As I walked by this primary school early one day, I was struck by the atmospheric beauty of its towers against the morning light and paused to take this photo. At that moment a man came outside, and to explain myself I told him how dramatic the vapour looked pouring out of the boiler flue. I even commented: “I suppose that’s from the central heating.”

He responded with a grin: “Or the dragon.”

Ah, what a response. Now, here’s your choice: either write about the dragon that keeps a school cosy all winter long (what does it do in summer?), or write about the man who lives in the school and tells perfect strangers that it’s inhabited by a dragon. How could his imaginative whimsy transform the outlooks and lives of other people?

Whichever angle you opt for, make sure it has plenty of heat!

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.

A yellow Post-it note pinned to brambles instructs us to take the next left.

How intriguing to come across an instruction like this in an urban woodland! What would you do? Walk on in the direction you’d already chosen, or follow the sign wherever it leads?

I particularly like the ps: If you dare…

What dangers or rewards might lie ahead?

Can you weave these possibilities into a tale of peril and adventure?

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.

With Christmas Day wrapped up for another year, the surviving turkeys across the UK should be breathing a sigh of relief! We assume they don’t understand what’s going on, but imagine if they did. It would be a fantastic cue for a dystopian tale or a story of resilience and survival against all odds.

There’s no reason your story should be depressing, however. Aardman imbued a similar topic with humour in Chicken Run. Perhaps you could change the species from turkey to human, or give a gang of middle school kids the job of saving a town’s turkeys, go mystical with a tale of wild turnkeys living in harmony with humans, or even give the tale an Orwellian political satirical twist.

However you tackle this writing prompt, have fun creating characters that will make us care and take us along for the ride!

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.

I adore knowing that in Bristol even the boats are full of festive sparkle! This gorgeous narrowboat is all set for some seasonal revelry.

It’s not long till the big day now, but you still have time to conjure a tale of wonder, whether it’s a modern take on the Nativity with a narrowboat standing in for a stable, or the idea that inside this shining vessel Santa and a few motley elves are putting the finishing touches to gifts in preparation for a few water-bound deliveries.

What can you create with this scene as your starting point? It’s up to you whether you write a tale to delight the children in your life or angle it towards adults with a few comic or darker twists.

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.

This glittering bird caught my eye when meandering at dusk with two small nephews. They were entranced by the magic it suggests, and it made me think what a fabulous fairytale it could prompt – a bird made of ice paradoxically powered by fire, perhaps, or an enchanted robin condemned to only sing after nightfall. You could even give it an ecological spin!

Alternatively, you could focus on the person who decorated their home with such shining decorations. What are their hopes and anticipation, or what loneliness are they keeping at bay?

What could you dream up in the best Hans Christian Andersen style? Could you give it the underlying darkness that always seems to thread through those traditional tales? Or do you want to make your story as bright and cheerful as this festive light? The choice is yours.

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.

This time last year, things seemed particularly challenging globally thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic. In Bristol, we were festively distracted by seasonal song lyrics being projected  as light installations across buildings after nightfall.

Given your choice, what message would you sweep across your landscape? Would you opt for a missive of hope, a warning, or a note to remind someone you’re thinking of them? If the latter, who would you write it to?

What affect would you expect your word or words to have on neighbours and those further afield? What action might it move them to take?

If you write or create something prompted by this, please send an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com to let me know. With your permission, I may publish it on SkyLightRain.com.

Occasionally, a truck passes my neighbourhood crowded with animals like these sheep.

It makes me think of the way we humans treat the planet and its inhabitants, including other humans, as resources to be plundered. Often we act just like sheep, following our leaders in whatever they tell us is for the best, or for the greater good.

Are there other ways to keep our population fed and secure? What alternatives can you dream up or uncover through research?

Turn this into a hopeful story of a future where we live in tune with our neighbours, from other humans to flora and fauna. Keep plenty of suspense in place by including hints of true atrocities, as Margaret Atwood did in writing The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments.

If you write or create something prompted by this, please send an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com to let me know. With your permission, I may publish it on SkyLightRain.com.

As a type 1 diabetic diagnosed at the age of eight, I was startled to learn that last Sunday, 14th November 2021, was the 100th anniversary of the discovery of insulin as a treatment. Prior to that, there wasn’t much doctors could do for diabetics other than put them on a strict low-carb diet, which gave them at best a few extra years.

It shocked me how recently this discovery was made. If my sister and I were born 100 years earlier, my mum would have lost one daughter at around the age of eight and the other not much later.

I suspect people living with conditions such as asthma and epilepsy have similar stories.

Being born in the right time and place really does have the biggest impact on how long you’ll live and how well you’ll thrive.

Can you use this as fuel for a short story about life-enhancing medical discoveries?

If you write or create something prompted by this, please send an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com to let me know. With your permission, I may publish it on SkyLightRain.com.

As the Northern Hemisphere turns a little colder and greyer, the vivid orange of this free-growing marigold caught my eye.

It was only as I admired the petals that I discovered I wasn’t its only fan and that a teeny snail had arrived to offer its respects (and perhaps have a small snack).

Have you ever been drawn to something beautiful, only to discover it comes with something you didn’t bargain for? Can you turn this into a satirical tale about expectations surpassed or thwarted in the name of love, greed, politics (or all three) due to some clause or enforced extra your protagonist didn’t anticipate?

If you write or create something prompted by this, please send an email to judydarley (at) iCloud.com to let me know. With your permission, I may publish it on SkyLightRain.com.