Writing prompt – flap

Red Admiral by Judy Darley

I never expected to see a red admiral butterfly flapping around my neighbourhood on a chilly November day. This one is clearly aware of its naval namesake, as it’s perched on the boat motif that adorns Bristol wheelie bins.

And yes, it is the butterfly that’s upside-down, and not the photo or the bin.

It’s an odd image, though, isn’t it? There are so many directions you could take this prompt in, from a climate fiction tale on butterfly sightings in November, and what this bodes for our planet, or a fable about a red admiral butterfly meeting a naval admiral, or even, taking into account the butterfly’s topsy-turvy posture, a piece revelling in the natural world’s eccentrics. It’s up to you! Take this idea, and fly with it.

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 – debris

River mud and debris

Rivers carry all traces of our lives, from rubbish to sewage. Looking down on the debris covering the mud, I can’t help wondering how those things ended up there? Were they thrown or did they wash up? Have they been lurking beneath the silt for years and only just emerged? Who did they belong to?

There’s nearly always a bike or a shopping trolley.

What will future generations make of this disarray?

Can you turn this into a fable that suggests a less wasteful future?

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 – snap

Photographer, robin and squirrel_Photo by Judy Darley

A photographer’s lens can offer a precisely edited view of the world, and raise questions about why they chose to capture that particular scene rather than another, as well as what exists beyond that frame.

Look at any instagram feed and you’ll receive an artfully skewed impression of a life. What does the selection of shared images tell you about the photographer? Why is this the story they’ve chosen to tell? What might they have opted to leave out?

If you look at your own photos, what themes or preoccupations can you spot? What does this suggest?

Can you use this to inspire a 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 – dove

Statue_JudyDarley

This statue in port of Kaleici, Antalya, is of a sea captain named Mustafa Ekizler, who lived here between 1905 and 2000. Mustafa is famed for having been present at “numerous events” including the 1919-21 Italian Occupation and Turkish-Greek exchange. He earned his living from the sea for 85 years, but is mostly renowned for bearing witness, and is regarded as an icon of the area’s tumultuous history.

My favourite thing about this statue, however, is the bronze dove on the captain’s shoulder. What better way to prevent pigeons crapping on your monument than by suggesting that job’s already taken? In fact, the dove is there to symbolise peace, and is so covetable that it’s been stolen twice previously.

If someone created a commemorative statue of you, what should be sitting on your shoulder? What could it symbolise?

Can you use this to inspire a 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 – gate

Hadrian's Gate Antalya. Photo by Judy Darley

Growing up in the UK, I grew up with the idea of Hadrian’s Wall cutting through rolling green fields resembling something like a humble version of the Great Wall of China. I imagined Hadrian building it, or at the very least overseeing its production.

In Turkey, I came face-to-face with an artefact that puts that into some doubt – Hadrian’s Gate – a grand entry to the Old Town of Antalya, a foot-polished, tourist-magnet we passed through most days, and which Roman emperor Hadrian probably never laid eyes on.

Imagine if an edifice was named after you. What would you like it to be? How would you feel if it was something you found out about accidentally, without having been told about it, let alone had anything to do with its creation.

How would you feel on visiting it for the first time?

Can you turn this concept into a 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 – cattitude

Cat and cat bench_Antalya_by Judy Darley

I love the attitude (or should that be ‘cattitude’)? of this Turkish street cat. Yes, I will sit close enough to the pink kitty bench to be viewed in the same frame. I may even deign to look at the camera. No, I will most definitely not actually sit on the pink kitty bench…

The cats in Antalya have it sorted. Humans bring food and water, and provide shelter in the form of cat houses that resemble big dovecots, yet the cats are very much their own creatures, roaming free and wild. The downside for the cats is that many are thin and more than average suffer from eye conditions. The upside is that they are owned by no one, and  go nowhere they don’t choose (including to the vets some probably would benefit from seeing).

Domesticity and rules or wildness and occasional hunger? What would you put up with to sit outside the confines of societal norms?

Can you turn this into a satire exploring the positives and negatives of alternative ways of living?

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 – red

Tile at Ethographic Museum, Antalya_Photo by Judy Darley

While visiting Antalya, Turkey, in September, we explored the excellent Ethnographic Museum. One of the displays shows a series of ceramics, including the 17th century tile shown in my photo.

The reason this is remarkable is because of secrecy. An information plaque beside the tiles mentions that the craftsmen kept their ways of creating and obtaining colours a closely guarded secret, to the extent that the knowledge about how to make the lovely coral reds has now gone forever.

Imagine if a crucial piece of contemporary knowledge was lost in this way. What aspect of cultural or comfortable modern life would impact you most if it disappeared? Can you use this perturbing thought in a work of fiction?

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 – tense

Tents by Judy Darley

The rising cost of living in my home city is pricing people out of their houses and into tent villages. It’s a phenomenon I’ve seen before, both here and abroad, but never on this growing scale. Local parks are becoming homes for residents with few other options.

These are often people with jobs forced out by rocketing rents.

Can you write a tale that examines this problem and finds some kind of solution? How would it feel to be in this position? How would you retain your equilibrium in this situation?

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 – yellow

Brush cr Judy Darley

On one of the sunniest mornings of the season, I saw this paintbrush on a wall.

Nothing I could see nearby had been painted yellow. It’s a shade that reminds me of butter, lemon curd, sandy beaches and the sun.

Could this brush have been used to paint summer?

Can you turn this into an intriguing tale that veers away from the saccharine sweet to explore something about childhood or growing up?

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 – pasture

Staden Grange, our home in Buxton, VW Beetle car in green field. Photo by Judy Darley

I spotted this vintage VW Beetle resting in a field near Burton. I rather like the way looks like it’s been put out to pasture after a hard working life. It certainly has views worth pausing to soak up now. I can envision it trundling around on the grass admiring bumblebees nosing in buttercups and generally enjoying some relaxation.

Imagine the people who might have driven or ridden in this vehicle. You could put a sinister twist on a tale by imagining they travelled here for a picnic. What occurred that led to them abandoning their car? Bucolic scenes like this are ripe for uncanny happenings!

Whether you choose to go dreamy, comic or scary, turn this scene into a 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.