Writing Prompt: One Day

This is the last day of 2015, so it seems appropriate that I set up a prompt relating to that. This has been a tough year, filled with challenges, disappointments, revelations (not all good) and hurdles to jump. That being said, I'm still here and I've had just as many good days as bad, it's...

Writing Prompt:Burying the Body

People love crime novels. All you have to do is look at the best seller list in any book store and the dedicated crime sections in bookshops to see that. One of the things that has always fascinated me about crime writer is how they work out what is plausible to give their story credibility,...

Writing Prompt: Family Member

I was on the train last night talking to some friends and we got on the subject of what we were going to do for Christmas. We told each other where we would be and which family members we would be hanging around with over the holidays and I began to describe my nieces and...

Writing Prompt: The Daisy Chain

I've always been fascinated by how seemingly unrelated things can link together and form a chain of events that change people's lives. Heavy for a writing prompt, huh? Here's a "for instance"... I moved to a new town two years ago. I knew no one and so, I thought I'd start a book club to...

Writing Prompt:The Hardest Word

Apparently, the word most people find hardest to say to someone is "NO". I'm not sure I agree with this, but it's an interesting idea. Personally, there are about a dozen words I find harder. I find telling someone they're wrong harder than refusing them something. If you had to pick one word that you...

Writing Prompt: In what order?

It's interesting to see how people make decisions. I just had a conversation with someone and they asked me the following question... "Imagine a scenario where you are in the house alone. The following things occur at the same time: Someone starts pounding at the door. The phone rings You realise the tap is running...

Writing Promopt: “All change here, all change…”

That is what the train conductor says when the train terminates and it's time to get off. There are times when I hear those words and I think they're a metaphor for something else. For instance, is the universe trying to tell me that it's time to change, to jump off this train and catch...

Writing Prompt: Whoof, Meow

There have been films and stories where the protagonists are animals. Think, "Animal Farm", "Watership Down", "Babe", "Charlotte's Web". For this prompt, try writing a story from the point of view of an animal or animals. Create a world for them to inhabit and throw in some conflict based on the setting and circumstances. Are...

Writing Prompt: A Thousand Words

They say a picture tells a thousand words. What about several pictures all mashed up together? For today, write a short narrative incorporating elements of all of the images below. What's nice about this exercise is that each image is opened to interpretation and its significance to the overall writing is entirely up to you....

Writing Prompt: On the Road (Edinburgh to London)

I'm no Jack Kerouac. My journeys are not necessarily about self discovery, but I do find myself travelling quite a lot these days. I'm on a train heading into work for my weekly commute from Scotland to London. (I know...right!?) However this is going to be a particularly tough week. I'll be visiting Vienna, Oslo,...