There is a haunting segment in Masaski Kobayashi’s movie, ”Kwaidan,” in which the face of one of the actors is painted to keep evil spirits at bay.
What are the words you would have painted on your face to keep away the evil spirits?
What Skill Do You Want to Learn?
Let’s say you have the ability to learn anything you want to learn. What new thing would you like to learn that has been a dream of yours for a long time?
Write About Your Struggle
Write about something you are struggling with. Maybe it’s something at school, or work, or something in your personal life. The struggle takes a lot of your thinking time, and your emotions, so it must be important. Write about your struggle — it’s a good step in coming to terms with something you are trying to master.
Tell Me Something New
A friend who teaches writing, Esther Cohen, wrote this beautiful writing prompts poem. She writes poems each day that can be found at: esthercohen.com
See if you can answer her questions in your own writing.
Prompts
By Esther Cohen
Tell me something
you’ve never said before,
or that you’ve said in a way
that was only half true.
This time, three quarters.
Tell me the name
you wish you had.
Tell me who you love.
Of course it can be more
than one person.
You don’t have to tell me why.
Tell me a dream,
and what you would do if you could,
and what you’d like to tell
a stranger, and what color
is your real color and what you think
about getting old, and getting young,
and where you would go tomorrow
if you could, and a word or two that always sings.
What’s Under the Mask You Wear?
Some people say we all wear masks of one sort or another to guard and protect our inner selves. The mask may be a real, physical one, or it may simply be having a smile, or smirk, on our face all the time, or maintaining a sad or troubled look. The mask may separate us from the person we try to show to the world from the person we really feel is the one inside us, the true one. What masks do you wear in life? What kind of person is the one under the mask? Which mask would you like to try on?
You can write your response in any form you wish, as a short answer, an essay, or as a poem or haiku. You can even wear a mask as you write!
Describe your favorite foods
Describe your favorite food for me. Imagine that I had never tasted it before. What does it taste like, look like, smell like? How do you prepare the food? What is your favorite food memory? Is there someone special who prepared this food for you?