He got up and sat on the edge of the bedstead with his back to the window. “It’s better not to sleep at all,” he decided. There was a cold damp draught from the window, however; without getting up he drew the blanket over him and wrapped himself in it. He was not thinking of anything and did not want to think. But one image rose after another, incoherent scraps of thought without beginning or end passed through his mind. He sank into drowsiness. Perhaps the cold, or the dampness, or the dark, or the wind that howled under the window and tossed the trees roused a sort of persistent craving for the fantastic. He kept dwelling on images of flowers, he fancied a charming flower garden, a bright, warm, almost hot day, a holiday—Trinity day. A fine, sumptuous country cottage in the English taste overgrown with fragrant flowers, with flower beds going round the house; the porch, wreathed in climbers, was surrounded with beds of roses. A light, cool staircase, carpeted with rich rugs, was decorated with rare plants in china pots. He noticed particularly in the windows nosegays of tender, white, heavily fragrant narcissus bending over their bright, green, thick long stalks. He was reluctant to move away from them, but he went up the stairs and came into a large, high drawing-room and again everywhere—at the windows, the doors on to the balcony, and on the balcony itself—were flowers. The floors were strewn with freshly-cut fragrant hay, the windows were open, a fresh, cool, light air came into the room. The birds were chirruping under the window, and in the middle of the room, on a table covered with a white satin shroud, stood a coffin. The coffin was covered with white silk and edged with a thick white frill; wreaths of flowers surrounded it on all sides. Among the flowers lay a girl in a white muslin dress, with her arms crossed and pressed on her bosom, as though carved out of marble. But her loose fair hair was wet; there was a wreath of roses on her head. The stern and already rigid profile of her face looked as though chiselled of marble too, and the smile on her pale lips was full of an immense unchildish misery and sorrowful appeal. Svidrigaïlov knew that girl; there was no holy image, no burning candle beside the coffin; no sound of prayers: the girl had drowned herself. She was only fourteen, but her heart was broken. And she had destroyed herself, crushed by an insult that had appalled and amazed that childish soul, had smirched that angel purity with unmerited disgrace and torn from her a last scream of despair, unheeded and brutally disregarded, on a dark night in the cold and wet while the wind howled

The Mammoth Stockpile of Creative Writing Prompts

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With these 10 lists of creative writing prompts, there is no way you are going to stare at a blank computer screen today.

Need a story generator? Got you covered. 50+ photo prompts? Also got it. If you want the first line of a story, choose from the 100+ lines to get you started.

If you love music, listen to one of our 30 musical creative writing prompts, each song paired with a specific writing prompt. Want to be goofy? Try our emoji writing prompts, just for fun.

If you write in a specific genre, we have special writing prompts for each of you — creative nonfiction, Young Adult, historical fiction, short stories.


52 writing prompts, one for each week of the year, and each prompt contains 3 images. The challenge is to write a story based on those three images.		Why emoji writing prompts? Because we could. And because it’s fun. There are 37 of these story set-ups, some very funny and some very sad.		There are hundreds of stories in this story generator, so it’s not hyperbole to claim it’s the best of all time. Just click the button and be inspired.

I embed a song and a prompt based on the lyrics; you create mind-blowingly good stories while listening to the song on repeat. Mission accomplished.		Why aren’t there more creative nonfiction writing prompts? It’s like someone forgot to write them. Well, enjoy these. They’re awesome and rare.		Need a first sentence to get you started? We got you covered. Hundreds of first lines to spark your creativity.

Featuring a whole bunch of high school protagonists struggling with relationships, first sexual experiences, alcohol, depression, and school.		Creative writing exercises are like miniature writing prompts. They’re not designed to have you create a story, just work on a particular skill.		If you need help getting started, these 70+ short story ideas will get you writing pronto. Categories like humor, power, friendship, and romance.

If you write historical fiction and want a burst of inspiration, check out these 40 vintage pictures paired with writing prompts. You’ll be sure to get ideas.

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Every writer NEEDS this book.

It’s a guide to writing the pivotal moments of your novel.

Whether writing your book or revising it, this will be the most helpful book you’ll ever buy.

Every writer NEEDS this book.

It’s a guide to writing the pivotal moments of your novel.

Whether writing your book or revising it, this will be the most helpful book you’ll ever buy.