January Prompts: How To Use Creative Prompts in January

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There’s something about January that makes me want to pull the curtains and hibernate. The days are short. It’s cold. Everything looks a bit grey and dead. But recently I’ve been wondering if I’ve been missing something. Because actually, January is doing a lot of things quietly in the background. You just have to know where to look.

This is the first in a series of monthly posts where I want to explore the changing seasons together. Not as an expert. Honestly, I’m figuring this out as I go. Each post will have prompts for writing, drawing, photography, baking, and getting outside. Think of it as a gentle nudge to pay more attention to the world around you.

So let’s start at the beginning of the year. Let’s start in January.

What’s Actually Happening Out There?

January sits right in the middle of winter in the northern hemisphere. In the US, the UK, and much of Europe, this is the coldest and darkest stretch of the year. But it’s nothing. In fact, it’s quietly the start of something.

The days are already getting longer after the winter solstice in late December. It’s subtle at first. You probably won’t notice it for a few weeks. But by late January, there’s definitely a little more light creeping in at each end of the day.

In terms of nature, some plants are already stirring underground. Snowdrops are often the first flowers you’ll spot. In milder climates, like the Pacific Northwest of the US or the south of England, you might already see them in late January. If you’re in colder zones, they’ll come a bit later, but they’re getting ready.

For a good overview of what to look for in winter, the Woodland Trust seasonal calendar is a lovely resource, and it’s got seasonal prompts too. If you’re in the US, the National Phenology Network tracks seasonal changes and has citizen science projects you can join.

Nature Journalling: Start Where You Are

I only recently discovered nature journaling as a thing. It’s not just drawing plants. It’s more like writing, sketching, and noticing, all mixed together. There are no rules about how to do it right.

The best place to start in January is your immediate surroundings. You don’t need to go somewhere spectacular. Your garden, a local park, or even a window box can work.

Prompt: Go outside for fifteen minutes. Write down everything you notice. What colours can you see? What sounds? Any smells? What’s the temperature doing? Don’t edit yourself. Just notice.

If you want some inspiration, the John Muir Trust has brilliant resources on connecting with nature in small ways. In the US, the Nature Journal Club on YouTube is a wonderful free resource with tutorials for all skill levels.

You really don’t need fancy supplies to start. A cheap notebook and a pencil are completely fine.

Poetry: The Quiet Month

January has always attracted poets. Maybe it’s the stillness. Maybe it’s the sense of waiting. There’s a long tradition of winter poetry across almost every culture.

Ted Hughes wrote about winter landscapes. Mary Oliver wrote constantly about noticing small things in the natural world. If you haven’t read her work, January is the perfect time to start. Her collection, Owls and Other Fantasies, is a gentle entry point.

Prompt: Write a poem about what January looks like from your window. It doesn’t have to rhyme. It doesn’t even have to be good. Try to use only what you can actually see, not what you imagine or remember.

Alternatively, try a haiku. The traditional Japanese form actually has deep roots in seasonal observation. There’s a concept called kigo, a seasonal word or phrase used to anchor a poem to a specific time of year. Winter kigo include things like bare branches, frost, and short days. You can explore this further at The Haiku Foundation.

Photography: Finding Beauty in the Bare

This is honestly the hardest sell. January is not obviously photogenic. The light is low. The colours are muted. Everything looks a bit washed out.

But actually that’s the interesting part. Low winter light creates incredibly long shadows. Frost turns ordinary things into something textured and detailed. And bare trees against a pale sky have a graphic quality that you just don’t get in summer.

Prompt: Go out at golden hour, which in January is roughly the hour after sunrise or before sunset. Photograph shadows. Just shadows. The longer the better.

For more on winter photography, Digital Photography School offers practical tips for all camera types, including phone cameras.

If you’re in the UK, the Royal Photographic Society runs community groups and challenges that are worth exploring. In the US, 500px has a huge community and seasonal photography challenges you can join for free.

Short Story: Something Dormant

January feels like a story that hasn’t started yet. There’s a lot of potential energy in that. It’s a good month to write about waiting, about things that are hidden, about the space between one thing ending and another beginning.

Prompt: Write a short story of no more than 500 words from the perspective of a seed underground in January. It knows spring is coming, but it isn’t there yet. What does it think about? What does it sense?

If you want a prompt generator to keep you going throughout the year, Reedsy has a free weekly prompt system that’s genuinely good.

Drawing: Bare Branches and Frost Patterns

Drawing in January is all about line and structure. Without leaves, trees reveal their actual architecture. Each species has a completely different silhouette. Oak trees look very different from birch or ash. Once you start noticing this, you can’t stop.

Prompt: Find a bare tree near you. Spend ten minutes just looking at it before you draw anything. Then draw only the outline, the silhouette, against the sky. Don’t add any detail inside. Just the shape.

If you want to learn more about botanical drawing or nature illustration, the Society of Botanical Artists has resources and workshops. For a more casual approach, Ohn Mar Win’s botanical illustration guides are accessible and joyful.

Baking and Seasonal Eating: Root Vegetables and Warmth

January eating is all about roots. Parsnips, celeriac, swede, beetroot, carrots. These are the things that have been quietly storing energy underground through the winter. In the US, you’ll also find things like rutabaga and turnip in good supply right now.

There’s also citrus. January is peak citrus season. Blood oranges start appearing. Seville oranges come in for a brief window, traditionally used for marmalade. Making marmalade in January is genuinely a thing. It’s a bit of an event.

Recipe prompt: Make a root vegetable soup using only vegetables that are in season where you live right now. Look up what’s locally seasonal using Seasonal Food Guide if you’re in the US, or Eat the Seasons for the UK. The rules are: no fresh tomatoes, no courgettes, nothing that feels like summer. Just the deep, earthy winter stuff.

Roast the roots first in olive oil and a little honey, then add them to the pot. It makes a real difference.

One Last Thing

I think January gets unfairly dismissed. We rush through it, trying to get to spring. But there’s something worth sitting with in the stillness of it. The world is genuinely resting. And maybe that’s worth paying attention to.

Try just one of these prompts this month. You don’t have to do all of them. Even one small act of noticing is enough.

I’ll be back next month with February prompts, and things will be starting to shift by then. In the meantime, I’d love to know what you notice in January where you live. Drop it in the comments.

Next month: February, the first real signs of spring, and what to do with them.