top of page
Search

'Dark' Writing Prompts


Dark team here. If the prompts last week were too bright, happy, or sappy for you, here’s some “DARK” ideas to get you thinking…

  • The dark as a place to hide from the world.

  • Darkness as malleable: “There is the darkness that frightens, the darkness that soothes, the darkness that is restful.” “There is the darkness of lovers and the darkness of assassins. It becomes what the bearer wishes it to be, needs it to be. It is not wholly bad or good.” - Sarah J. Maas.

  • Goodbyes and endings.

  • Do things that happen in the dark have consequences?

  • What’s the most evil and twisted thing you’ve ever done, thought or said?

  • Sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt--“There are tears for things and mortal things touch the mind” (The Aeneid)

  • Can there be beauty in darkness?

Photo by Cherry Laithang on Unsplash

  • Feuds and fights

  • “Stars, hide your fires; let not light see my black and deep desires” - Macbeth

  • Is darkness a lack of light or a conscious decision to stay out of it?

  • What does darkness hide?

Photo by Elti Meshau on Unsplash

  • All hope is lost

  • It’s only in darkness you can see the stars

  • Are dark and light symbiotic? Do you need the darkness to appreciate everything that exists outside of it?

  • “Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.” - Mary Oliver.

  • Eclipses - darkness as a natural wonder, people find the event special without knowing why.

Photo by InstaWalli on Unsplash

Photo by Andrew Read on Unsplash

  • What does loss mean to you?

  • Is darkness inescapable?

Photo by Hannu-Pekka Peuranen on Unsplash

  • “Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win” - Stephen King

  • What imagery does the term ‘gothic’ evoke?

  • “If I must die, I will encounter darkness as a bride, And hug it in mine arms.” - Shakespeare

  • Every hundred years, the seven deadly sins meet for a tournament. The winner gets to be humanity’s most prominent sin for the next century. Who won in the year 2000?

  • What does a shadow feel like?

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

If you’d prefer some audio inspiration, here’s our playlist of “Dark” songs to spark an idea or listen to while you write!

Regular Link:

https://open.spotify.com/user/nmjvy4ksvikb6lhwn4b5q1le5/playlist/3v1snRXngDoiryuz8YUdRy

Songs​​

  • “Through the Dark” - KT Tunstall

  • “Too Good at Goodbyes”-Sam Smith

  • “Evil” - Interpol

  • “Into the Black” - Chromatics

  • “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”-The Charlie Daniels Band

  • “I Will Follow You Into The Dark” - Death Cab For Cutie

  • “Writer in the Dark” - Lorde

  • “Midnight Mouths” - Lauren Aquilina

  • “Monster”-Kanye West

  • “Dark Paradise” - Lana Del Rey

  • “How Did We Get So Dark?” - Royal Blood

  • “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness” - The National

  • “Dancing in the Dark” - Bruce Springsteen

  • “All Too Well”-Taylor Swift

  • “My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark” - Fall Out Boy

  • “Goodbye Earl”-Dixie Chicks

  • “Evil in the Night”-Adam Lambert

  • “Black Hole Sun” - Soundgarden

  • “Someone Like You”-Adele

  • “Bad Romance”-Lady Gaga

If all this darkness got you down, you can always revisit our “LIGHT” prompts here and listen to the “LIGHT” playlist.

#writingprompts #creativewriting #creativity #inspiration #Dark

560 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All
bottom of page