10 Fall Writing Prompts

With Nanowrimo happening and all the literary carnage that come with it, sometimes it’s nice to take a breather and write about things just for the sake of writing itself. Sometimes it’s nice to write because it’s fun, and for that, here’s a list of ten autumnal writing prompts in honor of what’s left of fall!

1. You hear your name being shouted over the din of the homey coffee shop. You reach for the mug of hot apple cider at the same time as another’s hand goes for it…
2. You wake up in the middle of a corn maze alone. It’s dark. Your cellphone battery is dying…
3. The bonfire’s flames leap forwards, catching you off-guard. You didn’t even want to go to this harvest festival anyways. But you have to make your exit stealthily. The flames pop again and send you falling back into the arms of a stranger…
4. You run as quickly as you can, your feet crunching in the leaves, the grass sparse and drying as winter’s chill is oh so near. In the distance, a scarecrow looms overhead. You haven’t been to this farm in ages…
5. You can’t believe it’s snowing in November. Isn’t it still the time for fall? Agh! A fat snowflake skitters down, melting atop your nose. Your grandmother always told you that if you made a wish upon an autumn snowflake, that it’d come true…
6. You look at the autumn decorations in the department store. They remind you of home, sad as they are, with leaf-shaped, glow-in-the-dark stickers and pine-scented wreathes of twigs and berries. You haven’t been home for so long…
7. You gaze out at the stars, your breath fogging up in the frigid night air. The sky is so clear, the stars endless, leaving you feeling lightheaded. You are suddenly joined by another stargazer at your left…
8. Family reunions, otherwise known as World War III. Family reunions, what a grisly affair. Dad was attempting to set up some kind of pick-up football game and the cookies you’d brought had ended up a little flat. You just really hoped that (insert name) didn’t show up this year. Last year, (insert name) had done something unforgiveable…
9. It was a simple recipe for pumpkin pie, but this year you’d added one special ingredient to really liven up the dinner…
10. The harvest festival, oh you shuddered to hear that it was coming up again. You still couldn’t get the thoughts of last year’s harvest festival out of your mind, a festival that you would never forget…

And those are my ten autumnal writing prompts. Bundle up and stay warm for autumn, and as always, keep on writing!