A year of writing prompts: 4 September

How to use these prompts

What might the two gold Buddhas on the left be saying to one another?
Where does the path lead?

Prompts

1. In 1888, George Eastman patented the hand-held roll film camera, registered as Kodak because he liked the letter K. Write a story featuring cameras, photographs and/or photography.
2. In 1639, the drinking of toasts was made illegal in Massachusetts. It was, however, unenforceable and repealed in 1645. Your characters are at a formal dinner/wedding/party at which someone proposes an unusual toast. The toast turns out to be ironic or prophetic in some way.
3. It's Newspaper Carrier Day, honouring those who deliver newspapers. It's your character's first day on their paper round.
4. "If you won something and can't give it away, you don't own it. It owns you." Albert Schweitzer
5. Beyond Leads to Dark Places.

Character Names

Rosalie, Rose, Roseanne, Rosemary, Rosemarie, Rosetta, Rosie, Grover, Julianna, Gisela, Glenn

Character Traits

• Interested in natural medicine such as herbalism. Also interested in the occult and magic and may be highly intuitive.
• Have a soothing effect on other people.
• Romantics who enjoy music, fine arts and poetry - they could make a career in these fields. Also enjoy entertainment, sports and fun. Love gardening and have a particular fondness for flowers.
• Unassuming and modest. Not overly ambitious. Nevertheless they will leave a mark on the world thanks to an unusual gift.
• May have suffered cruelty, emotional manipulation or bullying at the hands of their parents or families.
• Their enemies have no power over them - they often seem unaffected by trials and tribulations.
• Good sense of balance, fairness and harmony. Believe in equal distribution of wealth.
• Fond of animals and have a deep understanding of them.
• Tendency to tell lies and are good at self-deception.
• Good organisers and capable in business, but can be forgetful.
• Can be fiery and contentious, with a tendency to over-react to threats.
• They make excellent promoters of unpopular causes.
• May work in horticulture, or with animals; alternatively, politics, acting or working with chemicals or poisons.
  
• May lose out on opportunities through timidity.

Possible Themes

Ritual. 

Sacrilege. 

Authority. 

Rhetoric. 

Motivation.

Objects

A full moon; roses; medicinal plants; a river; a naked baby left out in the open.