A year of writing prompts: 17 November

How to use these prompts

Who is this new arrival?
What are her plans?
Does her trip go to plan?

Prompts

1. "What is a hero without love for mankind?" Doris Lessing
2. Today is Coping With Uncertainty Day. Your character is coping with uncertainty about something. What is it, and how do they cope?
3. It's Unfriend Day. A day to unclutter your Facebook account and reflect on the true meaning of friendship. Your character unfriends someone. Possibly because they are getting rid of people they don't remember or possibly because the other person has offended them in some way. The unfriended person decides that they are not going to take it lying down...
4. The Leonids meteor shower peaks around now. Write a story featuring a shooting star, or shooting stars.
5. In 1973, Richard Nixon declared "I am not a Crook". In your story, the president, whether it is of a country, company or organisation, actually is a crook. What crime do they commit and what are the consequences?

Character Names

Hortense, Hugo, Eino, Victoria, Benedita, Gladys, Claude, Claudia, Claudette, Clint, Gregory, Dragomir, Hugh, Nancy

Character Traits

• Hard working, sincere and reliable.
• Two sides to their personality - on the one hand, pleasant, unassuming and humane; on the other, revengeful, treacherous and cruel.
• Love simplicity and refinement.
• Seek adventure, and face danger with confidence because they will always be in control and will keep a cool head.
• Everything they do is carefully and meticulously planned.
• Can be austere and reclusive, devotedly following a church or a cause.
• Often misunderstood.
• Rarely make promises, but when they do, they keep them.
• Passive in romance - can be prudish.
• Good looking.
• Can have criminal tendencies.
• Need to beware of trickery and accidents.

Possible Themes

The sacred, forbidden and taboo.

Returning home; coming into one's own.

Imaginary worlds.

Fantasies containing spiritual teaching.

Leadership and responsibility.

Objects

The king of the fairies; a wolf; a temple; a tiger; ship in a rough sea; a cornerstone; Pixie dust.