The Garden's Greatest Lesson
Write a personal essay reflecting on the most important lesson you've learned from gardening. Describe the moment or experience that brought this lesson home for you and how it connects to broader aspects of your life.
Suggested length: An essay or article: 800 to 2,500 words
Start the clock
Pick a sprint, press start and keep going until it stops. Momentum beats polish on a first draft.
Make it yours
Three ways to take this prompt somewhere nobody else will.
- State your main point in one sentence before you start.
- Include a counterargument and answer it fairly.
- Cut every sentence that only repeats the one before it.
Writing essays
A mind at work, one subject at a time.
An essay collection gathers short nonfiction pieces: personal, critical, funny or all three. What ties them together is the writer's voice and way of seeing.
What readers expect
- A distinctive voice
- Personal stakes
- Surprising connections
- Pieces that stand alone
A tip before you start
Follow a question, not a thesis. The pleasure of an essay is watching someone think.
More Home and Garden prompts
- The Room MakeoverDocument a complete makeover of a room in your house, from planning stages to the final touches. Include your inspirations, challenges you faced…
- A Room Through the YearsDiscuss the evolution of a particular room in your house, from what it originally looked like when you moved in, through various changes, to what it…
- Generations of Home and GardenCompile a series of interviews or accounts from different generations within your family about how home and garden practices have evolved over the…
- Sustainable Living Starts at HomeCreate a guide to sustainable living in your own home. Discuss practices you've implemented, such as composting, rainwater harvesting, or using solar…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
Chapterly gives a draft somewhere to grow: chapters, daily word goals, and readers when you're ready.
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