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 to go on a quest to find an ancient crystal ball that has the powers to save the world. This artefact has the power to show the future. Is there anything else it can do?
Friday 10th October 2014: Mysterious competition.
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 had a notification that you’ve won a competition. The prize is £10,000. The only thing you have to do to claim it is to be at the address listed at a certain time. When you arrive, there are five other people waiting; people you’ve never met before. What happens?
(Write up to 1,200 words.)
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: This is not the end….
I have read many novels where I have got to the end and I have felt sad that it’s over. I have grown so fond of the characters that I want to know what happens to them beyond the end. Until recently, I had wondered what would become of Bridget and Mark, what happens to Harry between school and the epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, how would Jem and Ralph get on after Ralph’s Party ended.
Friday 3rd October 2014: Waiting Room.
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: Your setting is a train station waiting room. Whether it’s part of a busy station or a quiet small town station is up to you. Your story should centre around three of the people waiting in the room. Why are they there? Have they met before or are they total strangers? Why are they all waiting for a train? Where are they going? The appearance of your characters is up to you as well as gender, age and occupation.
Friday 26th September 2104: Suspense.
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: Carry on from this sentence (max word count, 1,000.) Build the suspense the further you get into the story.
‘I don’t know what will happen if you flick that switch. I have never tired to find out what it does.’
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 find a document about your life. As you begin to read about the current day, things from the page start to happen in real life. Continue on the story. What happens next?
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: Pathway.
Photos can be great for inspiration. What does this photo make you think about? Does it inspire a story? Using this photo, make a list of all the words and themes it makes you think of and then write a story between 500-1000 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 last time I saw my mother was fifteen years ago.’ That is your first sentence. Who your character is and where you go is up to you.
Friday 5th September 2014: Back to School.
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: Back to School. Most children are going back to school this week. The character you’re writing about is a man called Bob and he wakes up to find that instead of being 44, he’s back to being 14 years old (but aware of his life as an adult.) What happens? How does he react and does this change?
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, we are introducing ourselves to our characters.
As writers, we spend a lot of time with the people we create in our imagination but how well do we know them? How much you know your characters will depend on what kind of writer you are and what planning you do before you begin. Today’s exercise is about asking your characters questions about themselves and getting to know them better.
Ask three of your main characters the five questions below. You can choose to either share your answers in the comments box below or simply tell us whether this exercise helped you and why.
Ask your characters the following:
Friday 29th August 2014: Late, Late, Late.
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: Your character is running late for a meeting. Why are they late? What consequences are there for the character because they are late? What happens? Do they make the meeting? Have you ever been late for an important meeting? If so, use it as inspiration.
Friday 22nd August 2014: Nursery rhymes.
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 a nursery rhyme (it can be any one you want,) and write a story using it as inspiration for a story. The maximum word count is 1,000 words.) You can choose whether you tell it from first person or third person point of view and it’s your choice as to which character within the rhyme you use.
Friday 14th August 2014 – It’s not all in your imagination.
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: Your character can be male or female and any age over 18. They have always had an active imagination. What if they woke up one morning to find that their imagination was coming to life? Whatever they thought of appeared in front of them. It’s great at first but if course, like with everything, there are consequences. 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, we’re looking at using colours.
Write a short story. Begin your first sentence with a colour. Then continue to use a colour (different one each time,) at the beginning of each paragraph. Try to use as little description as possible. Try to use dialogue as much as you can.
Write up to 1,000 words.
Friday 8th August 2014: 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 haven’t seen your family for a while. You are all forced to reunite for some reason. Why haven’t you seen them for a while? What happened? Who is in your family and what is the dynamic?
Friday 1st August 2014 – Doing Things Differently.
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 – What would you do if you could go back and change something from the past? Would you do things differently? Take a character you’re currently working on or, if you’ve not got one, choose a character from a favourite novel. Re-write part of their story but this time, change a decision they made and get them to do something differently. What happens?
Friday 25th July 2014 – Undercover.
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 are a police officer. You’ve not been one for long and you’ve been partnered with someone new (who you don’t know well.) Your first assignment means that you both have to go undercover and be convincing in your role in order to catch a criminal. Where, why and you is up to you.
Friday 18th July 2014 – 250 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: 250 words. Using the prompt ‘They couldn’t figure out what to say to each other,’ write a story that is no more than 250 words. What are these two people going to do? What are they going to say to next?
Friday 11th July 2014 – A Letter.
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 find a letter. It could be from anyone – from an old friend, from a younger self. It could be a letter written to your grandmother years before. It’s up to you. Make your piece up to 500 words if you can. In it, there must be some kind of revelation or secret revealed.
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, we’re looking at showing, not telling.
I came to the party. Kelly was there. I said hello. She looked at me.
Rewrite these sentences to show the following: the character is happy to see Kelly, is anxious, fancies Kelly and finally, not expecting to see Kelly.
Friday 4th July 2014 – Lottery Fever.
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: Invent a character who has just won the jackpot on the lottery. What happens next? What does he/she do when he/she finds out? How does he/she handle the win? Who do they tell and how does it affect their life?
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 – Time Travel. Pick one of the three suggestions below then write a fictional story beginning with the line ‘as I walked toward the door.’
Is your character a person of that era? Has your character got there using time travel?
The day Elizabeth I found out she was going to be Queen.
1914 – the beginning of the First World War.
The day you were born.
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: A fly on the wall. Many of us have said that we wish we could have been a fly on the wall on a conversation we want to hear. Write about a time where you did get to overhear a conversation. What was said?
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 is all about researching. Many writers find this a valuable thing when it comes to beginning their novel or story. There is no rule as to how much you need to do before starting your own work but it is valuable to at least know a little about what you’re writing about and getting a balance between fact and imagination in relation to your work.
Friday 13th June 2014. 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: Lucky. Friday 13th is unlucky for some. Write about a character who has always had bad luck except for Friday 13th when they seem to have a large reversal of luck. What happens? Is it all too much at once?
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: Trapped. There is a power cut and as a result, your character is stuck in a bank vestibule with a stranger. What happens? How long are you there?
Friday 30th May 2014.
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 wedding. You are back in town for a wedding. You used to live in this place but not been back for a while. Why did you leave? Do you like the couple getting married? Are you seeing a group of friends that you’ve not seen for a while?
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: We have such big imaginations as children and anything is possible. What did you want to be when you grew up? An astronaut? A fireman? A princess? Write about what would happen if you suddenly got a chance to be what you wanted to be as a child.
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: Carry on the story, using the following line as a starting point.
‘Miranda was sat next to Tim when she saw the article. She quickly snatched the magazine from him.’
Friday 9th May 2014 – Observation. 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. 0
Today’s prompt: Set your timer for a minute. In that minute, write down everything you notice whilst looking out your window – people you see, objects, colours. Do you have the window open? What can you smell? Write down everything that you notice within that minute. Once you’re done, start putting all of your notes into a story.
Friday 2nd May 2014.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 just found out that you’ve got superhero powers and have been enrolled in superhero school. Write about your first day. What’s your power? Have you been enrolled by accident? Do you earn yourself an arch-enemy? Do you come from a family of superheroes and now have a lot to live up to?
Writing Room is our monthly online writing group.Each month, 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.
May’s prompt: Write a letter from you to someone who you’re either angry or in love with. The person in question can be made up if you are worried about it being too personal. If you’re working on a novel or short story, maybe you’d prefer to write it from the point of view of your main character or a secondary character to your main character? What would you tell them? Maximum word count is 500 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 below.
Today’s prompt: You are transported into your favourite book or movie. Which character are you? What changes in the story now you are there? Do you alter something significant?
Fiction Friday is our weekly prompt where the internal editor is asked to step out. We post a prompt. Use it as inspiration to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you like. Once you’ve finished, post in the comments below. Don’t edit, just post.
Today’s prompt: Take a story you love. Maybe one you liked as a child or a snippet of a book you’ve read recently. Swap all the characters around. Make the hero the sidekick and the villain the hero? Maybe the adult who offers advice is the nervous and unknowing character? What if the hero’s best friend is actually the villain? Have a go at swapping everyone around.
Writing Room is our online writing group.Every month, we focus on a specific theme or area of writing. Anyone can take part. Just post any contributions in the comments box below.
For April, study this photo. What does it inspire? What do you think is behind it? How did you find it? Is it a secret garden or somewhere where you shouldn’t be? Is it on an estate where you have been sent to live or being forced to stay? Maybe you are trying to hide and this is where you end up. Write up to 500 words describing what you see and what it makes you think about. Continue reading
The idea of Fiction Friday is to write. We post a prompt every friday. Use it as inspiration to write for a minimum of five minutes. Then, keep going for as long as you can. Once you’re done, don’t edit, just post in the comments below.
Today’s prompt: Fairytales.
Write about a cowardly girl who must save a princess, evade an unwanted lover and defeat a tyrant before she can return home. Things become complicated because of a jealous rival. Assistance comes in the form of a magic ring.
The aim of Fiction Friday is to shut away your internal editor for a while. We post a prompt. You write for a minimum of five minutes and then, keep going for as long as you can. Once you’re done, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: In approx 250 – 350 words, describe the strangest day you can imagine. What’s the setting? What’s happening? Who is it happening to?
Every friday, we post a writing prompt. The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keeping going for as long as you can. Once you’re done, don’t edit your piece of writing, just post in the comments below.
Today’s prompt is that your characters are in the middle of some sort of heist. How many people involved and the scale of the robbery is up to you. The first line is, ‘Just get on with it. We need to get out of here, now.’
Remember, don’t edit, just post.
The aim is to use the prompt and 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.
Today’s prompt: Your character gets a phone call at three am in the morning. It wakes you up. When you answer, do you recognise the voice and know who it is? Is it a stranger?
Using all your words.
Fiction Friday is our weekly prompt. The aim is to use the prompt, write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’re done, post in the comments box below. Don’t edit, just post.
Today’s prompt:
You have six people sat around a table, three men and three women. The reason as to why they are there is up to you. Your first sentence is from one of the women and it’s Continue reading
Every Friday is Fiction Friday. We post a prompt. You write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’re done, you don’t edit. Just post in the comments box below.
Today’s Prompt: You come across a seemingly ordinary object. It can be anything – a scarf, shoes, a lamp, a remote for the TV. You almost discard it but then magical things start to happen. When you realise it’s this object making things happen, you decide to keep and use it. What happens next?

Anyone can take part and post their work and this month, it’s all about seeing things differently.
Write about a past family gathering. Write the story in as much detail as possible, explaining what you saw, what you did, and how you felt. Then rewrite the same story from the perspective of someone else who was there. You can keep writing until you think it’s done or you could time yourself?
Once you’re done, post in the comments below.
Fiction Friday: 28th february 2014.
List three activities that you could have your character doing. It could be anything from sky diving to a road trip from one end of the country to the other. Once you have your three things, pick one. If you are working on something at the moment, use your main character and write from the point of view of your character whilst they try this activity. If you’ve not got a character, open the book nearest to you and pick a name from there.
Write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going. Once you’re done, don’t edit. Just post.
The prompt for today’s fiction friday: You find a money clip on the ground whilst walking down the high street. It contains £10,000. What do you do next? Which problems does it create? Solve?
Write for five minutes minimum and then keep going. Once you’re finished, post in the comments box below.
For today’s prompt, it’s all about love (as it’s Valentine’s Day.) Your two main characters are Lucy and Tom. Have they just met? Are they are at a turning point in their relationship? Is it about to end? That’s all your choice. What will you have happen to Lucy and Tom?
Write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Don’t edit, just post in the comments below.
Today’s prompt: If you go down to the woods today…
What does the picture below inspire? Does it conjure up wonder? Fear? Curiosity? Write down everything that comes into your head when you look at it and then try to craft it into a story. Write for five minutes minimum and then keep going as long as you can.
Once you’re done, Continue reading
Writing Room: February 2014. Now for something completely different. For this month’s writing room, it’s about changing history.
Pick an event in history that particularly interests you and that you know a little about or something you can easily research.
Now, think about what could happen if you change the facts. For example, Continue reading
Today’s prompt: Pick three to five guests that you’d like to invite over to dinner. It could be anyone you like; friends, celebrities, people you admire. Write about the evening starting from the moment your first guest arrives.
Write for five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. When you’re done, post in the comments below.
The Fiction Friday prompt this week is about getting to know your character. Do you have a piece of fiction you are currently working on? If so, ask these questions about your main character. If you don’t, pick a random name out from a newspaper or a book you’re currently reading.
Ask these five questions:
1. Who is your hero and why?
2. What is your earliest childhood memory?
3. Does your character have a secret? Continue reading
It’s amazing what lines of dialogue or ideas for books we can get from accidentally overhearing other people’s conversation.
For today’s prompt, try to catch little pieces of information from conversations going on around you. Anything you find interesting, write down. Once you’ve got between five and ten lines, put them into a paragraph of dialogue. Once you’re done, post.
Write for a minimum of five minutes, then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’re done, then post in the comments below.
The aim of Fiction Friday is to take the prompt below and write for a minimum of five minutes, then keep going for as long as you can. Don’t edit, just post your attempt in the comments below.
Today’s prompt: Keep this conversation going:
‘Don’t I know you?’
‘No, I don’t think so?’
‘No, I do. Weren’t you the woman who, you know, got involved with all that business a while back?’
What comes next?
I work in a small office next to my bedroom. When we moved into our house seventeen years ago it was billed as another bedroom, but was a bit impractical as you had to walk into our bedroom to get into it. So we decided to turn it into a bathroom and dressing room. Then I decided to go freelance and started writing, so we thought, how much space do we really need for clothes? and turned it into a study instead. My husband is very handy round the house, so he built the desk and shelves himself, and a lovely decorator pal of ours painted it for us.
I love it because Continue reading
Fiction Friday: 3rd January 2014. You wake up to find that a household product is having a strange effect on your pets and children and they start to act strange. What happens next?
Write for five minutes minimum and then keep going. When you’re done, post in the comments box below.
Writing Room – January 2014: Write a diary entry. It’s 2014. A new year. For this month, write a diary entry from the point of view of your character. If you’re currently working on a book, write as your main character or maybe you’d like to pick a supporting character? If you’ve not got anything you’re working on, write from the point of view from a person named Sam.
What would they write about? What are their resolutions for the year?
Write between 500 – 1000 words and post in the comments section. Continue reading
The prompt today – you get mistaken for someone else? Who do you get mistaken for? What happens?
Write for five minutes and then keep going. Don’t edit, just post.
December: Write a letter to Father Christmas… It’s the season to be jolly. For this month’s writing room, it’s your opportunity to write a letter to Father Christmas. What would you ask him for? Which questions would you put to him? You could even write it from the point of view of a child if you wanted to. Maximum word count is 750 words.
When you’re done, feel free to post your attempt in the comments below…
Friday 29th November 2013: Dinner Party.You are invited to a dinner party by a stranger. When you get there, you find that you’ve been joined by friends and enemies. What happens? Why have you all been brought there?
Write for five minutes and then, keep going if you can. Don’t edit, just post.
Fiction Friday: 22nd November 2013.Today’s prompt:
You are at work and you hit print on a private or sensitive document. However, you send it to the wrong printer and now you don’t know where it’s gone….
Keep writing.
Remember, don’t edit, just post.
Fiction Friday: Friday 15th November 2013.It’s Friday. Every week, we have a fiction prompt and the aim is just to write, not edit.
Today, it’s all about family celebrations. Your character’s name is Mark and he is going back to his family home for a get together for the first time in five years. Who is there? Why has he not been back for so long and what happens once he gets there? Does he bring anyone with him and how are they received?
Write for five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’ve finished, post on here. Don’t edit.
As its National Novel Writing Month, I thought it would be fun for all of us to write a story.
I’ll write the first line below and then just keep the story going. Let’s see how far we get. At the end, I’ll tally up the word count and see how many we manage. It doesn’t matter if you go to post the next part and someone gets in before you. It’s all part of the fun.
First line:
He told me to keep it. How was I meant to know what would happen if I didn’t.