Writing Prompts

Panic’s Station

Robert — Sat, 09 May 2009 01:16:23 +0000

Panic has a problem. Every time she’s in a public space she feels compelled to touch everyone and everything that comes within her path (i.e. within say a metre or two of her personal space). Describe a 3-minute period during a visit to a train station from Panic’s viewpoint.

The 360° Turn of Events

Robert — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:34:22 +0000

Action time – get off your backside and walk outside. The first thing that catches your attention is your new protagonist. Turn your body 360 degrees...what do you see first? This is your new setting. Write a brief plot summary for your new friends. Ok, so a story about a used orange juice carton that lives in the staff car park isn’t your usual writing fodder – but let’s see just how believable you can make this short blurb.

Blowing Bubbles

Robert — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 00:01:42 +0000

You are five years old again…It’s a spring afternoon and the flowers on the cherry-apple tree in the backyard are blossoming the air with their scent. You still believe in fairies, like your parents and you still have heroes that can’t be defeated. What do you do with your day? Anything is possible…

Commandments that Talk

Robert — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 07:41:51 +0000

Write a piece of dialogue following these 10 commandments:

1.   Use three characters
2.   Have at least one argument
3.   There is a trumpet
4.   And a acrid smell
5.   An inanimate object interrupts the conversation at some point
6.   One person is deaf
7.   The setting is somewhere in Egypt
8.   You cannot use the word and
9.   A confession is made
10.   Nobody has a name

Rite Passage

Robert — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 03:20:09 +0000

It’s the year tomorrow (yep, that’s not now, but anytime in the future) and your youngest child is about to embark on a ‘rite of passage’. You are frightened, but you mustn’t show your true feelings lest you be discovered…

Where are you?
What’s happening to your child?
Who or what are you scared of?

Do Pescatorians eat Mermaids too?

Robert — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 08:10:16 +0000

Discuss this image. Take your fishtail wherever it may lead...

A Cut Above

Robert — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:11:00 +0000

“The hairdresser worked the thin handles of the scissors at break-neck speed, hair flying about her”...no one would have guessed what she last used her trusty tool on.

Write about the history of these mysterious scissors.

Human Magneto

Robert — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 02:42:31 +0000

Imagine if you were a human magnet – anyone you walk past is instantly attracted to you and becomes ‘stuck’ to you. You go for a walk in a dark alley one night – what sort of people do you collect? What about if you were strolling through a French provincial town instead? Are these people any different? Imagine if the two groups met – write about this meeting!

Talking Tears

Robert — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 11:24:03 +0000

“Every time it’s like this I hear them… Telling me their woes, pleading for my help. It’s not fair – why me? Why can’t anyone else hear the crying rain?”

Who is talking and to whom? Can they really hear the rain or is this a metaphor? OR
Become the voice of the falling tears… What are they saying? Why are they so sad?

Paint it Black

Robert — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 04:59:52 +0000

The colour black is given new status as a human being – Write a dossier on Black’s personality; include age, gender, appearance, personality traits, favourite pastimes, greatest fears, significant others(?). Is Black the sort of person you’d have as a friend?