Prompt 9 of the 30 Day Writing Challenge is:
You’re sitting in a cafe when you look up and see… Write a fictional piece about what would happen if you saw a celebrity in a coffee shop.
Tag Archives: Writing Exercises
Stay Together For The Kids
Today’s prompt from the 30 Day Writing Challenge is:
Pick the title of one of your favourite songs and write a piece about it. Give the lyrics meaning by creating a story for it.
This was sooooo hard, but I finally decided on…
Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness
Sincere apologies that I haven’t responded to your lovely comments this week. I gave up smoking on Monday so I’ve been avoiding the iPad (iPad = cup of tea and a cigarette) and just trying to occupy myself by changing my routine. So I’ve been keeping myself busy with writing, reading and magazine flicking. Normal business will resume shortly, I promise.
The title of this blog post is the first line from John Keats To Autumn poem, and will probably give you a hint to my response to the 7th prompt in the 30 Day Writing Challenge
What is your favourite season? Use vivid details and even include memories you have of that season.
A Nightmare on My Street
The 5th prompt in the 30 Day Writing Challenge is…
Write about a dream or nightmare that you’ve had and turn it into a short story.
Creating A Character
Prompt number 4 on the 30 Day Writing Challenge is…
Create a character off the top of your head and write a short history of him/her. Oh yes! You know how I love to create characters 🙂
The Dream Vacation
Number 3 of the 30 Day Writing Challenge prompts is:
If you could go on vacation anywhere in the world where would you go? Use vivid detail and prose to describe the experience you would like to have.
This photo was taken in Spain.
The Book of Me, Written by You
If you’re into journaling, writing memoir or genealogy then perhaps this might interest you…
Good luck to Julie at Anglers Rest with this project. I’ll be taking part when I can 🙂
If you want to join, you’ll need to be quick…it starts today!
Related articles
- The Book of Me, Written By You (talesofhappy.wordpress.com)
- The Book of Me – Prompt 1: Who am I? (creativityorcrazy.wordpress.com)
Where I Turn Into Agatha Christie
Welcome to my 2nd instalment of the 30 Day Writing Challenge 🙂
Day 2 – Open a book – pick a sentence and use that as the first line in a piece.
Ok, so I picked a book from my shelf, copied out a sentence in my notebook and put the book back. Do you think I can blooming remember which book it was? LMAO!
“The gateman didn’t ask him about the drowsy man with the dark sunglasses who was half asleep on the passenger seat.”
So he drove straight through and into the large enclosed courtyard.
“Good evening Sir.” Yates approached the car and opened the drivers door.
“Good evening Yates. I’m afraid Mr Ramsey is slightly worse for wear.”
Yates peered across at the slouched figure of Ramsey. “Oh dear Sir, did Mr Ramsey consume too much champagne in London?”
Edward Mandrell pulled at the sports cars hand brake, turned off the ignition and released his seat belt. He climbed out of his seat as Yates held the door.
“Ah, you know him well Yates!” Edward slapped the butler on the back as he made his way up the stone steps to the front door, taking two at a time. At the open door he paused and turned. “Is my wife at home Yates?”
“Yes sir, she’s in the library.”
Without even a thank you Edward entered the imposing Victoria mansion.
Edward was born in India to a family who considered themselves Aristocracy. Truth be told, it was only his great grandfather who had made the family’s fortune, prior to that the Mandrells had been farmers in Somerset. But thanks to an unfortunate sinking of a cargo ship and great grandfather George’s opportunistic nature the family estate in Bath now included thousands of acres and a stately home that rivalled Buckingham Palace. Edward was sure he had only ever been in a 3rd of the rooms the house contained. As a small boy he’d become lost in the East Wing, which put an end to his exploring.
He made his way purposefully to the library. It had been several days since he’d seen his wife Daphne and there was much to discuss. He threw open the double oak doors.
“Darling!” He expected to see Daphne sitting in her favourite chair, book in hand, her glasses perched on the tip of her nose, but her chair was empty.
His eyes searched the room for some clue to her location. A lit cigarette in the ashtray or a hot cup of tea on the table beside her chair would indicate she’d just left the room, but neither of these things were present.
But as he entered, the doors creaked as they swayed closed behind him, revealing one of his wife’s navy shoes, sticking out from behind the overstuffed chaise lounge. And then, he noticed the blood…..
I wrote this one morning in the main lounge at Swanwick, inspired by the photos adorning the walls of what the house looked like in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.
Ok, this will probably end up languishing in my notebook, and before you ask, no, I don’t know who Ramsey is, what they were doing in London, or what’s happened to poor Daphne *sniggers*
Be interested to hear your ideas and thoughts 🙂
Once Upon A Time…
The first prompt on the 30 Day Writing Challenge is Start a piece with…
Once upon a time, on a dark and stormy night. No, seriously, it was an ordinary day, in an ordinary street where my story begins. An average suburban semi on a tree lined avenue, much like many others. My name is Conscience, but you can call me Connie and this definitely ain’t no fairy tale!
You don’t know my face, my hair colour, what shade of lipstick I wear, but you DO know me, intimately. You see, I’m the one who hovers at your shoulder every time you make a decision. I whisper in your ear, pull at your gut, and try my hardest to help you make the RIGHT choice. It doesn’t always work though. I have my successes, AND my failures. And you humans, you rarely disappoint with the ridiculous predicaments you get yourselves into. But I’ve been in this game so long now that nothing shocks me. I’m not moaning though, if you didn’t, I’d be out of a job.
Standing outside number 26 Newport Avenue I’m struck with how perfect the garden is. How every flower has been planted with care and purpose and the grass looks like someone has been cutting it with a pair of scissors. There is an inviting glow coming from the gothic bay window. Shall we go inside?
This is an experiment….and tied up with my Nano 2013 novel. I’m trying to get Connie’s voice right. She will be the narrator of the story. Your opinions would be much appreciated. 🙂
Writing Blogger Challenge Day 9
Today’s prompt is:
Post either a setting or character profile from your latest fiction project, a chapter summary of your non-fiction book, or a discussion of the theme or object inspiring a poem, article, or other writing project.
Hmmmmmm *thinks* Well, I’ve shared the character profiles of my first novel (Still) but I’m afraid the characters in Tangled and Sorrento Sunrise are somewhere, within the pages of my 41 notebooks (and at this stage I’m thinking I really should have some kind of indexing system!). So rather than try to trawl through all my notebooks I’ll give you a new one 🙂
Last night I wrote the beginnings of yet another story (prompted by something in Natalie Goldberg’s Wild Mind). Ms Goldberg suggested making a list…
A Colour Blue (the sky over London on a September morning)
A City London
A Street Charlotte Street (where I meet the Faber gang and the location of my story)
A Fruit Mango (what my character finds in his lunch box lol)
A Month September
A Job Newsagent (newspaper seller)
And then to write a piece containing all of them…. So this character profile is from the story I came up with last night.
Bill Taylor is 62 years old. Born and bred in East London he is proud of his roots and his first job at 14 was on a market stall in Petticoat Lane, selling “bits and bobs” to local housewives.
Short and stocky, he is now balding, what little hair he has left is white but he still has the cheeky blue eyes and dimpled chin that made him so popular in the 1960’s.
Married to Marjorie since the 1970’s they have 2 sons who both live overseas, and 2 grand daughters they rarely see. On his left arm he has Marjorie’s name tattooed and on his right arm, the names of his sons.
Bill runs a newsagents in London selling to the commuters as they make their way to the tube station. Business has taken a dip these past couple of years due to the digital age (everyone getting the news on their phones) so Marjorie is trying to persuade him to retire and buy a little flat by the sea. Bill couldn’t think of anything worse! Since his heart attack last year, Marjorie has been filling his lunch box with what he terms as “rabbit food” and insists that he stick to the diet recommended by the doctor.
A very proud man, he is a traditionalist with high morals and strong views of what is right and wrong. A Royalist, his proudest moment was meeting Princess Diana when she stopped at his shop to buy a bottle of water and a pack of sweets for Wills and Harry.
In his spare time (what little there is as he has to be at the shop for 4.30 every morning) he enjoys football (but sadly doesn’t go to the matches anymore…he used to take his sons) and likes to keep up to date with current affairs. He often says “what’s the point of selling newspapers if you don’t know what’s going on in the world” and can often be found reading the papers behind his counter when the shop is empty.
He drives a small old white van that’s constantly breaking down and although he owns his shop (he inherited it from an uncle back in the 1980’s) which is prime London real estate, he has no intention of selling and is adamant that they will have to “cart him out in a box” which causes tension and arguments with Marjorie.
I think that’s it 🙂 I don’t know what’s going to happen to old Bill, I haven’t got that far in the story yet lol, but, you know me, Bill will probably end up getting his wish of being carted out in a box 😉
if you try Ms Goldberg’s list idea, do let me know, I’d be interested to hear what you come up with.
Related articles
- Writing Blogger Challenge Day 4 (the-view-outside.com)
- Writing Blogger Challenge – Day 1 (the-view-outside.com)
The View Outside 