Author Archives: Judy

Writing prompt – afoot

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Tree foot. Photo by Judy Darley

Trees are magnificent natural sculptors. My sister recently shared a photo of a trunk with one glorious moss-covered ear. I’ll take that ear and raise it with this rooted foot contemplating a Shakespeare-esque or Tolkien-worthy march through the woods in North Somerset. Or perhaps I’ve accidentally taken a photo of Roald Dahl’s BFG without his slippers on, and he really needs to trim his toenails.

Whatever the truth, something’s afoot…

Can you let your imagination run free and turn this into a magical tale?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please let me know by emailing judydarley (at) iCloud.com. I’d love to know the creative direction you choose.

Writing prompt – bubbles

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Bubbles_Photo by Judy Darley

At a nearby sculpture woodland called Ty Sculpture Trail, one of the highlights is a natural phenomenon rather than human-made artwork. At the Bubbling Pond, silvery bubbles rise from the depths to cast circular ripples. It’s a gloriously tranquil setting.

The trail makers claim no one knows what causes the bubbles, and suggest it could be a dragon snoozing in an underwater cave.

What myth or bubble-blowing science could you attribute the bubbles to? Can you create a character who shares this idea as a tale within a tale, and give them a someone to tell it to? What might the consequences be?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please let me know by emailing judydarley (at) iCloud.com. I’d love to know the creative direction you choose.

Enter the Bath Short Story Award 2024

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Roman Baths pigeons by Judy DarleyThe annual Bath Short Story Award is open for entries from aspiring and established writers worldwide.

The competition closes to entries on Monday, 15th April at midnight BST. You’re invited to submit stories up to a maximum of 2,200 words on any theme or subject.

The year’s judge is award-winning novelist and short story champion, Sophie Haydock. Read an interview with her.

Each submission costs £9.

The Bath Short Story Award prizes

First prize: £1200
Second prize £300
Third prize £100
Acorn Award for an unpublished witer £100
Local writer prize £50 in book vouchers donated by Mr B’s Emporium of Books, Bath.

Final Results will be out by July/August 2024.

Find full details of how to enter here. Good luck!

Got an event, challenge, competition or call for submissions you’d like to draw my attention to? Send me an email at JudyDarley (@) iCloud (dot) com.

Writing prompt – private

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Private gate_Coastal Path. Photo by Judy Darley

On the UK’s coastal path between Clevedon and Portishead, North Somerset, there are lovely woodlands, but not all of these are open to everyone. This one is privately owned, yet I’ve never seen anyone enjoying this area.

I found myself feeling annoyed they were keeping it to themselves – surely trees and greenery are for all of us? But then thought about how I would feel if that rule applied to my own tiny garden. Imagine looking out of your bedroom window to see a family picnicking on your lawn below. The smaller the space, the weirder and more intense that would be.

How could you persuade them to leave? Something about this is so absurd it hovers between comedy and horror.

Can you turn this into a story or other creative work?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please let me know by emailing judydarley (at) iCloud.com. I’d love to know the creative direction you choose.

Writing prompt – tide

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High tide swallows a Clevedon beach by Judy Darley

The small coastal town where I live sits on the edge of one of Earth’s greatest tidal ranges. It re-sculpts views and terrains, providing the perfect habitat for wading birds one day and fish the next.

Last week, I strolled towards the path to a rocky beach and discovered it had been swallowed by the sea… Yet I know it will return in the next few days and shrug off its driftwood and seaweed as though it was never hidden.

Can you write a story inspired by this variance? How do these dramatic changes impact your characters?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please let me know by emailing judydarley (at) iCloud.com. I’d love to know the creative direction you choose.

Submit tiny flashes to Paragraph Planet

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Hot Water by Judy DarleyI’m growing increasingly addicted to Paragraph Planet. This fabulous website publishes a single 75-word flash fiction every day (word count includes title). The stories selected are brilliantly varied and thought-provoking. Visiting each day feels like pond dipping – you never quite know what wonders will appear.

They’re also a great place to submit to. Their online submission form is easy, and free, to use, and while there isn’t payment for writers, there is notoriety up for grabs. Each story is shared via Twitter to more than 3,600 followers.

The picture above is the one I created for my story Leavings, which is available to read in the Paragraph Planet archive section – just scroll to December 30th.

Have you ever been published on Paragraph Planet? Excitingly, there are now #author pages with a clickable link for every author published since 2008. Find them here! 

There’s something intensely satisfying about crafting a piece that exactly hits 75 words, including title, and ensuring it’s still meaningful. If you write, I urge you to give it a try, and if you read, swing by to read today’s tiny yet powerful offering.

Got an event, challenge, competition or call for submissions you’d like to draw my attention to? Send me an email at JudyDarley (@) iCloud (dot) com.

Writing prompt – between

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I’ve always been intrigued by the space between things. In this case, the space shows the view between the boards of a Victorian pier, where the Bristol Channel’s waves beat far below.

Imagine a scenario where someone, or something, slips between these storm-battered planks of wood. Could it be something metaphysical rather than solid, like a promise, a hope or a memory?

Can you turn this idea into a thought-provoking tale?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please let me know by emailing judydarley (at) iCloud.com. I’d love to know the creative direction you choose.

Enter a comic poetry contest

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Possible wergleflomp spied at Art in Action

While I’m a fan of sensitive, thought-provoking poetry, there’s definitely something to be said for an intelligent comical poem. Just writing one can lift your spirits.

The Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest, sponsored by Winning Writers, seeks to celebrate the art of writing poems that make others smile. The creature at the top of is, I believe, a possible Wergle Flomp, spied in the wilds of Art in Action’s final year.

Prizes

  • First Prize: $2,000 plus a two-year gift certificate from the competition’s co-sponsor, Duotrope (a $100 value)
  • Second Prize: $500
  • Third Prize: $250
  • Honorable Mentions: 10 awards of $100 each
  • Top 13 entries published online

Read 2023’s winners and the winners from 2022, to get some inspiration, and then let your imagination run riot.

Submit a single poem of no more than 250 lines long. There’s no restriction on the age of the author. Both unpublished and previously published work is acceptable. Inspired gibberish is also accepted (read an example by Wergle’s creator, poet David Taub).

This year’s judge is Jendi Reiter, assisted by Lauren Singer.

There’s no fee to enter the writing competition, so what have you got to lose?

Make sure you upload your masterpiece to winningwriters.com/wergle before the submission deadline of 1st April 2024 (April Fools’ Day – how apt is that?).

Got an event, challenge, competition or call for submissions you’d like to draw attention to? Send me an email at JudyDarley (@) iCloud (dot) com.

See you at ‘Stories for Grown Ups’ at The Festival of Stories, 9th March

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Festival of Stories artwork showing drawings of people sitting on books with the words Festival of Stories in white serif font on a black starry background.I’m excited to be running a segment at Bristol’s Festival of Stories on Saturday 9th March. This fabulous one-day event is celebrating storytelling in all its forms, with a book swap, new and second-hand books for sale, writing workshops, kid-friendly stories with children’s authors, and *trigger warning* there might even be a clown or two… The section I’ve been invited to curate is titled Stories for Grown Ups and is from 2pm-3pm..

The word-revelling event takes over Sparks, the old M&S in Broadmead, from 11am-6pm on Saturday 9th March.

I’m a firm believer that adults benefit from being read to just as much as children do, and have invited some fabulous local writers to join me in sharing their words at Stories For Grown Ups from 2-3pm.

Helen Sheppard is a Bristol-based writer and former midwife whose poetry explores themes of birth, health loss, and those whose voices are often unheard. Helen co-runs Satellite of Love Poetry events. Her debut poetry collection Fontanelle was published by Burning Eye Books.

Emma Phillips’ fiction has been placed in the Bath Flash Award, Free Flash Fiction Competition and Best Microfiction 2022 and appear in various other places in print and online. Her flash collection Not Visiting the SS Great Britain is out now from Alien Buddha Press.

Jude Higgins founded Bath Flash Fiction Award in 2015, has co-run The Bath Short Story Award since 2013 and directs the short-short fiction press, Ad Hoc fiction and Flash Fiction Festivals, UK. Her flash fiction chapbook The Chemist’s House was published in 2017 by V. Press. Another flash fiction collection will be out in 2024.

John Wheway’s publications include The Green Table of Infinity, from Anvil Press; Poborden, from Faber; A Bluebottle in Late October, V Press; writings in New Measure, Stand, Magma, Warwick Review, Poetry Review, Yellow Nib, Poetry Quarterly, Compass, South Word, Agenda, High Window. He won the 2023 Wigtown International Poetry Prize.

Chrissey Harrison writes supernatural thrillers and other spec genre fiction. Books about monsters, magic, action and adventure, and fragile human characters trying to muddle through as best they can. Her debut novel, Mime, released in July 2020, is the first in her Weird News Series. Her short stories have featured in several anthologies, most recently Forgotten Sidekicks (Grimbold Books) and Fire (North Bristol Writers).

I’ll wrap up the session. I’m the author of short fiction collections The Stairs are a Snowcapped Mountain (Reflex Press), Sky Light Rain (Valley Press) and Remember Me to the Bees (Tangent Books). My words have been published and performed on BBC radio and aboard boats, in museums, caves, a disused church and artists’ studios.

It will be an inspiring, emotionally enriching day of events, so why not pop in? With Mothering Sunday just the day after, it’s also a great, unusual way to celebrate any literature-loving mums.

Writing prompt – reeds

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Reed beds beneath blue wintery sky in Clevedon. Photo by Judy Darley

Near where I live, reed beds provide a fantastic habitat for birds such as warblers and small mammals. Whispering in the wind, I find these golden strands quite magical.

I do worry, though, that dogs running and hunting in this area could decimate nests of precious eggs or chicks.

Could you weave a tale to encourage people to keep dogs on leads in these areas?

Alternatively, why not have a dog or human character discover something unexpected sheltering in the reeds?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please let me know by emailing judydarley (at) iCloud.com. I’d love to know the creative direction you choose.