Mystery thief

 

Some strange things get stolen – for example, the apples from your tree, bulbs from the garden or milk from your doorstep. You set a trap for the thief – and are very surprised when you find out who it is. Can you come to some sort of arrangement to stop this continuing?

Article ideas

What about when the blue tits first started pecking at the milk bottle tops? Or how to outwit the canniest of squirrels who help themselves to what’s on the bird feeder? Or what about a bit of memoir about the time the lads went scrumping and got into trouble?

Poetry ideas

Could you write something about the thieving magpie? Maybe a poem for a child? What about a story in rhyming couplets, again for children, about a petty thief who gets their comeuppance?

Script ideas

Perhaps a three-hander? The theft causes a rift between the two people who are affected? Catching the thief brings them back together. Or perhaps a two-hander when the thief and the one who has been robbed confront each other? Could you use a bigger cast, something along the lines of An Inspector Calls?

Story ideas

What’s the first thing that happens? Who notices the theft? What do you know about them? How does the situation escalate? Which clues does your protagonist get? Do they finally confront the thief? What happens? How has your protagonist changed as a result of what has happened?     

 

Novel protagonist

 

Here’s a ready-made story for you.

You are reading a novel and suddenly you find that it could be your story. As you read on the protagonist becomes more and more like you.  You try to find out if this is just a coincidence or if this is deliberate.  You try to track down the writer.  Do you find them? What has happened?  What happens next?

Points to ponder

Who is “you”? Who is the person reading? What are they like physically, intellectually and emotionally? What are their current needs? Why are they reading this particular book at the moment?

The book

What sort of story is it? How does this begin to affect the reader? What about the writer?

How your story develops

When does your protagonist realise there is a similarity between them and the protagonist of the novel they are reading?  How do they fell as they begin to realise?

What makes them decide to do something about it?

How do the first steps go? How many obstacles do they have to overcome in order to meet with the author?

Do they meet the author? Is the author also like them or completely different?

Is there an explanation?

How does the relationship continue?

What has your protagonist learnt about themselves?  

Have fun!       

 

The Equinox

 

A magical time? Are we affected by the way the earth rotates?  Are there customs and rituals associated with this? Could you invent a few? How does the change in light affect you? Is the season changing as well?

Write an article, poem, script or story about this time.

Article ideas

Discuss the pros and cons of changing the clocks.  

Look at people’s need for sunlight.

Research some of the rituals to do with this time of year. What about the autumnal equinox as well? And the longest day and the shortest day?

What else?

Poem ideas

Take a walk and then make notes about what you’ve seen, heard, felt, tasted and smelt.  Build a poem on this.

Can you write an ode to the spring?

What about the sunrise or sunset on this day?

Script ideas

Go back in time and show a story about something changing on the day for an ancient civilisation. .

The garden needs some attention but no one is willing to do it. Write about how one household solves this dilemma.

Set your story at Stonehenge. What causes conflict this time?

Story ideas

How does the equinox bring hope in your story?

Write something from an animal’s point of view.

Create a dramatic monologue form the point of view of an experienced gardener.        

The Strike

 

Write an article, poem, script or story about a strike. You may like to look at an historic one.  Remember the Welsh slate miners or the coal miners. What about the emergency services? Or teachers?  Have you ever been on strike? Or what about a strike in an unusual place? You might even write about being affected by someone else being on strike.

 

Articles

This is plenty of scope for articles here. And within articles plenty of angles. Who is striking, and why.  Is it justified?  What will be the repercussions for the people on strike? How will it affect others?      

 

Poetry

What’s it like being on a picket line?  Is there an opportunity here to write with the senses? What about making up a marching song for the people who are protesting?

 

Script

If you’ve researched some of the historic ones, could you write a screen play or stage play? Remember for scripts you’re not in the head of the characters.  That’s more the job of the actor, novelist or short story writer. Can you bring some comedy into it? Do you remember The Rag Trade? And the cry of “Everybody out”?

 

Ficiton

Could you write the story form an unusual viewpoint.  Maybe that of a child? Or of one of the bosses who is secretly sympathetic? Or the partner of one of the strikers? If there is an unruly situation maybe you could write the story of a police officer involved in sorting out the chaos.    

    

Recording a week

Our lives are incredibly rich even if we think they are boring and even if we feel relatively locked down still. Charles Dickens examined the minutiae of daily life. Vivienne Dockerty mines family history to bring us highly dramatic historical fiction. Soaps like EastEnders, Coronation Street and The Archers delight because they feature the everyday – even though they are enriched with melodrama.     

Look back over the last week and record an incident from each day as an article, poem, story or script. They can be really short. Or you might want to pick just one and work it up into a longer piece.

Here are my examples:

Day 1 – fell asleep after lunch.  Short article about the luxury of a siesta

Day 2 – cleaner talked football with OH. Article about how football rules us.

Day 3 – last of the special gin samples I was given for my birthday. Poem about this one or all of them.

Day 4 – fascinated by a TV programme about family histories. Short story about someone finding their natural parents.

Day 5 – Valentine’s Day. Short story about how a couple break their Valentine’s ritual of some fifty years.

Day 6 – failed Zoom meeting – only two out of five of us showed up. Script about a main character that doesn’t turn up to his own party. Everybody talks about him. He walks in right at the end. A bit like Waiting for Godot only Godot turns up.

Day 7 OH is back from his curry club meeting by 8.30. I hear the front door open and I’m expecting a burglar. There is another explanation. This is already a short story.

How does anyone ever run out of ideas? It’s good to go off at a tangent sometimes as well.   This is one way of doing that.

Have fun.

World Cup Final

 

Or other exciting sporting event.  Describe what happens from the point of view of an avid fan. Does your team win or lose?  How does that make you feel? How do you celebrate or heal your wounds?

Set the scene. Write with your senses. Try to capture the atmosphere:

What does the pitch look like?

Who are the other fans?

Which snippets of conversation do you overhear?

What can you smell? Are there pies or hot dogs cooking?  

Or: are you watching at the pub or at home? Who is with you? What do you talk about?

How does the tension mount as the players come on to the pitch?

Can you describe the paly without getting too technical? Can you describe it for someone  who doesn’t understand football, cricket or tennis? Do you need to check facts? What you remember is fine but guaranteed you won’t remember exactly what happened. You may need to pin names to actions and check timings. Or can you make this completely fictitious?

How does the game end?

Will this be the end of your story?