For the past three years I have curated a weekly email list called Sunday Scribbles. I send a writing prompt each Sunday and participants choose how to engage. I rarely respond publicly to the prompt, but I love pondering an idea on my own time. The real joy for me is schedule-sending all the emails at the beginning of each year. I spend the year collecting interesting questions, sentences, words, pictures, and ideas that I can mold into a writing prompt. I can think about writing in a new way and tell a story through prompts over the year.

– Erin Oakley, Senior Fellow

Voice-to-text! Even if I delete it all afterward, it feels better to put ideas into words to process what I’m thinking, feeling, or puzzling over.

– Kirstin Milks, Senior Fellow

For me, I not only need to make time to write, but also to write in different ways. If I stick to one genre or type of writing (academic, fiction, shorts), I can become easily burned out. If I write something for a journal (like Kaleidoscope), I try to make time to write a few bars of rap. If my writing is too serious, I’ll swap styles and write some dark and spooky folklore.

– Jason Garver, Senior Fellow

An ongoing feature in Kaleidoscope, Call and Response features short responses to a writing prompt. Do you have an idea for a storytelling prompt? Contact us at kaleidoscope@knowlesteachers.org.