The vision
Gather with strangers.
Write to shared prompts.
Magic happens.
In Speak Up writing communities, people come together across so-called impassable chasms—homeless versus non-homeless, this race versus that race, left versus right—and do the deeply human work of creating, writing, sharing together.
Writing Prompts
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Open the sheet: Sheet 103
Speak Up · Writing Prompts
speakupgroups.com
Sheet 103
Writing 1
- What makes a good breakfast?
- Write about about friends and friendship.
- What's new from your last couple weeks? What has your attention?
Writing 2
- Write about a dream or desire that is not yet fulfilled.
- Politics. Power.
- Write a letter to something unusual—such as to a backpack, a bucket of ice, or an old bicycle. Or anything.
Writing 3
- What movie should everyone see? What book should everyone read? Share why.
- Write a story that starts with: "I had no idea…"
- Addictions. Habits. Compulsions. Write about these or anything related.
Writing 4
- Write a piece that begins with "Home is…" or "Homelessness is…"
- Write about being an outsider. Or being an insider.
- Write about double meanings, hidden messages, or backhanded compliments.
Speak Up Writing Groups
speakupgroups.com
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Open the sheet: Sheet 102
Speak Up · Writing Prompts
speakupgroups.com
Sheet 102
Writing 1
- What makes you feel alive?
- Do you like to go camping?
- Do you like to draw or write or sing or dance?
Writing 2
- If you could create a space for others to be refreshed, what things would you have in it?
- Which do you like better, a Jeep or a truck?
- Patience. Mercy. Long-suffering.
Writing 3
- If you can help people understand one word, what would it be?
- Write about power.
- Write about community.
Writing 4
- Imagine your life in 10 years. Dream into it. Write about it.
- What are you longing for?
- What do you believe? Write about that.
Speak Up Writing Groups
speakupgroups.com
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Open the sheet: Sheet 101
Speak Up · Writing Prompts
speakupgroups.com
Sheet 101
Writing 1
- Write about your favorite book.
- Imagine 10 years in the future. Write someone a letter telling them about your day.
- Write about reading. Are you a reader? Why or why not?
Writing 2
- Do you like Flora? It’s a coffee shop in Rock Hill.
- Write about an annoyance or inconvenience that you learned to appreciate.
- What was one of your favorite childhood experiences?
Writing 3
- Are you an early bird or a night owl? Or some other kind of sleep-related bird?
- What does the beginning of autumn make you think of or remember?
- If you could go on a 3 week fully funded trip, where would you go, who would you take, what “must have” items would you bring?
Writing 4
- Dogs. Write about them. Are you a fan? How do they compare to cats?
- Write about breakfast cereal. Favorite type?
- Write about poverty.
Speak Up Writing Groups
speakupgroups.com
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Open the sheet: Sheet 100
Speak Up · Writing Prompts
speakupgroups.com
Sheet 100
Writing 1
- Write about your worst driving experience.
- Write about five important things that you own. Describe their special use or meaning.
- If you could have dinner with anyone dead or alive, who would you pick?
Writing 2
- Write about traveling to other nations and experiencing other cultures.
- Is there a country that you’d like to know more about or that has grabbed your heart?
- Write about languages. Do you speak more than one? Ever tried to learn?
Writing 3
- Write about reusing things that most people don’t reuse.
- Write about teachers—good teachers, bad teachers, anything at all.
- Write about having a voice, using your voice, speaking up, and being brave.
Writing 4
- Write a fun short story that involves a stay dog, a ladder, cupcakes, and a flat tire.
- Write about diversity.
- Write about community, friendship, meeting people.
Speak Up Writing Groups
speakupgroups.com
We are building a collective of writing groups.
The monthly Zoom conversation is where the groups compare notes: ideas, resources, tips on getting started, what’s working and what isn’t. Come whether you run a group or are just curious.
From the writing groups
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Poverty
Write about poverty
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Cosplaying
Define what “cosplaying life” — not like at Halloween, or a Ren Faire, like when someone dresses as…
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Grown
In what areas have you grown by attending this writing workshop?
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The Death of Certainty
Write about something you believed but have changed your mind about.
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Damp Earth
Write about a memory anchored in a smell.