Time Traveler

Dictionary as a writing prompt

Photo by 𝓴𝓘𝓡𝓚 𝕝𝔸𝕀 on Unsplash

Time Traveler is one of my favourite writing exercises. It can be used for all genres of writing and can generate some unusual results.

I’ve used this exercise in experimental writing, poetry, and fiction workshops.

Merriam-Webster has a section on their website called Time Traveler where they post words that were added to the dictionary according to the year they were added.

For example, when you select the year 2005, you’ll see that the words: butt-dial, glamping, truther, microblogging were added that year (among others).

Writing Prompt

1. Click onto Time Traveler and pick a year that you want to work with. It can be your birth year, the birth year of someone special in your life, or another significant year.

2. Once you select a year, you’ll be given a list of works that were added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary in that year.

3. Pick one or more of the words from this year and free write for 10 minutes.

4. Using some of the material that you generated, write a poem, a story, a play, or a script.

Enjoy and let me know how this prompt worked for you!

Recommended Reading

“Wednesday’s Child” by Yiyun Li, The New Yorker

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