Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Trapped in a Lift
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: Trapped in a lift.
Three people find themselves trapped in a lift.
These people have not seen each other for a few years.
They are all enemies.
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Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Stranded
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: Stranded.
You wake up to find that you’re on a deserted Island. You don’t remember how you got there. The last you remember, you were at home.
There doesn’t seem to be anyone around until you are approached by an animal. Yes, this animal seems to be able to walk like a human can.
What shocks you even more is when this animal smiles at you, welcomes you to the island and hands you a tent.
Continue the story…
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Planning Short Stories
Today, I want to go back to the beginning and look at planning.
I am quickly becoming aware that I am not a writer who can just sit down and write. I need to know where I want my story to go or I end up with a lot of similar scenes as my story goes around in circles as I have no idea how to move it forward.
So, today’s exercise is the following…
Make a plan for a story, in note form that’s related to one of the following topics..
Inheriting an old house.
A blind date
Broken down car in a deserted area
A holiday that goes wrong
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Childhood Differences
Today, I want to again focus on how the same scene can be seen differently by two people despite being in the same room, witnessing the same thing.
I have been thinking about this a lot lately. When writing from the point of view of my main character, I also wonder what the other people in the particular scene are thinking.
In my own childhood, if asked, I would probably remember an event differently than my siblings would. I used to dance and enter competitions. How was it for my brother who was dragged along?
Think of an incident from your childhood where you were the centre of attention. How did you feel? What happened? Write for ten minutes, basing your story about this incident.
Now, write for another ten minutes but this time, write from the point of view of a sibling, cousin or friend who was also there. What differences are there in the thoughts, feelings and view of events?
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Once Upon a Time in a Fictional World
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: Once Upon A Time in a Fictional World…
You’ve fallen asleep. When you wake up, you find yourself in a fictional world. This world is from whatever novel you’re currently reading.
Without directly referencing the novel, place yourself in one scene and rewrite it to include you as a character. How would you react to find yourself in a fictional world?
Are you reading a romance and have woken up to find that the main character doesn’t like you? If you’re rediscovering Harry Potter? How about waking up in the great hall at Hogwarts?
Have fun.
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Different Voices
Today, I thought we could look at distinguishing one character from another.
Making my characters sound different to one another is one of the things I am finding the hardest to do as a first time writer.
I came across this exercise via The Writers Digest and thought that it sounded quite interesting. (Visit their website if you’d like to explore more of their prompts and writing exercises.)
Write a couple of pages of conversation where one character talks in say, four word sentences and the other in ten word sentences.
For example, ‘I can’t do this.’
‘Yes, you can. You are being ridiculous. Just be brave.’
‘It’s just too hard.’
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Following the Leader
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: Following the Leader.
Your character wakes up and finds themselves in a strange village.
There are four other people with them and no one seems to have met one another before.
Someone appoints themselves the leader of the group whilst you all try to find a way out of this village.
On first inspection though, there doesn’t seem to be a way out.
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Word Association
Happy Wednesday all. For today’s writing group, I thought we’d work from a prompt using word association.
This is one of my favourites as you can never tell what it will inspire.
Pick up the book that’s closest to hand. Go to page one hundred.
Make a note of the first and last words on the page.
Now, on a sheet of paper, put each word at the top and divide the page into two columns.
Use the timer for five minutes each side and using each word as a beginning, write down as many words as you can think of.
Once you’ve done that, write a story by using the first two words you took from the book to start with and then incorporating all the other words as you go.
by Novel Kicks Writing Room – Dear Me
I often wonder what my future and past self would tell me if I were to receive a letter from them.
What advice would I give myself? What would my ten-year old self talk about that is different to my older self?
I find this thought fascinating.
That is why I have chosen this exercise today. Write a letter to you, from yourself ten years in the future. Also write a letter from the point of view of your ten-year old self.
Obviously the advice and content would be slightly different but are there recurring themes?
Set the timer for about ten minutes for each one. Try not to edit, just write.
Now repeat the exercise but for one of your characters.
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Talk to Animals?
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: What if I could talk to the animals?
You have been stuck inside for a few days now. You are on your own with only your pet for company.
One morning, a voice you don’t recognise brings you out of sleep.
Your pet is on the bed with you but there is no one else there.
That is until you hear the voice again.
You turn toward your pet…
Continue the story.
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: The Same But Different
Today, I thought we could look at different points of view.
You have three characters standing together in the same spot.
They are all looking at the same thing. It could be the sky, a building, a pier, another group of people. The situation and gender of your characters are up to you.
Set the timer for ten minutes each character.
Write three different pieces of prose, describing what they are looking at but from each person’s point of view, voice and opinions.
How do they differ?
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: What Curfew?
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: What curfew?
A curfew has been put in place all over the city where you live. There are patrols everywhere. There’s not a lot that will get by them.
You find yourself defying the curfew to deliver a message on the other side of the city. You must do this by morning.
Write about the journey. Do you and your message make its destination in time and in one piece?
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: The Torn Piece
Happy Wednesday everyone. Today, I wanted to do some more free writing.
The amount of time and word count is up to you.
Today, imagine that you’ve found a torn piece of paper.
It appears to be the end of a letter; a love letter from someone named Paul.
There’s no sign of the first piece.
It says “even though what we have is gone, I would not change the decision I made for you, regardless of the consequence for me. I will love you forever. Paul”
Write the first part. Try and put in as much detail as you can.
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Freaky Friday
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: Freaky Friday.
Your character and their spouse have not been getting along lately.
One morning, you wake up and you’ve swapped bodies. You also currently have no idea how to get switched back.
How does this affect the relationship?
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Inanimate Objects
It’s all about inanimate objects today.
For today’s exercise, it’s a little bit of free writing but with the following situation in mind.
Write from the point of view of an inanimate object. Maybe something in an antique shop or something in the corner of the room you are sat in.
How old is it? Where has it been? What has this object seen?
Also, you could allow it to have an interaction with a human in which they can understand one another.
Write for at least fifteen minutes.
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Message to Mars
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s Prompt: Message to Mars.
You win a competition where the prize is to write a message.
The message will be sent to Mars. It’s the first communication from earth.
What would be in your message?
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Wrong Number
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s Prompt: Wrong Number….
You are at home, it’s the weekend and after a long week, you want to rest.
Your phone pings, indicating a message.
Absent-mindedly, you look at the message and you have to read it a couple of times in order to take it in.
‘You’ve not answered my question. The clock is ticking.’
You stare at your phone, not sure what to do.
Another message arrives…
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Point of View
Today’s exercise is changing POV for your character.
I am quite excited about today’s exercise and I think it’s great to flip the WIP on its head.
Using your current work, pick a passage featuring your main character. If you’d rather pick a character from your favourite novel, please do.
Now, change the point of view. For example, if you’ve written in first person, re-write in third person and vice versa.
If you wanted, you could also re-write from a secondary character’s point of view.
How did you find it? Did it inspire you to add more to the story and to see another aspect?
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: The Room
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: The Room.
Your character is guided into a room. There are four people already there, sat on two of the three sofas that line the walls.
Your character has never seen these people before…. or have they?
To begin with, no one talks to one another. When conversation begins, things are revealed.
Carry on the story…
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: The Guest Book
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: The Guest Book.
As your spouse is away on business on the other side of the country, you decide to take a weekend away with a friend, staying at a lovely guest house on the coast. Being an hour away from home, it is still nice to have a change of scenery.
The owner of the guest house asks you to sign the guest book.
Whilst doing so, you scan the names on the page and spot that your spouse checked in… the day before.
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Movie Scenes
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: Movie scenes.
Your character claims to have a glamorous life when in reality, they live their life through the films they watch on TV.
One day, they magically find themselves in the scene of their favourite movie.
They need to work to get out and back to real life but with every action, it is changing the outcome of the movie and therefore, your character’s knowledge of it.
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Cat’s Eyes
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: Cat’s eyes.
Where does your cat go when out on an adventure? I have always wanted to know and been fascinated about what the answer could be.
Your character finds that they have an insider view into the day of their cat. They get to follow them around and see where they go. Write about the day you have.
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Unexpected Journey
I am excited to be back with the first Novel Kicks Writing Room of 2020.
Today, it is writing about an unexpected journey.
Your character’s day begins like any other.
They wake up, have coffee, see the kids off to school, take the same bus and arrive for the same job they’ve held for a few years.
The plan is to work, go back home, eat with the family, have the same conversations, watch TV and then go to sleep for it all to start again the next day.
Yet, that evening, they are on a train and are far from home.
Write about what happens between work and this point and/or what happens after.
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Come Get Father Christmas
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: Where is he?
Father Christmas has been kidnapped. It’s all over the news around the world.
However, your character is made aware of this when a red, hand-delivered envelope is posted through their door. The number one has been printed on the front. The note inside reads…
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Witchy AGM
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: Witch AGM.
Your character is on their way to the annual witch meeting. The Witch AGM.
On the agenda, ‘Witches are not hags. Helping debunk the bad myths and stereotypes.’
What we can do to help our image. A practical workshop.
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Structure
I am currently preparing for National Novel Writing Month. October is known as Preptober.
This got me thinking about structure and I have come across many variants of a three-act structure.
Take an idea you have and plan the plot using the following as a guide.
Act One:
1. Introduce your character and their world.
2. An event that sets the story in motion.
3. Determine what happens next.
Act Two:
4. Determine the goal that isn’t going to come easily.
5. The game changer.
6. The decision.
Act Three:
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Go Back and Read The Instructions
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: Go back and read the instructions.
Your character has invented a time machine. Now it is time to write the instruction manual, including a content page.
For example:
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Alphabet Story
Welcome back to another writing exercise.
Today, I wanted to do an alphabet story. This exercise sounds fun but also a challenge.
Write a story but start each sentence with a different letter of the alphabet. In order.
For example…
Albert heard a knock and immediately opened the door.
Beaming at him, Tina stood in the hallway, a bag of groceries in her hand.
‘Come in,’ he said, stepping aside and letting her into the flat.
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Unexpected Speech
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: Unexpected Speech.
Your character is walking along the street when they are called over by a person they have never met before.
Before they know it, they are being led, by this stranger down a narrow corridor, through a door and onto a stage where there is an unusual looking audience.
Your character is asked a question. All eyes are on them.
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Pictorial Inspiration
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: Pictorial Inspiration.
Write about what this picture inspires….
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Step Back in Time
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: Step Back in Time.
Your character is disillusioned with life.
He or she is going through a marriage break up, the children don’t want to know them and to add insult to injury, they have lost their job.
They are sat drinking and then make a wish to be able to have a do-over.
When they wake up, they are eighteen again. Carry on the story…
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Edit, Edit, Edit
For today’s exercise, I wanted to look at editing.
Rewrite the following passage. Write up to 500 words. Try making it less passive, adding more emotion and details.
How did you find it?
*****
Mark goes into the flat and he sat down.
It had not changed much since he’d left a year ago.
He listened to Beth, getting the tea ready in the kitchen, She didn’t know what he was going to say to her.
She carried the tray in and handed him a mug. His favourite mug.
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Confession
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: Confession.
Your character is living in a country that, to the outside world is perfect. The truth is that the government is oppressing its citizens.
This character has lived in this country all their lives. Age, sex and life situation is your choice.
Your story begins when your character commits a serious crime.
Law enforcement is trying to get a confession and your character has been given a piece of paper and pencil.
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Freewriting with Prompts
It’s another freewriting exercise today.
If you have something in mind already, then fantastic.
Write up to a 1000 words.
If you’re stuck as to where to start, there are five prompts below to hopefully inspire a story. You could always combine a couple if you like.
1. Write a letter to September.
2. Your character wakes up discovering that they are back at school.
3. You are stuck in a locked room alone with the person you despise the most.
4. You are confronted by the person you’ve been saying horrible things about online and they know it’s you.
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Alphabet Sentences
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: Alphabet sentences.
Your first sentence for today’s story is ‘All he could see was smoke.’
Now, carry on the story but with a little twist.
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Putting an Idea Together
With National Novel Writing Month just over a month and a half away, I thought it would be nice today to generate some ideas using magazines as inspiration.
This part of the writing process has been scary for me but I also find it fun, especially when doing something like the following exercise.
Gather as many magazines as you can. Cut out any words, images and phrases that interest you/catches your eye for any reason.
Once you’ve done that, put them all in a hat.
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Promises
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt – promises.
Something happens to you. At first, you can’t talk about it. You’re frightened.
When you confide in someone, they say they believe you and promise to keep your confidence.
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: The Middle is now the Beginning
Today, I wanted to look at beginning in the middle.
Look through your current work in progress or your idea book, preferably picking something where you know how you want to begin.
As usual, if you’d prefer to use a book you’ve recently read, that’s OK.
Have a think about the three major events that will happen in the middle of your book. Pick one.
Now, write that scene as though it is the beginning of your story.
Write about 500-750 words.
How was it? What does it do to your plot as it stands?
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Nigel
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s Prompt – Nigel.
Your story this week is about a young man named Nigel, who has just arrived in a strange city.
Use the following words in your piece of writing – bloom, exercise, paperwork, continuation, speculate and uncle.
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: A Letter
In the writing group today, we will be writing a letter.
In this digital age, I am a little sad about the fact that the art of letter writing has diminished. I adore writing letters. There is something very personal about them.
Take two of your characters in your WIP or two of your favourite characters from fiction. You could even take a character from your WIP and an established fictional character if you wanted.
Write a letter from your main character to the other person about an event in your novel. Put in as much detail as you can. Once you’ve done that, write the reply.
Has this given you a new insight to these characters and how they react and feel?
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Contacts
Starting a contacts page in your notebook.
Today I wanted to look ahead and get prepared for what comes next. I know it is not a good idea to think too much beyond the completion of the book if you’re still working on the draft but I am hoping this is a helpful exercise.
It’s something I have been meaning to do for a while. If you’re a planner like me, then it’s an excuse to make a list.
With the genre of your book in mind, find five agents that handle the type of work you’re currently writing. Make a note of their postal address and e-mail too. The Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook is good for this but obviously the internet may be more available to you.
Do the same with five publishers, whether they be a large or a small outlet. Be as specific as you can. Also, find the name of the person to whom you would submit the work. Like before, note down the postal address and e-mail address. Look for some online publishers too.
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Viral
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt.
The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can.
Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: Viral
Think about a typical day for you.
One event from this day gets recorded by a stranger and goes viral on social media, eventually making its way onto national news.
Continue the story using the first person point of view.
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Combinations
Welcome back to the Novel Kicks Writing Room. Today, it’s about combinations.
Pick a character from either something you’ve written or from the book you are currently reading. This is your main character.
Now randomly choose three more, each from different stories and as varied as you can make them.
Your main character is speed dating. One at a time, this character has a brief conversation with your other three choices before the bell goes off and they have to move on.
Write only using dialogue.
For each one, write for five minutes each time.
You could then always do other combinations within these characters. How would it work if your main character was suddenly the one who had to impress the others?
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Something Valuable
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt. The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt…
Your most valuable possession goes missing. You begin to chase the thief.
It takes you to parts of your home town you’ve never been before.
Carry on the story.
At some point, someone ends up dressed like a rabbit.
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Research
Today, I wanted to focus on research.
When looking at the writing process, nothing scares me as much as the research part.
How much planning and research is enough? At what point can you get too buried underneath all of the information?
The most daunting question of all… where do I begin?
I wanted to try the following exercise.
Make a list of the first five celebrities or historical figures that come into your head. Then pick one.
Using google, spend thirty minutes finding out five facts about this celebrity or historical figure.
Once you’ve done that, write a conversation between yourself and this person using the information you’ve found out.
Has this exercise sparked a bigger idea? What else do you feel you’d need to know before you begin to write a bigger story?
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Keeping a Diary
Many of you have probably kept a diary at some point in your lives? It’s something I have done on and off through the years.
They are definitely a window into what a person is like.
Using a character in your current work in progress, keep a diary from the point of view of your character. Do this for at least three days and maximum of five days.
How would they be reacting to current events? The race for Prime Minister, climate change? Love Island?
If you’ve not got a current WIP, choose an existing fictional character. I wonder how Elizabeth Bennett or Mr Collins would react to what is currently going on.
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: People Watching
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt. The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
People watch for ten minutes.
Once you’ve spotted someone who interests you (without making it obvious you’re studying them and being in danger of looking all creepy, hahahahaha,) write about them.
What has their day been like so far? Who are they? Where are they going? What do they look like?
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Free Writing
Today, I thought we could keep it nice and simple and do some free writing.
I like this kind of exercise as you never know what is going to come out of it.
Set the alarm for ten minutes. Start writing and don’t stop. See if you can get to five hundred words in that ten minutes.
Just in case you need a little inspiration, I have posted some prompts below.
Enjoy.
Prompt 1:
With a deep breath, she opens the box.
Prompt 2:
The music started and he knew he couldn’t do it.
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: First Line
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt. The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: Your character is in their 50’s. Single and they don’t have any friends. With this information in mind, use the line below to begin your story.
‘He wanted her job, and it would be easy enough to discredit her.’
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: The Whimsical Fairy
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt. The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: a whimsical fairy.
Your character is a fairy who is, well, away with the fairies in her/his own little world. They have earned their wings but on their final warning.
Your setting is a secret room in a library. In this room, there are boxes filled with…..
Continue the story.
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Free Writing
For our writing group today, it’s a bit of free writing.
I have started a story below. Writing for a minimum of five minutes, continue the story. You can either keep the current POV or maybe carry it on using the point of view of the person being followed?
Have fun.
*****
I watch from the other side of the road whilst she waits in line for her coffee. She hasn’t spotted me. Her head is looking down at the phone in her hand; a small smile plays on her lips as her fingers fly across the screen.
I wonder who makes her smile like that. An agonising feeling of jealousy rises but I quickly try and brush it aside. I need to keep my focus. I am so close.
I come out of the shadows and begin to follow her when I see her finally leaving the busy coffee shop, almost loosing her in the crowds of people on the pavement. I keep my distance, careful not to be seen.
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Plotting and Timelines
Plotting and timelines.
I am fast realising that I am one of these writers that has to know what is happening in my story; the experiences of National Novel Writing Month has taught me this.
I have been finding this method below quite helpful in plotting my story. This is something I have featured before but thought it worth revisiting.
Grab either a pad of Post-It notes (author Julie Cohen swears by Post-It notes) or some bits of paper and write out all of the current plot points for your current work in progress; all the things you have so far (and don’t worry if you don’t have the end yet. Neither do I.)
Also, if you aren’t currently working on anything, as always, you could pick a published story.
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: What’s in the Cupboard?
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt. The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt:
You are sitting in a chair when your child comes up and sits next to you. Out of nowhere, your child looks at you and says…
‘Daddy/Mummy, who is that in the cupboard upstairs and why are they sleeping when it’s not bed time?’
Begin with the above sentence.
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Speaking Differently
Today, I wanted to focus on the various speaking styles of characters. I
Each character needs to have their own specific voice.
Write two pages of dialogue.
One character only speaks in short sentences whilst your other character is a bit more of a chatterbox. They speak in longer sentences.
Has this achieved two distinctive voices?
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Different Orders
This week, I wanted to focus on how moving plot events around, you can change/improve the story.
Write down the following four plot points, each on a separate piece of paper. Put them into a jar or a hat and take them back out one at a time, lining them up.
This is the new order for the story. Write your own version using this order.
Cinderella is told she can’t go to the ball.
Cinderella meets the Prince.
Cinderella loses her shoe.
Cinderella gets married.
How does the story change once you’ve moved it around?
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Connecting Memories
Today, I thought we could try and connect three seemingly unrelated memories.
Write about three separate memories. These can be yours or they could belong to someone else.
Each one should be about fifty words.
Once you’ve done that, try and connect these three unrelated memories into one coherent story.
Three memories I have thought of off the top of my head are my Mum and Grandfather teaching me to ride my bike, My Grandmother’s first day of senior school and the day I got married.
Is what you’ve written something that could be used for a bigger project?
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: A Time For Firsts
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt. The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Pinch punch first day of the month.
Your character finds themselves overwhelmed when they experience three big firsts in one day.
Their age, gender, job is up to you.
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Wishing
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt. The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
‘I am always wishing for.’
Starting with that line, write about someone (usually sad, cynical and bitter) who suddenly finds themselves with one wish.
However, the wish comes with a price and a choice that has to be made.
There will be a consequence.
by Novel Kicks Writing Room: Getting Started
Getting started.
One of the things I obsess over too much is the first sentence. It is supposed to hook the reader.
Something to be remembered though…this is not something that is important with a first draft. Everything can be changed in editing (repeating this to myself like a mantra.)
Pick one of the following sentences as a starting point and then write for three minutes.
Once you’ve done this, you could find one that applies to your book idea.
‘I tried to leave the rabbit stopped me.’
‘When Lana opened the book, something took over.’
‘When he/she stepped into the attic, it was like stepping into the past.’
‘He/she wanted this moment to end. How was another matter.’
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Radio GaGa
It’s Friday which means it’s time to start writing some fiction.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt. The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Radio Gaga.
Turn on the radio and make a note of the first three songs you hear.
These are now the three themes that will make up your story.
Combine them all together, including any characters mentioned in the song. So for example, you have to include Loretta if you hear Get Back by the Beatles.
by Book Club
