These prompts are invitations to remember. Each prompt is linked to an example that illustrates how a micro might explore a memory. You don’t need a dramatic life event. Think small. Think micro. A small moment is enough.
Use the prompt’s example as a model if it helps you start writing. Or head off in your own direction. Either way, you’re doing it right.
Consider a small, ordinary action, how it’s done, how it relates to something larger..
That time you were so wrong and didn’t know it.
Recall a big moment from your youth.
Recall something unpleasant you endured because you believed it was good for you.
When did you first feel on your own?
Recall something you can no longer do as well as you once could.
Write about an ordinary danger you’ve thought about.
Recall a childhood encounter with death.
When did someone take a choice out of your hands?
Recall a social interaction that awakened a memory.
What did you learn by watching?
Write about something new that’s maybe not improved.
Recall an early experience that changed how you understood death.
Talk about something you collect that others overlook.
“We turned out okay.” When have you said that or heard it said? Relating to what?
Consider a small, ordinary action, how it’s done, how it relates to something larger.
Write about learning to care for something and how it affects the rhythms of daily life.
Describe a dream that stayed with you.
Write about a time when you didn’t know whether to trust someone.
Describe a neighbor, an acquaintance, or someone at the edge of your life who made an impression.
Recall an unpleasant problem you had to solve.
Talk about a regret–when, where, why.
It wasn’t as easy as it looked.
Recall a time when you stuck your foot in your mouth.
Recall a figure of speech you acquired, where it came from, and what it means to you.
Who your own age introduced you to something new?
Say something about your early awareness of extended family.
That time you realized you had made an embarrassing mistake.
Talk about an object or article of clothing you associate with your youth.
That time your body surprised you–when, where, how.
What do you still do “the old way?”
What do you know about your parents before they became your parents?
What object did you think would change you?
Recall a pleasure you gave up–when and how and why.
What you could hide behind. When you needed it.
That time one of your parents seemed like a stranger—in an interesting way.
Describe a person in your life who introduced you to music–when, where, and how.
What small thing made you realize your family’s habits were not everybody else’s?
When did you first witness cruelty?
Remember a childhood chore that carried its own private pleasures.
When did you first think, “I’m not good at this”?
Tossers and Keepers. Which are you?
Talk about a moment when you realized the world isn’t as safe as it might seem.