Something that you can’t control about your life is your family. Good, bad, or ugly, you start your life with them in some capacity. By being present or not, positive or not, they will shape your life. These 20 free creative writing prompts center on the topic of family. As always, give yourself the gift, the ability to let yourself feel, and take the time for relaxation afterward.
1. Recall and write a detailed account of your most embarrassing moment with your mother, step-mother, or other mother like figure.
2. Describe the time around the moment you realized that your mother and father were in fact not perfect or normal.
3. Write a story of your older brother or sister beating you up or you beating up a younger brother or sister. If it never happened, make it up.
4. Describe this event: finding out the true nature of Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny and your first confrontation with your parents afterward.
5. In a detailed manner, write about the day of and the day after your little brother or sister was born.
6. You just realized (at whatever age this happened) that your parents do indeed have sex. Write about how you found out, your reaction, and the ensuing time you speak with your parents.
7. Evaluate your place with your entire family. The starving artist? The slacker? The underachieving genius? Label your role and start labeling the other members of your family as well. Explain the labels.
8. Describe your most memorable family holiday/vacation.
9. Describe the first time you introduced a boyfriend or girlfriend to your immediate family.
10. Describe the first time you introduced a boyfriend or girlfriend to your extended family.
11. Use research or imagination to write a day in the life story of your mother, father or siblings when they were your current age.
12. In a “Freaky Friday"-esque situation, you have switched bodies with your mother or father. Describe your next 24 hours.
13. Write a story of one of your ancestors in connection to a famous event in history.
14. Think back to an event with your family from your childhood. Write a scene between you and a parent or sibling and try to piece together the whole event.
15. Either remember back to or imagine if your parents were to tell you that they were getting a divorce, describe your next 24 hours.
16. How did your sibling’s reputation affect how teachers treated you in school (or vice versa)? Describe specific situations.
17. You have to spend a week with one cousin, who do you choose and why? Describe the week.
18. You have to spend a week with one grandparent or one pairing of grandparents. Who do you choose and why? Describe the week.
19. Describe your family’s greatest catastrophe to date.
20. Imagine or describe your own wedding and the involvement of your family in the planning and execution.
It’s scary to write about some of these issues and it’s exciting to write about others. You get out of these exercises exactly what you put in. So make Momma proud :).
Related Articles to Free Creative Writing Prompts #4
Free Creative Writing Prompts from the Heart, Part 1
Free Creative Writing Prompts #2: Love
Creative Writing Exercises #2: Relaxation
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