The Writers Book of Matches: 1001 Prompts to Ignite Your Fiction

by Fresh Boiled Peanuts

Go ahead. Play with matches. Not the usual advice, is it? But doing so will help you find inspiration, overcome writer's block, and develop a writing habit - forever. Sounds like a big promise for such a tiny little book...but it's true. Inside, you'll discover more than 1,000 writing prompts designed to get your creative first burning. Consider each prompt a "match" of sorts, capable of starting anything from a tiny blaze (a short story) to a raging inferno (a novel). You'll also find guidelines for using these matches to boost your creativity in fun, unexpected ways, along with dozens of inspirational quotes from some of the world's greatest writers. So open the book. Pick a match. Starting a fire has never been so easy.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference

Paperback

First published November 1, 2005

Reviews

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is perfect to pull out when I want to write, but don't have a topic.

[Kim B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best writing idea book I've encountered in possibly my whole life, if only because it was exactly what I was looking for at the time.

[Art · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of good ideas for writing.

['Nathan Burgoine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I use this book when I'm well and truly stuck. For the most part, the prompts get me pondering, get some words on the page, and then I'll go back to the project in question that had be stymied with a renewed sense of "I can do this."

The flip side? I've also had three prompts from this book turn into pieces that I ended up getting published as short fiction in anthologies. So even though I didn't go into using this book from the point of view of it creating complete stories I could then market, it happened by accident when I saw some calls for submission that ended up suiting perfectly stories I'd already written from the prompts.

[Tommy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book delivers exactly what it says - prompts. Ideas, sentences, scenarios, quotes, etc to launch the imagination for a story.

I have to say, they are very original prompts, ranging from comical to devastating. I've yet to chase any of them into the rabbit hole, but look forward to launching a handful of stories based on the premises in the book, just for the pure exercise of doing so.

Even if you're not a writer, the prompts are fresh enough to be a great conversation starter.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the perfect companion for any writer or aspiring writer. It's full of helping hands, to get creativity flowing. Some prompts are very short and some are more complex, requiring involvement of perhaps 3 elements in your writing piece (of course it's up to you how you use the prompt). I've used this many, many times and come out with short stories I'm very pleased with.

[Aaron Steinmetz · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a writer, you need this book. If you think you are a writer, you need this book. If you aren't a writer but wish you were, what's wrong with you? Go get a real job and quit these self-destructive tendencies.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great writing exercises.

[Abigail Singer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm always searching for a good prompt or two to get me started in writing. This nifty little book has 1001 prompts to chose from and I use it in my weekly writer's group.

[Amy Saunders · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book to get the ideas flowing.

[Bree · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love this. it is a must have. i use it every day and i cant get enough of it.
when i first got it, i marked all my favorites in differnt colors of highlighter
lol

[Dana Jerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly for adults, but good for getting kids to write as well.

[Amanda Williamson · Rating 2 out of 5]

More like the writer's book of kindling.

[Melissa Kline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a mixed-bag of fun writing prompts. I bring it to every writing group! Very useful and helpful!

[Laura Guilbault · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of good writing prompts in here, good for daily exercises.