12 Inspiring Prompts for Writers: Day 3
DAY THREE—Reframings / Actions
Hello hello! Today is prompt three in my twelve-prompt regimen for taking on 2025 as a writer! Today we’re digging deeper into our reflective prompts to inspire and encourage us in the new year.
For this prompt, I want you to go back to the lessons you learned on day two and ask each of those lessons a question.
For example, I’m currently attending the Simmons MFA program, and one of my disappointments last year was “I didn’t do all my homework.” My big judgement of that disappointment was “I am a bad student.” When I thought about what was actually true about the situation though, I came to the conclusion that I’m a fine student—I just could use better time management. And possibly a faster reading speed. That was the lesson I took away from it.
How do we reframe lessons into action?
If I want the outcome to change, then I need to change my actions. Instead of saying “I am a bad student” and plowing ahead toward this new semester with the same methodology I had last semester, I need to change my outcome by doing things different this time around. This is the purpose of reframing the big judgements and lessons from day two into doable actions. A game plan!
So for me, and the new semester, I’m going in with a different game plan. This time, I’ve got as many of my library books in advance as possible; I’ve printed out the syllabus so I can cross homework off as I do it; and I am bracketing out a few hours every day for homework where I put my phone in the other room so that I can have a daily routine where actual studying occurs.
Sometimes the actions you can take are within yourself, such as "I will spend less time doomscrolling and more time writing" and sometimes actions are asking other people for help. If you have people around who can help, you might coordinate with them to see how they can help you achieve your writing goals. Maybe that means setting boundaries about writing time. Maybe that means asking them to do a house chore you usually do so that you can focus more on writing.
So get your writing tools out and start the brainstorming—what changes can you make to your writing methods to give you a better chance of success in the new year?
Yeah! 👏👏👏
My biggest reframing for 2025 is my mindset about what writing means for me. I’ve always had a hard time with “practicing” anything (thank you gifted child perfectionism). If I wasn’t immediately good at something, I simply quit because there were plenty of other things I *was* immediately good at. I have learned that I can persevere best with external motivation (i.e., I can learn new things related to my job, because I’m getting paid or have a clear path for how to get the next promotion).
This year, I wanted to reframe my writing mentality (Brandon Sanderson’s 2025 recorded lectures also helped with that push, mainly his quote “YOU are the art”). In 2025, I have (gently) shoved my perfectionist self into my “contentment space” in my mind, told her she’s doing great, but maybe we can try something new. I am practicing different methods of writing, focusing on consistency and developing new skills and tools instead of wanting to complete x number of words. I want to learn my process, and allow myself to think about writing from a learning mindset instead of a romantic one. (Ya know, the ✨romance✨ of the muses and words just tumbling out without doing math or scene analysis which is WORK).