Write about an object you kept long after its practical use ended.
18 Personal Essay Prompts Prompts
These prompts create a starting constraint, question, or situation. Use one as written, combine two, or change the audience, setting, objective, or limitation to make a new exercise.
Describe a family phrase whose meaning changed as you grew older.
Write about a place you know well enough to notice when one small detail disappears.
Explore a habit you once considered part of your personality but now see differently.
Write about being wrong in a way that was embarrassing but useful.
Describe a meal where the conversation mattered more than the food.
Write about a favor you accepted reluctantly and what the reluctance revealed.
Explore the difference between a story your family tells and how you personally remember the event.
Write about a time you performed confidence before actually feeling it.
Describe a recurring chore or errand that became connected to someone you love or miss.
Write about an item of clothing you stopped wearing for reasons that had little to do with fashion.
Explore a small rule you created for yourself and why you eventually broke or kept it.
Write about a skill you learned from watching rather than being directly taught.
Describe a public place where you have had unusually private thoughts.
Write about the first time you realized an adult in your life did not know what to do.
Explore a compliment you remember because it made you uncomfortable.
Write about something you repaired and whether the repair changed how you valued it.
Return to a memory you have told many times and focus on the detail you usually leave out.