This year for National Blog Posting Month (aka NaBloPoMo), I’m not writing blog posts, I am writing blogging prompts for other bloggers.
Each night between 8pm and 10pm I write a prompt and send it to the bloggers via text. We started with one blogger, then there were two. Last week it became three, and since my post went up on Thursday, we are up to four bloggers receiving nightly NaBloPoMo writing prompts via a private group message on Facebook. Oh, how technology has made distribution a lot easier.
Each night after sending the prompts to the writers, I’ll post the same prompt here on my blog (full list/archives). This will be the prompt that you should write about — and publish — the following day. If you’re looking for some inspiration for your own blog, you’re more than welcome to take it. My only request is that you mention where you got the prompt and link to the post where you found the prompt. This is a kind of NaBloPoMo experiment, and I’d love to read the posts that you write.
If the prompt doesn’t inspire you, don’t worry about it. The only hard rule in National Blog Posting Month is that you write. Every day.
Nine Writing Prompts
To catch up, here are the prompts for the first eight days. The first post (Nov 1), was a post about participating in the project and laying out individual goals.
First Post (Nov 1): First Post
For your introduction blog post, tell us why you’re blogging every day for an entire month: What’s your one (or two, or three) goals? When can we expect posts? All that good stuff.
- It’s Day #1 all over again by Harmony on Harmonious Mess
- NaBloPoMo: 30 Posts in 30 Days by Madeline on Edible Joy
Prompt #1 (Nov 2): 5-year-old Self
Who you were as a five-year-old is an indication of who you will be as an adult. You both have five-year-olds now with big personalities. What is one thing about them that makes them who they are, that one thing that they hope will stay as they get older?
- Best Friends at Age 5 by Harmony at Harmonious Mess
Prompt #2 (Nov 3): Eat to live?
You’ve heard the saying before: “Do you live to eat or do you eat to live?” As an adult, society tells us that we must live by the latter. But living in Seattle, we are living in a foodie’s paradise. So fess up — what’s your one guilty, culinary pleasure?
- Farm Fetish by Harmony on Harmonious Mess
- A Love/Life Affair with Food by Madeline on Edible Joy
Prompt #3 (Nov 4): Early Jobs
Think about your early jobs: the one you held after school in high school, that brutal internship, that first fulltime job after college (OMG-welcome-to-adulthood). What’s one mistake or mis-step that you made early on in your work life that still haunts you today? (And one you hope never to make again?)
- It’s not you. It’s them. by Harmony on Harmonious Mess
Prompt #4 (Nov 5): Smells
Smell, the sense that triggers the richest, most obscure memories during the most awkward times. Write about a time when a smell triggered a deep or odd memory. What was the smell? What was the memory? And did that recollection cause you to do anything in that present moment?
- Smells by Madeline on Edible Joy
- 10 Smells to Remember by Harmony on Harmonious Mess
Prompt #5 (Nov 6): Bedtime Stories
Bedtime stories, fairy tales, fables of myth and wonder. Which one is (or was) your favorite story and what made that story so special to you?
- Once Upon a Time by Harmony on Harmonious Mess
Prompt #6 (Nov 7): Throw Back Thursday
Throw back Thursday. Post an old photo and tell us about it. Transcribe an old journal. Share a memory. Keep it short and simple.
- Throwback Thursday by Harmony on Harmonious Mess
- What We Keep by Madeline on Edible Joy
Prompt #7 (Nov 8 ): Revolutionary Idea
We all work in social media and when we first started experimenting with it, social media was disruptive and threw each of our careers and professional lives in a new direction. But what was new then has grown old. So tell me about the last time something blew your mind. What’s the last truly revolutionary idea, experience or thing you encountered?
- I’m Here for the Free Wine by Harmony on Harmonious Mess
- Great storytelling makes food science compelling and fun by Madeline on Edible Joy
Prompt #8 (Nov 9): Overcoming Fear
Werewolves, vampires, witches. Midterms, bullies, showing up to class naked. First day of work, new boss, annual review. These are some of the things that have scared us as we have grown up. What were you afraid of then that you’re not afraid of now? How did you overcome that fear?
- How I Overcame My Fear of Public Speaking by Kelly on Kelly Clay
- Big, Loud and Hairy by Harmony on Harmonious Mess
- The Most Important 2 Miles of My Life (So Far) by Madeline on Edible Joy
Prompt #9 (Nov 10): Friends with You of Past
A friend of mine reinvents herself about every few years. Recently, she realized that all of her former selves probably wouldn’t be friends with each other, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. What about you, do you think you’d be friends with whoever you used to be?
- Just the Same Ol’ Me by Harmony on Harmonious Mess
- Would You Want to be Friends with Yourself? by Kelly on Kelly Clay
The next prompt will be up tonight. Happy writing!
Photo by yours truly
