Every August in Bristol the chance of seeing a sky filled with hot air balloons rises. This is mainly due to the annual Balloon Fiesta, which took place last weekend, but on any day when the wind isn’t too vigorous, you’re likely to see a few passing overhead.

I snapped this photo early one Monday morning, sharing the moment with a few dog-walkers and a woman doing tai-chi. The balloons made everyone pause and smile.

What if this cheerful sight wasn’t a celebration but an exodus? What if something had occurred prompting people to leave, and the safest way to travel was via balloon?

What could have happened? Where might these people be going? What could befall the folks left behind watching from the ground? Can you write a piece in that most challenging genre, the hopeful dystopia?

To add a touch of humour, can you think of who the worst possible person would be to share a balloon basket with for a long flight?

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.

Incongruous pairings make great writing prompts, and this cyclist framed by a viaduct on Sao Miguel, The Azores, is the perfect match of old and new. This blend makes me think of ancient myths in modern settings, or time slip tales, while the bumpy track and lush greenery of this volcanic isle adds to the backdrop.

Who might the cyclist be? What made them choose this route so far from the mainland? Who or what might they be running from or towards? What historic travellers have passed this way before? Why not turn it into a story with adventure at its heart?

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.

What a curious sight! A simple wicker and metal chair has become part of the Devon coastline, inviting weary swimmers, seabirds, and perhaps Poseidon, to take a load off.

Who could have placed it here, how and why? What were they hoping to achieve, other than some anonymous notoriety (if that’s not a total oxymoron)? How will the chair be impacted by incoming storms, and with what results?

Using this as a springing off point for a comical or poignant 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.

At a beautiful local pond called Abbots Pool, I was struck by the tranquility of the foreground, the lily pads and sun-drenched green and purple reflections, while in the background a group of teens are planning to jump in and disrupt the calm.

As I sat enjoying the scene, a grey heron flew in, waded for a while, and then flapped away.

This clash of natural idyll and human nature seems at first an affront, but this pool is far from wild – it was used by medieval monks from St Augustine’s Abbey as a spot to farm fish, and has been landscaped in the 1920s.

And yet, wildlife, including humans (and dogs) loves to splash here.

Can you turn this juxtaposition of rural and landscaped, wild and domestic, 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.

Occasionally I glance up and feel awed by the beauty of the trees and the sky above me. It’s as though I’ve stepped into another, possibly far away, world. The extreme beauty can be dizzying.

Other times I glance into the heart of a flower, and feel the same.

With natural world flourishing in the summer sunshine, it seems there are multiple worlds of all different sizes and complexities all around us. This offers the perfect opportunity (and perhaps excuse) to dive headlong into fictional world-building.

How can you build up textures, smells, sounds and sights to create an imagined space that feels authentic? What details have you chosen to notice, or invent to include?

Now, who or what will you devise to populate the world you’ve built? Are they peaceful or warlike? Petty or magnanimous, or as varied and strange as human beings?

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.

A Bristol landmark blazed into headlines in May when a local arsonist set Underfall Boat Yard alight. The beautiful harbourside business lost boats and “a lifetime’s collection of tools” in the fire. This boat was dragged out burning in an effort to save ships moored nearby. Sooty remains of historic vessels languish in the water.

It’s a terrible loss, but could have been far worse if it had happened a few weeks’ earlier when the city’s ferries were undergoing their annual survey by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The Bristol Ferry Boats workshop was destroyed.

Naturally, Bristol residents are outraged and busy fundraising to help rebuild.

Can you write a story where a single criminal act disrupts a city’s day-to-day activities? Might it bring people together in surprising ways?

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.