Hello and welcome to my blog. Depending on content received, this blog’s usual schedule is (when content available)…
- Monday – poetry;
- Wednesday – book review (either by myself or a guest); the last Wednesday of the month is the deadline for the 6-word stories (you can submit up to ten per month!).
- Friday – the results of the previous month’s 100-word free monthly competition (the second Friday of the month), a <500-word flash fiction (posted every first and third Friday), or the latest batch of 6-word stories (the last Friday of the month).
- Saturday – a spotlight or guest post, which then heads the blog for the weekend.
- Every weekday (6.30pm UK time), I also post writing exercises on / from the Online Writing Groups.
Peter Jones - Author & Public Speaker
One of the questions an author is sometimes asked is “where do you get your ideas from?” My answer is usually “anywhere,” which is, I admit, a bit glib. The answer should really be “it depends which book you’re talking about.”
I came up with the idea for The Truth About This Charming Man many years ago when I was part of a small theatre company that ran Murder Mystery events for discerning clients. One evening a fellow actor walked into the dressing room and told us that he was off to Australia for a week. ‘Very nice’ we said, but he didn’t share our enthusiasm. Jeremy was flying half way around the world to claim a body.
It turns out that in Australia, a body can’t be released until it’s claimed by a blood relative. It didn’t seem to matter that Jeremy had never actually met his Great Uncle, the Aussie…
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*** If you enjoy these prompts, or are looking to improve your writing or submit a manuscript, do take a look at my seven online courses… five currently half price and and two FREE! (coupon codes on the online courses page) and / or my Writer’s Block Workbooks… my best-selling eBooks – now available in eBook and paperback format!
Every weekday I post a set of poetry prompts on poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com and a set of story prompts on the script, novel and short story blogs. As you’ll see by the heading numbers, you may have missed a few but the links are listed on the relevant group’s Exercises page so you can always find them there. So here are your poetry and short story exercises…
Poetry Writing Exercises 1159: Tuesday 27th June
Here are your four poetry exercises for today. If you enjoy these prompts, do take a look at my online courses… six are currently half price (when using the coupon codes on my main blog’s online courses page) and another is FREE!
Time yourself for 15 minutes per exercise, having a break in between each one or move on to the next. When you’ve finished, do pop over to this blog’s Facebook Group and let everyone know how you got on.
Below are the four – you can do them in any order.
- Keywords: lock, moisture, glamorous, funny, quality
- Random: too quiet
- Picture: what does this inspire?
- Tuesday Title: The Extra Hour
Have fun, and if you would like to, do paste your writing in the comment boxes below so we can see how you got on! Remember though that it counts as being published so don’t post anything that you would want to submit elsewhere (where they require unpublished material).
See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…
- Sentence starts = what it says on the tin. You can use it at the beginning of the poem or include it later, and being poetry it doesn’t have to be exact – just be inspired by it.
- Keywords = the words have to appear in the poem but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
- Single-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
- Mixed bag = an object, a location, a colour.
- Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
- Title = The title for your piece.
- Haiku poem= 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables
- Random = whatever takes my fancy!
Story Writing Exercises 1163: Tuesday 27 June
Here are your four story exercises for today. If you enjoy these prompts (or are looking to improve your writing or submit a manuscript), do take a look at my online courses… five are currently half price and the other two are FREE (when using coupon codes)!
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: adverbs, author, blog, books, competitions, creative writing, creative writing courses, crime, critique, erotica, exercises, feedback, fiction, film, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, literature, monologue, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, mystery, non-fiction, nonfiction, novels, online courses, online creative writing courses, pantoum, plays, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, prose, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, science fiction, scripts, scriptwriting, short stories, short story, sonnet, tanka, terza rima, thriller, triolet, tv, villanelle, writer, writing, writing exercises, writing group, writing poetry, writing workshop
*** If you enjoy these prompts, or are looking to improve your writing or submit a manuscript, do take a look at my seven online courses… five currently half price and and two FREE! (coupon codes on the online courses page) and / or my Writer’s Block Workbooks… my best-selling eBooks – now available in eBook and paperback format!
Every weekday I post a set of poetry prompts on poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com and a set of story prompts on the script, novel and short story blogs. As you’ll see by the heading numbers, you may have missed a few but the links are listed on the relevant group’s Exercises page so you can always find them there. So here are your poetry and short story exercises…
Poetry Writing Exercises 1158: Monday 26th June
Here are your four poetry exercises for today. If you enjoy these prompts, do take a look at my online courses… six are currently half price (when using the coupon codes on my main blog’s online courses page) and another is FREE!
Time yourself for 15 minutes per exercise, having a break in between each one or move on to the next. When you’ve finished, do pop over to this blog’s Facebook Group and let everyone know how you got on.
Below are the four – you can do them in any order.
- Keywords: hope, text, that, one, apart
- Random: pick an item from today’s / the weekend’s news
- Picture: what does this inspire?
- Monologue Monday: first-person poem about leaving the house
Have fun, and if you would like to, do paste your writing in the comment boxes below so we can see how you got on! Remember though that it counts as being published so don’t post anything that you would want to submit elsewhere (where they require unpublished material).
See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…
- Sentence starts = what it says on the tin. You can use it at the beginning of the poem or include it later, and being poetry it doesn’t have to be exact – just be inspired by it.
- Keywords = the words have to appear in the poem but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
- Single-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
- Mixed bag = an object, a location, a colour.
- Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
- Title = The title for your piece.
- Haiku poem= 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables
- Random = whatever takes my fancy!
Story Writing Exercises 1162: Monday 26 June
Here are your four story exercises for today. If you enjoy these prompts (or are looking to improve your writing or submit a manuscript), do take a look at my online courses… five are currently half price and the other two are FREE (when using coupon codes)!
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: adverbs, author, blog, books, competitions, creative writing, creative writing courses, crime, critique, erotica, exercises, feedback, fiction, film, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, literature, monologue, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, mystery, non-fiction, nonfiction, novels, online courses, online creative writing courses, pantoum, plays, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, prose, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, science fiction, scripts, scriptwriting, short stories, short story, sonnet, tanka, terza rima, thriller, triolet, tv, villanelle, writer, writing, writing exercises, writing group, writing poetry, writing workshop
The next instalment in the issue I reblogged last week…
Unbound Boxes Limping Gods
Helga Ritter, second in charge after Lord Anderson, watches from a distance, as the Amanojuko factory crumbles. A trail of survivors emerges, but they are mostly socialites. A few Amanojuko have not been buried, including the ringmaster and the pianist. She walks towards them, has to override Lord Anderson’s plans, as she senses he is gone. (Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this journey over the past seven years. The writer gives life to a story, but the reader keeps it alive.)
Helga’s back story, set in Russia (3991)
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Thoughts of Words
Fortnight Friday Fables…
This is a Writing Challenge organize by my dear Blogger Friend Sheetal Bharadwaj at The Glitters of Life. The rules and regulations I’m not going to repeat but will request you to click here.
Now, I’m joining her from this week. We’ll alternatively hold this challenge. Her prompt want lighter and happy submission. Mine will be a mixed one. The main “happy” point of my Challenge will be the challenge itself. So, take your time–14 days, remember–and write.
Monsoon has arrived here, to some part of our country, India. So, this week I’ll like to have Haikufrom you on the Monsoon.
Now, remember Haiku is the easy part. The main challengesare the
A. Writing shall not be in a conventional manner i.e. 5-7-5 or free-verse; it shall follow the following pattern–
i. 3-5-3
ii. 2-3-2
iii. 1-3-1
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*** If you enjoy these prompts, or are looking to improve your writing or submit a manuscript, do take a look at my seven online courses… five currently half price and and two FREE! (coupon codes on the online courses page) and / or my Writer’s Block Workbooks… my best-selling eBooks – now available in eBook and paperback format!
Every weekday I post a set of poetry prompts on poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.com and a set of story prompts on the script, novel and short story blogs. As you’ll see by the heading numbers, you may have missed a few but the links are listed on the relevant group’s Exercises page so you can always find them there. So here are your poetry and short story exercises…
Poetry Writing Exercises 1157: Friday 23rd June
Here are your four poetry exercises for today. If you enjoy these prompts, do take a look at my online courses… six are currently half price (when using the coupon codes on my main blog’s online courses page) and another is FREE!
Time yourself for 15 minutes per exercise, having a break in between each one or move on to the next. When you’ve finished, do pop over to this blog’s Facebook Group and let everyone know how you got on.
Below are the four – you can do them in any order.
- Keywords: hose, create, pudding, grow, dusting
- Random: forensically secure
- Picture: what does this inspire?
- One-word prompt: regular
Have fun, and if you would like to, do paste your writing in the comment boxes below so we can see how you got on! Remember though that it counts as being published so don’t post anything that you would want to submit elsewhere (where they require unpublished material).
See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…
- Sentence starts = what it says on the tin. You can use it at the beginning of the poem or include it later, and being poetry it doesn’t have to be exact – just be inspired by it.
- Keywords = the words have to appear in the poem but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
- Single-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
- Mixed bag = an object, a location, a colour.
- Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
- Title = The title for your piece.
- Haiku poem= 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables
- Random = whatever takes my fancy!
Story Writing Exercises 1161: Friday 23 June
Here are your four story exercises for today. If you enjoy these prompts (or are looking to improve your writing or submit a manuscript), do take a look at my online courses… five are currently half price and the other two are FREE (when using coupon codes)!
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: adverbs, author, blog, books, competitions, creative writing, creative writing courses, crime, critique, erotica, exercises, feedback, fiction, film, five senses, flash fiction, free verse, haiku, haiku poem, hendecasyllabic, humorous, humour, iambic pentameter, literature, monologue, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, mystery, non-fiction, nonfiction, novels, online courses, online creative writing courses, pantoum, plays, poem, poet, poetry, poetry collection, poetry exercises, poetry magazine, poetry slams, prose, rhyming, rhyming poetry, romance, science fiction, scripts, scriptwriting, short stories, short story, sonnet, tanka, terza rima, thriller, triolet, tv, villanelle, writer, writing, writing exercises, writing group, writing poetry, writing workshop
And there was I thinking that it was James Patterson, although I knew graphic novels were high on the list.
The Huber Life
The Book Thief coming out later this year sparked an interest in me to find out which books are most commonly stolen from libraries and bookstores. I began researching, and my findings have been quite interesting. Which book holds the record for being the book most often stolen from public libraries? Take a guess. It’s the Guinness Book of Records. No joke. In 2013, Marino Massimo De Caro, former director of the Girolamini Library in Naples, pulled off one of the most dramatic thefts ever to hit the rare-book world when volumes of centuries-old editions by the likes of Aristotle, Descartes, Galileo, and Machiavelli disappeared. So, what are the most frequently stolen books? Believe it or not, the books most often lifted from libraries are quite different than those taken from bookstores.
The Most Stolen Books From Libraries:
- As I stated above, The Guinness Book of Records tops the list.
- The…
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