Tag Archives: creative ideas

Writing prompt – tides

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Ammonite on Sidmouth Beach_Photo by Judy DarleyWater is a crucial ingredient for life. It makes up a large part of our bodies and keeps us well. It carries us from place to place and shows us where to put down roots. Equally, it has a wild side that can rob us of our homes, our possessions, our crops and even our breath.

Tides bring us ashore and sweep us away.

Can you use this to prompt a poem or tale?

If you’re intrigued by how water can enhance your creative writing, you may be interested in the on-ship writing workshop Writing on Water I’m leading with poet Helen Sheppard aboard Bristol’s John Sebastian Lightship on Saturday 18th March. Whether you write about a raindrop or an ocean, you can harness water as a powerful writing muse. Find full details here.

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 – wisdom

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Sidmouth Beach, Devon by Judy Darley

My sister and I recently arranged a coastal weekend of celebrations marking a significant birthday for our mum. Living in a society when older people are often disregarded, and older women even more so, this week’s prompt urges you to think of the wise women in your life and the things they have taught you, from strength and self-belief, to never accepting less than the life you crave.

My mum is a quiet person, but steadfast. When my dad proposed, many decades ago, she agreed to married him on the proviso they live abroad before having children, and this is what they did. Her hunger for adventure prompted many of their travels, while my parents’ equal status in all things taught me and my sister to fall in love with people who treat us with the utmost respect. I can’t thank her enough for her many unspoken lessons.

This International Women’s Day, can you write a tale about a woman who is central to her family or community in this way?

#WritingPrompt #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

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 – space

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Building site hole_Photo by Judy Darley

As someone who grew up with C.S. Lewis’ Narnia Chronicles and, later, a variety of fantasy sci-fi telly, the idea of stepping between worlds has always enticed me.

A city-centre building has been shrouded in a cartoonish costume of itself for as long as I can remember, but recently a hole appeared, big enough for a person to fit through.

What could be on the other side? What might sneak through to our side? What kind of adventures could follow?

And how could you write this in an original way that hasn’t been done a thousand times before? #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

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 – look up

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Look up cloud formation shaped like a hand with a pointing finger against a blue sky

You know how it is when you’re meandering along with your head full of stress, your ear-buds filling your ears with chatter, your feet kicking along the leaf-sludgy pavement, and a random cloud formation catches your eye and demands you look up?

Yeah, that.

It happened to me the other day and lifted me from my concerns for a moment.

A frothy, cloud-sculpted hand pointed into a perfect blue sky.

So I followed the finger’s instruction and looked up.

And I saw….

You decide. Write this scenario into a short story and choose whether this hand is divine intervention, or a simply a naturally occurring clump of water droplets. What implications does it hold for your character? Does it change their life, or add a fresh stress to their existence? Or could this be the start of an unusual meet-cute?

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 – embrace

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Rainbow by Judy Darley

Recently, someone I value highly let me know that they identify as pan-sexual and pan-gender. To me that sounds like the most magical way to be – open to all the possibilities the beauty of humanity has to offer.

And yet, of course, not all of humanity can offer beauty and light. Some hide fear and uncertainty behind aggression.

This Valentine’s Day, can you write a story that brims with love of all varieties or shows a character overcoming their own fear and uncertainty to embrace possibilities?

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 – ledge

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Cat on a ledge2 by Judy Darley

When walking in my neighbourhood I often look out for window cats – those pets enjoying the warmth of indoors while gazing out at a wintery world.

Occasionally I see the opposite – a cat who is outside peering in and presumably wishing to gain entry to that cosy world, rather like a frostbitten Victorian urchin gawping at a rich family’s dinner and japes. Or maybe these are cats who were simply passing and felt the urge to feed their famous curiosity.

This cat looks a bit embarrassed to be photographed. What has it glimpsed through that window? Is it just feeding its curiosity, or has it seen something incredible?

And what is that reflected in the glass?

Can you use this to prompt a tale (or tail)?

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 – empty

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Bird feeder_Photo by Judy Darley

This bird feeder has been hanging empty from a local tree for more than a year. It feels a bit like a ‘cost of living crisis’ metaphor, or maybe just a reminder that we need to be resourceful to provide for ourselves in difficult times.

Of course, the creatures who come here and are disappointed may not be birds at all. What other hungry mouths might it attract? How could they respond to the emptiness?

Can you use this as the prompt for a dark fairytale or satirical story?

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 – flood

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Pulteney Weir, Bath. Photo by Judy Darley

We’ve had such heavy deluges this winter that normally tranquil streams and weirs have grown uncharacteristically ferocious. The one show here flows beneath Pulteney Bridge in Bath and looks like it might just sweep all the bridge-top shops and cafes away.

The ridges are where gulls, ducks and even pigeons like to perch, but now those spots may be to tumultuous for fish, let alone birds.

Can you use an extreme weather event or natural disaster to thread drama through a flash fiction tale or other creative work?

Alternatively, pick one of the figures shown. What struggles will a calamitous storm bring for them?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.

Writing prompt – path

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Arnos Vale fog. Photo by Judy Darley

Sometimes the bravest thing we can do at this time of year is set off without knowing where we’re going to end up. Even on sunny days there may be obstacles ahead.

The fog at the end of this path reminds me that we can never truly be certain where our steps will lead. The best we can do is pick a direction, imagine a destination, and go forwards. There may be some re-routes or detours along the way, and perhaps even a few hazards, but one thing is sure, we’ll get to somewhere and maybe have some adventures along the way.

Can you use this as the foundation of a story or other creative work?

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it to me in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.

Writing prompt – glove

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Lost glove in a bush by Judy Darley

I’m always intrigued when I see a lost glove clinging to a shrub or balanced on fence. Is someone walking around with one warm hand, and one cold, wondering where their lost knitwear fell? Did a rodent or robin carry it off to turn into a cosy bed? Did someone take the promise to lend a hand a tad too literally?

Who lost this glove, and how? What happened next?

Is there some magical myth here in the making? Take these seeds and turn them into a story fit for this chilly season.

On 12th December 2019 my winter’s fairytale ‘Click Clack Twitch‘ appeared as part of Storgy Magazine‘s flash fiction advent calendar.

You can read ‘Click Clack Twitch’ here. The story also appears in my 2022 short fiction collection from Reflex Press, The Stairs Are a Snowcapped Mountain.

If you write or create something prompted by this idea, please send it in an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com for possible publication on SkyLightRain.com.