Make Excuses
Write down every excuse you’ve ever come up with for not writing. Then write down every excuse you can possibly think of that anyone ever might come up with for not writing (e.g. ‘I was just about to start Chapter II when: demons ate my notebook; the dog levitated; the tree outside caught fire…). Use one of them as a story starter.
Whinge on the Page
Start with "I don't like writing about" and write for 15 minutes.
Go Backwards
Think up an intriguing last line. Now work backwards from that. If you're stuck for a last line, borrow one from a book, story, TV show or piece of conversation.
If you borrow from somebody else's work, remember to come back and change the last line when you've finished your story. It's just there to get you started (or, er, finished).
Picture Seeds
You know the drill by now. Write for 15 minutes using one or more of the pictures below to inspire you. If you're feeling extra adventurous (or stuck) use the picture prompts in combination with one of the other exercises.
Your Life As Art
Start with "I remember" or "I don't remember" and write for 15 minutes. If you can't recall something exactly, make it up! Feel free to change anything if you sense a story shaping up.
Still Life
Write a story from the point of view of a household object (e.g. a coffee machine – Gaie's would be complaining of overwork…)
Get a Life
Borrow a bit of someone else's life. Keep your trusty notebook handy to collect any interesting or odd snippets of overheard conversation, and take one or more as a starting point for a story.
Or use this amazing piece of internet art, created by Jonathan Harris, to select a random section of a blog. Try it in "Madness" mode and click on circles until you get a sentence that inspires you. Or try "Montage" mode for a combination of words and pictures.
Warning 1: The program selects text from blogs that contain the words "I feel". Some contain (very!) adult material.
Warning 2: Playing with this program can eat your time.
Picture Seeds
Here's our monthly batch of picture prompts. Use one (or if you're showing off, all) of the pictures to inspire you. Write for 15 minutes and see where it takes you.
Magazine Clippings
Cut up words from a magazine and throw them into a hat/bowl/receptacle of your choice. Without looking, pick five and use as many of them as you can in a story.
Extra challenge: Use them all in your title or first line.
Let Fate Decide
Shuffle a tarot deck and pick the first three cards that come up. Build a story around them.
Haven't got a tarot deck? Then use a free online tarot reading. The "Three Fates" spread will pick 3 cards for you. You could try the Rider Waite deck, which is rich in symbolism, or really leave it up to fate and select "Choose for me".
Warning: If you do play around with the online site, remember to actually do the writing.
Come to Your Senses
Write an entire scene using a sense other than sight to describe what is happening.
Picture Seeds
Use one (or if you're showing off, all) of the pictures below to inspire you. Write for 15 minutes.
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