UPDATED: September 2024
Today, I feel a familiar fizz of excitement. Nature is reinventing itself. As summer eases into autumn, I notice subtle changes in colour and shape. I breathe in that wonderfully crisp air. And I can’t wait for the crunch of golden leaves under my feet. To celebrate, I’ve been exploring nature-inspired writing prompts. Each offers a different twist on using the natural world for creative writing.
Nature writing tips
Being in nature can be so nourishing, for both body and mind. Writing is one way for us to honour the great outdoors and all that it offers us. This article from Writer’s Relief offers five tips to consider when writing about nature. Have a look through them and then choose one to focus on. Using it as a starting point for exploring the natural world and and freewriting about whatever comes to mind.
Have a go at using one of these five tips for writing about nature as your prompt.
Forest for the Trees
This writing exercise is inspired by nature writer Ron Harton’s ‘Forest for the Tress’ activity. Unfortunately, the original activity is no longer available online. So I’ve created a simplified version for you here.
- Take your notebook and pen outdoors with you and find a natural feature that you’d like to focus on. It could be a tree, a flower, a rock or anything else that catches your attention. Get really close to it and look at the detail. What do you notice? Use your senses to explore, and then jot down some notes.
- Next, take a few steps back. Now focus on the area around your chosen feature. Drink it in. What do you notice? What stands out? Write about the scene before you.
- Now, move even further back so that you can take in the wider landscape around your natural feature. Make notes about it.
- Finally, take your observations and use them as the starting point for a piece of creative writing. If you choose to write a poem, you could try expanding your thoughts as a pantoum, or distilling them into a haiku.
Loved One in the Landscape
Making connections between different aspects of your life can offer plenty of material for writing. This intriguing activity, featured in Mother Earth Living, is by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. It invites you to merge the outside world with your thoughts and feelings about a loved one. Follow Rosemerry’s instructions and create your own poem.
BONUS: There’s a second writing activity at the end of this article (if you don’t see it at first, just click ‘continue’). ‘When I Sit Very Still’ encourages you to use your senses to explore and describe the natural world. It also offers a pattern for you to follow as you create a poem.
Have a go at both of these nature writing exercises and see what happens.
Do the changing seasons inspire you? What’s your favourite nature writing exercise? Let me know in the comments below! Then check out some of the other writing ideas featured on this blog.