The Arrival of April Writing

Sometimes our spongy brains get a bit dry; too much is always going on in our lives. Sometimes we want to write but we just don’t know where or how to start. And so we decided, why not create a collection of ideas for the next month. April is a month of rebirth, of the seeds beginning to sprout as the great thaw begins. It is a time of sunshine but also nourishing rains. We hope we can help plant some idea seeds in your story garden.

Join Jim, River, and I from Queer Vocal Voices for a special month filled with random yet meaningful prompts inspired by the world around us. We invite everyone to participate, even if you’re not a part of QVV.

Feel free to use any of these prompts as a starting point, and even add some of your own in the comments.

Special Days in April

April 1st - April Fool’s - write about a prank that ended up backfiring

April 2nd - World Autism Day

April 6th - International Asexuality Day

April 9th - National Unicorn Day in Canada - go ham with this one

April 15th - World Art Day - choose a piece of art that inspires you to write about (submit into Art community)

April 18th - Nonbinary Parents Day

April 22nd - International Mother Earth Day

April 26th - Lesbian Visibility Day

Key Word Prompts

Efflorescent

Ceasefire

Verdant

Visibility

Invisibility

Responsibility

Aromatic

Release

A Challenge With a Prize

A testament to (re)new life. How will you bring about the bloom?

Put the link to your piece in the comments section below. Deadline will be April 27th, and we’ll choose 2 winners to award a $5 tip to (so make sure your Stripe is connected to Vocal).

If perhaps you’d like to donate your prize money to a recognized charity instead, we’ll match your donation.

Something left field

• It’s April and there is still genocide happening daily in Gaza, Sudan, the Congo. When will there be a ceasefire? When will there be rest from death and destruction? Write the pain.

• Break down this system- your words are your detonators

Something for the early sunny mornings

• You have the morning to yourself, what does that feel like?

• The sun awakens you and you realize you’re in a blooming meadow somehow- how’d that happen?

Something for the April showers

• Use the phrase “cry me a river” somewhere in your piece

• Lost your umbrella but maybe found love? Maybe you crossed paths with your archnemesis! Spin the story like the wind spins your raincoat

We hope that some of these prompts might tickle your fancy. If they do, feel free to share a link to this list at the bottom of your stories. If you have another April prompt compilation on the go, feel free to share it below as well.

And if you're interested in checking us out on Facebook, look up Queer Vocal Voices, the only 2SLGBTQIA+ Vocal writers group. Our goal is to uplift queer stories and voices and create a safe space for our community.

Queer Vocal Voices (QVV) is a group born out of a need for more representation of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community on Vocal Media in all the site’s communities. The goal of this group is to elevate queer voices and queer stories with Pride in our identities. We are currently a 2SLGBTQIA+ community only. We are not open to allies joining at this time in order to prioritize queer voices.