There are few sights more heartening than proof of spring, and all the new life, sweet budding aromas and birdsong that accompanies it.

In the vibrant corner of Bristol where I live, daffodils bob on windowsills, as well as gardens and parks. I love to imagine the people who go to such efforts to make the most any small outdoor space. Surely they’re as sunny as the flowers they tend!

But I also like the concept of opposites. Perhaps the person who plants these daffodils bulbs and places them on windowsills does so to disguise an inner darkness. It’s a thought that can seed the foundations for brilliantly flawed and complex characters.

Can you use to this as inspiration to create a protagonist whose exterior is utterly at odds with their interior? What might they be trying to hide, and why? Who might discover the truth of their sweet or sour centre? What outcome could ensue as a result?

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 we approach the spring or vernal equinox, this is the perfect time to celebrate lighter mornings, longer days and the sweet fragrance of young leaves.

I invite you to take a stroll where you can see at least a tree or two. Take time to notice the creatures rustling amid the trees – the finches, wrens, blue tits and robins. Perhaps beetles creak here, and spiders teasing out the silken threads of their webs. Maybe a squirrel flurries past or a tiny shrew. What else might lurk, unseen?

Why not make this flourishing wild environment the focus of a poem, painting or other creative act? Could the unfurling leaves represent a fresh beginning or renewed hope? Could there be a threat – human or otherwise – hidden among the new abundance?

Bear in mind the colour green as you create, with all its connotations of nature, luck, health and tranquillity, but feel free to add a ribbon of danger too!

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.