Prompts: Six Words

When I first saw the six word challenge, I thought, "This is next to impossible, but I'll give it a try." The first few I did were segments of a story, like "A bird fell like a stone". After some practice, my six words turned more powerful and powerful after each new line.

Here's some tips before you get started.

1. Think abstract, think short- Have your six words either briefly tell about something, or symbolize something.

2. Think poem- It's six words, so you can skip the articles(as in a, an, the) when you need to.

3. Take advantage of punctuation- Punctuation can give a specific sound or choppiness where it's needed.

There are endless possibilities in those six words. Here are a few examples to get you started.


Want to be happy? Eat chocolate.

Sleepy night, time to write. Imagine.

Pencils scratching. Teacher pacing. Test time.

Shadow behind streetlamp. Footsteps. Waiting. Watching.

Shoveling dirt for the resting soul.

Sunny, lovely day. To stay inside.


Have fun with this! More prompts are coming soon.

-The Nocturnal Writer