Today I want you to think about a character who has a collection of some sort. Write a passage that shows a reader each of the following:
What is the collected object
How did the collection start?
Why does the character collect these objects?
Which of the objects is the character’s favourite?
Use this opening from Imagine a Day (by Sarah L. Thomson, illustrations by Rob Gonzales) to inspire a children’s story of your own:
Imagine a day when you can dive down through branches…
I’ve been tidying my office in preparation for my treadmill desk, which arrives on Thursday. More on that later! So, I’m listening to Joni Mitchell for the first time in ages. And there’s this lovely line:
Sunlight pouring in like butterscotch…
It made me think that for today’s prompt I want you to take something very ordinary and try to find a new way to describe it. Describe sunlight. Describe the feeling of waking. Describe the way your morning goes but use original language. It’s harder than it seems. Cliches pop into our heads (pop, pop, pop) and our job as writers is to let them explode and then to dig in the rubble to find our own shiny new descriptions hidden beneath… or something like that!
Once you’ve done the exercise above, use the Joni Mitchell line to begin a poem. Now, back to tidying my office…
My name is Alice Kuipers. I'm the author of Life on the Refrigerator Door, Lost For Words (The Worst Thing She Ever Did), and 40 Things I Want To Tell You. This site is full of tips and prompts and ideas about writing to help you write often, write well and get on your way to becoming a writer too.
