365 days of writing prompts

10 writing prompts to help you add hidden meaning to your stories.

Welcome to Day 17! Stories don’t just live in words; they live in images. Through symbolism and imagery, writers can weave emotions, themes, and truths that speak straight to the reader’s subconscious.

A symbol doesn’t need to be grand or obvious. A key, a flame, a wilted flower, or an open window is enough to add meaning. A symbol is something small that carries deep resonance. Imagery paints with the senses, helping readers see, feel, taste, and breathe your world. Together, they transform the story into a work of art.

Here is an article I found that helped me to understand symbolism and it’s part in storytelling.

Today’s ten prompts will help you explore the quiet power of image and symbol in your storytelling.

1. The Recurring Image
   Choose one visual motif. Consider options like water, mirrors, or light. Write a short passage where it subtly echoes your story’s theme.
2. The Personal Symbol
   Give your character an object that signifies who they are or what they long for. How does its meaning change over time?
3. The Color Code
   Write a scene where color plays a central emotional role. What feeling does each hue evoke?
4. The Natural Metaphor
   Use nature: rain, wind, or a single tree as a mirror for your character’s inner world.
5. The Ordinary Made Sacred
   Choose an everyday object like a cup, a shoe, or a door. Describe it so vividly that it feels full of life and meaning.
6. The Vanishing Symbol
   Write about something once meaningful that’s now gone, broken, or lost. What emptiness does its absence leave behind?
7. The Contrast
   Pair two opposing images (fire and ice, day and night, silence and song). Let their interaction tell an emotional story.
8. The Hidden Layer
   Describe a moment with surface action, but let your imagery hint at something unspoken beneath the surface.
9. The Transformation of an Image
   Revisit a recurring image at two points in your story. Show it early and late in the story. Show how its meaning evolves.
10. The Symbol of Hope
    Conclude with an image that encapsulates the essence of your story. Choose one lasting picture that stays with a reader forever.

Symbols and images are your story’s secret language. They whisper truths your characters can’t always say. Today, write with your senses wide open because meaning often hides in the smallest, most beautiful details.

Let me know in the comments which of these ten prompts helped you clarify the symbols in your stories.