• 75 prompts
  • Checked October 2026

If I Were Writing Prompts

The first words are given: If I were, If I had, If I could be, If I met.

If I Were Writing Prompts

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  1. If I had a pot of gold that could never be spent, here is what I would use it for.First line: It makes a very good doorstop.
  2. If I were a community helper, I would be a firefighter on a day with no fires. Write what the crew does.First line: We washed the truck, checked every hose and visited a school.
  3. If I met a pirate with no ship, I would help her find one.First line: She had a map, a parrot and a bus pass.

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All 75 prompts

If I were an animal 15

  • If I were a bear, I would pick the best den in the woods. Describe it, and what you take in with you. Angle: how you find it, how you make it soft, and what you can hear from inside.
  • If I were a butterfly for one hour and then myself again, I would tell my class about it. Write what you say. First line: Everything is taller than you think, and flowers are loud.
  • If I were a butterfly in a garden with a cat in it, here is my plan. Angle: where you rest, how high you fly, and what the cat thinks you are.
  • If I were a butterfly on a windy day, here is how I would get across the yard. First line: I waited behind the mailbox until the gust went by.
  • If I were a butterfly, I would land on three things before lunch. Write what they are and why. First line: First the fence post, because it is warm by nine.
  • If I were a butterfly, I would ride on one person's shoulder for a whole morning. Say who, and where they take you. First line: She did not notice me until the bus came.
  • If I were a butterfly, this is what my wings would look like. Describe them so that a friend could paint them. Angle: the main color, the edges, the spots, and how they look when they are closed.
  • If I were a dog out on a walk, I would stop at every smell. Write the walk, nose first. First line: Somebody ate toast here, and not long ago.
  • If I were a giraffe, I would be the first to know things. Write what you see over the fence. First line: The ice cream truck is two streets away, and I am telling no one.
  • If I were a goldfish in a classroom tank, here is what I would think of the class. First line: They tap the glass at 8:15, every single day.
  • If I were a house cat, these would be my five rules for the family. First line: Rule one: the warm laundry is mine.
  • If I were a snail, I would set out on a long trip across the yard. First line: I left at sunrise and reached the garden hose by noon.
  • If I were a whale, I would sing a song for someone far away. Say who it is for and what it says. First line: I am past the lighthouse now, and the water is getting cold.
  • If I were an owl, I would stay up all night to see what my street does in the dark. First line: The bakery light comes on before anything else.
  • If I were any animal I liked for one day, I would be this one. Give three reasons. Angle: what it can do, where it lives, and one thing it never has to do.

If I were a superhero 15

  • If I could be a superhero for only one day, I would get up early. Write the day from breakfast to bedtime. Angle: three things you do with the power, and the one you save for last.
  • If I could be a superhero with a power nobody has thought of, it would be this. Angle: not flying, not strength, not speed. Something small that turns out to matter.
  • If I could be a superhero, here is the one rule I would never break. First line: I never use it to win a game.
  • If I could be a superhero, I would need a hideout. Describe yours. Angle: where it is, how you get in, and the snack you keep there.
  • If I could be a superhero, I would write to my town to explain what I will and will not do. First line: Dear neighbors, I do not do homework, but I do get cats out of trees.
  • If I were a superhero and my power stopped working for a day, here is what I would do instead. Angle: the problem still needs solving. What can you do with no power at all?
  • If I were a superhero at my own school, here is the first thing I would put right. First line: Nobody would ever drop a lunch tray again.
  • If I were a superhero, here is how I would spend my day off. First line: Even heroes have to clean their rooms.
  • If I were a superhero, I would draw my costume first and then put it into words. Write the description. Angle: the colors, the sign on the front, and the one part that makes it easy to run in.
  • If I were a superhero, I would keep it secret from one person. Say who, and how hard that is. First line: My sister has asked about the cape in the laundry twice.
  • If I were a superhero, I would take the small problems that nobody else has time for. Write a Saturday of them. First line: The first call was a kite in a tree.
  • If I were a superhero, my power would be this one. Say what it is and tell about the first time you use it. First line: I found out by accident, in the lunch line.
  • If I were a superhero, my power would have one silly weakness. Write the day it gets in the way. First line: It turns out I cannot fly when I have the hiccups.
  • If I were a superhero, my sidekick would be someone I already know. Say who, and what they are in charge of. First line: My grandmother drives, because I am not old enough.
  • If I were a superhero, people would call me by a name I did not pick. Write how you got it. First line: It started when a kid on the bus yelled it.

If I had 15

  • If I had a backpack that always held exactly what I needed, here is one school day with it. First line: At recess it handed me an umbrella, and then it rained.
  • If I had a boat, I would give it a name and sail it here. First line: She is called the Pancake, and she floats better than she sounds.
  • If I had a dragon for a pet, here is how I would take care of it. Angle: what it eats, where it sleeps, and how you walk it past the neighbors.
  • If I had a magic pencil, whatever I drew would be real by morning. Write the first three drawings. First line: I started small: one sandwich.
  • If I had a pot of gold and could keep only one coin, here is what would happen to the rest. Angle: think of your street, your school and one person far away.
  • If I had a pot of gold at the end of my own rainbow, here is where that rainbow would come down. Angle: describe the spot so well that a friend could walk straight to it.
  • If I had a pot of gold that could never be spent, here is what I would use it for. First line: It makes a very good doorstop.
  • If I had a pot of gold, a leprechaun would want it back. Write what you tell him. First line: I found it fair and square, and besides, I said please.
  • If I had a pot of gold, I would hide it. Write where, and how you would remember the spot. Angle: a place nobody looks, and a clue only you would understand.
  • If I had a pot of gold, some things about my day would change and some would stay just the same. Write both lists. Angle: two things that change, and three you would not trade for any gold.
  • If I had a pot of gold, the first thing I would do is tell one person. Say who, and what they say back. First line: I carried it to her in my backpack, and it nearly tipped me over.
  • If I had a robot, it would do one job for me, and I would do one job for it. First line: It folds my socks, and I oil its elbow on Sundays.
  • If I had a time machine with room for two, I would bring this person and go here. Angle: one stop only. Say what you take along and what you bring back.
  • If I had one wish, I would not wish for more wishes. Write the wish and the next morning. First line: I said it out loud, and the kitchen light flickered.
  • If I had wings, I would tell nobody at first. Write your first flight. First line: I waited until the street was empty.

If I could be 15

  • If I could be a baker for a day, I would get up at four. Write the bakery before the sun is up. First line: The first tray is always for the people who work nights.
  • If I could be a chef for a day, this is the meal I would cook, and these are the people at the table. Angle: three dishes, and one guest who has never tried any of them.
  • If I could be a detective for a day, I would solve the case of the thing that keeps going missing at home. First line: The last sock vanished on Tuesday, and I have a suspect.
  • If I could be a pilot for a day, I would fly over my own house. First line: From up here our street looks like a zipper.
  • If I could be a professional athlete for one game, here is the play I would want to make. Angle: write it slowly, one second at a time, from the moment the ball reaches you.
  • If I could be a professional athlete, I would play this sport. Say why, and which position. Angle: one reason about the game, one about the team, one about you.
  • If I could be a professional athlete, I would remember the day I almost quit. Write that day. First line: I had missed every shot that week.
  • If I could be a professional athlete, I would want to be known for how I treat the other team. Write a moment that shows it. First line: She fell, and the whistle had not blown yet.
  • If I could be a professional athlete, this is how I would get ready on the morning of a big game. First line: I eat the same breakfast every game day, and I could not tell you why.
  • If I could be an artist for a day with one enormous wall to paint, here is what would be on it. Angle: what goes at the bottom, what goes at the top, and where you sign your name.
  • If I were a community helper, I would be a firefighter on a day with no fires. Write what the crew does. First line: We washed the truck, checked every hose and visited a school.
  • If I were a community helper, I would drive the library's book bus. Write one stop. First line: The same boy is always first in line, and he always wants sharks.
  • If I were a community helper, I would drive the snowplow. Write the night of the big storm. First line: I started with the hospital road, because that one cannot wait.
  • If I were a community helper, I would mend the things people walk past every day. Write a morning of repairs. First line: The bench by the bus stop had wobbled since spring.
  • If I were a community helper, I would run the town's lost-and-found. Write one day at the counter. First line: Today: nine gloves, one trumpet and a boot with a name in it.

If I met 15

  • If I met a dinosaur in the park, here is what the two of us would do next. First line: It was eating the hedge, so I knew it was the friendly kind.
  • If I met a dragon that had lost its roar, I would help it look. First line: We checked under the bridge first, because that is where echoes go.
  • If I met a giant, I would ask to see the world from its shoulder. First line: From up there, our school is the size of a shoebox.
  • If I met a pirate with no ship, I would help her find one. First line: She had a map, a parrot and a bus pass.
  • If I met a queen who wanted to be an ordinary kid for a day, I would show her how. First line: First, you have to carry your own tray.
  • If I met a robot that had never laughed, I would try three things. First line: The knock-knock joke did not work.
  • If I met a talking tree, it would tell me what it has seen. Write what it says. First line: I was here before your street had a name.
  • If I met an alien at breakfast, here is what I would offer it to eat. First line: It ate the spoon first.
  • If I met an alien who was lost, here is how I would help it get home. First line: It kept pointing at the sky and then at my bike.
  • If I met an alien, I would ask it three questions. Write them, and the answers it gives. Angle: one about its home, one about the trip, one about what it thinks of us.
  • If I met an alien, I would have to explain what school is. Write what you say. First line: We all go to one building, and we sit down a lot.
  • If I met an alien, I would teach it one game. Say which, and how the first round goes. First line: It was very good at hide-and-seek, because it could turn green.
  • If I met an alien, the first thing I would show it is this. Angle: one thing from your room, one from the kitchen and one from outdoors. Choose, and say why.
  • If I met the kid who had my room a hundred years ago, we would compare notes. Angle: what was in the room then, what is in it now, and what you both hide under the bed.
  • If I met the wind, I would have one complaint and one thank-you. First line: You took my homework in October, and I would like it back.

How it works

Most of these If I were writing prompts carry a first line to continue. Six come five ways or more: a butterfly, a superhero, a pot of gold, a professional athlete, a community helper and an alien.

Read the full guide

If I were a butterfly writing prompt

The butterfly comes six ways, so a class need not hand in the same page: three landings before lunch, a windy yard, an hour as a butterfly reported to the class. Nine more rows are other animals, from an owl to a snail.

If I were a community helper writing prompt

Each of the five names one job and one day of it: the snowplow on the night of the storm, the book bus at one stop, the town's lost-and-found. The first line under each is the helper already at work.

  • Keep the first words exactly as given, then change everything after them.
  • When two writers get the same row, compare second sentences. That is where the pages part.

Questions and answers

What is the if I was a superhero writing prompt?

It asks a writer to imagine a power and say what comes of it. Ten rows here begin If I were a superhero: a silly weakness, a day off, a name you did not pick. The list writes were where many people type was.

Is there an if I could be a superhero writing prompt?

Five rows open that way. One gives the power for a single day, one asks for a power nobody has thought of, and one is a letter telling the town what you will and will not do.

What does the if I had a pot of gold writing prompt ask?

What you would do with the gold besides spend it. Seven rows: who you tell first, where you hide it, what you say to the leprechaun who wants it back. For prompts about a sum of money, see the money writing prompts.

How does the if I met an alien writing prompt start?

With a meeting and one job for the writer: show it something, explain school, teach it a game, get it home. Six rows begin If I met an alien, and nine more meet a giant, a talking tree or the wind.

What is the if I could be a professional athlete writing prompt?

A page about the life behind the game. Five rows ask which sport and position, how a game-day morning goes, about the day you almost quit, and for one play told a second at a time. No team or player is named.

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