creative writing visuals

70 Picture Prompts for Creative Writing (with Free Slides)

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Visual writing prompts help young writers generate new ideas and overcome writer’s block. We’ve put together 70 picture prompts for creative writing that you can use in your writing centers or lesson plans to get your students’ creative juices flowing.

Picture Writing Prompts for All Ages

Writers of all ages and experience levels can get stuck thinking about what to write. Writer’s block is not just a challenge for reluctant writers. Even professional writers have days when they feel less than inspired.

Visual prompts can result in a vast array of story ideas. A single image viewed by ten writers will result in ten completely different stories. Even if you use verbal cues to get students thinking about the picture, each student will still write a unique response to the image.

Visual creative writing prompts are fantastic for elementary school because younger students often relate more to a pictorial prompt than a written one, but don’t shy away from using these with high school and middle school students as well. Pictures make a fun alternative to your typical writing prompts and story starters and can help shake up your regular routine.

How to Use Picture Prompts for Creative Writing

There’s no limit to the ways you can use writing prompts. Here are some of our favorite ways to incorporate image prompts into your weekly lesson plans .

• Writing Center. Print cards or writing pages with these images on them and put them in a writing center for your students to discover at their own pace.
• Specific Skills. Use story picture prompts to help kids work on specific writing skills. For example, you could work on descriptive writing by having them describe the setting of the picture in detail. Or you could work on character development by having them make up a history for a person in a picture.
• Warm-up Activity: You could pop the pictures into Google slides and project an image on a screen or whiteboard for the first fifteen minutes of class and have students work on a short story as soon as they enter the class.

No matter how you decide to use them—whether at home or in the classroom—photographic writing prompts are a great way to cultivate a daily writing habit and encourage kids to explore new topics.

70 Pictures for Writing Prompts

We’ve selected 70 of the most interesting pictures we could find for this exercise. When choosing photos for writing prompts, we look for high-quality photos with intriguing subject matter, but we try to go beyond that. We want to share images that suggest a story, that make the viewer ask questions and wonder why things are the way they are.

We want to feel propelled to explore questions like, What happened before the photo that led to this moment? What are we witnessing in this photo? What’s about to happen?

A photo doesn’t make much of a story starter if it doesn’t suggest that there might be a bigger picture lurking beneath the surface.

We hope you and your students love these picture prompts for creative writing as much as we do. If you love them, go ahead and scroll to the bottom to grab your own copy.

We’ve included a couple of questions with each picture that you could use to spark pre-writing conversations in your classroom, which can be helpful when working with younger students who might need a little more direction.

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Whose cat is this? What is he looking at? Where is he?

What is the owl thinking about? Is he alone? What does he hope to eat for dinner?

Who are these frogs? What is their relationship with each other? Why are they taking photos?

How did the dog get a phone? Why is he taking selfies? What is he doing with the pictures he takes?

This cat doesn’t look too happy. What’s bugging him? Did he get too many phone calls or is he waiting on an important call that’s taking too long to come?

What do these chicks think of the dog? What does the dog think of the chicks? Do you think they can communicate with each other? If so, what would they say?

Where do these lemurs live? What are they looking at? What is something unusual that might happen to them?

What is this fox doing? Is he yawning and stretching or is he trying to scare someone away? What kind of mischief does he like to get up to?

Is this wolf alone? If not, who is with him? What is he planning to do? Does he have a family to feed or protect?

What is this child doing on the laptop? Can he actually read and type or is he just playing? If he can read and type, how did he learn that at such a young age? What other cool things can he do?

Where is this woman? Is she lost? How did she get to this street? What interesting things might she discover as she explores this new city?

Why is the dog wearing glasses? Can he see through them? What are he and the girl doing? How does he feel about it?

Who are these two little boys? What is their relationship with each other? What is the teddy bear’s story?

Who are these children? Why are they running? Is it a race or are they playing a game? Who’s going to win?

Whose horse is this? Does the little boy own it or does he just visit it? Can the horse talk? How does the boy feel when he’s with the horse?

What is this boy reading? Does the book have magical powers? Does the boy? Do the stories in the book become real or does something else special happen?

Where is this man? How did he get there? What is he looking for?

Who is walking over the bridge? What’s on the other side? Is it worth the risk?

What are these people doing on the elephant? Where are they? Are they tourists or is the elephant their pet? What would life with an elephant be like?

Who made this map? It looks old. Has it been hidden away for a long time? Who discovered it and how? What does it lead to?

Whose typewriter is this? What important or secretive thing might they be working on? What could happen if the wrong person finds their work?

Who are these three stuffed animals? Are they living? What is their story?

Whose ukulele is this? Why did they leave it here? Who might find it?

Where is the owner of the bike? Where does this path lead? What if the bike’s not there when the owner returns?

Whose shoes are these? Why did they leave them here? Why are they so dirty?

Who was reading the newspaper? What was the most interesting thing they read? Where have they disappeared to?

Who put this sign on the old truck? What do you think of it? How did the truck end up in its current condition and location?

Who set the table? Who are they expecting? What special occasion are they celebrating? What could go wrong?

Whose birthday cake is this? Are they having a party? Who is there? Who did they want to have there that didn’t show up?

Who lives here? How do they access their home? What is their life like?

Who built the igloo? Where is it? How does it feel to spend the night inside it?

What is the history of this castle? Who lives in it now? Does it have any special or magical features?

Is this barn abandoned or do people live on the property? What kind of animals might live here? How do they keep themselves entertained?

What is it like living on a houseboat? What kind of community do you think forms among the neighbors? Imagine you live on one of these boats and think about how your daily life might change. What interesting things could you do if you lived here? What would you miss the most?

Where is this hut? Who lives here? What mystery might unfold if a stranger came knocking at their door?

What is this lighthouse called? Who runs it? How often do they leave? What is the most memorable experience they’ve had as a lighthouse operator?

How did this house get here? Does anyone live in it? What would life be like here?

Where is this festive street? Are the people there celebrating something? Where is everybody?

Who lives here? How did they build this house? Are they hiding from something? What does it look like inside?

Whose notebook is this? Why did they leave it here? What’s written in it and how might it change the life of the person who finds it?

What are these women doing? What are they supposed to be doing? Will they be in trouble if they get caught?

Who might be represented in this statue? Why is she being pulled by lions? What amazing things might she have done to deserve a statue in this prominent place?

Where is this? Who is riding in the hot air balloons? Where are they going and why?

How old is this tree? Where is it? What are some of the most fascinating stories it could tell?

Where is this carousel? Who is riding it? Can you think of a special or strange story about how it came to exist in this particular place?

What are these people thinking about? What’s at stake for them? What happens if one of them sneezes?

Where are these penguins? What are they talking about? Which one of them is the leader?

What is this place? Was it designed to be open like this or was it once part of someone’s home or a public building? How have people’s opinions of this place changed over time?

Who are these kids? Is this what they’re supposed to be doing? What happens when their teacher sees them?

Who is supposed to ride in this boat? Where are they going? Will they make it there?

Is this plane special to someone? What did they have to do to get it/build it? Where will they fly to in it?

Who decorated this train car? Which passengers will fill it up? What will they talk about?

Whose skis are these? Why are they sticking out of the snow? How did their owner get down the mountain without them?

Where does this gondola go? Who rides it? How does it feel to ride it?

Who’s driving the monster truck? Why is it at the beach? What is it going to crush? Who is watching?

Where is the boat going? Who is on it? What is their mission?

What city is the helicopter flying over? Why? Is the driver looking for something specific or do they have a special delivery?

What’s the little boy doing in the boat? Is he alone or is someone with him? Where is he trying to go?

Who is in the sub? What’s it like inside? What are they doing?

Whose book is this? What’s it about? What’s happening to it?

How did that piece of land with the house on it break off from the rest of the world? Why? Where is it going? Is anyone in the house?

Who is this girl? Where is she? Who is she shooting at?

Where does this scene take place? Is the lizard/dragon good or bad? What is its relationship with the girl?

What do these books represent? What kind of world is this? What (or who) is inside the books?

What are these dinosaurs discussing? Where are they? What do they do for fun?

Whose cottage is this? Do they still live there? If not, where have they gone? If so, what do they do there?

What is the moth thinking about? Is it alone? What’s the biggest challenge it faces in this moment?

Who is the owl looking at? Has it read these books? What is its greatest talent?

Where are these trees? Why are they pink? Do they have any special powers or features?

What do you think? Which kind of pictures do you like best for creative writing prompts ? Let us know in the comments.

Tuesday 5th of March 2024

I LOVE these! My daughter has always struggled with written story prompts and an internet search this week convinced me of the value of picture prompts for reluctant readers/writers (https://youcanjournal.com/journal-picture-prompts/ if you're interested!). I'll definitely be using these to help improve her writing skills. Thanks so much!

Tuesday 26th of December 2023

I think the idea of using picture prompts is a great idea. It initiates oral language thus building vocabulary. It allows lends itself to students working in small groups to stimulate new ideas. The prompts engage the students and gives the teacher the opportunity to focus on specific writing skills.

luke elford

Wednesday 13th of December 2023

cloey mckay

Tuesday 17th of October 2023

I tried this with myself and my 6th-grade students, and they love it. it gives room for so much creativity.

Nayyar Abbas

Tuesday 30th of May 2023

This is very good idea and it really works, viewing these one try to think one's own way that what these pictures are telling or asking? I also recommend that this idea should also be given to the students for building their creative instinct.

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Picture Prompts

Over 140 Picture Prompts to Inspire Student Writing

By Natalie Proulx

• May 23, 2019

Sign up for our free Learning Network newsletter. Receive new writing prompts in your inbox every week.

Updated: May 31, 2019

Think The New York Times is only for readers at a high-school reading level? Think again.

Besides written articles, The Times also offers a rich collection of visuals — photos, illustrations, graphics, GIFs and short videos — that are accessible to learners of all levels. Since 2016, we’ve been featuring these images in our daily Picture Prompts : short, image-driven posts that invite a variety of kinds of student writing.

Teachers tell us they use these prompts in all kinds of ways. Some use them to encourage students to develop a daily writing habit . Others as an exercise to practice inferences , spark discussion or support reading . This year, one elementary school music teacher told us how her class used the visuals as inspiration for writing short stories accompanied by music .

For more ideas, we have a lesson plan on how to teach with Picture Prompts and other Times images, as well as a free, on-demand webinar that explores how to use our thousands of writing prompts for everyday low-stakes writing practice across the curriculum.

Below, we’ve categorized the 140+ prompts we published during the 2018-19 school year based on the type of writing they primarily ask students to do — whether it’s penning short stories and poems, sharing experiences from their own lives, telling us their opinions, or interpreting an image’s message. All are still open for comment.

You can find even more images in our Picture Prompt roundups for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years.

If you use this feature with your students, or if you have other ideas for how to use photos, illustrations and graphics to encourage writing, let us know in the comments section.

What story could this image tell? Use your imagination.

Three Dots Balloon Face Oars and S’mores Conversation Spaceship at the White House Around the Campfire Special Key Computer Screen 17-Foot Python Batman on a Couch Hanging With Friends Hole in the Ceiling In a Crowd Opossum Among Shoes Your Food Obsession Tech Gadgets Carrying a Letter Reaching Through the Wall Sledding in the Mountains Trees, River, Cottage and Sheep The Ride Headphones Leap In the Stands Shade Under the Table Security Line At Their Computers Tiny Stories Tarot Cards Haunted House? Driver and Bicyclist Red Ball Kneeling and Reaching A Letter in the Mail Campfire

Share experiences from your own life.

One Last Adventure Amusement Park Dog in a Backpack Generation Z Breakfast A New App Met Gala Tidying Up Take Your Child to Work Day New Homes Photos From Space Social Media Star Signs of Spring Literary Protagonists The Story of Your Name Dream Home Momo Gym Class Nostalgic Places Price Tags Night Owl or Early Bird Lunar New Year Rescue Pets Polar Vortex Facing Rejection Dreams Superstitions Holiday Season Astrology Favorite Books Journaling Caffeine Giving and Getting Candy Around the World Journeys Saying Thank You Nutrition ‘The Simpsons’ Man, Seal, Octopus Weddings The Night Sky Remembering 9/11 World’s Largest Prairie Dog

What do you think this image, chart or cartoon is saying?

Falling Bottles Focus Here Emojis Eagle and Gender Symbols Hand and Fist Jungle Gym Stacks of Money Magnifying Glass ‘Freedom From Want’ ‘The Writer’s Block’ Watching Walking Down the Street Gun Parts Globe and Books Head Full of Stuff Tight Rope Adventure New Faces Leaping Over Binoculars Brexit Floating Coins Giant Machine Blue Water Other People’s Burdens In a Maze Chalk Outline Hands on Their Shoulders Past and Future Pieces of a Flag From a Hole to a Balloon

What’s your opinion on this issue?

Spy Cams Jack-of-all-trades Gender Expectations Game Show Winner Royal Baby Movie Theaters Tiger Woods Wins ‘The Image of the Revolution’ Final Four Referees $430 Million Deal Student Climate Strikes Women’s History Month Legos and Battlebots Cash Reward Brushing Beagle Book Covers Super Bowl Commercials Math Fast-Food Buffet The ‘Bird Box’ Challenge Hands-On Parenting 2018 in Pictures The Outspoken N.B.A. Online Video Games Standout Steer California Wildfire Election Day Public Libraries Champions A Computer in Everything Snail Mail Fashion Trends Sleep Deprivation Household Chores Gymnastics on Horseback Song of Summer Giant Ice Disk

Want more writing prompts?

You can find our full collection of writing prompts, added as they publish, here . We also have a list of over 1,000 writing prompts for narrative and persuasive writing gathered from our daily Student Opinion questions . Plus, we have a collection of “ 40 Intriguing Images to Make Students Think ,” taken from four years of our weekly “ What’s Going On in This Picture? ” feature.

16 Visual Writing Prompts

A picture says a thousand words, or so the saying goes more or less.

And there is something to that for sure – we all know it.

We have all experienced it – looking at a striking image which immediately conjures up a story in our mind.

So let’s take advantage of our extremely visual brains, and use a range of very different images to inspire the creative process, and get interesting unique stories started in no time at all!

Why use these?

However you find inspiration to write a story can be useful.

Visual prompts are fantastic to help spark a creative direction for a new story you or your students are writing.

As with any learned skill, the more time we put into the art of writing, the better we’ll become.

So, encourage writing every day, through the whole range of methods we’ve got here for you to use for free!

How to use these prompts:

• Try going through the whole selection and seeing what strikes a chord with the aspiring writers in the room.
• Print a small number of them, and distribute as challenges for your students.
• Use 7 prompts for a weeks daily writing challenge.
• Provide them all, and let your writers select the prompt that grabs them.

The point is – there is no hard and fast rule to inspiration.

And that’s just it after all, it’s all about getting inspired so that the story just flows directly out of the writers mind.

So let’s get into it.

UPDATE: You’ll also want to check out our latest collection of picture prompts – I just know you’ll love them.

Here are a selection I hope you’ll enjoy…

16 Visual Writing Prompts:

• Where did this cat come from?
• What does it want?
• Who wears a cat hat anyway?

Tree House Island

• Trapped on an island?
• How long have they been there?
• How have they survived?

Kayak Trip Into The Unknown

• Silently cutting through the water.
• Totally isolated.
• Where are they going?

Lake Swing Jump

• What are the sounds you can hear?
• How hot is the day?
• What is going through their mind?

Dog In Disguise

• Who is he hiding from?
• How long has he worn a disguise?
• When did it all start?

Hot Air Balloon Convoy

• Who is in them?
• When will they land?

Waterfall Adventurer

• Hero stands
• What is behind the waterfall?
• How long has it taken to find?

Monkey Guard

• What is he guarding?
• Where are the other monkeys?
• How can you make friends?

Dog River Crossing

• Who is he looking back at?
• Why did he have to swim across the river?
• When will he find what he is looking for?

Boy’s Jungle Hut

• How far away are other people?
• What has brought them out here by themselves?
• When will they leave?

Awkward Swamp Bird

• How did it end up like this?
• What was it trying to do?
• Which other animals are nearby?

Ancient Ruins

• What is he hoping to find inside?
• Who might he meet?
• When is this happening?

Underwater Adventure

• What have they found?
• How did they get here?
• Where are all the fish going?

Strange Little House

• How did the little house end up here?
• Where is their front door?
• Who lives here?

Cow Close Up

• Why is the cow so curious?
• What happens next?
• Who else is here?

Rock Climbing Escape

• Where are they?
• Why do they need to climb out of here?
• How long have they been climbing?

Happy writing to you all

I hope you found our visual writing prompts inspiring for your creative writing.

UPDATE: Check out our latest collection of picture prompts to inspire creative writing .

Please do check back regularly as we are releasing great new content several times a week.

Don’t forget to bookmark and Pin, and it would mean the world to us if you’d share this with your friends!

Thanks, Matt & Hayley

• Time & Season
• Miscellaneous

30 Engaging Visual Writing Prompts – Spark Your Creativity

The power of imagery is profound. It can transport us to distant worlds, invoke dormant memories, and kindle the fires of creativity. Visual writing prompts are a testament to this power, offering writers a vivid tableau from which stories, poems, and reflections can spring forth.

By blending the tangible richness of imagery with the abstract nuances of language, these prompts invite us to see, feel, and articulate our responses in unique and often unexpected ways. Dive into our collection of visual writing prompts, each designed to challenge your perspective and stir your imagination.

Creating visual writing prompts requires a unique blend of imagery and textual cues. If you’re actually producing these for a website or publication, each description would be paired with a corresponding image to inspire deeper reflection and creativity.

Here are 30 conceptual descriptions for visual writing prompts

Sunrise in a Desert: The early morning sun casts long shadows on sand dunes, painting the horizon with shades of orange and pink.

Forgotten Library: Dust-covered books stacked haphazardly in an old, abandoned library.

City Reflection: A bustling modern cityscape reflected in a serene, still puddle.

Space Station Window: A view from a space station window showing Earth below and stars beyond.

Forest Lanterns: Hundreds of lanterns floating up into the night sky from a dense, mysterious forest.

Ancient Ruins: Weathered statues and structures being reclaimed by nature in an ancient city.

Digital Reality: A person wearing a VR headset, reaching out to touch ethereal digital elements.

Whale Flight: A gigantic whale floating majestically above a quaint town.

Mirrored Worlds: A split image of a bustling city street above and a serene underwater world below.

Deserted Carnival: An old, rusted Ferris wheel and carnival games, abandoned and overtaken by nature.

Snowy Encounter: Fresh footprints leading to a mysterious figure standing in a snow-covered landscape.

Floating Islands: Lush green islands hovering amidst clouds with waterfalls cascading into the void.

Time’s Passage: An old, weathered clock tower amidst a hyper-modern city.

Galactic Train: A train speeding along tracks suspended in space, surrounded by stars and nebulae.

Lost in Music: A solitary figure surrounded by a swirling vortex of musical notes and instruments.

Dreamscape Bridge: A bridge made of wisps of clouds, connecting floating dreamy landscapes.

Robot’s Day Out: A robot experiencing nature – touching flowers, feeling rain, or watching a sunset.

Victorian Futurism: Victorian-era people interacting with futuristic technology.

Dance of Shadows: Shadows on a cobblestone street dancing while their human counterparts remain still.

Dragon’s Lair: The entrance of a cave with glittering treasure and the eye of a dragon peeking from the darkness.

Paper World: A landscape crafted entirely from folded paper – mountains, rivers, and cities.

Underwater Metropolis: A thriving city beneath the ocean’s surface, with marine life intermingling with citizens.

Starry Night Camp: A lone tent under a vast expanse of the Milky Way.

Nature’s Reclaim: Wildlife roaming free in a post-apocalyptic city.

Ink-filled Ocean: An ocean where each wave is a different shade of ink, crashing onto a blank parchment shore.

Winds of Change: Old leaves turning into birds as they’re blown from their trees.

Microscopic Wonderland: A detailed, close-up view of a world within a droplet of water.

Endless Staircase: A staircase spiraling infinitely into the sky, surrounded by floating doors.

Celestial Paint: A person with a giant brush painting constellations in the night sky.

Ancient Modern: Pyramids or ancient temples with modern elements like neon lights or billboards.

Conclusion:

As we close our foray into the world of visual writing prompts, it’s evident that the confluence of imagery and text provides a fertile ground for creative exploration. By grounding our narratives in visuals, we anchor our stories in a tangible reality while leaving ample room for abstraction and interpretation. These prompts are more than mere pictures; they’re gateways to vast landscapes of storytelling, waiting to be traversed by keen-eyed writers like you.

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150 Inspiring Picture Writing Prompts To Spark Creativity (Free Google Slides)

Use a picture to write a thousand words!

Creative writing is a challenge for many students, often because they can’t come up with anything to write about. That’s why we love picture writing prompts. Each one sparks the imagination and helps young writers jump right into crafting a story to match. We rounded up a whole collection of intriguing images for use with kids in grades K-12 along. Plus we designed a set of free Google Slides featuring all of the prompts so you can easily share them with students.

Tip: Start by showing students the picture (or let them choose from among several) without making any comment about what they’re seeing. For kids who still struggle to get started, suggest a potential title or opening sentence, like the examples included here.

Don’t miss our free downloadable. Grab your full set of ready-to-go Picture Writing Prompts Google Slides with all of the prompts below.

Elementary Picture Writing Prompts

Middle school picture writing prompts, high school picture writing prompts, art picture writing prompts.

When kids first see these picture writing prompts, they may or may not immediately feel inspired. If they need some help, ask them questions like “What led up to this moment?” or “What’s going to happen next?”

When Larry fell in love, he fell hard.

When the new sign appeared on Main Street, everyone in town wondered exactly what it meant.

Snowy Footprints

After that crazy day, all that was left to show for it was footprints in the snow.

Dinosaur Bones

“Come with me if you want to live!” Ash said, reaching out a hand.

Undersea Treasure

For years, no one saw the locked treasure chest but the local fish, who wondered what it could contain.

A Game of Fetch

To Scout, it was a game, but to Mr. Freezy, it was much more.

Ladybug Gossip

The ladybug’s picnic was an excellent chance to meet up with old friends and hear all the latest gossip.

We met them when they peeked into our window, watching us as we ate lunch and watched cartoons.

King of the Jungle

It wasn’t the crown that made Amari the king of all he surveyed.

The Final Pitch

It all came down to this—the final pitch in a game that was tied 2-2.

Doggie Massage

Every dog in the neighborhood knew that Rocky gave the best massages and was always willing to lend an ear too.

Skateboard Life

When Charli got her first skateboard, she made herself a promise.

Garden of the Past

The woman walked in the garden every day, never saying a word.

Sunset Friends

They met on the jungle gym every day at sunset, sharing everything about their days.

Pink Umbrellas

When the pink umbrellas first appeared, Toni thought they might be magic.

Firefly Forest

Olivia was surprised to discover that the fireflies didn’t just glow, they also sang.

Robot Spider

When it first crawled ashore, the mechanical spider moved slowly.

Fallen House

Staring at their house, which was now on its side, the whole family was in shock.

Red Riding Hood

If only she’d been riding her faithful steed the day she’d met the Big Bad Wolf, things might have been very different.

Kangaroo Fall

“Well, this is embarrassing,” thought Bouncer, as laughter filled the air around him.

Daci’s big brother said her signs wouldn’t help them find their runaway cat, but he was wrong.

Penguin Bookshop

A visit to Mr. Pickerel’s Penguin Bookshop is always an adventure.

Of all the eggs in the carton, Ella was the one who could always crack you up.

That was the year Min was finally tall enough to ride the Sky Swings, but now she wasn’t so sure.

Rubber Duck Parade

It was truly an honor to be asked to lead the Spring Duck Parade.

Teddy Story Time

Every afternoon, the three friends gathered for story time in their favorite spot in the woods.

Underwater School

Nia thought going to school underwater would be exciting, but some days she really missed going outside for recess.

The day Amos started his journey down the river, the sun was shining brightly.

Turtle Trouble

“None shall pass,” growled the old sea turtle, blocking the way.

Dinosaur Race

Pia was supposed to keep Balthazar on a leash, but once they reached the forest, she set him free and they both began to run.

Finally Seeing Eye to Eye

“So, we meet at last, face to face,” Lord Squeakerton said to his enemy, the Count of Catnip.

It takes a lot to surprise a monkey, but you don’t see something like this every day.

Not Coming Out

The day started out normally enough, but by the end, Chris knew he was in over his head.

Life on Other Planets

“Hurry up,” Grnklor told his robopup. “We have to get back inside before nightfall.”

Reindeer Games

The wind had died down, but the setting sun seemed to take all the warmth of the day with it.

Something to Celebrate

Their classmates could hear their shouts of joy from all the way down the hall.

Home Sweet Mushroom

When the fairies that lived in the garden invited her to stay with them for awhile, Maria wasn’t sure what to expect.

Loch Ness Mystery

“There it is! I told you Nessie is real!” Angus whispered to Lee.

Lonely Bear

It was hard to say who was lonelier that night, Amil or his lost stuffed bear, Jasper.

Sometimes You Lose

When his team lost the championship, Miguel was crushed, but it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to him.   

Middle school writing prompts can be a little more complex, with pictures that have a lot of potential interpretations. Encourage students to delve deeper into the story by describing how the characters feel and why they behave the way they do.

Morgan was incredibly proud of those shoes, paid for entirely with money from after-school jobs.

Never Lose Hope

With his last bit of energy, Kai scrawled his message in the wet paint.

The keyboard button could only be used once, and no one knew exactly what happened when you pressed it.

Piano Lessons

Before she could even speak, Arya was drawn to the black and white keys.

There was no doubt about it, this was was indeed a very special kind of garden.

No matter how you looked at it, it had been a very rough day to be the Easter Bunny.

Empty Chairs

By sunset, all four chairs were empty, and the only signs of life were the gulls swooping down from above.

Floating Treasure

To the birds, it was simply a convenient place to land, but Ali and I knew it was much more than that.

Shadow Question

That was the day they discovered that just because you were invisible didn’t mean your shadow was.

Letter and Key

The day she turned 12, Vivi’s aunt handed her an envelope containing the family secret.

Space Target

Onyx paused, knowing that once their arrow hit the target, there was no knowing what would happen.

Mermaid Mystery

It was a mermaid—or was it?

World on a String

Her dad had promised to give her the world, but she wasn’t expecting three more planets as well.

Bee Standoff

“This flower ain’t big enough for the both of us!” said Bianca.

Solitary Seat

For as long as anyone could remember, Angus McGee spent his evenings in the same chair next to the woodstove.

Best Friends

When you decide to run away from home forever, you can’t possibly leave your best friend behind.

Dinosaur Demise

In retrospect, setting the time machine to randomly choose a day and time in the past might not have been such a good idea.

Magic Lamps

“Choose wisely,” said the old shopkeeper, “for only one of these lamps is truly magic.”

Message in a Bottle

The message floated at sea for more than 50 years before the day we found it on the beach.

Barrel Boat

Of all the ways to impress someone, Jonah thought to himself, this had to be one of the most ridiculous.

Dragon Guardian

When your parents give you your own dragon guardian, your childhood is bound to be enchanted.

Octopus’s Garden

Wouldn’t you like to be under the sea, in an octopus’s garden in the shade?

Around the Corner

After finally pressing “send,” she couldn’t resist peeking around the corner to watch him read the text.

Beam Me Up!

Milo’s earliest memory was of watching his beloved tricycle float into the sky above him, caught in a beam of light.

Poison Apple

To join the club, all Aaron had to do was creep up and snatch the apple from the skeleton’s hand without being seen.

Giraffe Council

“It is now 3 p.m., and I call this meeting of the Mighty Council of Giraffes to order,” announced Imari.

Mystery Creature

At first glance, it was hard to tell whether the little creature was friend or foe.

As the sky turned orange, Keisha ran faster than ever and used the last of her energy to push off and soar over the water below.

The End of Days

Despite their best efforts, they arrived too late—the battle had already begun.

Out of the Book

“Happily ever after” was about to take on a whole new meaning.

Stopped Clock

I was sure that the time on the broken clock was the clue to solving the mystery.

Dueling Webs

It’s never a good idea to build your web too close to another spider’s, but this time I had no choice.

Do Shoes Grow on Trees?

The day I threw my own shoes into the tree was the day I really started to grow up.

Abstract Art

“So,” asked their art teacher, “what do you think this painting means?”

Wandering Robots

Everything about NB-317 was made of cardboard except his heart—that was made of flesh and blood and very capable of being broken.

Dream Come True

It all started when Quinn watched her favorite movie the night before they assigned partners for the eighth grade science fair project.

Mysterious Cave

The cave was unlike anything we’d ever seen before, and what was more, it almost seemed like the rock was alive.

Storm at Sea

As the rain lashed his face and lightning tore apart the sky, Kiran had to admit he’d always thought it would be a lot more fun being a pirate.

Grasshopper Close-Up

That’s when Javed realized it wasn’t that the grasshopper was too big—it was that he was suddenly very, very small.

UFO Parking

“Well, that’s convenient,” Javdok remarked to Qabow when they saw the sign.   

High school writers are ready to dig deep, exploring character development and detailed plots. These pictures offer a jumping-off point to set their imaginations free.

Cyborg Girl

When she was 14, Tasha’s parents finally told her the truth about what she really was.

BBQ Cookout

“So, I’m guessing no one told you I’m a vegetarian?” asked Sadie with a smile.

The latest app was like a time machine, allowing people to look back in time, but it also had a dark side.

She was surrounded by people but never felt more alone.

Hippo Troubles

Like all parents, hippos sometimes really need a break from their kids.

iPad Farmer

Grandpa Jack never failed to surprise us.

Marching Band Blues

Kaleel sat sadly on the bench, watching the rest of the band march away in jaunty time to the music.

Never-Ending Tunnel

The tunnel seemed to stretch to infinity, but Jayma knew what was at the end, and it terrified her.

Carving Out Love

For years, we wondered who “WP” was, and who it was who loved them so much they carved it into a tree for all to see.

Glowing Globe

Just then, the globe began to glow, and Jaxson knew he was about to leap through space and time once again—destination unknown.

See No Evil

It seemed like a funny joke to pose the skeletons in front of old Mrs. Petoski’s house, but then she turned up dead, and the police said it was murder.

Upside Down

It’s an odd feeling to wake up one morning and find yourself able to walk on the ceiling.

Face at the Fence

So much depended on which side of the fence you were on.

Bicycle Race

Finley had trained too hard for this race to come in third—it just wasn’t good enough.

Family Travels

In the picture, my grandmother’s expression is hard to interpret, but she’s told me the story many times.

Laundromat Antics

Dani never expected to meet her first love feet first.

Molly’s mom probably didn’t mean for her to be the one to find the note, but that’s how things turned out.

Through the Storm

Javier knew it would have been smarter to stay put, but he had to make sure his mom was safe before the worst of the storm arrived.

Lifetime Friends

They’d been friends for as long as they could remember—even longer, in fact.

Stray Kitten

“I am NOT taking you home with me,” Kai told the tiny mewling kitten firmly.

Abandoned Greenhouse

Willow was free to leave at any time, but she couldn’t make herself go.

Amani’s earliest memory was razor wire—miles and miles of it.

Church Graveyard

Everyone feels differently in a graveyard, but for me, they’re very peaceful places.

Orb of Death

“Do you really want to know?” Death asked. “Because once you know, you won’t be able to forget.”

Missed Shot

Steve was sure his shot would make it, but it bounced off the rim just as the buzzer rang to end the game.

First Contact

This was it—the moment that would change what it meant to be human forever.

One Life To Live

His face said his life had been a hard one, but his eyes told a different tale.

Winter Walk

Snow fell, creating a blank canvas to record the story of that fateful walk.

Train to Nowhere

It certainly wasn’t the most luxurious way to travel, but then again, no one really wanted to make this trip in the first place.

Modern Mary Poppins

She dropped into our lives on a gray day in midwinter, a hint of the spring that was to come.

All That Remains

Dust motes filled the air of the abandoned hallway, replacing the voices once heard there.

From the day he found the little creature, Luis refused to go anywhere without him.

The Question

Their happily ever after began quietly, with a bouquet of wildflowers.

Night Lights

Misty rain both blurred and emphasized the lights that lit Suri’s way home that evening.

Forest of Fear

At first, Mateo thought it was a joke, but the screams that followed told him there was nothing remotely funny about it.

At the elite level, being a spy meant serious commitments.

The Yellow Door

On their 14th birthday, every resident of Fresnia was required to stand before the Wall of Doors and make a choice.

Graffiti Palace

To strangers, it seemed random, but every mark on those walls had deep meaning for us.

Fossil Fish

Millions of years ago, the fish gave one final flop before lying still in the deep mud.

On the Rails

Aliyah stood on the tracks, uncertain of where to go next.

These picture prompts are all works of art, some more well known than others. Try providing them to students without sharing the titles first, then offer up the titles if they need some help getting started.

The Dance Class (Edgar Degas)

Greek Funerary Plaque (520-510 BCE)

Washington Crossing the Delaware (Emanuel Leutze)

Kyōsai’s Pictures of One Hundred Demons

First Steps, After Millet (Vincent van Gogh)

Lady Lilith (Dante Gabriel Rossetti)

A Sunday on La Grande Jatte (Georges Seurat)

After the Hurricane, Bahamas (Winslow Homer)

Drawing Lots for Prizes (Kitagawa Utamaro)

Portions of Field Armor (Jacob Halder)

Sadie Pfeifer, a Cotton Mill Spinner (Lewis Wickes Hine)

Still Life With Monkey, Fruits, and Flowers (Jean Baptiste Oudry)

Man Leading a Giraffe, 5th Century Byzantine

The Three Skulls (Paul Cézanne)

The Madame B Album (Marie-Blanche Hennelle Fournier)

Coiled Trumpet in the Form of a Snarling Feline Face (c. 100 BCE to 500 CE)

Crazy Quilt With Animals (Florence Elizabeth Marvin)

Storytime (Eugenio Zampighi)

Cubist Village (Georges Gaudion)

Zig-Zag Passenger and Freight Train (Unknown)

The Power of Music (William Sidney Mount)

The Large Tree (Paul Gauguin)

After the Bath (Mary Cassatt)

Wedding Gown (Korea, Late 1800s)

The Contemplator (Eugène Carrière)

The Girl I Left Behind Me (Eastman Johnson)

24c Curtiss Jenny Invert Single

Creeping Baby Doll Patent Model

Wrecked Zeppelin (British Library)

Skeleton (Tales of Terror Frontispiece)

Get Your Free Picture Writing Prompts Google Slides

Just click the button below to fill out the form and get instant access to free downloadable Picture Writing Prompts Google Slides with all the prompts included above.

How do you use picture writing prompts in your classroom? Come share ideas and ask for advice in the We Are Teachers HELPLINE group on Facebook .

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Let's Get Creative!

40 Interesting Visual Writing Prompts to Spark Inspiration

From preventing writer’s block to strengthening your skills, visual writing prompts are among the most underrated tools in the writing community. So, if you don’t regularly use writing prompts to spark inspiration, you are missing out on a great writing exercise.

Simply look at a visual writing prompt, then think of a story that takes place there or is about a character in the image. Then, write a flash fiction story based on the picture. To challenge yourself further, try writing a story based on the image in under 250 words; or, you can write down the first five words you think of when you look at the picture and write a story based on that. Also, for an extra challenge, try creating a short story for a new visual writing prompt each day!

Did any of these photos spark inspiration? If so, get to writing! Again, be sure to let me know which posts you’d like to see next; though I’d love to hear what your favorite posts are. Also, to learn more about writer’s block or gaining inspiration, check out the posts below. Don’t forget to follow us on Pinterest, because we have a ton of extra inspiration.

Keeping up with creating new stories constantly can be challenging to say the least. But, it doesn’t have to be so stressful. Regularly using text and visual writing prompts will put your brain in a new space; and then, this will allow the creativity to flow again!

Also, be sure to sign up for my mailing list and receive exclusive content, printables, and more!

Similar Posts You May Find Helpful:

• How To Prevent Writer’s Block
• Writing Prompts for Adults
• 50 Free Writing Prompts for Creative Writers

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Catwoman =^••^=

Thank you for these beautiful images!

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Inspire Thoughtful Creative Writing Through Art

A few years ago, I showed my sixth graders The Gulf Stream by Winslow Homer. It's an epic painting of a young black sailor in a small broken boat, surrounded by flailing sharks, huge swells, and a massive storm in the distance. I asked my students the simple question, "What's happening?" The responses ranged from "He's a slave trying to escape" to "He's a fisherman lost at sea." The common theme with the responses, though, was the tone -- most students were very concerned for his welfare. "That boat looks rickety. I think he’s going to get eaten by the sharks," was a common refrain. Then a very quiet, shy girl raised her hand. "It's OK, he'll be fine," she said. "The ship will save him."

The room got quiet as everyone stared intently at the painting. I looked closely at it. "What ship?" I responded. The young girl walked up to the image and pointed to the top left corner. Sure enough, faded in the smoky distance was a ship.

This revelation changed the tone and content of the conversation that followed. Some thought it was the ship that would save him. Others thought it was the ship that cast him off to his death. Would the storm, sharks, or ship get him? The best part of this intense debate was hearing the divergent, creative responses. Some students even argued. The written story produced as a result of analyzing this image was powerful.

Since this experience, I have developed strategies that harness the power of observation, analysis, and writing through my art lessons.

Children naturally connect thoughts, words, and images long before they master the skill of writing. This act of capturing meaning in multiple symbol systems and then vacillating from one medium to another is called transmediation . While using art in the classroom, students transfer this visual content, and then add new ideas and information from their personal experiences to create newly invented narratives. Using this three-step process of observe, interpret, and create helps kids generate ideas, organize thoughts, and communicate effectively.

Step 1: Observe

Asking students to look carefully and observe the image is fundamental to deep, thoughtful writing. Keep this in mind when choosing art to use in class. Look for images with:

• Many details: If it is a simple image, there's not much to analyze.
• Characters: There should be people or animals in the image to write about.
• Colors: Find colors that convey a mood.
• Spatial relationships: How do the background and foreground relate?

Lead your students through the image. "I like it" is not the answer we are looking for. Ask questions that guide the conversation. Encourage divergent answers and challenge them. Try these questions:

• What shapes do you see? Do they remind you of anything?
• What colors do you see? How do those colors make you feel?
• What patterns do you see? How are they made?
• Do you see any unusual textures? What do they represent?
• What is the focal point of the image? How did the artist bring your attention to the focal point?
• How did the artist create the illusion of space in the image?
• If you were living in the picture and could look all around you, what would you see?
• If you were living in the picture, what would you smell? What would you hear?

Keep your questions open-ended, and record what students say so that they'll have a reference for later. Identify and challenge assumptions. At this point, we are not looking for inferences or judgments, just observations.

Step 2: Make Inferences by Analyzing Art

Once they have discussed what they see, students then answer the question, "What is happening?" They must infer their answers from the image and give specific reasons for their interpretations.

For example, while looking at The Gulf Stream , one student said, "The storm already passed and is on its way out. You can tell because the small boat the man is on has been ripped apart and the mast is broken." That is what we are looking for in their answers: rational thoughts based on inferences from data in the picture. No two responses will be exactly the same, but they can all be correct as long as the student can coherently defend his or her answer with details from the image. When children express their opinions based on logic and these details, they are analyzing art and using critical thinking skills.

Here are some tips to model a mature conversation about art:

• Give adequate wait time. We are often so rushed that we don't give children time to think and reflect.
• Ask students to listen to, think about, and react to the ideas of others.
• Your questions should be short and to the point.
• Highlight specific details to look at while analyzing art (characters, facial expressions, objects, time of day, weather, colors, etc.).
• Explain literal vs. symbolic meaning (a spider's web can be just that, or it can symbolize a trap).

Step 3: Create

After thoughtful observation and discussion, students are abuzz with ideas. For all of the following writing activities, they must use details from the image to support their ideas. Here are just a few of the many ways we can react to art:

For Younger Students:

• Locate and describe shapes and patterns.
• Describe time of day and mood of scene.
• Describe a character in detail with a character sketch. Characters may be people, animals, or inanimate objects.
• Write a story based on this image including a brand new character.
• Give students specific vocabulary that they must incorporate into their story.

For Older Students:

• Write down the possible meaning of the image, trade with a partner, and persuade your partner to believe that your story is the correct one based on details in the image.
• Identify characters and their motives. Who are they and what do they want? Explain how you know based on details.
• Pretend that you are in the image, and describe what you see, smell, feel, and hear.
• Describe the details that are just outside of the image, the ones we can’t see.
• Introduce dialogue into your story. What are they saying?
• Sequence the events of the story. What happened five minutes before this scene, what is happening now, and what happens five minutes later? How do you know?
• Write from the perspective of one of the characters in the image.
• Explain who is the protagonist and antagonist. What is their conflict?

Thinking and Communicating

We don’t know what the future holds for our students, but we do know that they will have to think critically, make connections, and communicate clearly. Art can help students do that. During this year's commencement speech at Sarah Lawrence College, Fareed Zakaria said, "It is the act of writing that forces me to think through them [ideas] and sort them out." Art can be that link to helping students organize their ideas and produce coherent, thoughtful writing.

As you consider teaching writing through art, I recommend reading In Pictures and in Words by Kate Wood Ray and Beth Olshansky's PictureWriting.org website.

How have you used the arts to inspire creative thinking in your students? Please tell us about it in the comments.

E.V. Everest

Visual writing prompts.

Visual creative writing prompts differ from standard writing prompts. Standard writing prompts give you a short idea (What would life be like without cars?) or even a theme (forgiveness). Visual creative writing prompts give you an image. After all, they say a picture is worth a thousand words.

Most of the visual creative writing prompts below include both a standard prompt AND a visual. So, you can decide. Does the picture give you a story idea? If not, you can use the written one given.

Be sure to bookmark or pin this page as new prompts are added often :)

Medieval Fantasy Writing Prompts

Mystery Writing Prompts

5 Fairy Tale Writing Prompts

5 Dark Fantasy Writing Prompts

How to Get Started with Visual Writing Prompts:

The only right way to use visual creative writing prompts is the way that works best for you. That said, here are a few tips.

1. Set aside dedicated time for writing. For many writers, it is helpful to choose the same time every day. Depending on your schedule, this may be 15 minutes or 2 hours.

2. Select a photo that speaks to you. Often, as I scroll through photo prompts, I see ones that make me think "sweet romance" or "evil guy" right off the bat. For me, it's often the ones that I do a double take on that produce the best stories. The ones I stare at and think "what exactly is this?" For other writers, it may be the visual writing prompt that reminds them of something from their own lives.

3. Block out distractions. Turn your phone on silent and (if you can) close your door.

Now, you're ready to write! I can't wait to see what you create!

36 Free Creative Visual Writing Prompts for Students

36 free Creative Visual Writing Prompts for Students. Creative writing ideas for 7 years old + and Writing topics for 7 years old + with Free eBook.

The objective of this lesson is to inspire and improve students’ creative writing skills by using visual prompts . Students will engage with a variety of images to stimulate their imagination and practice writing descriptive narratives, short stories, or poems based on the visual cues.

Grade Level: Grades 2-6

Duration: 6 sessions (30 minutes each)

• Projector or computer to display visual prompts
• Whiteboard and markers
• Drawing paper and coloring materials (crayons, colored pencils, markers)
• Writing paper or notebooks

Session 1: Introduction to Visual Writing Prompts

• Start the lesson by discussing the power of pictures in storytelling . Explain that visuals can help spark ideas and make writing more enjoyable.
• Show a few example images and ask students to share what they see in each picture. Encourage creative interpretations and storytelling based on the images.
• Discuss the different elements in the pictures , such as characters, settings, and actions, that can be used as starting points for writing.

Session 2-6: Exploring 36 Visual Writing Prompts

• In each session, display several different visual writing prompts on the projector or board.
• Give students a few minutes to observe each image and let their imaginations run wild. Encourage them to share their initial thoughts and ideas with the class.
• Provide a fun twist: In some sessions, let students choose their favorite image and draw a scene inspired by it on their drawing paper before writing their stories or descriptions.
• Instruct students to write a short story, poem, or descriptive paragraph based on the visual prompt. Encourage creativity and emphasize that there are no right or wrong answers.
• For younger students, provide a sentence starter related to the image to help them get started with their writing.
• Allow sufficient time for writing and drawing (if applicable). Walk around the classroom to offer support and encouragement to students.

Session 7: Reflection and Sharing

• In this session, have students reflect on their experience with visual writing prompts t hroughout the week.
• Discuss as a class how using images helped them come up with creative ideas for their writing.
• Invite volunteers to share their favorite written pieces or drawings with the class. Create a supportive environment for sharing and celebrating each other’s creativity.

Assessment will be based on students’ written pieces and drawings (if applicable). Evaluate their ability to use the visual prompts to generate creative writing and storytelling. Focus on elements like imagination, descriptive language, and the overall engagement with the task.

As a follow-up assignment, encourage students to find or create their own visual prompts at home. They can use magazines, draw pictures, or find images online to inspire their writing. Ask them to write a short story or poem using their chosen visual prompt.

Using visual writing prompts can be a fun and effective way to engage young students in the writing process . By incorporating visuals, students from Grades 2 to 6 will have honed their creative writing skills, improved their storytelling abilities, and gained confidence in expressing their ideas through writing.

BROWSE THE EBOOK

For additional practice, be sure to explore this website. simply click the link below., for additional resources on creative writing, also check out these posts.

Creative Poetry

Creative fiction

Creative Non-fiction

Creative Writing Guide

Creative Writing – Thomson Writing Program

The Psychology of Creative Writing

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Craft the perfect creative writing prompt from Microsoft Designer's AI images

march 22, 2024

by Monica Jayasinghe

Hello, fellow educators! I recently discovered an exciting way to create engaging writing prompts for my students using AI and Microsoft Designer . The results were amazing, and I can't wait to share this fun and innovative approach with you!

Describing the Vision:

To get started, head over to Microsoft Designer . We'll use the power of AI to generate an image that will serve as the foundation for our writing prompt.

We'll use Image Creator , where you can describe the image you want to create. The goal is to generate an image that will capture your students' imagination and inspire them to write.

For this example, I entered the prompt, A spacecraft landing near a house, futuristic, mysterious.

Choose the image you want to work with

Once you select Generate , Microsoft Designer will provide you with a variety of AI-generated images. Since we're creating a writing prompt, look for an image that has space for adding instructions and is easy to read.

You'll be amazed by the number of options available! When you find an image you like, click on it and select Edit image .

Customize the image

After selecting your preferred image, it's time to customize it.

• Click on Resize in the top panel and adjust the dimensions to match a PowerPoint slide. This will ensure that the image fits perfectly when you're ready to present it to your students. You can also align the image anywhere on the page to create the perfect composition.
• In the box labeled AI tools , you'll see additional customization options. Consider playing with the filters to update the mood and color scheme of your image.

Add instructions and text

To make the writing prompt clear and easy to read, click on the existing text and customize it. To add a heading, click on Text in the left panel. The right panel will populate with even more ideas you can use.

In this example, I changed the color to white and added a story starter.

Engage your students

The possibilities for using AI-generated images as writing prompts are endless! Here are a few options:

Get inspired by the artwork

The most obvious way to use these images is as direct inspiration for student writing. Generate a bold, fantastical, emotional, or silly image and have students write a story about what's happening in the image.

Try this prompt: A whimsical classroom under the sea. The teacher is a wise old octopus. The classroom is decorated with shell desks and seaweed streamers .

Bring stories to life

Another great idea is to take an excerpt from a story you're reading in class and use the AI to generate an image that matches that specific part of the story. This will spark engaging discussions among your students and bring the story to life in a whole new way.

Bring units to life

Why stop at a story? You can also generate images that fit the theme of a unit you're working on, whether you're exploring weather patterns or reliving life on the Oregon Trail.

Consider setting aside some time each day or week for students to free write or journal. Kick off the writing session with an AI-generated image, then throw on some light classical music and let them write. Mix up the kind of images you show them, from lush landscapes to abstract pop art, and see what it inspires.

Try this prompt: An abstract painting in vivid colors

You can even include animated options. After you generate your image in Microsoft Designer, select the image and Create Design . In the right-hand panel that appears, you'll see several design options. Usually, one or more of these options will be animated. Select the animated option and add it to your PowerPoint!

Accessing your AI-generated images

One of the best features of Microsoft Designer is that all the images you create using AI are saved in the My Media section. This means you'll never lose your creations and can easily access them whenever you need them.

This feature enables educators to curate a collection of visuals for various writing themes, be it aliens, dragons, or any other imaginative scenario.

Wrapping up

Microsoft Designer is a game-changer for educators looking to inspire their students' creativity. The AI-generated images, customization options, and easy access to your creations make this a powerful tool for any classroom.

Head over to designer.microsoft.com today and start creating unforgettable writing prompts!

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Image & Imagination: 95+ Photo Prompts to Ignite Your Storytelling

By: Author Valerie Forgeard

Posted on August 17, 2023

Categories Writing

You’ve hit a creative wall, haven’t you? Don’t worry, we’ve all been there.

But what if you could unlock inspiration with a glance at a photo? That’s the power of writing photo prompts. They’re not just images; they’re catalysts for your creativity.

So grab your pen, open your mind and let’s dive into the world of photo prompts – where every picture can spark a thousand ideas!

Key Takeaways

• Photo prompts unlock inspiration and trigger ideas, emotions, and memories in writing.
• Images serve as untapped reservoirs of inspiration and are catalysts for compelling narratives.
• Photo prompts engage the senses, evoke emotions, and create narratives through visual storytelling techniques.
• Visual cues in photo prompts spark creativity, help overcome writer’s block, and stimulate the senses in writing.

95 Photo-Inspired Writing Prompts

A picture is worth a thousand words—or so the saying goes. But what if a photo could be the spark that ignites a thousand stories?

Here are 95 intriguing photo prompts, each designed to stimulate your creativity and beckon your words onto the page. Whether you’re a seasoned writer looking for fresh inspiration or a budding author eager to explore new narratives, these images will transport you to myriad worlds, emotions, and possibilities.

So, grab your pen, gaze into the captured moments, and let the stories unfold. The power of visual storytelling awaits.

• An aerial mountain landscape – describe the view.
• A lighthouse on a cliff overlooking the ocean – write about a day in the life of the lighthouse keeper.
• A young girl standing in an open field holding a metal detector – what might she find?
• An abandoned amusement park – what memories linger?
• A small boat alone in the ocean – what journey lies ahead?
• A rain-streaked window looking out on a city street – describe the view.
• A winter cabin in the woods – describe a day there.
• A boardwalk at sunset – describe the scene.
• A small boat floating down a foggy river – set the scene.
• A dark landscape lit by lightning – set the scene.
• An empty rocking chair on a porch – imagine who sat there.
• A deer silhouetted in a forest – describe the moment.
• A closeup of an eye with a reflection – what does the eye see?
• Cherry blossoms blooming – describe their significance.
• A bridge over water at golden hour – imagine looking over the edge.
• A pier stretching out into a misty lake – describe the atmosphere.
• A child holding a conch shell to their ear – imagine what they hear.
• A photo of a solar eclipse – describe the experience of viewing one.
• A grove of redwood trees stretching up to the sky – imagine wandering among them.
• A rocky beach at sunset – describe the colors and mood.
• An underwater shipwreck – reveal its secrets.
• A golden field of wheat swaying in the wind – describe its beauty.
• A mountain climber scaling a cliff – describe their thoughts.
• A bear standing in a river catching fish – tell the surrounding story.
• An aerial view of rice terraces carved into a hillside – consider their creation.
• A flaming fire poi spinner at a festival – describe their dance.
• Rooftop terraces looking out over a city – bring the view to life.
• Peeling paint on an abandoned building – contemplate its decay.
• A magnifying glass over an eye – describe what’s revealed in the eye’s reflection.
• A bike parked in an alley with a picnic spread next to it – imagine the scene.
• A path winding through a field of wildflowers – describe the walk.
• A twisted tree growing sideways out of a cliff – describe its resilience.
• A whale’s tail breaching the ocean surface – imagine the moment.
• A cat perched on a windowsill gazing out – describe what it sees.
• A couple dancing under string lights at a summer wedding – what are their names and how did they meet?
• Friends gathered around a campfire under the stars – what are their stories?
• A woman sitting alone on a bench with a suitcase – where is she headed?
• Two people shaking hands on a business deal – what deal are they striking?
• A young man walking down train tracks – where does he come from and where is he going?
• A mother laughing with her child – describe a moment between them.
• A person staring at a wall of missing person flyers – what are they thinking?
• A photobooth strip of friends making silly faces – give them a story.
• A child walking along the beach with an empty leash – describe the significance.
• Two old friends laughing over coffee – reveal their conversation.
• An elderly man on a park bench feeding pigeons – give him a story.
• A teenage girl’s bedroom with band posters on the wall – imagine who lives there.
• A fisherman sitting alone at the end of a dock – give him a story.
• A winding road disappearing into a forest – where does it lead?
• An old black and white photo of a crowded city street – what’s the story?
• An old home with a ‘for sale’ sign on the overgrown lawn – what’s its history?
• A historic downtown with old shops and neon signs – pick a store and describe it.
• A young girl peeking into a small door in a tree trunk – what world lies inside?
• A historic theater with old movie posters out front – imagine attending on opening night.
• A historic courthouse – imagine a trial that once took place there.
• A worn ‘Route 66’ highway sign – describe a road trip down this famous route.
• A rundown diner on an empty road – what memories live within its walls?
• A crumbling stone house – reveal its secrets.
• A locker full of yearbooks – flip through the memories.
• A maze of library bookshelves – explore the space.
• A rundown gas station – imagine its place in someone’s story.
• A street performer playing guitar for a crowd – describe the experience.
• An empty house with old furniture covered in sheets – what happened here?
• A dimly lit dive bar – explore its secrets.
• A bookshelf filled with antiques – focus on one item and its history.
• Billboards lighting up Times Square – describe the energy.
• A crumbling gothic mansion – reveal its past.
• An overhead view of a sprawling hedge maze – tell the story of someone lost inside.
• Stack of old vinyl records – choose an album cover that intrigues you and explore its story.
• A grand hotel lobby – imagine yourself passing through.
• A drive-in movie theater – paint a scene under the stars.
• An empty carnival at night – explore the space.
• A typed letter scattered on the floor – piece together the story.
• A room with paintings covering every inch of wall space – explore the collection.
• A crumbling stone tower – reveal its purpose and history.
• A mansion with ivy climbing up the facade – explore inside.

Imagination

• A child sitting on a suitcase looking out a train window – where are they going?
• A band performing live on a stage – describe the scene.
• A bag of money sitting on a hotel bed – describe how it got there.
• An abandoned car on the side of a desert road – how did it get there?
• A mixed media collage – describe it in detail.
• A closeup of a face with eyes closed – what are they thinking about?
• A camper driving down an empty desert road – describe the journey.
• A room full of candles and mirrors – imagine yourself inside.
• A crumbling hourglass with sand spilling out – consider the fragility of time.
• A rusted old key sitting on a table – what does it unlock?
• A suitcase with stickers from all over the world – imagine whose it is and their travels.
• A room filled with candles – set the mood.
• A lone house in a sweeping desert landscape – imagine who lives there.
• A woman whispering into a glass bottle – share the secrets inside.
• A rollercoaster speeding down its tracks – describe the experience.
• A room with photos linked together on string – explore the connections.
• An open book with a ribbon bookmark placed carefully inside – share a passage.

The Concept of Photo Prompts in Writing

You’re probably wondering how photo prompts can enhance your writing, aren’t you?

Think of it as a gateway to your subconscious, where the realm of ‘photo prompts psychology’ comes alive. A single image can trigger an avalanche of ideas, emotions, and memories that were previously unnoticed.

Imagine the world of journalism. A photo prompt isn’t just another picture; it’s a story waiting to be narrated—a crucial element in ‘photo prompts in journalism’. A war-torn street, a jubilant crowd, or even a solemn sunset—all carry stories worth telling.

You see these images and they speak to you, sparking creativity that translates into compelling narratives. So next time you’re stuck for words, remember: A picture isn’t just worth a thousand words—it’s also an untapped reservoir of inspiration.

How to Effectively Use Photo Prompts

It’s crucial to understand how to utilize these visual cues effectively in order to enhance your creative process. Here are some visual storytelling techniques you can use with photo prompts for poetry:

• Engage Your Senses
• Explore the scene: What do you see, hear, smell, or feel?
• Evoke emotion: How does the image make you feel?
• Create a Narrative
• Identify characters: Who/What is in the photo?
• Plot a story: What happened before this moment? What will happen next?
• Incorporate Symbolism
• Find deeper meaning: What symbolic elements can you identify?
• Create metaphors/similes based on these symbols.

Creative Ideas for Writing Photo Prompts

Let’s delve into some innovative ways to harness imagery for your poetic inspirations.

Imagine a cascade of photo prompt variations, each one a different snapshot of life waiting to evoke emotion within your words. Consider the raw intensity of a stormy ocean or the vibrant bustle of a city street at dusk. These visuals aren’t just prompts; they’re catalysts for creativity.

Try pairing contrasting images to showcase the dichotomy in your narrative. A barren desert against an urban jungle can ignite riveting tales of survival and adaptation. Experiment with evoking emotions using prompts that resonate on personal levels; perhaps an old family photo or a poignant childhood memory captured in pixels.

The key is to let these images inspire, guide, but never limit your imagination’s flight into the realm of poetry!

Advantages of Using Photo Prompts in Writing

Using visual cues in your storytelling has several perks. It sparks creativity and provides a tangible point of reference, like opening a treasure chest of inspiration. Visual prompts such as images, colors, and patterns/textures can boost creativity and help overcome writer’s block.

Images are powerful tools that can paint a thousand words. Just one photo can spawn countless ideas. Colors, on the other hand, evoke emotions and set the mood for your story. They add depth and detail to your descriptions. Patterns and textures also play a role in enhancing your storytelling. They add depth and detail to your descriptions.

Imagine you’re viewing an image of an abandoned house with peeling paint. The eerie silence is palpable. The faded blue color speaks volumes about its forgotten history. The rough texture narrates tales of weathered storms. Your mind races, fabricating a compelling narrative around this lone structure.

With visuals stimulating your senses, writing becomes an exciting exploration!

Case Studies: Successful Use of Photo Prompts in Writing

You’ve no doubt heard of successful authors who’ve used visual cues to inspire their narratives, haven’t you? There’s an art to it; a dance between image and imagination that births captivating tales.

Through prompt selection techniques, they find the perfect photo prompt challenges and transform them into vibrant prose.

Imagine a sepia photograph: old, faded around the edges. Every wrinkle and crease tells a story of its own. The author studies it, peeling back layers of time with every glance. Suddenly, characters rise from the shadows – whispers of forgotten eras transforming into roaring dialogues.

This is the power of photo prompts! They’re not just pictures; they’re keys unlocking worlds within your mind. So next time you’re facing writer’s block or seeking fresh inspiration, remember this secret weapon – Photo Prompts!

So, you’ve explored the vibrant world of photo prompts! You’ve grasped their power to spark creativity and seen them transform writing. You’ve marveled at their success stories.

Remember, it’s your turn now. Grab a photo prompt and let its story sweep you away. Spill those words and unleash that creative beast within you. Because with photo prompts in your arsenal, the sky is just the beginning!

Marc Chagall and Jewish Theater, Part One

by Jeanne Willette | Nov 11, 2016 | Modern , Modern Art

Marc Chagall in Moscow

The murals for the jewish theater.

To the end of his life, Marc Chagall remained circumspect about his ouster from the People’s Art School in Vitebsk. And the coup against the artist was no small event. Chagall had been appointed by none other than the People’s Commissariat of Enlightenment, Anatoly Lunacharsky (1875-1933), an old friend from their days in Paris, living in the artists’ building, known as La Ruche. Moe than the friendly connection with the new government, there was the symbolic gesture of Lunacharsky appointing a Jewish head of an art school for the people, indicating the end of the Pale of the Settlement, or the erasure of the line that had kept Jews cordoned off and separated from non-Jewish Russians since 1791. Under Catherine the Great and Alexander II, areas beyond the original borders of Russia had been annexed, especially Poland, which continued a large number of Jews. The “Pale of the Settlement,” a phase coined by Nicholas I, scooped up, so to speak, much of this new population, which was subject to restrictions on their movements. For the most part, these restrictions were to eliminate economic competition from Jews and the travel restrictions were based upon a policy of restricting the comings and goings of Russians in general. After centuries, suddenly, in 1917, all Russians were equal, opening unimaginable vistas for Jews who were filled with hope for the future. Therefore, to remove a friend of Lunacharsky and a Jewish artist over aesthetic differences could have been a dangerous move for Chagall’s “enemies,” Kazimir Malevich and El Lissitzky. But, Chagall, embittered, removed himself from the unpleasant situation and left Vitebsk for Moscow and a new project. Writing sadly about these difficult days, the artist later wrote sadly,

I would not be surprised if, after such a long absence, my town effaced all traces of me and would no longer remember him who, laying down his own brush, tormented himself, suffered and gave himself the trouble of implanting Art there, who dreamed of transforming the ordinary houses into museum and the ordinary habitants into creative people. And I understood then that no man is a prophet in his own country. I left for Moscow.”

Marc Chagall. The Fiddler (1912)

Chagall walked into a pause in the historical Russian penchant for anti-Semitism. For the Russians, the war had just ended but during the Great War, local prejudices against Jews ran high. Over six hundred thousand Jews were ousted from their homes by the army and the historical pograms led by Cossacks increased–all because Jews were being scapegoated and blamed for the military’s difficulties with the Germans.  But after the War, the government policy towards Jews changed abruptly. The significance of the sudden surge or influx of Jewish culture into the mainstream of Russian society rests upon political changes that went beyond the Revolution itself. When one looks at a list of prominent Bolshevik leaders of the October Revolution, it become clear that the majority were Jewish. According to Mark Weber’s article “The Jewish Role in the Bolshevik Revolution and Russia’s Early Soviet Regime,”

With the notable exception of Lenin (Vladimir Ulyanov), most of the leading Communists who took control of Russia in 1917-20 were Jews. Leon Trotsky (Lev Bronstein) headed the Red Army and, for a time, was chief of Soviet foreign affairs. Yakov Sverdlov (Solomon) was both the Bolshevik party’s executive secretary and — as chairman of the Central Executive Committee — head of the Soviet government. Grigori Zinoviev (Radomyslsky) headed the Communist International (Comintern), the central agency for spreading revolution in foreign countries. Other prominent Jews included press commissar Karl Radek (Sobelsohn), foreign affairs commissar Maxim Litvinov (Wallach), Lev Kamenev (Rosenfeld) and Moisei Uritsky. Lenin himself was of mostly Russian and Kalmuck ancestry, but he was also one-quarter Jewish. His maternal grandfather, Israel (Alexander) Blank, was a Ukrainian Jew who was later baptized into the Russian Orthodox Church. A thorough-going internationalist, Lenin viewed ethnic or cultural loyalties with contempt. He had little regard for his own countrymen. “An intelligent Russian,” he once remarked, “is almost always a Jew or someone with Jewish blood in his veins.”

According to Weber, over time, when anti-Semitism inevitably returned to this land of the pograms, this early history of active Jewish participation in the Revolution was obscured. But at the time, outside observers such as Winston Churchill were well aware of the role played by Jewish revolutionary leaders. “With the notable exception of Lenin, the majority of the leading figures are Jews. Moreover, the principal inspiration and driving power comes from the Jewish leaders. Thus Tchitcherin, a pure Russian, is eclipsed by his nominal subordinate, Litvinoff, and the influence of Russians like Bukharin or Lunacharski cannot be compared with the power of Trotsky, or of Zinovieff, the Dictator of the Red Citadel (Petrograd), or of Krassin or Radek — all Jews,” Churchill said–and his observations were not necessarily positive.

The most famous member of the inner circle was  Leon Trotsky, targeted by an anti-Semitic cartoon from the White Army

This connection between Jews and Communism or leftism or revolutions was made by others, thus linking Bolshevikism with the Jews, with what would be tragic consequences. Rival factions in the Soviet Union were resentful of the sudden favoritism, and perhaps most unexpectedly, the ranks of the secret police were filled with Jews, also certain to former more discontent. However, in 1920, when Marc Chagall arrived in Moscow, he was part of a vanguard that would attempt to knit the Yiddish culture into Russia, an empire that once kept Jews within the Pale. Once the Jews became full citizens and were granted their rights as citizens of the Provisional Government, the explosion of Jewish culture was immediate. As  Jewish Renaissance in the Russian Revolution , written by  Kenneth B. Moss, explained,

Most Jews in Russia and Ukraine no doubt spent the years of the Revolution and Civil War merely struggling to survive, like most of their countrymen. But a disproportionately large minority participated in Revolutionary Russia’s  tumultuous political life.Most famously, many played important roles across the spectrum of Russian radical and liberal politics..Yet for a significant cohort of intellectuals, writers, artists, patrons, publicists, teachers, activists embedded in this national intelligentsia, February also bore a second imperative..some o Russian Jewelry’s most talented men and women also threw themselves into efforts of unprecedented scale and intensity to crate what they called a “new Jewish culture.”Between February 1917 and the consolidation of Bolshevik power in 1919-1920, European Russia and Ukraine became the sites of the most ambitious programs of Jewish cultural  formation that Eastern Europe had yet seen or indeed would see again.

This Yiddish culture that Chagall would animate and illustrate in the Moscow theater, the Yiddish Chamber Theater, was a folk, rather than an elite, culture. Based upon a distinctive language, Yiddish, that emerged around 1000 CE, emanating from the Ashkenazic Jews or the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, clustered in large numbers in the Russian Empire by the beginning of the twentieth century. This hybrid language, a mixture of Medieval German and Hebrew, was used exclusively by the Jews of this part of Europe. Jews from the Western nations, such as Germany, could understand smatterings of this very old language but, for Gentiles, the words would be impossible to comprehend. This point is important because the Jewish Theater, moved from Petrograd to Moscow by Lunacharsky, was intended to not just preserve and formalize a part of Russian society, previously excluded, the productions also had to be integrated and assimilated by a non-Jewish audience. For this audience, the task of interpretation was made easier by the fact that the performances were pantomime like. Given that the reception of these Yiddish literary creations would be directed to a mixed audience, the images created by Chagall had to the iconic but not stereotypical and instantly recognizable as paradigm figures of Jewish culture.

When the theater was transferred to Moscow, its name changed slightly, and, indeed, would change off and on until it was extinguished in 1949. In Chagall’s time the theater, which was unexpectedly avant-garde and experimental, was called State Yiddish Chamber Theater or GOSEKT. Under the leadership of Alexei Granovsky, the Theater in Petrograd came into being before the Revolution, the presentations were very sophisticated, devoid of kitsch and imbued with the influence of the German theater director and producer, Max Reinhardt (Maximilian Goldmann), an Austrian who worked in Berlin and reformed the naturalism of the turn of the century into a self-conscious total work of art or  Gesamtkunstwerk . As Curt Levient wrote, “Granovsky had trained in Berlin with legendary director Max Reinhardt and developed a vision of theater that melded acting, set design, costumes, lighting, music, dance, movement, and gesture — even silence — into an organic whole.” In his important book on  The Moscow Yiddish Theater: Art on Stage in Time of Revolution , Benjamin Harshav noted that Granovsky was persuaded by theater critic, Abram Efros, to ask the distinguished artist to paint the back drops. The “theater” was actually a confiscated home of a wealthy merchant who had fled the Bolshevik distaste for the moneyed class. The site of the actual performance was small, holding less that a hundred people who were lucky enough to enjoy the remarkable combination of Marc Chagall and Sholem Aleichem, whose play would be the inaugural production.

Recreation of Chagall’s Box: the Back Wall and Frieze

Working with a young group of players, none over the age of twenty-seven, Chagall had a unique opportunity in a nation at a new starting point to reset the conventions for theater, a desire he shared with Granovsky, to drag theater into the twentieth century. More than that, according to the 1993 catalogue from the Guggenheim Museum on the work of Chagall for GOSEKT (or GOSET), “Chagall presented a unique, and uniquely Jewish, approach. Through specifically Jewish visual puns, Yiddish inscriptions, and references to the festivities of Jewish weddings and Purim — a Jewish analogue to carnival in its emphasis on ludicrous masquerades and outrageous intoxication — he posited a distinctive model for the Jewish Theater.”  For this occasion, Chagall produced what would later be called “Chagall’s Box,” murals which bound the theatrical world inhabited by his sets and costumes. The main set piece was a twenty-sux foot mural on the left wall, “Introduction to the Jewish Theater,” that formed the main backdrop for the three one act plays. He also painted four panels, representing the arts, placed between the windows opposite. Leaving no surface untouched, Chagall painted a frieze and the ceiling and then produced a mural called “Love on the Stage” for the back of the “theater.”

The production was so elaborate and the costumes of painted rags and dotted face make up so Chagall specific, Granovsky accepted the unique contribution but did not invite the artist and his complex and expensive schemes and motifs to do another production. And yet, the spell of Chagall lived on and subsequent set designers were impacted by his unbridled imagination that activated a magical Yiddish cast of characters. The artist was inspired by the nineteenth century authors who created Yiddish literature, Sholem Yankev Abramovitsch, who wrote under the nom de plume, Mendele Moykher Sforim, often referred to as “Mendele,” and Yitzhak Leib Peretz, both of whom elevated and incorporated a folk culture into high literature. The writer whose stories were featured in the 1921 production designed by Chagall is perhaps the most famous, Solomon Rabinovitch, who also wrote under a name other than his own, Sholem Aleichem, which is a play on an old Yiddish greeting of “peace be upon you.” On the evening of January 1st of 1921, “Evening of Sholom-Aleihem” presented two one act plays, “Agentn (Agents)” and “Mazltov,” word that needs on translation.

Set for Mazltov

The plays may have been classic Yiddish literature but the action was totally avant-garde , based upon Granovsky’s idea that theater began in silence and a dark room and that the actors emerged in and out of the dream space. The actors were directed or guided, as it were by a “system of dots,” something like pantomime, in which the actors would freeze and pose in place, following “an assembly of dots,” as Abram Efros put it. In other words, theater was de-naturalized and flattened with the actual actors mimicking the painted figures of Chagall, binding the surrounding “Chagall Box” to the audience and to the actors, negating the theatrical stage and turning it into a dark non-space from which characters emerged as if from a canvas, becoming the artist’s creations.

The next post will discuss the famous murals, displayed until 1925 and hidden away for another five decades.

If you have found this material useful, please give credit to

Dr. Jeanne S. M. Willette and  Art History Unstuffed.    

[email protected]

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Technology, A.I., Careers

Monday, July 11, 2016

How to get an internship.

#1 Work on Side Projects

• Make a 30 second short film in  Autodesk Maya  (free for students) or  Blender 3D  (free for everybody)
• Do a  11 Second Club  animation. 
• Make something cool with Pixar's own  Renderman software  (free for non-commercial use). I'll bet less than 1% of the resumes that Pixar receives from students list experience with Renderman.
• Draw something on ShaderToy .
• Implement a physically-based rendering algorithm.
• Make an Android / iOS app from scratch (Android learning curve is easier). 
• Learn how to use Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud Platform . 
• Open source your work. A Managing Director at D. E. Shaw once told me that " Github  is the new resume".
• Check out  Show HN  to see what projects other folks are working on.
• Participate in a Kaggle competition . Get your first-hand experience with overfitting.
• Do some financial market research on Quantopian . This is the kind of work that real quants do all day. 
• Contribute to open source projects  like Beaker and Satellite. Who knows, you might even impress someone inside the company.
• It builds your brand (see #2).
• It shows the hiring committee that you are willing to hone your craft on your own time, instead of merely trading your time for their money and status.
• It's a low-risk way to find out if you're actually interested in the field.
• In the process of building stuff, you might re-discover important theoretical and engineering challenges that professionals grapple with. In my sophomore year, I wrote a  Bitcoin- arbitrage bot  in Python. Bitcoin exchanges list the price and volume of all open limit orders in the book, while actual financial markets do not. This results in a very fundamental difference in the way  Market Impact  is treated, and gave me something interesting to talk about during my Two Sigma interviews. What I learned was super elementary, but still more practical experience than most candidates.

#2 Make Your Own Website

• Make it easy for recruiters to come across your portfolio via Google Search.
• Reveal your personality in ways that a 1-page resume cannot. In particular, it's a great opportunity to showcase aesthetic sense and visual creativity.
• You should add an attractive profile picture of yourself. Putting a candid, smiling face will help people recognize you and put a face to your list of impressive accomplishments.

#3 Study CS

• My resume got passed over in resume screens because I listed "neuroscience" as my major. I eventually got through by begging a Google recruiter to give me a chance with the phone interview. Afterwards, I switched to Applied Math-CS.
• Getting good at CS requires lots of practice. School is a good place to do it.
• Neuroscience in the classroom has not caught up to neuroscience in the lab. Cutting edge research is pretty much optogenetics or computational (which is more CS + math + physics than neuroscience anyway).

#4 Seek Diverse, Contrarian Experiences

• It's been said that Reed College's Calligraphy Class was a formative experience in Steve Jobs's design-minded vision for Apple products.
• John Lasseter and Ed Catmull believed that 3D computer graphics was not just a fancy artistic medium, but the future of animation itself. They were right.
• Here is an elegant and beautiful explanation of a Math proof using interpretive dance. Sometimes difficult concepts become strikingly clear when the right diagram is drawn.

#5 Plan your next 10 years

• How will I pay off my student debt?
• Can I see myself doing pure software engineering (frontend, backend, mobile apps) for the remainder of my career? 
• How long do I see myself working at my current employer?
• Do I want to transition into more math-y roles like ML research or quantitative finance?
• Do I want to transition into a product management or leadership role?
• Do I want to start my own company someday? Am I okay exchanging coding and making stuff, for the privilege of running a company?
• Do I want to become a Venture Capitalist someday?
• If I plan to have kids by the time I'm 32 - where do I want to be? Who do I want to be with?
• If I keep doing this, will I be happy in ten years? 

#6 Skip the Resume Screen

• If you get a referral from someone inside the company, recruiters will consider your application more carefully. If your resume is not horrible to look at, you'll almost certainly make it to the next stage. I was lucky enough to get referrals for Pixar and Two Sigma. However, these are stories for another day ;)
• If you are an underrepresented minority (URM) in Technology, companies are bending over backwards to get you to pass their interviews. At conferences like  Grace Hopper , you can actually get a free pass out of the resume screening and the phone screen, and do on-the-spot whiteboard interviews with companies like Apple, Facebook, Google, Pinterest, etc. This improves the odds of landing an internship  dramatically . A classmate of mine actually got an internship offer from Apple, on the spot, with only her resume (no interview or anything).  Reach out to your computer science department and ask if they would sponsor your attendance.
• Reach out to engineers directly through your school alumni network, and ask them to refer you. Don't be shy - it's very little work on their part and they will get nice a referral bonus if you succeed. The worst thing that could happen is that they ignore you, which doesn't cost you anything.

#7 Phone and On-Site Interviews

• A Practical Guide to Quantitative  Finance Interviews
• Quant Job Interview Questions and Answers
• Heard on the Street

#9 I got the internship. What do I do?

#10 i didn't get an internship this summer. what do i do.

• Create deadlines for yourself as if a manager assigned them to you. 
• Have meetings with your imaginary manager where you discuss your progress. 
• Show up to "work" on time.
• Get some unemployed friends together and work in a team. Heck, not having a job lined up is the perfect opportunity to start your own company .
• Write a blog post about it. Show your future employers what a fucking awesome employee you would be if you had the opportunity.

#11 Closing Thoughts

• Build your own personal brand through side projects, website, writing.
• Optimize your career decisions for learning and personal growth. 
• Work really hard.

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Office of the Vice President for Research

Ovpr announces recipients of 2024 discovery and innovation awards.

The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) is honoring 11 faculty and staff for their exceptional contributions to research, scholarship, and creative activity as part of the 2024 Discovery and Innovation Awards .

“ The winners represent the best and the brightest of our University of Iowa faculty and staff, who are making an impact across a range of disciplines,”  said Marty Scholtz, vice president for research. “Their research and scholarship enhance undergraduate and graduate education on campus, and their efforts to expand the frontiers of discovery betters our community, state, and world.”

The OVPR solicited nominations from across campus for the awards, which include: Scholar of the Year, Early Career Scholar of the Year, Leadership in Research, and awards that recognize achievement in communicating scholarship with public audiences, community engagement, arts and humanities, mentorship, research administration and safety. A campuswide event on April 30 will celebrate the winners.

Faculty Awards

Jun Wang , James E. Ashton Professor and interim departmental executive officer in the College of Engineering’s

 Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, is the 2024 Scholar of the Year . The award celebrates nationally recognized recent achievement in outstanding research, scholarship, and/or creative activities. 

Wang’s research centers on the development of novel remote sensing techniques to characterize aerosols and fires from space. He serves as the University of Iowa’s lead investigator on NASA’s TEMPO, Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring Pollution, which Time magazine named one of its best inventions of 2023. 

“Professor Wang's scholarly endeavors over the past two years stand out as a paradigm of excellence, serving as an exemplary model for both emerging and seasoned faculty members to aspire toward,” said Karim Abdel-Malek, professor of biomedical engineering and director of the Iowa Technology Institute.

James Byrne , assistant professor of radiation oncology in the Carver College of Medicine ( CCOM ), is the 2024 Early Career Scholar of the Year . The award honors assistant professors who are currently involved in research, scholarship, and/or creative activity and show promise of making a significant contribution to their field. 

As a physician scientist, Byrne continues to care for patients while developing novel biomedical therapies for cancer, finding inspiration in everything from latte foam to tardigrades. In his first two years as faculty at the UI, he has earned more that $2.5M in external research funding, including a K08 award from the NIH.

“Dr. Byrne’s scientific creativity stems from both an active and curious mind as well as his ability to bridge diverse fields from engineering to biology to medicine,” said Michael Henry, professor and interim director of the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center. “These interdisciplinary boundaries are where some of the most interesting and important work is happening today.”

Donna Santillan , research professor and director of the Division of Reproductive Science Research in the CCOM Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, received the Leadership in Research Award , which recognizes research and scholarly accomplishments throughout a career. 

While Santillan’s research has spanned across the field of reproductive science, she has a particular interest in the deadly diseases of pregnancy, including preeclampsia and its intergenerational effects. She designed and directs the Women’s Health Tissue Repository. Santillan’s work has been cited more than 2,700 times, and she has mentored 114 early career scientists and students, a testament to her expansive impact.

“Dr. Santillan has consistently demonstrated an unwavering commitment to fostering the professional and personal development of trainees in research, including myself,” said Banu Gumusoglu, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology. “Her mentorship extends beyond the confines of traditional academic settings, touching the lives of many aspiring trainees from high school through residency, clinical fellowship, and faculty levels.”

Stephen Warren , professor of history and American studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS), received the Distinguished Achievement in Publicly Engaged Research Award . The award recognizes an individual faculty member who has put addressing public needs and direct engagement with the public, in the service of improving quality of life through research, at the forefront of his or her academic activities.

A prolific scholar of Native American culture, Warren’s research has centered on the Shawnee people of Oklahoma for the past two decades. He has published four books and co-authored the most recent one , Replanting Cultures: Community-Engaged Scholarship in Indian Country, with Chief Benjamin Barnes of the Shawnee Tribe. 

“Over the last two decades, Professor Warren has established himself as a leading community-engaged scholar, and his achievements in research and publishing demonstrate that community engagement and strong scholarship are not mutually exclusive,” said Nick Benson, director of the Office of Community Engagement. “Professor Warren’s work serves as an inspiration for researchers at Iowa and nationally who seek not only to make a difference in academia, but also in our communities.”

Kaveh Akbar , associate professor of English in CLAS, received the Distinguished Achievement in Arts and Humanities Research Award . This award honors distinguished achievement in humanities scholarship and work in the creative, visual and performing arts. 

Akbar joined Iowa in 2022 to serve as the director of the English and creative writing major. In January, his new novel, Martyr!, was published to critical acclaim. Akbar previously published two prize-winning poetry collections and has served as poetry editor for The Nation  since 2021. 

“Akbar’s leadership in the profession and on campus continues: his transformative work in our department not only enriches the academic experiences of 700+ English and creative writing majors, but also enhances the profile of UI as ‘The Writing University,’” said Blaine Greteman, professor and departmental executive officer of the Department of English.

Cara Hamann , associate professor of epidemiology, received the Faculty Communicating ideas Award . This award recognizes excellence in communication about research and scholarship in the sciences and humanities and the study of creative, visual, and performing arts to a general audience directly or via print and electronic media.

Hamann has frequently shared her work on transportation issues, including teen driving, bike and scooter safety, and pedestrian safety, through peer-reviewed journals and extensive media outreach. Her recent op-ed, “The most deadly traffic policy you’ve never heard of leaves you vulnerable, too,” drew widespread attention to a legal loophole in crosswalk laws and appeared in more than 50 news outlets nationwide, including USA Today .

“Dr. Hamann’s work is not only academically rigorous but also accessible and impactful to a

wide audience,” said Diane Rohlman, associate dean for research in the College of Public Health. “Her ability to communicate with clarity, creativity, and passion coupled with her extensive media outreach, exemplifies how she utilizes multiple approaches to address transportation challenges impacting society.”

Bob McMurray , F. Wendell Miller Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, and Caroline Clay , assistant professor of acting in the Department of Theatre Arts, were recipients of the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) Distinguished Mentor Awards . The awards honors mentors’ dedication to making their students research experiences successful.

“I can’t imagine my research journey without Bob’s welcoming kindness, thriving lab community, and confident mentorship, and I am so deeply grateful for his impact on me,” said Hannah Franke, a psychology and linguistics major mentored by McMurray.

“I know I am far from the only student whose life has been impacted by Caroline Clay,” said Isabella Hohenadel, a second-year theatre arts major. “She deserves to be recognized of all of the wonderful work she does and how much she cares about us as students. I cannot think of anyone more deserving of recognition than her.”

Staff Awards

Angie Robertson , department administrator for CCOM’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology, received the Distinguished Research Administrator Award . The award recognizes staff members who performed exceptional service in support of research at the UI by exploring funding opportunities, assisting in grant proposal preparation, submission, post-award administration, and operational support. 

In addition to overseeing every aspect of daily operations for the department, Robertson manages nearly 100 research grants for the department and three longstanding NIH T32 training grants. 

“Angie plays a leading role in our department office, inspiring us to achieve all aspects of our missions ,” said Li Wu, professor and department chair. “She is innovative, collaborative, accountable, and respectful  in her daily work. She exceeds any expectations and sets a great example for staff members in the department.”

Min Zhu , research specialist in the Iowa Institute for Oral Health Research (IIOHR) within the College of Dentistry, received the Distinguished Research Professional Award . The award recognizes staff members who performed exceptional service in support of research at the UI by conducting experiments, collecting, and analyzing results and performing operational duties associated with a laboratory or research program. 

Zhu has worked as a lab bench scientist in the College of Dentistry since 2006, executing experimental work for grants and other research, working closely with IIOHR faculty members, overseeing lab maintenance and environmental health and safety efforts. 

“Beyond her research skills, Dr. Zhu has been an exceptional mentor and educator for my students and other junior researchers,” said Liu Hong, professor of prosthodontics. “Her kindness and willingness to share her knowledge have made her a beloved figure among them.”

Curtis Iberg , manager of sterilization services in the College of Dentistry, received the Innovation in Safety Award, which celebrates exceptional and ground-breaking innovations that advance safety at the UI. Iberg led a major renovation of the College of Dentistry’s instrument processing and sterilization area, with the aim of encouraging better workflow and support for future growth. 

“His innovations in workspace are a valuable asset to the greater University and demonstrates that the most important people to be involved in a space renovation are those that use the area because they can see how the facility can better function and how it can be designed for future needs,” said Kecia Leary, associate dean of clinics.

• How we work

Creative Minds Gather in Moscow for Visual Thinking Live!

In late March, President of XPLANE, Parker Lee, was invited by the Moscow business Wonderfull project lab to present XPLANE’s thoughts on visual thinking at a Visual Thinking Live! event.

This was the first event of its kind in Moscow, bringing together illustrators, designers, creatives and entrepreneurs. Visual Thinking Live! was designed to share new tools and techniques to help ignite creative thinking and visualization. XPLANE was invited to participate and offer some context on how visual thinking impacts behavior. Parker’s presentation helped guide listeners through techniques that will enable better organizational performance and empower change.

The event gathered 600 people in Moscow’s Artplay creative cluster, at the center of the Russian capital, and another 620 people tuned in to watch the event as a live webinar.

Maria Stashenko, co-founder at Wonderfull project lab and host of Visual Thinking Live! praised the event. “The presentation made a great impact on the minds and hearts of all our 600 participants in the hall and even more who watched our digital channel,” she said. “All the information was new to us, precisely selected and connected to each other, and perfectly structured. This was an invaluable knowledge brain shake!”

For more information on Visual Thinking Live!, check out the program release, found here .

• November 28, 2016

IGOR FEDOROVICH SHARYGIN

Moscow 1937 - moscow 2004.

Brief scientific biography

Contributions to education, relevant bibliography, publications on the teaching of mathematics.

"Igor Fedorovich Sharygin was a member of a mathematical circle which I ran for high school pupils. The circle produced a lot of known mathematicians. Igor was distinguished among other participants by a large modesty coefficient: the ratio of someone's real mathematical abilities to his opinion about them."

"Geometry is a phenomenon of human culture. ... Geometry, as well as mathematics in general, helps in moral and ethical education of children. ... Geometry develops mathematical intuition, introduces a person to independent mathematical creativity. ... Geometry is a point of minimum for the distance between school mathematics and the mathematics of high level. Native language and literature, physical training, and mathematics are three crucial components of secondary education. Of all these subjects, it is mathematics, and especially Geometry, that is concerned with the widest range of long- and short-term educational goals."

"Learning mathematics builds up our virtues, sharpens our sense of justice and our dignity, strengthens our innate honesty and our principles. The life of mathematical society is based on the idea of proof, one of the most highly moral ideas in the world."

• Biographical information on Igor Fedorovich Sharygin, ICMI Bulletin , No. 47 (December 1999)
• In memoriam: Igor F. Sharygin (1937-2004), ICMI Bulletin , No. 55 (December 2004), 67-72

Portrait gallery:

• The Affiliated Study Groups
• The International Congresses on Mathematical Education (ICME)
• Interviews and film clips