Prompts are a great way to get your creative juices flowing, and what better option than to take advantage of writing prompts for St. Patrick’s Day? Whether you celebrate the man after whom this holiday is named, or celebrate the pride of the Irish, below are twenty-five writing prompts.
Choose one prompt to run with, combine several, or choose your top favorites and refer to them when you just don’t know what to write next.
Remember, these writing prompts for St. Patrick’s Day cover a variety of situations. It may be a fun challenge to choose two opposing prompts and write a short story somehow tying both together!
Writing Prompts For St. Patrick’s Day
#1 – Describe a protagonist who only has good luck for 24 hours.
#2 – Write a short story about a tourist who finds themselves in Chicago confused by the green river.
#3 – Craft a poem and include the major details about St. Patrick.
#4 – Watch Leap Year and then write a description of the movie only from Jeremy’s perspective.
#5 – Put yourself in the mind of a six-year-old finding a four-leaf clover for the first time.
#6 – Describe the top five, most-loved drinks on St. Patrick’s Day, but omit the sense of taste.
#7 – Write a page on your most memorable St. Patrick’s Day.
#8 – Imagine trying to get a shamrock shake to your best friend, before it melts, in LA traffic. Write a page on the experience.
#9 – Use Green Eggs and Ham as inspiration to write a children’s book on all things green for St. Patrick’s Day.
#10 – You show up in Ireland on this important holiday. What do you experience?
#11 – Write a short story and include one character with an Irish accent.
#12 – Use a leprechaun as your point-of-view character.
#13 – Write about your favorite Irish musician and don’t forget to include a song for the holiday!
#14 – Learn an Irish step dance and then write about a character with two left feet.
#15 – Find your favorite legend and use it as one of your writing prompts for St. Patrick’s Day.
#16 – Describe Boston’s first St. Patrick’s Day parade in 1737.
#17 – Imagine you teleport to New York City on March 17, 1762. Write a short story on the day.
#18 – Write a paragraph from St. Patrick’s sixteen-year-old point of view about the day he was kidnapped.
#19 – Write your own, creative explanation as to why green replaced the color blue as representative of St. Patrick’s Day.
#20 – Make up a tradition for the holiday and write what inspired it.
#21 – The protagonist of your work-in-progress celebrates St. Patrick’s Day for the first time. How do they celebrate?
#22 – Describe St. Patrick’s life from his mother’s perspective.
#23 – Fantasy writers: Imagine March 17 is the one day a year your mythical creatures all turn green. Write about how people respond.
#24 – Thriller writers: You stumble into a pub in Ireland near midnight on St. Patrick’s Day and overhear a frightening conversation. What do you do?
#25 – Romance writers: It’s a middle-aged couple’s anniversary. How do they intentionally incorporate celebrations for both?
Why Use Writing Prompts?
While writer’s block is a hotly debated topic, using writing prompts for St. Patrick’s Day is not a cop out for creatives, and you definitely shouldn’t let Imposter Syndrome in if you need a prompt or two to get writing.
In fact, prompts can be a great help in creativity and helping you develop your craft overall. Below are three ways prompts can be an asset to your career. Whether you use writing prompts for St. Patrick’s Day, Christmas, an anniversary, or simply a topic you love, they can help!
#1 – Writing Prompts Force Creativity
Remember those days in high school when the English teacher handed out an essay assignment and you wondered how you would ever complete it? If you did turn in your homework (and we hope you did!) it’s likely because you forced yourself to ponder the prompt and write something in response.
Writing prompts help you see writing from a different angle, come up with ideas you otherwise might have never thought of, and get you writing on topics you may not know as much about. These are all great ways to boost your creativity.
#2 – Writing Prompts Inspire You To Take Risks
While you may not want to take a risk on your manuscript, engaging in one or two writing prompts for St. Patrick’s Day can help you write with boldness. It’s just a prompt, after all. Take creative liberties you may not feel brave enough to take otherwise, and enjoy it.
The risk of working from a prompt is extremely low. What’s the worst that could happen? You don’t like your work and throw it away. However, the benefit is teaching yourself to take risks with your writing and push yourself into uncharted territories.
#3 – Writing Prompts Act As A Sign Post
Here’s the exciting fact about writing prompts for St. Patrick’s Day (or any holiday): They are not the end of the adventure. Just like a sign post notifies you your exit is coming up, writing prompts simply start you in the right direction.
When you choose a writing prompt, you choose a direction in which to start writing. You are the writer, so you can take your story, poem, or essay in any direction you choose.
Did you like prompt number eleven? Great! Add the character to your work-in-progress for a chapter or so and see what happens. You can always cut the character out later.
Step One: Start With Twenty Minutes
If you are a pantser (a writer who writes without planning in advance) writing prompts may feel like a piece of cake. However, if you are a plotter and like to know exactly what you’re writing toward, using a prompt may feel overwhelming.
Whatever camp you find yourself in, try writing for twenty minutes. Set the alarm on your phone, turn off your notifications and ringer, and sit down to write. When your phone alerts you that it’s time to be done—be done.
Get up, move on to something else, and give your writing a break before re-reading it. You may be surprised what you came up with in just twenty minutes. If you don’t particularly love the direction you took, take a few minutes to note what you did well:
- Where did you take a creative route you didn’t expect to take?
- What character seemed most human?
- What senses did you use well?
Assessing your progress based on the details you are proud of can help you grow accustomed to using prompts as the tool they are—a sentence or so to help get you working on your craft. If you want more prompts to choose from, check out this list of fall writing prompts.
This is just one more way to grow as a writer—writing in a season you may not currently be living in. If empathy is the key to understanding, it is also the key to writing great characters. Put yourself into that prompt, and get writing!
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