Thirty writing prompts for November, one for each day, are listed below. You’ll write about a lake that turns animals to stone, pigs and turkeys planning to escape slaughter this Thanksgiving, a place where it’s always autumn, and more. Have fun!
1. Today is National Cook for Your Pets Day. Write about the superb three-course meal that you are going to make for and share with your animals and their reaction to this.
2. You’ve heard of spring cleaning, but what about fall cleaning? Create a special “fall cleaning” day and write about it.
3. November is known as National Peanut Butter Lovers Month, and I do love peanut butter. But your character is allergic to peanuts, so she can’t have peanut butter. She wakes up in a place where peanut butter is made, and she is surrounded by peanuts. How did she end up there and how does she try to get out? Does she succeed?
4. According to weather folklore, a heavy November snow will last until April. During my life, it has snowed many times in November (I don’t remember if any of those times it was a heavy snow), but it has always gone away well before April. Write about a snowstorm that happens in November, and the fallen snow and icicles that form refuse to melt before April.
5. Daylight Savings Time began this morning at 2. Write about a character who refuses to change the time on his clock, the hilarity that ensues, and how it affects him and his daily life.
6. Lake Natron in Tanzania seems to turn animals to stone but doesn’t. But what if it really did?
https://www.livescience.com/40135-photographer-rick-brandt-lake-natron.html
7. What if it was always autumn? There’s no spring, no summer, no winter, but it’s always autumn.
8. The song “Fist City” was recorded by Loretta Lynn sometime in the 1960s as a warning to a woman to stay away from her husband while she was touring. If you were this other woman trying to get her husband’s attention, what would your reaction be when you first heard this song and realized it was written for you?
9. The first bird Edgar Allan Poe tried in the poem “The Raven” was a parrot, and it obviously didn’t work. The parrot wasn’t macabre enough. Write a macabre story with a parrot as the leading character.
10. A cold rainy dreary November day is ahead of you. What do you do to entertain yourself?
11. The final campout of the year is scheduled for tonight. You and your children have been planning this for a long time.
12. A young girl becomes lost in a huge museum while on a trip with her family. She turns around for just a moment, and when she turns back around, they are gone. What happened? How long is she separated from them for, or does she never find them?
13. Danielle doesn’t believe in ghosts, but something happens that changes her mind. What is it?
14. Today is National Pickle Day. Do you know anyone who loves to drink pickle juice? What if drinking pickle juice turned you into someone with super powers?
15. Today is National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day. What unexpected thing does your character find lurking in his refrigerator?
16. The leaves have all fallen from the trees, it gets dark way too early, and the night seems to go on and on and on. Write about your favorite way to spend fall evenings and cheer up the dreariness.
17. Today is Homemade Bread Day. Have you ever made bread? Write a story about a woman who is a klutz in the kitchen as she attempts to make bread for the very first time.
18. The turkeys are getting nervous as Thanksgiving approaches, and they come up with a plan to escape execution. What is this plan, and does it succeed?
19. On this day in 1978, the Reverend Jim Jones led over 900 of his followers to their death in a mass suicide, the largest in history, at Jonestown, Guyana. Write a story where the Reverend Jones isn’t successful in convincing his followers to drink the Kool-Aid or whatever the poison was put in. What happens to the Reverend Jones?
20. Just as the turkeys are getting nervous about Thanksgiving, so are the pigs. After all, some prefer a big juicy ham to a turkey. The pigs hatch a plan to escape slaughter. What is it, and is it successful?
21. Strong cold winds are blowing, pulling in the storms that bring the cooler weather. What else do these winds bring in?
22. Your character’s town is having a pumpkin pie contest. Write a humorous story about all of the contestant’s preparing their pies, the contest, and who the winner is.
23. Write a story about what happened on the first Thanksgiving held by the Pilgrims.
24. Your character runs across a set of stairs in the woods that descends down beneath a tree.
25. Your character lives in Kentucky (or some other state of your choosing), has a North Dakota telephone number (or a telephone number in a different state), and gets a phone call from an electric company in New York ( or some different state). It’s not a wrong number. What is going on?
26. After discovering debris-covered stairs, British archaeologist Howard Carter and his crew entered the four-room Egyptian tomb of 18-year-old King Tutankhamen on November 26, 1922. Wow! Pretend you are a fly on the wall (an invisible observer) and write about their initial reaction. To make it really interesting and captivating, have King Tutankhamen sit up in his tomb and . . .
Oh, this is also National Cake Day, so maybe have the archaeologists discover a cake too?
27. There will be a full moon tonight, and it’s called the Beaver Moon. Why do you think it’s called that? You can research it some, find out, and write about it. Or you can write a story about why you think it’s called that. Personally, I think the second one would be a lot more fun.
28. Today is National French Toast Day. Write a story that has French toast at its center.
29. Your yard is blanketed with leaves, but your dog loves to play in them. Write about an unusual item your dog finds buried in all the leaves.
30. You have a dream one night—you seldom dream—and what you dreamed happens the next day.
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