The December Dig!

Write from your current

Welcome to the December Dig!

The Dig is a monthly set of writing prompts to help you “dig” deeper into the current of your own creativity and benefit from its flow.

Respond to one or more of these prompts in whatever form tickles your fancy—journaling, poem, story, essay . . . the possibilities are endless.

Be playful with the prompt, or serious . . . or seriously playful. Practice old ways of writing, or try a fresh new approach. Write alone, or with a friend.

Most of all, write for yourself. Write what you enjoy, even if it’s occasionally difficult. Write what’s true—in the soul sense.

---

#1: A one-word writing prompt

Write in response to this word: RECIPE.

Did you know . . . This word, derived from French and ultimately Latin, can be traced to the 1580s. It originally referred to a "medical prescription, a formula for the composing of a remedy written by a physician." Its first recorded use related to food wasn’t until 1716.

---

#2: A New Year’s prompt, looking back

Consider the opening of this poem by Brian Bilston:

THIS WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS NOT THE YEAR
Brian Bilston

This was the year that was not the year
I repaired the bathroom tap
and emptied out the kitchen drawer
of a lifetime’s worth of crap . . .

Now write in response to his title/opening line. You may be witty, like Bilston, or take a totally different tone.

Or maybe you’d prefer to write in response to this line: “This was the year that was the year . . .”

---

#3: A New Year’s prompt, looking ahead

Write a poem of blessing for the year ahead. Perhaps one of these lines collected from other New Year poems can serve you as an opening line or as inspiration:

• “When the future appears / like a blank sheet of paper” (Jackie Kay)

• “I drop the dying year behind me like a shawl” (Carol Ann Duffy)

• “Open your doors and let me in!” (Anonymous)

---

Want to share?

Share your work with other Diggers. Swap ideas. Ask questions. Reveal insights.

---

This concludes this month’s Dig. Happy writing!