August Theme: The Creative Life
Big Question: How do we build a creative life that works for us?
Week 4: Preparing for What Comes Next
Welcome to the Final Week of our August Series, The Creative Life
For the past three weeks, we’ve been asking ourselves: How do we build a creative life that works for us?
We started the month exploring the best ways to make space for the creative lives we truly want, then moved on to how to cultivate the creative habits we need to make that life a consistent reality the following week. And last week, for week three, we focused on the best ways to navigate ‘the messy middle’ when it arises in our creative projects and lives, so we don’t let our doubts and uncertainties have the last word.
For our final week in this August series, we’re going to shift our attention to Preparing for What Comes Next. Because making space, cultivating the right creative habits, and navigating ‘the messy middle’ are critical steps to take when you’re preparing for what comes next in both your creative projects and creative life.
Preparing yourself for what comes next in your creative life and work often requires calendars, strategic plans and quantifiable goals and detailed lists to be sure, but it also requires moments of deep reflection and creative intention, where you allow yourself to take a beat and hold space for where you’ve been, imagine where you’re going, as well as determine what you might want to leave behind.
This week’s prompts invite you to look ahead and imagine what comes next in your creative projects and life. Not because they’ll help you iron out every little detail of your creative aspirations in one fell swoop, but because they’ll help you imagine, and possibly write into existence, what comes next in your creative journey. Which will prove to be as fun as it is pragmatic, I hope.
Don’t worry if you missed the past three weeks of posts, you can still jump into our conversation about The Creative Life today and get something out of it!
While all posts on Daily Drafts & Dialogues are connected to their monthly themes with weekly focuses (which start each Saturday with a post of prompts like the one you’re reading now) they can still be enjoyed individually as well and are always available in the archive.
Remember, you’ll see my response to one of the creative prompts below in tomorrow’s post, my response to one of the reflective prompts on Wednesday, and posts with interactive and engaging dialogues about books and the creative life over the course of the upcoming week too. This way, you’ll really be able to dive into how to prepare yourself for what comes next in the creative life you truly want.
I hope to see what you come up with for one of these prompts in the Drafters Workshop chat soon, so we can discuss further what it means to build and enjoy the creative life that works for us.
General Tips for Every Prompt
Give yourself permission to write with a curious and open mindset, with the aim of discovery, rather than trying to know exactly what you think before you begin writing.
Let specific details, images, memories, questions, and possibilities lead you and your writing forward instead of worrying about making your responses sound polished.
If a prompt sparks an unexpected idea or feeling, follow it, as the most useful direction you can take this week in your writing likely won’t be the one you anticipated.
Invitation for the Week: Use these prompts to imagine, question, and make room for the creative life you’re continuing to build.
Quick Note: While I will always encourage writers to write to the extent of their heart’s content, I would suggest starting with one prompt from each section first. Select the creative prompt and reflective prompt that seem to really speak to you first, then see where those writing experiences lead you before attempting to complete the rest of the prompts. If you end up completing all or most of the prompts after that, that’s amazing! But if you don’t, that’s perfectly fine too. You won’t run out of opportunities to see prompts like this because there will be another post of prompts available next Saturday when this one is auto-archived.
Creative Prompts for What Comes Next in Your Creative Life
1. The Beginning of a New Chapter
Write about a character who’s standing at the beginning of a new chapter or threshold in life, which can be literal or figurative. They might be leaving a familiar place, beginning a relationship, starting a job, returning home, finishing up a personal or creative project that’s important to them, or waking up one morning with the realization that their life has changed and must move in a different direction.
Keep in mind that the character doesn’t need to know what comes next. In fact, it might be more interesting if they don’t.
Focus On:
why the character stands between something familiar and something unknown.
the way the setting reflects the emotional experience of moving forward in some way.
how the character carries something from the previous ‘chapter’ into the next one.
ensuring the moment the character is in contains both possibility and uncertainty.
Skills to Practice:
Bringing characters alive via transitions rather than plain exposition about them
Using a setting to reveal emotional transitions and states of being
Creating tension and anticipation around what hasn’t happened yet
Tip: Start with a concrete moment (a door opening, a train arriving, a suitcase being zipped, a phone ringing), then let the larger story about the character and their ‘new chapter’ emerge from there.
Feeling Stuck?
Ask yourself: What is coming to an end for this character? And what do they secretly hope will happen next, even if they don’t yet realize it themselves? Then write the first five minutes of their ‘new chapter’ and see where that takes you.
2. The Old Notebook About the Future
Write a story where someone discovers an old notebook containing their future plans, and what happens when the future they once imagined meets the person they’ve actually become.
Your character finds a notebook they wrote in about their future plans years ago, or one they don’t remember writing in at all. Inside the notebook are plans for a future they had envisioned in the past that haven’t happened yet.
Some of their past plans might still be applicable and accurate to their lives, while others might be completely wrong or no longer make sense. Some plans might even include things the character has forgotten they once wanted.
Focus On:
the notebook revealing something meaningful about the character’s earlier hopes.
ensuring their discoveries create questions rather than providing simple answers.
how the character has changed since the past plans were written, and how they haven’t.
one of the entries prompting the character to reconsider what they should do next.
Skills to Practice:
Unraveling a character’s future through their rediscovered past words and thoughts
Creating narrative tension through unanswered and lingering questions
Exploring the difference between a character’s expectation and their reality
Tip: Don’t make every prediction or wish the character had in the past come true, or need to come true, as the complex reasons behind the choices the character ends up making should surprise the reader.
Feeling Stuck?
Write three entries from the notebook first, to get your creative wheels rolling, which can include one plan that came true, one that failed spectacularly, and one that the character has completely forgotten about.
3. A Meeting Across Time
Write a scene where your present self and your future self meet.
Imagine that you meet yourself in person five, ten, or twenty years from now, or even one year from now. Where do you meet? What does your future self know that your present self doesn’t? And most importantly, what questions do you ask each other and what does this meeting reveal?
Focus On:
your present and future selves holding different perspectives on the same life.
how the meeting reveals something your present self is afraid to admit.
ensuring your future self is neither all-knowing nor perfect or unrecognizable.
ending the meeting with a question, realization, or possibility rather than a tidy solution.
Skills to Practice:
Writing authentic and engaging dialogue
Giving two versions of a character distinct voices
Using dialogue to explore internal conflicts
Tip: Let your future self disagree with your present self, and vice versa, as a lively exchange can be more engaging and useful than a calm and reassuring but passive one.
Feeling Stuck?
Begin the dialogue you write with the question: “Did we ever…?” and let your future self answer.
4. Becoming
Write a poem about who you’re becoming, or about someone or something else that is evolving, capturing the beautiful or unexpected elements of your/their/its evolution.
Think beyond traditional ideas of achievement or definitions of success and examples of growth. For instance, evolving as a creator and writer can also be about becoming more patient, more honest, more playful, more willing, more authentically yourself, etc.
Focus On:
capturing movement and progress in the poem rather than a final destination.
communicating the experience of change via images and sensory details.
allowing the poem’s speaker to hold uncertainty alongside hope.
leaving space for the poem to keep evolving into something else.
Skills to Practice:
Using metaphors and imagery and other literary language
Relying on line breaks and rhythm to shape meaning
Expressing abstract and undefined ideas via concrete details
Tip: Choose one image (a seed, a storm, a painting, a house under construction) and see how far you can take it to describe the evolution you’re trying to capture.
Feeling Stuck?
Complete this sentence several different ways: “I am becoming the person who…” Then choose the answer that surprises you most and build your poem around it.
5. The Story You Hope to Write
Write the opening paragraph of a story you hope to complete someday. Don’t worry about writing the whole story today. You only need to get it started for now. Give yourself permission to begin this story before you’re ready to finish it.
This might be a story you’ve been carrying for years, one that currently feels too ambitious, or one that exists only as a vague image in your mind.
Focus On:
producing intrigue about what will happen next without knowing everything yet.
establishing a distinctive and compelling voice or atmosphere right away.
including at least one detail that suggests a larger story to come.
generating enough suspense that you want to keep reading, and writing, what comes next.
Skills to Practice:
Writing compelling openings without all the details
Establishing your tone and voice fast and efficiently
Trusting an idea before you know where it will lead
Tip: Resist the urge to explain the entire story right away. Instead, give the reader, and yourself, one intriguing moment. Then let the unanswered questions that come out of that moment do the rest of the work.
Feeling Stuck?
Write one sentence beginning with “The strange thing about that summer was…” or “Nobody knew, when…” and continue from there.
Reflective Journaling Prompts for the Next Step in Your Creative Life
6. The Goal You’re Carrying Forward
What creative goal are you carrying into the next season of your creative life?
Not every goal needs to be new. Perhaps there is something you’ve been meaning to return to, something you’ve been wanting to finish, or something you’ve been postponing until you felt you had more time, confidence, or clarity? Use this prompt to explore a creative goal that still matters to you, that you want to keep working toward.
Focus On:
naming a goal that feels meaningful rather than merely impressive.
exploring why this goal continues to call your attention.
distinguishing between what you genuinely want and what you think you should want.
identifying one small task you can do to carry the goal forward.
Skills to Practice:
Recognizing meaningful creative priorities
Connecting your goals to your personal values
Turning an abstract intention into a practical next step
Tip: If the word goal feels too rigid, replace it with direction or desire and see what changes.
Feeling Stuck?
Finish these sentences: “I keep coming back to…”, “I wish I had more time for…”, and “If I actually gave myself permission to…”
7. The Creative Life Ahead of You
What do you want your future creative life to look like?
Forget, for a moment, what you think a ‘successful’ creative life is supposed to look like. Instead, imagine what an ordinary Tuesday or Thursday would look like in a creative life you would genuinely enjoy. Consider: Where are you? What are you doing? What time of day is it? Who is there? What is around you? What does your relationship with your work feel like?
Focus On:
the ways your imagined future is grounded in everyday details.
defining creativity and the lifestyle you want according to what actually matters to you.
how work, rest, relationships, play, and creativity can coexist.
which parts of your imagined creative life already exist in some form.
Skills to Practice:
Envisioning a future without defaulting to other people’s definitions or visions
Pinpointing the everyday lifestyle conditions that encourage you to create
Turning values and imaginings into tangible possibilities and tasks
Tip: Imagine your future creative life as an ordinary day rather than a dream or major achievement, as its everyday details will tell you a lot more about what you can and should do to build the creative life you want than your strictly imagined scenario.
Feeling Stuck?
Write a short scene titled “A Tuesday in My Creative Life Five Years from Now.” Then start writing the scene without stopping for ten minutes, without analyzing anything while you’re writing.
8. What You’re Ready to Leave Behind
What are you ready to leave behind?
Preparing for what’s next isn’t only about deciding what to pursue. It’s also about deciding what no longer deserves your energy.
Maybe you’re ready to leave behind perfectionism, comparing your work to others’ work, an outdated definition of what success looks like, an unrealistic expectation, or a creative habit that has stopped serving you, etc.
Focus On:
naming something you genuinely want to release.
exploring what holding onto that thing has cost you.
weighing what might become possible without it.
letting go with compassion rather than harsh self-judgment.
Skills to Practice:
Honest yet kind reflection and self-awareness
Recognizing patterns that affect your creative work
Making intentional choices about where your energy goes
Tip: You don’t necessarily have to prove that something was ‘bad’ in order to decide that it no longer belongs in your creative life and no longer serves the direction in which you and your work are evolving.
Feeling Stuck?
Try writing a letter that begins, “Thank you for helping me get this far, but I don’t need you in the same way anymore.” Write it to a habit, belief, fear, expectation, or past version of yourself.
9. What Deserves Your Attention Next?
What project deserves your attention next?
You might have several ideas competing for your attention, or one project you’ve been avoiding because it matters so much to you. So instead of asking which project is the most practical to pursue next, ask yourself which one makes you feel inspired and most alive, or which one seems to keep returning to you. Essentially, which one would you regret not exploring next?
Focus On:
claiming the project that is asking for your attention NOW.
unpacking why this particular project matters so much.
identifying what has been preventing you from giving it more time.
pinpointing a realistic first step rather than planning the entire project.
Skills to Practice:
Simultaneous creative, professional, and personal prioritization
Distinguishing urgency from importance and meaning
Breaking an intimidating project down to see a manageable first step
Tip: Your next project doesn’t have to be your forever project. It only has to be the right project for right now, for your next creative moment.
Feeling Stuck?
Make three lists with the titles Projects I Want to Finish, Projects I Want to Begin, and Projects I Can’t Stop Thinking About. Look for the projects that overlap in these lists.
10. What Do You Hope Your Writing Teaches You?
What do you hope your writing teaches you?
We often talk about what we want our writing to teach readers, but shouldn’t we also consider what our work is teaching us?
Perhaps writing teaches you how to further develop and hone your patience, courage, attention, curiosity, honesty, forgiveness, or regularly allows you to see something you couldn’t see before.
Today, take a moment to consider what you hope to learn by continuing to write.
Focus On:
writing as a practice of discovery rather than only communication.
lessons that emerge from the act of making something, especially with words.
how your creative work changes you as you’re creating and writing
what you want your future self to know because you kept writing.
Skills to Practice:
Reflective writing that moves beyond explicit outcomes
Identifying meaning in your creative process and writing practice
Connecting your creative work to the larger creative life you’re building
Tip: Think about a piece you’ve already written that taught you something you didn’t expect to learn.
Feeling Stuck?
Finish this sentence ten times without stopping: “Writing has taught me…” Don’t worry if the answers contradict each other or make any sense. Just write.
Join the Ongoing Conversation About The Creative Life
As you work through these prompts, consider the larger question beneath them: What does it look like to prepare for what’s next in my creative life without demanding that I know the exact details of what comes next?
Preparing for what comes next in your creative life might involve making a concrete plan or require you to make literal space for what you need to create and write. It might require you to return to an idea that won’t leave you alone. Or it could insist you let go of an idea that no longer suits your creative aspirations and ambitions. It might also mean that it’s finally time for you to grant yourself the permission you need to build the creative life you truly want.
Whatever comes next for your creative life, however, it won’t happen all at once and probably won’t unfold in a straight line.
The last few weeks have allowed us to unpack the myriad ways we build our creative lives through simple, everyday choices. Choices about what we make room for, what we practice, what we pursue, what we release, and what we’re willing to imagine and share. And that sometimes the next chapter of our creative journey can begin long before we know what we want to call it or understand where exactly it’s headed.
In essence, our creative lives happen and unfold one draft, one dialogue, one day at a time.
Join us in the Drafters Workshop chat this week to share your responses to one of these prompts, or any of the other writing prompts shared in August. Or share an excerpt of your other writing, a thoughtful question, or a note about where you are with your creative work.
Get a conversation going by answering this week’s question: What are you preparing to make room for in your creative life next?
Whether what you share is a single sentence, a completed prompt, or a longer reflection, your perspective may encourage someone else as they prepare for what comes next in their creative lives. And vice versa!
Thank you for spending part of your week exploring Preparing for What Comes Next with us. I hope this week’s prompts and posts encourage you to notice and explore the ideas, dreams, routines, rituals, and everyday practices that can intentionally shape your creative life for the better over time. We can’t wait to see what you contribute!
Please don’t forget to like and share this post if you enjoyed it so others can enjoy it and draft with us too. Thank you, and happy writing!
Continue Exploring August’s Theme, The Creative Life
ICYM Week 3: The Messy Middle
Writing Prompts for Navigating ‘The Messy Middle’
Is doubt a normal part of the creative process or a sign something isn’t working?
Reading Notes: The Cemetery of Untold Stories
What I Do When I’m in ‘The Messy Middle’
A Writer’s Guide to Surviving Creative Doubt and ‘The Messy Middle’
Books That Navigate ‘The Messy Middle’
Popular Posts from Week 2: Creative Habits
Immersive Storytelling Mode and the ArXiv
Reading Notes: The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
Striking the Right Balance with Quantifiable Creative Habits
Popular Posts from Week 1: Making Space
A Day Alive in the Lakeside Library
How to Make Space and Time for Your Creative Life
The Creative Life as Play and Work
Consider going more in depth with this month’s theme with The Creative Life Writing Collection
Every prompt, draft, and dialogue begins a conversation, but some of those conversations deserve more of our time and attention.
If today’s post sparked an idea or practice you want to explore further, The Creative Life Writing Collection offers a guided month of prompts, craft exploration and techniques, reflection, and customized reading recommendations for writers who want to go deeper.
And if you want to explore past themes, paid subscribers also have access to the full archive, including previous writing prompts, discussions, and reading lists, as well as full access to the community chat and Daily Drafters Exclusives writing collections.