Begin a story with, “The hallway was silent…”

Freewrite for three minutes on this cliche:  “back to square one.”

It was Erica Jong who said, “If you don’t risk anything, you risk more.”  Write about what this means to you.

Choose a poem you like.  Take the last line and use that as the first line of your own poem.

Close your eyes briefly.  Think of one object that’s in the room and focus on it.  Without opening your eyes, recall as much detail about it as you can.  After 3 minutes or so, open your eyes and write about that object without looking at it.

Write about an ongoing project that’s keeping you from writing.  Why is it so important?

Write a letter to your first crush/love.  Describe how you feel about him/her today.

Create a new holiday, such as National Editor’s Day.  Write a greeting card for it.