Today’s poetry and story exercises: 11th Dec 2018

*** 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 two FREE! (coupon codes on the online courses page) and / or my Writer’s Block Workbooks… now available in eBook and paperback format!

I also run a free Monday mentor group. Do join us and pick my brain. 🙂

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 1539: Tuesday 11th December

(NB. This link won’t be active until noon UK time today)

Here are your four poetry exercises for today. If you enjoy these prompts, do take a look at my online courses… five are currently half price (when using the coupon codes on my main blog’s online courses page) and two others are 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. I also run a free Monday mentor group. Do join us and pick my brain. 🙂

Below are the four – you can do them in any order.

1. Keywords: mad, admit, nineteen, presidential, away
2. Random: worried about repercussions
3. Picture: what does this inspire?
4. Tuesday Title: For Whatever Reason

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that it counts as being published so don’t post anything that you would want to submit elsewhere (where they require unpublished material).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 1543: Tuesday 11th Dec

(NB. This link won’t be active until 10am UK time today)

Below are your four story exercises for today. You can do them in any order. Time yourself for 15 minutes for each one, then either have a break or move on to the next one.

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Today’s poetry and story exercises: 10th Dec 2018

*** 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 two FREE! (coupon codes on the online courses page) and / or my Writer’s Block Workbooks… now available in eBook and paperback format!

I also run a free Monday mentor group. Do join us and pick my brain. 🙂

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 1538: Monday 10th December

(NB. This link won’t be active until noon UK time today)

Here are your four poetry exercises for today. If you enjoy these prompts, do take a look at my online courses… five are currently half price (when using the coupon codes on my main blog’s online courses page) and two others are 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. I also run a free Monday mentor group. Do join us and pick my brain. 🙂

Below are the four – you can do them in any order.

1. Keywords: worthwhile, happening, journal, seem, better
2. Random: pick an item from today’s / the weekend’s news
3. Picture: what does this inspire?
4. Monologue Monday: first-person poem about no longer being perfect

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 1542: Monday 10th Dec

(NB. This link won’t be active until 10am UK time today)

Below are your four story exercises for today. You can do them in any order. Time yourself for 15 minutes for each one, then either have a break or move on to the next one.

Today’s poetry and story exercises: 7th Dec 2018

*** 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 two FREE! (coupon codes on the online courses page) and / or my Writer’s Block Workbooks… now available in eBook and paperback format!

I also run a free Monday mentor group. Do join us and pick my brain. 🙂

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 1537: Friday 7th December

(NB. This link won’t be active until noon UK time today)

Here are your four poetry exercises for today. If you enjoy these prompts, do take a look at my online courses… five are currently half price (when using the coupon codes on my main blog’s online courses page) and two others are 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. I also run a free Monday mentor group. Do join us and pick my brain. 🙂

Below are the four – you can do them in any order.

1. Keywords: Sinclair, year, sometimes, situate, murder
2. Random: since modernism
3. Picture: what does this inspire?
4. One-word prompt: fascinator

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 1541: Friday 7th Dec

(NB. This link won’t be active until 10am UK time today)

Below are your four story exercises for today. You can do them in any order. Time yourself for 15 minutes for each one, then either have a break or move on to the next one.

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 (when using coupon codes) and the other two are FREE!

When you’ve finished, pop over to the relevant blog’s Facebook group (links below) and let everyone know how you got on. I also run Morgen’s Free Monday Creative Writing Q&A Mentorship on Facebook. Do join us and pick my brain. 🙂

• Short story Facebook Group(https://www.facebook.com/groups/544072635605445)
• Novel Facebook Group(https://www.facebook.com/groups/508696639153189)
• Script FB: Facebook Group(https://www.facebook.com/groups/319941328108017)

So here are your prompts:

1. Keywords: Doug, husband, dump, everything, daily
2. Random: mix today’s prompts
3. Picture: what does this inspire?
4. One-word prompt: walk

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).

See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…

• Sentence starts = what they say on the tin. You can start the beginning of the story with them or a later sentence but they’re a great way of kicking off.
• Keywords = the words have to appear in the story but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
• One-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
• Mixed bag = two characters, an object, a location, a dilemma, a trait. Mix them all together and you have a plot… hopefully.
• First person piece or monologue (a one-sided conversation).
• Dialogue only = this is where you literally just write a conversation between two people. No ‘he said’, ‘she said’ or description, just speech and the reader has to be able to keep up. 🙂
• Second person = some of you will know that I champion. The prompt can be in any style but has to be written in second-person viewpoint… oh, what a hardship. 🙂
• Title: This is the title of your story.
• Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
• Random = whatever takes my fancy!

Tips

• Don’t forget your five senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, smell
• Show don’t tell: if your character is angry, don’t tell us he is, have him thumping his fist on the table.
• Colours: Include at least one colour in your story. It does add depth.
• Use strong verbs and avoid adverbs: Have a character striding instead of walking confidently.
• Only use repetition to emphasise.
• When you’ve finished the first draft, read the story out loud. It’s surprising how many ‘mistakes’ leap out at you when you read out loud… assuming you have any of course!
• And there are loads more writing tips on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/writing-101.

Pictures above courtesy of morguefile.com/ pixabay.com

Today’s poetry and story exercises: 6th Dec 2018

*** 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 two FREE! (coupon codes on the online courses page) and / or my Writer’s Block Workbooks… now available in eBook and paperback format!

I also run a free Monday mentor group. Do join us and pick my brain. 🙂

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 1536: Thursday 6th December

(NB. This link won’t be active until noon UK time today)

Here are your four poetry exercises for today. If you enjoy these prompts, do take a look at my online courses… five are currently half price (when using the coupon codes on my main blog’s online courses page) and two others are 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. I also run a free Monday mentor group. Do join us and pick my brain. 🙂

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Below are the four – you can do them in any order.

1. Keywords: nineteen, condition, day, our, taken
2. Random: at the front
3. Picture: what does this inspire?
4. Thursday Title: Everyone Else Can

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 1540: Thursday 6th Dec

(NB. This link won’t be active until 10am UK time today)

Below are your four story exercises for today. You can do them in any order. Time yourself for 15 minutes for each one, then either have a break or move on to the next one.

Today’s poetry and story exercises: 5th Dec 2018

*** 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 two FREE! (coupon codes on the online courses page) and / or my Writer’s Block Workbooks… now available in eBook and paperback format!

I also run a free Monday mentor group. Do join us and pick my brain. 🙂

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 1535: Wednesday 5th December

(NB. This link won’t be active until noon UK time today)

Here are your four poetry exercises for today. If you enjoy these prompts, do take a look at my online courses… five are currently half price (when using the coupon codes on my main blog’s online courses page) and two others are 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. I also run a free Monday mentor group. Do join us and pick my brain. 🙂

Below are the four – you can do them in any order.

1. Keywords: start, seminal, whole, possibility, story
2. Random: mix today’s prompts
3. Picture: what does this inspire?
4. Sentence start: Seen at the site…

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 1539: Wednesday 5th Dec

(NB. This link won’t be active until 10am UK time today)

Below are your four story exercises for today. You can do them in any order. Time yourself for 15 minutes for each one, then either have a break or move on to the next one.

Today’s poetry and story exercises: 4th Dec 2018

*** 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 two FREE! (coupon codes on the online courses page) and / or my Writer’s Block Workbooks… now available in eBook and paperback format!

I also run a free Monday mentor group. Do join us and pick my brain. 🙂

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 1534: Tuesday 4th December

(NB. This link won’t be active until noon UK time today)

Here are your four poetry exercises for today. If you enjoy these prompts, do take a look at my online courses… five are currently half price (when using the coupon codes on my main blog’s online courses page) and two others are 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. I also run a free Monday mentor group. Do join us and pick my brain. 🙂

Below are the four – you can do them in any order.

1. Keywords: wrong, posse, physical, myself, talking
2. Random: an amateur detective
3. Picture: what does this inspire?
4. Tuesday Title: The Reddit Page

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 1538: Tuesday 4th Dec

(NB. This link won’t be active until 10am UK time today)

Below are your four story exercises for today. You can do them in any order. Time yourself for 15 minutes for each one, then either have a break or move on to the next one.

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 (when using coupon codes) and the other two are FREE!

When you’ve finished, pop over to the relevant blog’s Facebook group (links below) and let everyone know how you got on. I also run Morgen’s Free Monday Creative Writing Q&A Mentorship on Facebook. Do join us and pick my brain. 🙂

• Short story Facebook Group(https://www.facebook.com/groups/544072635605445)
• Novel Facebook Group(https://www.facebook.com/groups/508696639153189)
• Script FB: Facebook Group(https://www.facebook.com/groups/319941328108017)

So here are your prompts:

1. Keywords: grip, billion, terrible, sea, dump
2. Random: mix yesterday’s prompts
3. Picture: what does this inspire?
4. Tuesday Title: Plastic is Funny

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).

See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…

• Sentence starts = what they say on the tin. You can start the beginning of the story with them or a later sentence but they’re a great way of kicking off.
• Keywords = the words have to appear in the story but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
• One-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
• Mixed bag = two characters, an object, a location, a dilemma, a trait. Mix them all together and you have a plot… hopefully.
• First person piece or monologue (a one-sided conversation).
• Dialogue only = this is where you literally just write a conversation between two people. No ‘he said’, ‘she said’ or description, just speech and the reader has to be able to keep up. 🙂
• Second person = some of you will know that I champion. The prompt can be in any style but has to be written in second-person viewpoint… oh, what a hardship. 🙂
• Title: This is the title of your story.
• Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
• Random = whatever takes my fancy!

Tips

• Don’t forget your five senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, smell
• Show don’t tell: if your character is angry, don’t tell us he is, have him thumping his fist on the table.
• Colours: Include at least one colour in your story. It does add depth.
• Use strong verbs and avoid adverbs: Have a character striding instead of walking confidently.
• Only use repetition to emphasise.
• When you’ve finished the first draft, read the story out loud. It’s surprising how many ‘mistakes’ leap out at you when you read out loud… assuming you have any of course!
• And there are loads more writing tips on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/writing-101.

Pictures above courtesy of morguefile.com/ pixabay.com

Today’s poetry and story exercises: 3rd Dec 2018

*** 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 two FREE! (coupon codes on the online courses page) and / or my Writer’s Block Workbooks… now available in eBook and paperback format!

I also run a free Monday mentor group. Do join us and pick my brain. 🙂

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 1533: Monday 3rd December

(NB. This link won’t be active until noon UK time today)

Here are your four poetry exercises for today. If you enjoy these prompts, do take a look at my online courses… five are currently half price (when using the coupon codes on my main blog’s online courses page) and two others are 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. I also run a free Monday mentor group. Do join us and pick my brain. 🙂

Below are the four – you can do them in any order.

1. Keywords: case, backwards, wall, through, brick
2. Random: pick an item from today’s / the weekend’s news
3. Picture: what does this inspire?
4. Monologue Monday: first-person poem about not believing the truth

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 1537: Monday 3rd Dec

(NB. This link won’t be active until 10am UK time today)

Below are your four story exercises for today. You can do them in any order. Time yourself for 15 minutes for each one, then either have a break or move on to the next one.