Finally! With bated breath, I think we can confidently claim that spring has come. From my bedroom window, I can see yellow daffodils poking up from the ground as well as bits of blue sky beginning to shine through the clouds. For many, spring marks a time of rebirth and reinvention. So, what better time to reinvent your creative writing? Continue reading for some springtime–themed prompts which are sure to start your season of poetry writing off on the right foot. 

Prompt One: ‘When I Sit Very Still’ 

This prompt, dreamed up by nature poet Rosemary Wahtola Trommer, invites you to use the changing natural world around you to inspire some poetry… 

• Take a pen and paper outside and sit somewhere comfortable. 
• Take in the springtime around you, what do you hear? Smell? Touch? See?  
• Once you’ve ‘tuned in’ to the scene, use your pen and pad to write- “When I sit very still…”
• Following this opening, write 4 lines in total about what you hear. 
• Continue this 4-line pattern 4 times, each time focusing on a different sense. 

Prompt 2: ‘Scrapbooking’  

I did this activity myself on a writing retreat in 2019. Though it was springtime, I was up in the north of Scotland and was greeted in the morning with a thick layer of snow which meant we couldn’t venture outside for that day’s activity. When the spring sun fails you, perhaps try this indoor activity to keep your creative juices flowing… 

• Collect whatever old magazines, newspapers or leaflets you may have lying around your house. 
• Sift through them, cutting out any words you might find inspirational or intriguing. You may want to select words that refer to nature or the coming of spring.
• From your off cuttings piece together a poem, allowing the random assortment of words to form a piece of creative writing.
• Once you’re happy with your final product, glue down your words onto a piece of paper to create your final piece! 

 This is the poem I created on that writing retreat in 2019. 

Prompt 3: ‘A Nature Study’ 

Nature poets have been known to hone on one part of the natural world to inspire their creative writing. George Herbert used ‘The Flower’ to connote the human spirit being brought back to life after the winter, while Gilbert White uses the unrested wren to represent the coming of spring… 

• Select something from nature that you see as representational of spring. E.g., Daffodils, tadpoles, and birds. 
• Consider this symbol of spring, what are its certain features and functions that make it ‘spring-like’ to you? 
• It’s time to get metaphorical – from your musings write a couple of stanzas about how this singular object represents the new season. 

Hopefully, these activities have given you a few ideas on how you can incorporate the change in season into your poetic writing!  

Words by Anna Craig