Here’s another prompt to help us look at our lives and find inspiration for our writing. I’m a huge advocate of writing about things we have directly experienced. With that in mind, how can a vacation serve as a writing prompt?

I’ve only flown three time in my life, so most of my vacations aren’t too far from the Buckeye State.

• St. Louis, Missouri
• Blackwater Falls State Park, West Virginia
• Emerald Isle, North Carolina
• Pensacola, Florida

Because I write mysteries, I look at these places through that lens. My family and I visited Pensacola in winter when there aren’t many tourists. Maybe I could create a mystery about a retired couple, who notice something strange going on in the supposedly empty beach house next door.

In St. Louis, I visited the fantastic St. Louis Art Museum. A break-in to steal a valuable painting on loan would kick off the action nicely. The place is huge, so maybe the security guards would have to play hide-and-seek with the crooks, who have knocked out the surveillance cameras.

For more on writing about vacations, click here. How can you use your vacations as writing prompts?