Today’s poetry and story exercises: 17th August 2017

*** 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 1196: Thursday 17th August

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.

1. Keywords: children, chilly, chilli, chick, chide
2. Random: not quite good enough
3. Picture: what does this inspire?
4. Thursday Title: The Wrong Time

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that it counts as being published so don’t post anything that you would want to submit elsewhere (where they require unpublished material).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 1200: Thursday 17 Aug

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)!

 

Today’s poetry and story exercises: 16th August 2017

*** 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 1195: Wednesday 16th August

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.

1. Keywords: team, curdle, capable, genius, same
2. Random: matching Anne’s record
3. Picture: what does this inspire?
4. Sentence start: With his knowledge…

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 1199: Wednesday 16 Aug

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)!

 

Results of Morgen’s 100-word competition: July 2017

Hello everyone. This month I received 33 entries from 20 writers. Three were disqualified for only being 99 words which was a real shame as one was from someone who’d promised frequently on social media to enter and finally did, and only the one story. Another lost out because the author had included a dash – in the 100 words and as the rules state, they aren’t. Fortunately there were two other stories to choose from and I preferred them anyway. Another was over the word count because of dreaded ellipses (not being separate from the following word). Another story was exactly 100 but lost points because it had an extra ‘the’. Fortunately the author had sent two more stories – one of which I preferred. Another was again the right word count but had a rogue ‘r’ on the end of a word and a rogue ‘e’ on another, so lost points – and it was the only story submitted by that author. It goes to prove that you need to read your stories (ideally aloud) carefully before submitting anywhere, especially if you’re paying for the privilege. One story was disqualified as there was no mention of a train. Fortunately it wasn’t the author’s only submission. Phew. 🙂 Finally, another story lost points for having a word missing a letter which meant something else… and for having a cliché.

The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way), or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly). You may have chosen a different order or indeed not placed one or more of them so if you entered and didn’t find your story / stories here, don’t lose heart. You probably only just missed out (there were originally eight highly commended then I whittled down to the maximum three) so do enter new stories this month*, next month, whenever you like (but not in advance!).

It’s an ongoing competition and free. There were new and familiar names this month so anyone could win… it’s all dependent upon whether your story grabs me, for whatever reason (whether it be clever, funny, unusual, quirky, or sweet).

A new recent feature… there are some ‘Honourable Mentions’. They don’t win anything but they were so close to being Highly Commended that I wanted them to know how close they came. It’s still something for them to put on their CVs.

*The theme for August is ‘ticking’ and you can submit your entries at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Thursday 31^st August.

So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.

*

First place, winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18):

Coppelia Tingley with ‘The Train to Nowhere’

The shrill of the guard’s whistle rang out. Clambering on board, nothing people. Strangers in drab clothes, blank expressionless faces, stared ahead. No conversation. Apathy shrouded them.
The tracks disappeared into nothingness. A wall of misty grey. The people had squandered life, wasted opportunities, let things happen around them. Now on their way to nowhere.
The other platform. Animated, friendly people, brightly attired, climbed on board. They had, grabbed opportunities at every turn, and held on for dear life. They had made things happen.
The lines ahead stretched into infinity. Wild buildings, fields of flowers. Technicolor. Exciting adventures awaited them.

*

Second place, winning free access to two of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14):

John Murphy with ‘Two Moths’

When he saw those two young people seated across the aisle from each other, he was reminded of a Linklater film he once saw. He closed his book and leaned against the window and listened to the sound of the train, its hums and murmurs. The two young people shared a brief smile. He smiled at their smile, unbeknownst to them. An image came to his mind, an image of two moths colliding in the dark, and he thought that this was the image of contentment. Looking once more at the young couple, he blessed them, and then he vanished.

*

Join third place – in alphabetical order, each winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9):

ados123 with ‘Acknowlegement’

Saturday morning, Henry Doveton sat with tea, toast, the local paper. As he reached the obituaries, he froze. He knew that face.
Thirty years on the 7.10 to Clapham. Same carriage, same seat, but he’d never exchanged a word with the man.
Strike days, iced points, leaves on the track, signalling problems and even the odd bomb scare and they’d never done more than nod.
Henry looked back at the page.
‘Arthur Lemery, sixty-seven years. Service at St Martins Church, Tuesday afternoon.’
He folded the paper open.
He should go.
Least he could do for a stranger from the train.

*

Simone Davis with ‘Strangers on a Train’
Two tribes surge forward through newly opened doors. War-painted warriors in red and blue display their colours proudly; jostling rudely and counting coup.
They make the sacred signs and proudly wave their standards then retreat to their own appointed territory, each man unto his brothers.
In the no-man’s-land of the buffet car is pre-battle feasting: bacon butties and special brew.
Mind the gap.
Now, seize the glorious field and fight!
We’ll meet here again once the war is won, to sing the victory song or nurse in agony a broken heart.
Till next year on Twickenham’s hallowed ground.
Beloved enemies.

*

Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitions course worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:

• Alyson Faye with ‘3D Audrey’
• Gaynor Jones with ‘Ruffled’
• Laura Besley with ‘A Chance Encounter’
• Mark Sadler with ‘Caught in the Ruffles’
• MW Brown with ‘The Book Club’

*

Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in alphabetical order:

• Andy Davis with ‘Strangers on a Train’
• Justin Rulton with ‘Small Talk’
• Rehanna Neky with ‘They are Strangers’
• Sam Bowie with ‘Strangers on a Train’

*

Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.

If you’ve enjoyed these stories and / or just want to leave a comment, please do so below and / or you can email me at morgen@morgenbailey.com, although I won’t (can’t) discuss forthcoming entries unless it’s a general query.

 

Today’s poetry and story exercises: 15th August 2017

*** 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 1194: Tuesday 15th August

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.

1. Keywords: impressive, fight, crumble, steel, money
2. Random: three steps ahead
3. Picture: what does this inspire?
4. Tuesday Title: Closer to Home

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 1198: Tuesday 15 Aug

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)!

 

Today’s poetry and story exercises: 14th August 2017

*** 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 1193: Monday 14th August

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.

1. Keywords: former, country, capital, faced, foe
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 standing up to a bully

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 1197: Monday 14 Aug

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)!

Time yourself for 15 minutes for each one, then either have a break or move on to the next one. When you’ve finished, do pop over to this blog’s Facebook Group and let everyone know how you got on.

 

Today’s poetry and story exercises: 11th August 2017

*** 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 1192: Friday 11th August

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.

1. Keywords: fire, time, now, christening, doctor
2. Random: named after an Italian minister
3. Picture: what does this inspire?
4. One-word prompt: roach

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).

 

Today’s poetry and story exercises: 10th August 2017

*** 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 1191: Thursday 10th August

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.

1. Keywords: through, pill, impress, think, Florida
2. Random: the suit that’s too big
3. Picture: what does this inspire?
4. Thursday Title: The Booking

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 1195: Thursday 10 Aug

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)!