What’s the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for you? Who was it and what made it so special?

1. The flowers were wilting in ….

2. There was a look of desperation in ….

3. “I’ve found it!” The jubliant squeal came from inside the ….

Today look at how words can invoke a sense of place. Use the following compulsory criteria for the scene and see if you can paint a clear picture to the reader with the words you use:
The scene is located on a boat.
The weather is stormy.
Your main character is terrified of thunder.

Songs often bring memories flooding back. Think of a song that you associate with a certain point in your life, or place you’ve visited, or person you’ve known, and write about why that particular song brings the memories back to you.

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Your exercise today is to incorporate all of the following words into an article, short story, poem or whatever comes to mind. You must use all of the words (in any order) to complete the exercise, but the context in which they are used is up to you. Think about the words for a few minutes before you start to write and see what pictures come to mind - then see if you can weave them all together into a piece of writing.

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Do you love the sun or loathe it? When splashes of yellow sunlight peek through your bedroom window do you jump out of bed and hurry through your chores in order to get outside with a cool drink and a good book - or are you sent hurtling to the darkest coolest area of the house? Today write a personal opinion essay with the title “On Sunshine”.

Idea Seeds! Start your page with any of the following and see where your creative muse takes you:

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Something happened in your character’s past which has held them back in some way. Write a scene where the character finds a way of forgiving the person or situation which created this block, and show how they start to move on from it.

Place the title “Hope” at the top of your page, set your timer for 20 minutes and then start. Keep the writing going until your timer goes off. Fiction, non-fiction, personal memory - it doesn’t matter. Whatever the title brings to mind, write it down. When you timed session is over, read through what you’ve wrote - maybe there’s the start of a new work in progress there, or the bones of an article just needing some meat on it!

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Your exercise today is to incorporate all of the following words into an article, short story, poem or whatever comes to mind. You must use all of the words (in any order) to complete the exercise, but the context in which they are used is up to you. Think about the words for a few minutes before you start to write and see what pictures come to mind - then see if you can weave them all together into a piece of writing.

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