Catapult | Don't Write Alone

Cover Photo: This image is a photograph of a hand, turned sidewise so it looks like the thumb meeting the fingers is a face. There are googly eyes stuck to the hand above its "mouth."

Turning Reality into Comedy

There’s comedic gold all around you—if you know how to mine it. Check out this writing prompt used by Catapult instructor Caitlin Kunkel in one of her classes!

Caitlin Kunkel

Aug 10, 2021

Don’t Write Alone | Free Write

Cover Photo: This image has crumpled paper in the background and the cover of the book in the corner, which reads "Letter to a Young Poet"

Remember, You Are in Conversation

When I’m feeling stuck and lonely, I try to remember that I’m in conversation with the world—that I am alive in it and it is alive through me.

Larissa Pham

Jul 06, 2021

Don’t Write Alone | Free Write

Cover Photo: This picture shows someone holding up to a magnifying glass filled with smoke. The smoke becomes pink and magical looking through the magnifying glass.

Make it Sharper, Make it Stranger

Simon Han shares an exercise to help make your sentences stronger and more surprising during the revision process.

Simon Han

Jun 29, 2021

Don’t Write Alone | Free Write

Cover Photo: The author shares a scan of his SEPTA key and has left notes about what it reminds him of.

Writing the Autobiography of Your Stuff

The detritus of our lives can serve as a cannon for fiction or nonfiction writing.

Krys Malcolm Belc

Jun 07, 2021

Don’t Write Alone | Free Write

Cover Photo: In this photograph, we are looking into a small kitchen: pushed up against a fridge, we see an old oven, whose stovetop balances a shiny pot and kettle. There are towels and rags and old plastic bags hung from the oven's handles and scattered across the floor. A butter-yellow door opens on the right of the photo, mirroring a yellow door opening to a different room behind the kitchen. The light coming in through the windows is also butter-yellow.

Let’s Talk About Imagery

It’s hard to talk about love without clichés, but what about images you associate with love? Poet José Olivarez shares lessons on imagery learned from country music.

José Olivarez

Jun 07, 2021

Don’t Write Alone | Free Write

Cover Photo: We see a photograph of two hands shaking against a mellow yellow background. The hands look as if they might be older men and one hand is a few tones paler than the other. This photograph is showed three times in a row and the wrists connect at the end of the picture, as if part of a hand-shaking rope

Let Translation Guide You Into Writing

Check out this writing and reading exercise from classes instructor Poupeh Missaghi

Poupeh Missaghi

May 12, 2021

Don’t Write Alone | Free Write

Cover Photo: In this photograph, we see a mural painted on a dirty white wall. The mural was spray painted in blues, reds, and whites, and portrays a man who is baring his teeth and putting his hands up to his face, as if in pain.

The Pain Scale Exercise

Try this writing exercise from Madeleine Watts: Sometimes the restrictions and limitations imposed by a given structure can help you more than complete creative freedom does.