I never told anyone

This is a prompt from the writer Dorothy Allison that encourages you to immediately delve into interesting and intense territory.

You can take this prompt in a fictional direction or use it to write about your own life.

First, take a moment to get settled into your writing space and take a few deep breaths. Get comfortable and relaxed. Then write down these four words:

“I never told anyone …”

Write for 5–10 minutes without stopping or self-editing, then take a break. Come back later to read what you wrote.

(Recently, I found out that Dorothy Allison offers variations on this prompt, so I’m going to provide those to you here too.)

To take the story in a slightly different direction—or to expand it—you can modify the story start or add on to the story with these lines:

“I did tell one person. God help me. She/he …”

Or:

“I never told anyone, but I’ll tell you…”

Have fun seeing where these secret-divulging prompts take you!