Writing prompts are designed to kick-start your creativity. A writing prompt is simply a topic around which you start jotting down ideas. The prompt could be a single word, a short phrase, a complete paragraph or even a picture, with the idea being to give you something to focus upon as you write. You may stick very closely to the original prompt or you may wander off. Read the prompt and see where it takes you.
Sit down in your characters den, bedroom or office and glance through their wastebasket. What do you find?
A wrapper from a fast food restaurant? A love letter? An empty beer bottle?
The things we throw in the trash can reveal a lot about us.
Write a paragraph about what you find in your main character's waste basket.