6 was behind this article and this one.

So pull up a prompt. Get writing. Start changing the world, one reader at a time.

Some thoughts from others I’ve been enjoying this week

• How Authors Are Using Substack to Get Positive Book Reviews by

  Kristina God and

  Matt Tomporowski

• My Thoughts On The Medium Day Keynote Speech by

  Linda Caroll

• You’re struggling to write because you made it feel like an obligation by Alex Mathers

• Follow This Guide If You Want to Start Writing Online in 2024 by

  Sinem Günel
  and
  Philip Hofmacher

• 10 Surprising Tips That Make Your Online Writing Ten Times More Memorable by

  David McIlroy
  and
  Alex Mathers

What else I’ve been up to this week

Reading: Stop Talking, Start Doing: A Kick in the Pants in Six Parts by Shaa Wasmund

Watching: Sparkle Summit talks and trainings

Enjoying: The last, long, lovely days of summer

Not enjoying: The fact that, ready or not, winter is coming

This week’s Medium posts

(Friend links, as always, so you can read for free.)

• Unlearning What Your Parents Taught You About Money

• Apps That Have Helped Me Reach My Money Goals

That’s all for this week. If you’re reading this online, feel free to subscribe to get future posts straight to your inbox.

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