Tag Archives: story ideas

Writing prompt – elliptical

Posted on by

Duck eggs cr Judy DarleyI can’t get over the beauty of these duck eggs!

Imagine you go to collect the morning’s eggs from your hens, ducks, ostriches or whatever. Among the ones you gather you find an egg that’s more beautiful, far larger, has a different temperature (think ice-cold or painfully hot) and actually glows a little.

What might hatch from this spectacular egg? Or might it not be an egg at all?

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’ll publish it on SkyLightRain.com.

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

Writing prompt – bus

Posted on by

Bus stop by Judy Darley

There are pros and cons to public transport, and the public straddle both parts of this. On the positive side, bus stops and buses are excellent places to eavesdrop and gather details for realistic characters with believable speech patterns.

Next time you need to go somewhere beyond walking distance, why not catch the bus instead of hopping in your car? It may be less convenient and comfortable, but think of it as a low-cost writing exercise. You might just find the inspiration for a amazing story sitting right beside you, and all for the price of a ticket across town!

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’ll publish it on SkyLightRain.com.

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

Writing prompt – found

Posted on by

Goblin by Judy DarleyImagine, a small stone goblin appears in a forest.

Where did it come from? Did someone leave it there? If so, why?

Imagine, one day the goblin disappears as mysteriously as it arrived.

Where did it go? Did someone take it? If so why?

What happens in the time these two events? What will happen next?

Puzzle out the answers to each of these questions, even if you don’t intend to share them all with your readers. Just knowing them will help to give your writing clarity and depth.

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’ll publish it on SkyLightRain.com.

SaveSave

Writing prompt – spirit

Posted on by

Les Colomes by Michael Pendry. Photo by Judy Darley.During a recent visit to Salisbury I made a special stop at the cathedral to see this beautiful exhibit by artist Michael Pendry, titled Les Colomes. It features more than 2,500 paper doves flocking in the cathedral nave.

The sculpture inspired a spectacular community project. Beyond the cathedral, paper doves flutter in windows across Salisbury, depicting the locals’ refusal to succumb to fear, following the chemical attack in the city last March, which poisoned former Russian spy Sergei Scribal and his daughter and Yulia.

Imagine a peaceful town becoming the epicentre of some kind of attack. How might the townspeople decide to show their resilience?

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’ll publish it on SkyLightRain.com.

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

Writing prompt – bottled

Posted on by

Bottled by Judy DarleyI spotted this old milk bottle in a local woodland. Instead of containing a slip of paper, or a folded ship, it’s half full of living moss and other greenery. I love the idea of it being a kind of ecological message in a bottle.

What might that message say?

Alternatively, might it be the equivalent of a ‘break in case of emergency’ tool? In a moment of planetary crisis could we shatter the bottle glass and release a forest?

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’ll publish it on SkyLightRain.com.

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

Writing prompt – misplaced

Posted on by

Hair grip, Arnos Vale Cemetery by Judy DarleyOne of the early inspirations for my story Knotted Rope (published on the Seren website) was a small pink hair clip I saw lying beside a grave in Arnos Vale Cemetery. It made me wonder about the child who had lost it, and then wonder what would happen if the child want missing instead of the clip.

Could this inconsequential item serve as a clue? In the end my story about a missing child took a different route, and that initial thought was reduced to the following:

       I overhear one police officer mutter to another: “Shame it’s not a girl.”

       “Excuse me?” My voice rattles through the air. “What difference would that make?”

       “Oh, none, nothing. Just, little girls tend to carry things, hair slides…” He flounders, pointing to a broken clip on the side of the path. The pink paint is peeling away; it’s spotted with rust. “They’re more likely to leave a trail.”

       I glare at him. “If you’re any good at your job you won’t need a trail, will you?”

What ephemera you spotted by the side of a path or road? What directions could it carry you in your writing?

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’ll publish it on SkyLightRain.com.

SaveSave

Writing prompt – busker

Posted on by

Street performer by Judy DarleyAt this time of year, magical performances begin unfolding on every city centre street. It’s a touch of the bizarre that I love to see, but it does make me curious.

What could lure or drive a person to such a precarious, public way of making a living? Or are they investment bankers in the week and unicyclists on weekends?

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’ll publish it on SkyLightRain.com.

SaveSave

Writing prompt – travel

Posted on by

Twin Blue and Green Lakes, Sete Cidades cr Judy DarleyI often find myself moved to write strange and dreamy fictions while travelling. For instance, my story Two Pools of Water, inspired by a trip to the Azores, and published this week by dear damsels.

My story draws on local myths, and the yearning of youth.

My sister Bia leads me to a balcony. The twin lakes show beyond, half-shrouded in cloud. With the sky overcast, the green and blue are harder to see. She tells me the fairytale I’ve heard a thousand times before, of the shepherd and the princess, embracing on the bridge and weeping through their farewells. ‘Her green eyes made the emerald lake, and his blue eyes made the sapphire one,’ she says. ‘He cried more, which is why the blue lake is so much bigger.’

Think of a place you’ve visited far from and as unalike home as possible, and use that as the setting for a story. If you can weave in a bit of local legend, so much the better!

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’ll publish it on SkyLightRain.com.

SaveSave

SaveSave

Writing prompt – tension

Posted on by

Storm in Bristol by Judy DarleySome storms sweep in fast and transform the world, if only for a few wracked hours. Create a scene with a moment of tension that builds and breaks in rhythm with rain, wind and thunder. A marital spat, sibling rivalry, two strangers misconstruing an encounter…

Try writing the scene inside, with rain streaking the window as lightning flashes, and then shove your characters out into the weather to see what impact this has.

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’ll publish it on SkyLightRain.com.

SaveSave

SaveSaveSaveSave

Writing prompt – pineapple

Posted on by

Pineapple cr Judy DarleyThere’s a man in Bristol who spends his days dreaming up new creations, and his nights building extraordinary sculptures. Each one is formed from those rubbery yellow cladding that swathes scaffolding poles in situ.

Some say he’s a vandal and a thief, costing construction firms time and money, but in a city where street art is a tourist attraction, these bright yellow explosions seem like a means to stay sane in treacherous circumstances while spreading a little joy.

What do you think? Use this as the starting point of some creativity of your own.

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’ll publish it on SkyLightRain.com.