Tuesday 16th February 2016: Introducing your characters.
Today’s Prompt:
Something I am realising as a first time author is getting to know your characters is really important before sitting down to write. Today, write down five facts about your character and use these to write a bio about them. Write it in the first person as though they are telling someone about themselves. Make the facts go beyond their physical features. For example, what song do they like? What’s their earliest memory etc.
Friday 12th February 2016: Fish out of Water
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 usually a confident person. However, they suddenly find themselves completely out of water and in a situation they don’t know how to deal with. Maybe they’ve realised that they can’t speak (the charm of their voice is usually what worked for them,) or they go from being rich to poor or lucky to unlucky. Anything goes.
Tuesday 9th February 2015: Confessions.
Your character is shown into a room. There is a circular table in the middle the room with six chairs around it. Eventually, five other people are shown into the room. These five people along with your character are told to take a seat. They are each told that they are connected and they need to confess what they have done to the people around them. Carry on the story….
Today’s prompt: Fictional World.
Pick a fictional world or a fictional character. When your character wakes up one morning, they find themselves either in this fictional world or sitting next to this fictional character. What are they like? What do they get up to? What happens next….
Friday 8th January 2015: Message in a Bottle
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 walking along the beach and cuts their foot on a piece of glass. On closer inspection, they realise that it is from a bottle that is laying nearby. There is a piece of paper with a message on it inside the bottle. Write about what happens next. What’s the message?
Today’s prompt:
Your character works for a secret agency and has a secret identity to match. As a favour, they agree to pretend to be someone’s love interest to help them out at a family gathering and it all gets a little out of hand. What happens? Does the identity of your character get revealed?
Tuesday 17th November 2015: Identity Crisis.
Today’s Prompt:
Your character works as a waiter/waitress in a small greasy spoon in the middle of a busy town. They have no family and only a small group of friends. However, one day a stranger walks into the cafe. They look identical to your main character. Write in third person. Try to write mostly in dialogue. Continue…
Friday 13th November 2015: Another unlucky day
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:
It is Friday 13th and for some, that is unlucky. How about if your character has to keep reliving it but for every mistake he sees coming, another one soon takes its place. Nothing is the same. Why does he keep repeating the day and what does he have to do to escape it?
Today’s prompt:
There are many stories that begin with an unpleasant thing or event. How about beginning your story with a nice event? Maybe your character sees someone they have been excited to see? Maybe someone gains something they’ve always wanted? Pick a nice event and write from there. Once you’ve finished, have a read through? Did your story remain nice or did something bad or sinister happen?
Friday 6th November 2015: A Picture Paints….
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:
Use the picture for a story. What does the picture inspire? Maybe your character is meeting someone?
Maybe whenever they take a step forward, the horizon seems to stay at the same distance and everything depends on them getting to the other end?
Where is this? Has your character travelled far to be here?
Have they just appeared here out of nowhere and people surrounding them think they are magic or are they scared of them?
Has your character travelled back in time?
What you choose is up to you. Just have fun.
Today’s prompt:
Find some magazines or go through some online news sites/magazines. Cut out or save any pictures or stories that catch your eye and inspire you. Once you’ve got a few, go through and pick three of the articles/pictures that most inspire you. Try and include these three things in a short story.
Friday 23rd October 2015: Favourite Fictional Character
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:
Pick your favourite fictional character. You have suddenly found yourself in their world, surrounded by the characters around them. What if you were transported to middle earth or you suddenly find that you are Harry Potter’s best friend? What if you suddenly found yourself in a post apocalyptic world and you had no choice but to have a baby for an infertile couple?
Whatever character you chose, how would you live their story?
Today’s Prompt:
Today is all about changing the tense. Take a page out of your favourite fiction novel. Rewrite the first few paragraphs changing the tense as you go. If it’s past, change it to present and vice versa.
How was it? How has it changed the story. If you want to, try it with a section of a work in progress and see if it helps in any way?
Friday 16th October: Carry on the Story….
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:
Use the following first line as a starting point and then try to carry the story on as long as you can.
‘Congratulations, you’ve won.’
Today’s prompt:
Begin a story from the last line and work backwards. You can either start something new or use the current project you’re working on (something you’re maybe struggling with?) If you need inspiration for a story, here are some suggestions below:
A wizard, a London flat and the secret of life is revealed.
A gambling addict, train and a character overhears a shocking conversation.
A parent, the dock and a character must tell a lie.
If you’d like to share your work, feel free to leave it in the comments below.
Tuesday 6th October: Continuing the Story…..
Today’s prompt:
Continue on the story by using the following opening line. Also, your two characters are called Charlie and Alison. The setting and when the story is set is up to you. Don’t think about it, just set a timer for fifteen minutes and write. Once you’re finished, edit it and cut the word count by half. If you’d like to share your story then I’d love to see them in the comments below.
Use the following line as your starting point, ‘There are two times when you need to stay absolutely still. The first time is…’
Friday 2nd October: Historical Figures
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: Pick four historical figures (all from different time periods) and place them at a round table. What would they talk about? Write this mostly in dialogue.
Tuesday 29th September 2015: A Different Perspective.
Today’s prompt:
Today, it’s all about looking at the well-known stories and seeing them a different way. Place a famous nursery rhyme or fairy-tale into a modern-day setting. What if Jack didn’t fall by accident but Jill pushed him over a cliff? What if Cinderella was the one stopping her step sisters from going to the launch of a new nightclub where the famous young owner would be attending? What if Ariel was trying to bribe herself off an island where she was being held prisoner? There are many possibilities.
Friday 25th September 2015: Time Travelling.
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: Write a story that involves time travel in which you change a significant historical event.
Tuesday 22nd September 2015: Rewrite and Edit…
Today’s prompt:
We all have a list of novels that are our favourites and equally we have a list of ones we didn’t like so much.
Take a scene from either your favourite novel or one you didn’t like and rewrite it in under two hundred and fifty words. If you can’t pick, here is a list of suggestions:
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen.
Me Before You by JoJo Moyes.
The Girl on The Train by Paula Hawkins.
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby.
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.
Friday 18th September 2015: Once upon a Dream…
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:
Using a dream you’ve recently had as inspiration, begin a story with the following line “the door to the vault was heavy.” You could always mix up a couple of dreams if you can remember more than one.
Tuesday 15th September 2015: Reworking.
Today’s prompt:
Today, take a story you’re working on (maybe one you’ve been struggling with?) Rewrite a scene where a secondary character becomes the main focus rather than your current hero or heroine. If you’re not working on anything at the moment, pick a favourite novel and rework a scene from there (Harry Potter from Ron’s point of view? Mark’s point of view in Bridget Jones.)
Friday 11th September 2015: Investigations
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 a private eye and does not look like someone who would be one. They have got themselves into an unforeseen situation. Start with the line, ‘You will never get away with it.’
Tuesday 8th September 2015: Don’t tell anyone, it’s a secret….
Today’s prompt:
Your character is known to be a little bit of a gossip. After begging a friend for days to trust him/her with a big secret, your character accidentally tells the secret; blurting it out before he/she can stop themselves. It all starts to go wrong after that….
If you fancy sharing your story, feel free to post it in the comments below.
Friday 4th September 2015: Enemy Swap.
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: Enemy Swap. How about a different beginning of a day for your character. They end up swapping places with their arch-enemy and they need to work together to figure out how to swap back. Can they work together?
Tuesday 1st September 2015 – Current Affairs.
Today’s prompt…
Pick up a newspaper or go online to any news site. Pick a news article that interests you and use that as inspiration for a story. Put in an unexpected twist. Try to write at least seven hundred and fifty words and feel free to share by posting in the comments below if you wish to.
Have fun.
Wednesday 26th August 2015: Another Galaxy.
Today’s prompt: Your setting is another galaxy where there is a small cluster of planets ruled by a council made up of one person from each.
Some of the planets have a human population and others are not. Your character is part of the council’s secret intelligence agency and you get information that could spell disaster.
Write a minimum of 1,000 words but names, the amount of planets etc is up to you. Have fun. Continue reading
Friday 21st August 2015: Mirrors
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 cleaning a room. The relationship they have to that room is up to you whether it’s their room or a relative or friend or enemy. When cleaning the mirror, you find something hidden behind it. Begin with the sentence, ‘it fell to the floor.’ Carry on the story.
Tuesday 11th August 2015: Parents.
Today’s prompt: When going through a parent’s things, you find a letter to you from them. The circumstances surrounding this are up to you. Could the parent still be alive and the letter unearths something prematurely? Who knows. Try and write a minimum of five hundred words.
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, male or female is a crime scene investigator and they have just got to a botched crime scene. What happens next?
Today’s Prompt: Use the following line as your first sentence and then try to write for a minimum of 500 words and a maximum of 1,500 words. You should have at least three characters in your story but what they are doing is up to you.
‘We had all kept the secret but now there was no going back.’
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: Think of the occupation you wanted to do when you were a child. Now give your character that occupation. What if your character woke up one morning and found out he could talk to animals or was due to go up into space or was a fireman? Have fun.
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: Tell a love story in a letter. It could be a current love, a long lost love or a relationship between elderly relatives or friends. It could be a series of letters. It’s up to you.
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: Whilst on a second honeymoon, a devoted family man solves a ten year cold case.
Tuesday 14th July 2015: Swapping Bodies
Today’s prompt: One day, your character wakes up in someone else’s body. Who is it they’ve woken up as? Where have they woken up? How would their life change? Write across one day and about the experience your character has in this new body? Do they try and go to see the people in their old lives and how do they react? Do they manage to get back to their own body?
Try to write between 500 and 1700 words.
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: Pick four people (it could be anyone.) Your character is having them around for dinner. What would the conversation be about? Do they all get on? Write this entirely in dialogue.
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: After loosing a bet, a clown in training robs a series of banks. All goes to plan until the third bank. Continue the story.
Writing Room is our online writing group.
We post an exercise. Once you’ve written your piece, feel free to post it in the comments box below for discussion. Anyone is welcome to take part and it’s an opportunity to post work plus give and gain feedback.
Today’s exercise: Take a Letter…
Pick a character from a current work in progress or if you’re not working on anything at the moment, pick a character from a favourite book. Get them to write a letter. It could be to their nemesis or it could be a letter themselves to be opened in the future or it could be to their past selves. What would they say? What does it reveal about your character or the plot of your story. Could you use it in either what you’re currently writing or use it to begin a new story?
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: Randomness. Place all of these random things into a story where your main character is a man named Mike. The items you need to put into your story are: A set of scales, eyes, a magnet, a house, a tent, insects, a compass, a magic wand and happiness (or lack off.)
Friday 1st May 2015: Short Story
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: Write a story based around the following prompt: ‘Able to hear others’ thoughts, a TV presenter goes on a blind date.’ What happens? Try to aim for at least five hundred words.
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: Write a story that has elements of mythology in it. From what time period is up to you.
Writing Room is our online writing group.
We post an exercise. Once you’ve written your piece, post it in the comments box below for discussion. Anyone is welcome to take part and it’s an opportunity to post work plus give and gain feedback.
Today’s exercise: Varying View Points.
Today, it is a short story (minimum of 600 words.) The scene is a doctor’s surgery. It is 10 o clock in the morning. The decor of the room is cream and there are leaflets and posters up on the wall.
Friday 27th March 2015: Reversing
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 would happen if you woke up one day to find that you were ageing in reverse? You weren’t getting older, you were getting younger. What would you do first? What would happen? How would it end? Can you stop it and would you want to?
Friday 20th March 2015: Switching
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: Think about something that has happened to you. It could be something strange, unusual or funny that happened to you as a child, or a teenager or something that happened last week. Once you have something, write about it from the perspective of someone else. You could also think of a situation someone you know has been in and put yourself in their shoes.
Friday 13th March 2015: Back in Time.
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 accidentally transported back to the year of your birth. How you are dressed and how you look makes you stand out. Write about your arrival. What happens? How do people react? Then someone finds your smart phone and it’s new, magical technology that no one has seen before. What happens then?
Friday 6th March 2015: 500 words.
Fiction Friday is our weekly 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 story, characters and theme are your choice but today, your challenge is that the whole story needs to be 500 words or less.
Friday 27th February 2015: Fly on the Wall.
Fiction Friday is our weekly 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: Have you ever wanted to be a fly on the wall for a conversation you want to hear? Well, you are. Who do you hear? What do you hear?
My writing day varies depending on where I am in the world. When I’m at home in Sydney I usually work in my study. It looks out onto two sunny courtyards and across to the upper storey of a beautiful Queen Anne style home. Some days if I’m editing I might walk up to one of the local coffee shops and work there – I like to be around the hum of people depending on what stage of the writing process I’m at.
I start my day with a skinny latte but try to limit myself to one coffee, so after that I’ll have one or two cups of tea.
I’m usually at my desk by 8am and often work until 6pm. I’ve only been writing full-time for two years and one thing I’ve found problematic is my lack of movement! I have to make sure that I get up and walk every half hour or so. To that end I investigated a brilliant standing desk arrangement last year. It has a large flexible arm to hold the computer screen and keyboard so you can adjust it to a sitting position and then push it up so you can stand. The negative impact of sitting for long periods is frightening, apart from the inevitable weight gain, so I hope the standing desk will work for me.
Writing Room is our online writing group.
We post a prompt. It could be a first line, a suggested exercise to work on plot or characters or it could be about writing about a situation. Once you’ve written your piece, post it in the comments box below. Anyone is welcome to take part and it’s an opportunity to post work plus give and gain feedback.
Today’s prompt: Your character is about to enter a party where they don’t know anyone. Using only dialogue, they meet two new people – one of which they like a lot and one they instantly dislike. Where this party is, the age and gender of your character is up to you. Write between 500 – 750 words.
Friday 13th February 2015: Unlucky for some?
Fiction Friday is our weekly 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:
It’s Friday 13th. It is seen as unlucky for some. Is it unlucky for your character? Is your character superstitious? Write about something that happens to them today and how they deal with it. Are they usually lucky but then experience bad luck or do they get a reversal of fortune on Friday 13th where they suddenly become lucky?
Friday 30th January 2015: Celebrity Dinner
Fiction Friday is our weekly 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:
Pick four of your favourite celebrities and invite them to dinner. Write about the evening. What happens? Do they all like one another? Does it end well or in disaster?
Friday 23rd January 2015: Reunion
Fiction Friday is our weekly 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’ve been invited to your school reunion. It will be the first time you’ve seen this group of friends since you left and things didn’t end the way you planned. Write about the reunion.
Friday 2nd January 2015: Resolutions
Fiction Friday is our weekly 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: New Year Resolutions. Have your character make a new year resolution list. Include things that ordinarily they would avoid. Then pick one or two and write about it. How does it go? What happens? Do they make a anti resolution list instead?
Friday 5th December 2014: Christmas Lunch.
Fiction Friday is our weekly 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 have a mix of people coming to dinner. Whether some if all of them know one another is up to you but write about the meal. What happens?
Writing Room is our online writing group.
We post a prompt. Once you’ve written your piece, post it in the comments box below. Anyone is welcome to take part and it’s an opportunity to post work plus give and gain feedback.
Today’s prompt: You are forced to be a part of a game show where peole watch for fun. To survive, you have to win and that comes with tough decisions. What happens to you if you win? What happens if you loose? Is everything as it seems?
Friday 21st November 2014: unreal becomes real.
Fiction Friday is our weekly 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: Recall a story that you’ve been told that at the time you didn’t believe. Now write about it as though it was true and set it in modern times.
Friday 14th November 2014: Memory Loss.
Fiction Friday is our weekly 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 wake up in a strange hotel room. You appear to be alone but the room is messy and there were signs of a party. You don’t remember anything. You spot a digital camera on the bedside table. On it is a photo of you with a mystery person. This is the first clue as to what happened the previous evening. You begin to try to work out the chain of events….
Friday 7th November 2014: Treasure Hunt.
Fiction Friday is our weekly 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: An envelope gets put through your door. There is no indication as to who it is from. The only thing inside is one small piece of paper. Written on it are the words, ‘You should go where you swing high to see the world from a different perspective.’
You are invited onto a mysterious treasure hunt. What happens next after you find this clue?
Friday 31st October 2014: Ghost Stories.
Fiction Friday is our weekly 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: It’s Halloween and it’s your chance to write a ghost story. It can be set in any era and anywhere. Is there a haunted house? Do you see a ghost? It can be anything you like.
Friday 24th October 2014: Going Back.
Fiction Friday is our weekly 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: Have you ever wished you could go back to a time and change it but going back knowing what you know now? After you fall over and bang your head, you find that you’ve gone back in time to an important point in your life – a crossroads for you and you have the chance to alter the outcome. Where do you go back to and what happens? It can be based on fact or you can completely make up the situation (if you are working on a character, where would they go back to?)