Writing prompts the how, why and what of them

Currently, I am looking for new was to revive the creativity in my life and writing. I have looked around for ideas and ways to ignite the writing process. One technique frequently put out into the ether is the writing prompt.  There are a number of sites that provide writing prompts.  But do they really work.  Well that depends, on what you mean by work. 

Yes, a writing prompt can get you to start writing.  It can even help you to put words on paper.  It can be a start.  Maybe even an end. Is this all a writing prompt is good for?  I don't think so.  A writing prompt can also show you the primary archetypes of story telling, and allow you to explore these archetypes in short burst writing sessions.  Writing prompts can lead to brainstorming on ideas and characters that come from the prompt or are in your other writing.  Sometimes I use a prompt to move along or explore one of my current characters,  this allows me to take the character out of the larger story and create back story, or other information, create and explore personality traits that flush out the character.  These are some of the ways I use writing prompts that work.

I have also used writing prompts and failed.  This does not mean the prompt was bad,  though it may have been, it means that I did not explore the prompt in a manner that pushes me within my craft.  Writing prompts can be a useful tool to further explore the craft and art of writing, or they can be dead ends that lead to words on pages and nothing more.  Some may say words on paper in of itself is a success, I for one do not believe this to be true.  Thus this is the manner in which writing prompts do not work, in my opinion.

I personally have found that canned writing prompts are not very helpful in exploring certain aspects of my writing and craft.  This is why I have taken to creating my own writing prompts.   You may ask how and why I would do this.  First by creating your own prompt it can be targeted to your specific interests.  Second, the process of creating a prompt takes brainstorming and creativity which primes the creative writing processes.  So how do I create my own writing prompts. The easiest way is to take an image, normally a picture I have taken, or something I have drawn and write a story to explain, lead up to, or tell where the characters are going.  This leads to creative stories it also can be therapeutic. If you focus on images and stories that revolve around and then solve problems in your life.