A year of writing prompts: 24 April

How to use these prompts

A railway line - where does it go?
A signal - could someone be waiting for it to change?
Perhaps it has a special meaning for someone.
What happens if it breaks down?

Prompts

1. It's Plumber's Day. Write a story involving a plumber.
2. It's also Hostage Heroes Day. Write about someone who is taken hostage.
3. Anthony Trollope was born on this date in 1815. As well as being a writer, he introduced pillar boxes in the UK. Write a story featuring a pillar box or a mailbox.
4. "No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy." Count Helmuth
5. According to tradition, anyone brave enough to spend the night awake on the front porch of a church will see the ghosts of everyone who is going to die in the coming year. Write about someone who sets out to do this. Why are they doing it? What do they see?

Character Names

Albert, Tara, Taryn, Dharma, Erwin, Ervin, Fidelis

Character Traits

• Disciplined and rigid.
• Persistent, but not patient.
• Both genders have a tendency to be very masculine.
• Demanding and destructive, and can be victims of their own destructive tendencies.
• May be awkward and clumsy.
• Need solitude, and don't always get on particularly well with other people. Hence they may not marry, but if they do, they are likely to have a large family.
• Impulsive and brave, sometimes seeming to be immune to danger.
• Like to travel.
• Particular fondness for fireworks.
• Fair and honest.
• Will make the most of their gifts and abilities.
• May become activists or crusaders for a cause.
• May seek a career in science or business.
• Tendency to build things which are too brittle to last. Danger of brittle bones.
• Tendency to have pipe dreams and build castles in the air.

Possible Themes

Goals and ambitions.

Alchemy.

Travel and return.

Inner faith and resources.

Dreams.

Remembrance.

Risk.

Objects

Pearls; a dove; a nightingale; pigs in a blanket; a rattlesnake.