As the days begin getting longer, brighter, and warmer, writers experience a renewal of creative energy. This season is all about rebirth and new beginnings—sloughing off the winter blahs and starting on exciting new projects. And guess what? We’ve put together a cool one hundred (!) spring writing prompts just for you to get those creative writing wheels turning.
So embrace the spring fever and take on the new year with one (or several!) of these writing prompts for spring.
Spring journaling prompts
1. Forget what it says on the calendar; what do you notice about the world that tells you spring has arrived?
2. Springtime is all about new beginnings. What new beginning will you embrace this year? Think about creative projects, learning new things, overcoming bad habits, or letting go of past mistakes.
3. Think about where you were in your life last spring. How have you grown or changed in that time, and what have you learned?
4. Miss winter? Make a list of at least five things you can do in springtime that you can’t do in the wintertime.
5. Go for a walk outside; then, come back and describe your adventure using all five senses.
6. Spring cleaning is a big part of this season. What are some things—literal objects or old habits—that you could “clean out” of your life this year?
7. Think about your favorite spring foods. What meals or snacks feel like springtime to you?
8. Spring is a great time for goal setting. Name one thing you’d like to accomplish between the spring equinox and the summer solstice.
9. If you could travel anywhere for spring break, where would you go?
10. Describe your idea of a perfect spring day.
11. Spring is the ideal time for a fresh start. Write a few ideas about how to make this year your best one yet.
12. There’s a saying that goes, “April showers bring spring flowers.” How can we apply this idea to our wider mindsets?
13. What are your favorite spring activities for warm days
14. What are your favorite spring activities for rainy days?
15. The spring season is all about personal growth, and it’s a great time to develop new knowledge. Think of some ideas for new things you’d like to learn (hint: you could level up your writing skills!).
End-of-winter prompts
16. Write a short story from the perspective of a flower that has, against all odds, survived the entire winter.
17. Every world mythology has a story about the transition from winter to spring. Come up with your own magical explanation of what happens when winter ends.
18. Imagine a village where the onset of spring is met with fear. Why are these people afraid?
19. Write a story about someone who took a nap in December and woke up three months later.
20. Imagine a flower and a snowflake meeting. Neither one knows what the other is.
21. A little boy is determined to keep his snowman alive. Write about what happens when he takes it to school in an icebox.
22. Write a short horror story set on a typical spring day. Use lighthearted imagery to juxtapose the horrific events.
23. Imagine the spirit of winter and the spirit of spring are sitting down to tea. Record their conversation.
24. Create a fairy tale about two people who promised to meet at winter’s end.
25. Write about a group of baby animals who are experiencing spring for the very first time.
26. Imagine that a real illness called “Spring Fever” is sweeping through the land. What are the symptoms? Who is vulnerable? How does society react?
27. This season is all about starting fresh. Write about a character who’s determined to turn their life around.
28. Write a story about a town that has been asleep since Y2K and is only now waking up.
Spring break prompts
29. Write a story called “The Spring Break That Changed Everything.”
30. Imagine you’re on holiday and you meet someone who recognizes you instantly, but who you’ve never seen before.
31. Write about a spring wedding. As the bride is walking up the aisle, she suddenly sees something that makes her realize she’s making a terrible mistake.
32. Write a story about a family on a spring picnic. One family member has a secret they’re hiding from the others.
33. A college student is using their holiday to spring clean their apartment, when they stumble upon a forgotten moment from their childhood.
34. Write about two people who had a torrid romance last spring break awkwardly meeting up again on this year’s.
35. Imagine you’re on a spring break holiday with your family and discover a lost object in the sand.
36. Spring means a new beginning, so it’s a great time to take on new challenges!Write about a group of teens who have just learned that spring break has been cancelled.
37. Write a story about someone who’s arranged to meet a friend in a faraway city, only the friend never shows up.
38. Imagine a small town that’s almost empty in the winter, but flooded with tourists during spring break. Write a short story from the perspective of one of the locals.
39. Set a story at a spring music festival.
40. An artist paints the same spring scene every day for a week. How do the paintings change each time?
St. Patrick’s Day prompts
41. Choose a creature from Irish mythology (it’s not just leprechauns!) and write a short story about them.
42. Imagine you found a four-leaf clover and everything that day went right. Then, you lost it, and everything started going wrong.
43. Irish springtimes are famous for seeing all kinds of weather in a day. Write about a day that moves from spring through all the four seasons, then back to spring again.
44. Ireland is filled with fairylore, even today. Write about a tourist who gets on the wrong side of the fairies.
45. Imagine that St. Patrick was granted immortality, and is meeting an old friend in a pub after more than a century.
46. Many Irish legends feature people being turned into animals. Write a story about someone who transforms into an animal to escape danger.
47. The Irish also celebrate the lesser known St. Brigid’s Day as the official first day of spring. Write a story from the perspective of St. Brigid or another mythological woman.
48. Imagine you live in a rural seaside cottage with only gulls and seals for company. Suddenly, there’s a knock at the door.
49. Write a story about an alien who descends to Earth in the midst of Dublin’s St. Patrick’s celebrations. What conclusions would they draw about the planet and its people?
50. Write a conversation between an old woman and a young woman (or an old man and a young man!) as they speak of family traditions.
Earth Day prompts
51. Write a letter from the perspective of the Earth. Who are they writing to, and what are they hoping to gain?
52. Write about a botanist who’s just discovered a brand new species of plant.
53. Follow a day in the life of someone who thinks recycling is a scam.
54. Write a story about animals who live in a natural area—a forest, pond, or field, for example—who are facing the loss of their home due to a new development.
55. Write a story about a logger who falls in love with a wood nymph.
56. Imagine someone who fell asleep in the 1920s and woke up in the 2020s. What would they make of the world today?
57. Write from the perspective of a tree that has seen multiple generations of the same family grow up.
58. Write a story about a druid trapped inside a tree, waiting for the prophecy that will one day release them.
59. Write about an agricultural worker whose livelihood is actively impacted by climate change.
60. Put your own spin on a retelling of a myth that explains how the world was born.
61. Write about a (literal) underground movement of earthworms planning to take back the planet from the humans.
62. Choose an endangered species, and then tell a story from the perspective of the very last one of their kind.
63. Tell the story of a child born from an apple seed.
64. Imagine that books made from the same tree recognize each other as family. Explore what happens when two of them meet in a used bookshop.
65. Write a letter to your grandchildren’s grandchildren about the threats facing the world today.
Easter prompts
66. Write about a nervous baby bunny who’s meeting the Easter Bunny for the first time.
67. Imagine you’ve found a basket of Easter eggs on your doorstep. Upon closer inspection, the basket contains something you didn’t expect.
68. Write a story about how the Easter bunny came to be.
69. Imagine a garden of flowers as a gossipy, small-town community. How does each flower behave?
70. Imagine a cantankerous school teacher has been turned into a baby chick. He needs to get the students’ attention so he can turn back.
71. During an easter egg hunt, a child finds a glowing, scaly egg hidden in the grass. What happens after they take it home?
72. Write a short story about the goddess Eostre, from whom Easter takes its name.
73. Write about someone who refuses to celebrate Easter. What experience made them feel this way?
74. Imagine a daycare worker has had to cancel an Easter picnic because of rain. To keep a group of hungry, restless children happy, what do they come up with instead?
75. Write about a young family celebrating Easter together for the first time. The two parents disagree over whose family traditions to follow.
76. Write about someone running all over town looking for the perfect bouquet to bring to dinner.
77. Describe an Easter egg hunt from the perspective of a teddy bear.
78. Two people are painting Easter eggs together. Each egg contains a hidden message.
79. This year, Easter coincides with April Fool’s Day. Tell the story of a group of students planning an Easter-themed prank.
80. Describe an Easter celebration from the perspective of an extraterrestrial alien.
Mother’s Day prompts
81. Write a short story about a mother and daughter who are each hiding a secret from the other.
82. Write about a mother meeting her daughter’s new boyfriend for the first time.
83. A woman has recently given birth. Write a letter from her point of view to give her child when they grow up.
84. Choose a wicked mother or stepmother from a classic fairy tale and write about what led them to make the choices they did.
85. Write a story about a mother whose child has been spirited away by fairies. The mother needs to go on a journey to get them back.
86. Now, try writing the same story from the child’s perspective.
87. Choose a moment from your own mother’s life and write a story about what could have happened next.
88. Imagine you’ve gone back in time and met your mother when she was a teenager. What would you say to her?
89. Write about a couple who’s been unable to conceive children. A mysterious stranger arrives and offers them a deal.
90. Imagine a mythical creature has found a human child and raised them as her own. What would their life be like?
“Summer’s almost here” prompts
91. Summer vacation is nearly here! Write about a June road trip that goes horribly awry.
92. Spring and summer bring longer, warmer days. Write about someone who’s drafted a petition to do away with night entirely.
93. Write about a man who’s just inherited an estate and garden where all the flowers are poisonous.
94. A student has just learned they need to go to summer school. Now they’re trying to make their crush fail her exams so that she has to go to summer school too.
95. The transition between spring and summer means trees shed their blossoms and begin growing fruit instead. Write about a tree whose flowers have magical properties.
96. Imagine an event or attraction that’s only open on the very first day of summer. Describe it using all your senses.
97. Write an encounter between a butterfly and a venus fly trap.
98. Write a poem about the return of the sun.
99. Tell the story of a knight who’s been given a quest, and has only until the summer solstice to complete it.
100. Imagine a special dinner in which everything is freshly harvested from the land. Describe the sights, scents, and colors of the feast.
Beat spring fever with these story starter ideas
As spring starts gathering momentum and the world springs to life outside, you’ll need somewhere to focus all that creative energy. These spring writing prompts will have you spinning out works of genius in no time.
And! Once you have a piece of writing you’re proud of, why not try submitting it to a magazine or literary journal? We have a dedicated lesson on how to format a short story, as well as a ton more writing resources to make your work shine in our collection of lessons on the writing craft. Our spring writing prompts may just end up being your big break.
