Welcome to this week’s complete creative prompt. We begin with a single creative prompt word and expand it to inspire fiction writing, journaling, and a host of other creative activities. These creative prompts, are to give me, and anyone else who wants to join in, some focus to our creative work.

I admit I like science fiction. I read it, I watch it and I have an interest, if not the understanding, of the physics often involved. Likewise, I am fascinated by the thinking and arguments for and against the existence of life beyond our little blue world. It seems like every day, there is an announcement concerning the discovery of another planet beyond our solar system. What are these planets like? What life could they contain? Therefore, this week’s creative prompt is:

Alien — belonging to a foreign country: an alien culture (of a plant or animal species) introduced from another country and later naturalised

this is a general definition, and of course there is the popular definition; supposedly from another world; extraterrestrial

Despite my preoccupation with little green men, the word alien has a much broader definition. And, as I discovered, it is derived from the Latin alienus, which means belonging to another.

Let the prompt ‘alien’ inspire you in any area of creativity that you are interested in:

• writing fiction
• journaling
• art journaling
• songwriting
• photography
• painting
• composing
• blog posts
• art therapy
• anything that could use a little nudge to begin

Let’s expand the word a little further…

Fiction Writing Prompt

The Fiction Writing Prompt aims to stretch the literary muscles. No rules. No word counts. Simply write and explore.

I stepped through the airlock and surveyed the alien world around me.

Writing Prompt Expanded

Talking about climate change means we are more aware of the environment. Subtle differences in temperatures and chemical composition affect our environment. Remove an apex predator from the food chain, and the former prey can run amok. Can you think about all these things and create an alien environment?

This prompt is all about using your imagination to build a unique, exciting, and awe-inspiring world.

• What environmental elements shape your world?
• How different are the colours of the world, and do you know why?
• What is the gravity of this world, and how does it affect you and the environment?
• Why has the native flora and fauna evolved the way it has?

The reason for this visit to an alien planet is down to you. You could be terraforming or exploring. Or have you been sent to this planet against your will; is it some form of exile, or did you crash-land? The choice is yours, the only rule is to have fun and let your imagination run free. Write as you walk out onto an alien landscape.

If you’d like to explore some remarkable alien world-building, I highly recommend The Spatterjay Series by Neal Asher and Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky (affiliate links).

Journal prompt

Journaling allows us to hold conversations on paper. From private diaries to creative art journals, we pour out our deepest thoughts. Although I’ve so far focused on the extraterrestrial nature of ‘alien’, it is often used to refer to and illustrate not belonging. Feelings of alienation can affect us deeply, and like all strong feelings and emotions, exploring them in our journal is a great way to work them out.

Questions to answer, thoughts to explore, or images to create in your journal:

• Draw or paint an alien world where all the colours are different to the earth’s?
• Create an alien collage by using cut out bits of insects and animals?
• Write about a time you felt like you didn’t belong?

Theory of General Creativity

I now have ‘alien’ written on the board above my computer. I am confident it will inspire me on my creative journey this week. Feelings of alienation have often featured in my poetry and lyrics. I don’t think I am in that place currently, but being able to draw on my memories is a vital creative tool. And, just glancing up at the sky and seeing the stars and galaxies illustrates the infinite creative possibilities available. As I look, I wonder if some other creative, on a distant planet, is looking back at me and thinking the same, although alien, thoughts.

Let ‘alien’ inspire your music, photography, and painting this week.

Finally…

As always, these creative prompts are optional and entirely open to your interpretation. Use them as a starting point for a short story, something a little more grandiose.

This isn’t a ‘challenge’ but the prompts can be used that way if you want. If you do create anything using them, I would love to see or hear about it. Leave a link in the comments below, or tag me #thecreativeminimalist on any social platform.

Credits?

Original planet image by JCK5D from Pixabay

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