Even now, a writing prompt on its own can feel like homework. For example, if I’m told, “Write about a time you had a change of heart,” my mind goes blank. The poet Craig Morgan Teicher described this kind of prompt as the equivalent of sticking your finger in a goldfish pond: All the goldfish scatter to dark corners. But reading someone else’s words before I write always stirs something new in me. It’s such a natural way in to keeping a journal.
