A year of writing prompts: 30 November

How to use these prompts

Who made this?
What is its significance to its maker or perhaps a wider group?

Prompts

1. "He who lives more lives than one, more deaths than one must die." Oscar Wilde
2. It's St Andrew's Day, the patron saint of Scotland. Write a story set in Scotland or with a Scottish theme.
3. George - don't do that.
4. In 1222, people reported seeing dragons over the city of London. Soon after there was a severe thunderstorm, so probably it was merely lightning. But what if they had been real dragons? What if real dragons appeared over a modern city today?
5. Your character has just won the Miss World Contest. How does the year of her reign change her life?

Character Names

Andrea, Andor, Andre, Andrew, Andy, Drew, Maura, Maureen, Anders

Character Traits

• Males are fond of athletic sports such as skating, boxing or water sports. They are likely to be involved with some kind of practical art work.
• Females may use sex or flattery to get what they want.
• Home loving, possibly too attached to their home comforts.
• Methodical, find breaking from routine difficult.
• Can be obsessed by dark forces.
• Ambitious, and may trample on others to get where they want to be.
• Make affectionate partners and parents, but are possessive and crave attention. Adultery is possible.
• Have a phobia of illness and are preoccupied with their health.
• Interested in mythology, poetry, drama and parapsychology.
• Tend to get frustrated if they find no constructive outlet for their excess energy.
• People are often annoyed by their tendency to contradict themselves when talking.
• Involved with the local community.
• Danger of loss of property, accidents, racism.
  
• May be involved with propaganda in some way.

Possible Themes

Instability.

Overindulgence.

Fullness and ripeness.

The slow burning way.

Idealism and national pride.

Objects

A goat; a crowing rooster; an apple tree; a grinning skull; a coiled serpent; icicles melting.

A year of writing prompts: 29 November

How to use these prompts

Two guys arm wrestling.
Is it a friendly contest or are there
much higher stakes?

Prompts

1. Deep within the depths of the earth, something is happening.
2. "I do not think the forest would be so bright, nor the water so warm, nor love so sweet, if there were no danger in the lakes." CS Lewis
3. Tonight is Vampire night in Romania when vampires are said to rise from their graves. Write a Vampire tale.
4. Edison first demonstrated his phonograph, the first device for recording the human voice. Write a story about a recording.
5. In the US and increasingly in the UK as well, around now is Black Friday, a day when sales are held, often with crazy reductions. Shops have been known to turn into riot zones. Write a story about a sale. Do your characters queue overnight to get the bargain of a lifetime? Do they interact with others in the queue? What does your character have to do to get the item they want?

Character Names

Zina, Kay, Troy, Ignatius

Character Traits

• Make friends easily wherever they go.
• However, they make enemies just as easily as they can be outspoken; also because they tend to achieve their ambitions and so jealous rivals may abound.
• Energetic, pioneering and innovative.
• Skilled in subtlety and strategy.
• Interested in politics or astrology.
• Possibly psychic.
• Cut to the chase and quickly get to the point in discussions.
• Their careers could lead them into dangerous situations - the military is one area they could be drawn to. Others are collectors of knowledge, publishing, teaching, politics or architecture.
• A position in the public eye is possible.
• Enjoy modern leisure pursuits
• Likely to be in a leadership position. If this doesn't manifest as part of their career, it could be that they are a scout leader, gang leader, or the parent of a large family.
• Tend to concentrate on the physical - are athletic and practical - while neglecting their spiritual side.
• Will either be noble, courageous and diplomatic, or sly, crafty, treacherous and cruel.

Possible Themes

Intelligence.

The path less travelled.

Fitness and exercise.

Cliches.

Objects

An archaic temple; a monkey riding a wolf; a tiger; a lion; a panther; a string of pearls.

A year of writing prompts: 28 November

How to use these prompts

What is the significance of this carving?
What's the setting?
Who made it?

Prompts

1. It's National Salesperson's Day. Write a story in which the protagonist is a salesman, or woman. What they are trying to sell, and to whom, is up to you.
2. It's Red Planet Day. Write a story featuring the planet Mars. Have humans landed there? Colonised it? Have Martians contacted Earth? If science fiction is really not your bag, it could simply feature as something an amateur astronomer is looking at through a telescope; or even with the naked eye and trying to impress people with his knowledge of the night sky.
3. "When a sinister person means to be your enemy, they always start by trying to become your friend." William Blake
4. Dead and Loving It.
5. On this date in 1922, Captain Cyril Turner demonstrated sky-writing for the first time. Write a story in which your character either hires a pilot to write something in the sky for them, or is a pilot who can do it themselves. What do they write, and why? Does the writing have the desired effect or does something go wrong, such as the misspelling of a word which changes the whole meaning of the message?

Character Names

Rene, Stefania, Lucretia, Rita, Vita, Rufus, Scott, Penny, Gregory, Henrietta, Malcolm

Character Traits

• Flexible with a talent for mimicry. If they turn to crime, it's likely to involve forgery or counterfeiting.
• Likely to be wealthy, if not by birth, through their chosen career.
• Highly intelligent but not particularly creative or original.
• Careful and thrifty.
• Usually charming, unassuming and peaceful, but can be quarrelsome, aggressive and stubborn if the situation demands it.
• Disciplined and self-controlled.
• Skilled at dealing with people. Service oriented.
• Good organisers able to juggle and control many things.
• Can take the failed or flawed work of others and whip it into shape and make it saleable.
• Not romantic.
• Driven by an acute intellectual curiosity.
• If they are spiritual, they will reject religious oppression and embrace unusual or occult ideas.
• May experience unexpected changes and upsets in life.
• May become victims of fraud.
  
• May suffer from diseases of the eyes.

Possible Themes

Raw materials.

Opportunity.

Art, music.

Auditions.

Objects

A full moon; coins scattered on the ground; a magician levitating his assistant with a wire; crossed swords; lead.

A year of writing prompts: 27 November

How to use these prompts

Who is this?
Why is a knight in armour riding a modern motorbike?
Where is he going and why?

Prompts

1. "Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad with power." Charles A Beard
2. Buy Nothing Day is celebrated around now. Your character has decided, for a reason of your choice, to stop buying things for a period of time (again up to you). How do they manage? Do they succeed? Or does a fatal weakness stop them from completing the challenge? If so, what?
3. In 1990, John Major became the youngest Prime Minister so far in the 20th century. The magazine Private Eye celebrated this by serialising his imaginary journal in the style of Adrian Mole. Your character has a responsible and important job - Prime Minister is one option, but brain surgeon, rocket scientist, airline pilot or head of an international company are others. Write their diary in the style of a much younger person concentrating on childish issues and concerns.
4. "It's good to be silly at the right moment." Horace
5. Today is the Festival of Solitude. Your character is alone. Where they are and why they are alone is up to you. Write a stream of consciousness piece detailing their thoughts and feelings about being alone at that place and time.

Character Names

Nathaniel, Virgil, Lauris, Norbert, Keegan, Erin, Astrid

Character Traits

• Impulsive and headstrong, but with sufficient willpower to achieve success and/or fame.
• They will have one purpose in life to which everything else is subservient.
• Can concentrate deeply on things which interest them, but lack concentration otherwise.
• Imaginative with a love of fantasy and fantasy literature.
• Fond of cartoons.
• May have a fiery temper and be temperamental in extreme ways.
• Want to travel, and get restless if constrained.
• May be drawn to study the occult.
• Have big plans for the future , but not so interested in the hard work required to get there.
• Able to deal with volatile situations, which is something they have learned to do as much as being a natural gift.
• Not romantic.
• Likely to be very tall or very short in stature.
• May be drawn to careers connected with fire, explosives or dangerous chemicals.
• Fond of heated debates.
• Danger from fire, explosions, sunburn, fever, volatile situations or burning out from taking on too much.  
• Danger from traps and ambushes.

Possible Themes

Anger.

Destruction and transformation.

The inner child.

A helping hand.

Objects

A steep stairway; a house on fire; a man with green skin dressed in leaves; a forest; the morning star.

A year of writing prompts: 26 November

How to use these prompts

Where does this road lead?
Who might travel along it?

Prompts

1. "Sometimes I lie awake at night and ask, Why me? Then a voice answers, nothing personal, your name just happened to come up." Charles Schultz
2. It's National Cake Day. Write a story in which a cake features prominently.
3. The Little Lady Who Made A Big War.
4. Soap opera spoof series Soap first aired in 1978. Write an episode of a spoof soap opera. Include as many soap opera cliches as you can.
5. Write a short story featuring the characters in Charles Schultz's cartoon strip Peanuts.

Character Names

Artur, Arthur, Sisko, Sylvester, Keith, Asia, Fern, Konrad, Kornel, Linus

Character Traits

• Tendency to rely on luck rather than planning and making decisions. That said, they can enjoy success with speculation or dealing on the stock exchange.
• Carefree, cheerful and optimistic.
• Hopeful and cheerful in the face of hardship. This attitude is inspiring to others.
• Tendency to gamble, sometimes with very high stakes, possibly even with their lives. This can lead to poverty in later life.
• May have had a difficult early life, up to the age of about seven, which continues to affect them throughout their lives.
• Intelligent with a piercing insight. Are imaginative, intuitive and possibly psychic.
• Their love affairs are deep and emotionally complex.
• Gift for language.
• Good at dancing.
• Mechanics, chemistry and the military are all careers they may be drawn to.
• May suffer from an irrational fear such as claustrophobia.
• Fear change and tend to cling to old ways.
• Danger from volcanoes and earthquakes.

Possible Themes

Inner alchemy; deep processes and changes.

Minerals and crystals.

Formation under pressure.

Sight.

Objects

Cards and dice; a wheelbarrow; a cauldron of molten metals; chains; a huge wheel; a heavy horse.

A year of writing prompts: 25 November

How to use these prompts

Is this person making a call, or answering one?
What is the call about?
What happens as a result of it?

Prompts

1. "I have always had a bad memory, as far back as I can remember." Lewis Thomas
2. It's Evacuation Day. Your character is being evacuated. From where, to where and why is up to you. Tell their story.
3. Today is the feast day of Saint Catherine who, among other things, is the patron saint of people who work with wheels. Write a story about wheels.
4. Women who'd reached the age of 25 or over and were still unmarried on St Catherine's Day were said to be under the saint's protection and would make a beautiful hat to celebrate along with their single friends. If they married, they were required to leave the group. Your characters are a group of single friends who have a riotous night out every Saint Catherine's Day. Until one of them announces she will not be attending this year because she is engaged.
5. Your character got a tattoo while they were drunk. They have no idea now why they did it or what the tattoo means.

Character Names

Catherine, Katarina, Kate, Caitlin, Katrina, Trina, Karen, Cathy, Jamal, Kitty, Alan, Carina, Erasmus

Character Traits

• Not particularly ambitious or active.
• Tend to be prosperous in general, and content with their family life.
• Love reading.
• Their birth or early life may have been a difficult one, leaving them with a deep seated phobia of some kind, claustrophobia, perhaps.
• Generally have a patient, unruffled manner, but do not yield easily to others and can become violent if forced.
• Can be quite rigid and inflexible, despising progress and change.
• Sociable and enjoy the company of people, but they will have a line beyond which their privacy is sacrosanct.
• Love the land, and plants.
• Enjoy all manner of entertainment from shopping to TV and film to culture and pageantry.
• Quietly get on with their lives, content to live in the margins, gain respect in later years.
• Tend to be superstitious.
• Possible careers are agriculture, cattle breeding in particular, medicine and business.
• May fear commitment.
• Love food and are at risk of becoming overweight.

Possible Themes

Retaliation.

Awakened desire.

Flirtation.

Emotion within stirred from without.

Objects

Cupid; oxen and goats; an idle woman; large ship with a raven perched on the highest mast; rats with ruby eyes.

A year of writing prompts: 24 November

How to use these prompts

Write about the play or show this person is appearing in.
Does everything go to plan, or is it another Play That Goes Wrong?

Prompts

1. It's How to Win Friends and Influence People Day. Write about the lengths your character goes to in order to do this.
2. It's D.B. Cooper Day. He hijacked a plane in 1971 and parachuted out of the plane when he'd been given the ransom money. No-one knows what happened to him after that. There were hundreds of leads, none conclusive. What do you think happened to him? Where did he go and how did he avoid getting caught?
3. "Hatred which is completely vanquished by love passes into love: and love is thereupon greater than if hatred had not preceded it." Baruch Spinoza
4. There are numerous occasions during the year when women can divine who their future husband is. Today is St Catherine's Eve, when the boys get the chance to divine who their future wives will be. Write about a young man appealing to the saint to show him his future lover. Is he pleased with her answer?
5. Write a story about a secret garden.

Character Names

Emelie, Emma, Vilibert, Viola, Aurora, Jan, Flora, Gudrun

Character Traits

• Intelligent, logical and scientific. Enjoy learning and working with facts.
• Conservative and unassuming.
• Hair will either be fine and beautiful or stiff and coarse, or its growth may be limited in some way.
• Gift for speech and languages.
• Can be blunt or rude.
• May reach some level of superiority in their field but in general tend to remain subordinate and never completely independent.
• Ventures they start for themselves are unlikely to succeed.
• Work best as part of a group contributing to a larger project.
• Things they achieve benefit others more than them, even when they get recognition for it.
• Possibly too sympathetic and yielding to those beneath them.
• Romance often leads to trouble.
• May suffer from anxiety.
• May work as a linguist or translator, analyst or researcher.

Possible Themes

Rules, sportsmanship.

Teamwork and group morale.

Games that go on for days.

Valour.

Servitude.

Objects

A game of cricket; an ox with three horns; a windmill; a mirror; a pair of winged shoes; a sports coach.

A year of writing prompts: 23 November

How to use these prompts

Who are these people?
Where has the owner of the suitcase been,
or where are they going?

Prompts

1. "Grown ups are complicated creatures, full of quirks and secrets." Roald Dahl
2. Harpo Marx, the one who never spoke, was born on this date in 1888. Write a story about a character who never speaks. Are they unable to, or do they just choose not to?
3. The first jukebox appeared in a San Francisco saloon in 1889. Write a story featuring a jukebox.
4. Pillar boxes (mail boxes if you're American) also made their first appearance on this date in 1852. Write a story featuring one. Perhaps your character is racing against time to catch the postal collection. Perhaps s/he is a postman/woman who empties a pillar box and finds something unexpected inside.
5. "Thank goodness for that!"

Character Names

Clement, Ismo, Clementina, Adele, Savannah, Buddy, Cheyenne, Dakota, Felicity, Rachel, Clarence

Character Traits

• Melancholic and resigned to suffering in life. Suffer in silence, accepting everything fate throws at them.
• Have a hard and difficult life with lots of changes forced on them.
• Females will be disappointed with their marriages and find motherhood a burden.
• Males are likely to be widowed or abandoned.
• May be drawn to a religious life, practising austerity and seeking knowledge.
• May end up caring for family members or others who are in poor health or suffering misfortune. They will do this willingly but may not be of much practical help.
• Musical or artistic.
• Love refined art and the sublime in nature.
• Interest in photography.
• Do their best at work, gradually working their way up.
• Careful with possessions.
• Learn languages quickly.
• Enjoy sailing and travel.
• Have dull, boring voices.
• May work in a university or research institute, possibly in a job connected with under water.
• Danger of aeroplane accidents.
• There may be a connection to black magic which causes them problems.
• May suffer from insomnia.

Possible Themes

Sharpness and keenness.

Independent women; women in general

Mothers. 

Watchfulness; patient observation.

Objects

An owl; a cradle; a lyre; dark clouds; fog; a ship; a large tree.

A year of writing prompts; 22 November

How to use these prompts

Who might be riding on this Ferris wheel?
What can they see? What might they talk about?
What if the wheel breaks down?

Prompts

1. Today is the anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963. Write a story connected with this event. Describe what happened from the point of view of someone who was there - a member of the crowd, a cop, or even the assassin, or Jackie Kennedy. There have been any number of conspiracy theories attached to this event, too - you might like to try coming up with a new one, or tell the story from the point of view of time travellers who went back in time either to try and stop it, to make it happen in the first place, or simply to observe.
2. One thing often said about the events of this day is that people always remember where they were when they heard the news that Kennedy had been killed. Where was your character? What were they doing?
3. In Climax, Georgia, they celebrate Swine Time, a homecoming for past residents. Your character is returning to the town where they grew up for the first time in many years. Perhaps they are back for some kind of reunion, or because some crisis has demanded they go back.
4. "Families, I hate you! Shut in homes, closed doors, jealous possessions of happiness." Andre Gide
5. The Kingmaker.

Character Names

Cecile, Silja, Cecilia, Alphonse, Aldis, Sheila, Murray, Shayla, Cornelia

Character Traits

• Content with a modest career. Not particularly ambitious.
• Have an interest in things connected with altitude - mountains, aviation, or simply living on the top floor of a high building.
• Usually good natured, but will defend themselves with fury if attacked - but may well suffer from great remorse afterwards.
• Interested in the conservation of natural resources.
• Not usually risk takers; they are careful with possessions and make provision for anticipated hazards, but at times can be heedless of danger. Grow more conservative with age.
• Gift for sculpture or modelling.
• Strange and unexpected things may happen to them in their lifetime.
• Home loving types, but hasty decisions or bad judgements can lead to estrangement from family.
• Confident and optimistic. Love travel, excitement and entertainment.
• Ambivalent about change and progress - stall for time and make excuses for hanging on to the status quo, lingering on the brink of the new and the old. Eventually, they have to move forward when circumstances force their hands.
• Tend to be too trusting.
  
  

Possible Themes

Imagination. 

Small steps leading to great things.

Guardians and protectors.

Evolution and development. 

Independence.

Objects

A fortress; an archer; a spear; a pool; a small child; a grated window in a medieval manor; a precipice.