Pictures as Inspiration for Writing Prompts
Dr. Theodore Cohen suggests writing prompts should be pictures, not sentences. He likes to offer photos grouped around a theme, so writers have some choice. As a flash fiction par excellence author, he writes complete short stories from individual photographs. Please see an example of one of his many flash fiction books at this link on Amazon (the books are always free) Flash Fiction for Animal Lovers and Flash Fiction Stories of the Young.
"Photos can provide great inspiration. (Writing groups or teachers) may want to start, or add to, collections of photographs of various things: people, animals, and automobiles. Almost anything can be used as a prompt. Perhaps a choice from a set of three photographs could be used to allow selecting of a 'topic' to accommodate ideas for an initial story."
Here are some sources for finding good photos. I usually use photos from Pixabay in the monthly writing prompt post. I found this list on Pixabay's Twitter page by @PriteshKiri, and also selected photos for this month's free instant PDF download. Of course, stories of any length may be written beginning with a picture. Maybe an entire book!
unsplash.com
pexels.com
pixabay.com
freeimages.com
magdeleine.co
lifeofpix.com
picography.co
stocksnap.io
freephotos.cc
pngtree.com
burst.shopify.com
duotone.shapefactory.co
One warning is that almost all free online sites have advertising. We are accustomed to such. However, it is easy to click on the most beautiful photos only to find out they are priced. Sometimes, free sites have discount codes for priced photo sites. Terms of use must be checked to see if the image is available for commercial use, which is often allowed. Some photos may be used on book covers, as well. Joining the site allows downloads of different sizes of images. Some sites invite users to upload their own files for sharing.
I read the Pixabay Twitter page (or I looked at it). They select the most stunning images for sharing with readers and writers. The home pages of many sites also have a selection of irresistible images. It is easy to start creating a collection for your writing group or class.
For instance, Deb Spence's image was selected for April 9th, 2023. This could inspire a story regarding a family heirloom of silver, decluttering, or even a garage sale.
Sometimes I look at an image and wonder what Cohen would write? It could be a war story beginning with that photo. Here is another selected to be shared by Pixabay and entitled "An Open Book" by Jess Bailey Design. It is a lovely image to inspire an anniversary or Valentine's writing piece. Some writers may chose to write poetry.
Pixabay has everything: houses, people, activities, seasons, landscapes, art, famous people, Star Wars, and whatever you might imagine. If a search comes up with nothing, try using a different term. For hat, here is a striking photo by 1643606.
Sometimes we notice these stock images on different sites for different purposes. It is annoying when we recognize free images. Try not even looking at the first page of results to search further to find images used less often. Different sizes of downloads are available on Pixabay, and select the one that fits the purpose. Do give credit when possible. According to Pixabay, they have:
Over 2.5 million+ high quality stock images, videos and music shared by our talented community.
Now for the free PDF download, click on the next link.
Thank you for reading,
Carolyn Wilhelm
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