*** 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 1522: Friday 16th November (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.

Keywords: middle, somewhere, ground, almost, modern
Random: easier to be angry
Picture: what does this inspire?
One-word prompt: nicer

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that it counts as being published so don’t post anything that you would want to submit elsewhere (where they require unpublished material).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 1526: Friday 16th Nov (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.

Continue reading →

Today’s poetry and story exercises: 15th Nov 2018

November 15, 2018October 26, 2018Leave a comment

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

Poetry Writing Exercises 1521: Thursday 15th November (NB. This link won’t be active until noon UK time today)

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

Keywords: understand, position, fury, free, available
Random: giving it up
Picture: what does this inspire?
Thursday Title: Not the Monster

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 1525: Thursday 15th Nov (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.

Continue reading →

Today’s poetry and story exercises: 14th Nov 2018

November 14, 2018October 26, 2018Leave a comment

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

Poetry Writing Exercises 1520: Wednesday 14th November (NB. This link won’t be active until noon UK time today)

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

Keywords: insight, empathy, inside, judge, mental
Random: mix today’s prompts
Picture: what does this inspire?
Sentence start: Not everyone…

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 1524: Wednesday 14th Nov (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.

Continue reading →

Today’s poetry and story exercises: 13th Nov 2018

November 13, 2018October 26, 2018Leave a comment

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

Poetry Writing Exercises 1519: Tuesday 13th November (NB. This link won’t be active until noon UK time today)

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

Keywords: worms, words, understated, empathise, out
Random: trained to be bored
Picture: what does this inspire?
Tuesday Title: The T-shirt Slogan

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 1523: Tuesday 13th Nov (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.

Continue reading →

Today’s poetry and story exercises: 12th Nov 2018

November 12, 2018October 26, 2018Leave a comment

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

Poetry Writing Exercises 1518: Monday 12th November (NB. This link won’t be active until noon UK time today)

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

Keywords: people, most, architect, sitting, ask
Random: pick an item from today’s / the weekend’s news
Picture: what does this inspire?
Monologue Monday: first-person poem about checking his / her watch

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 1522: Monday 12th Nov (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.

Continue reading →

Flash Fiction Friday 192: 6-word stories batch 45

November 10, 2018November 11, 2018Leave a comment

Welcome to Flash Fiction Friday (albeit on the Saturday!) and the one hundred and ninety-second piece in this series. This is the forty-fifth bunch of 6-word stories by a variety of authors, together with their 6-word biographies!

6-word stories

by Chong Teck SIM – aspiring Singaporean writer

Moonless night. Howling dogs. Quick footsteps.
No… no… I didn’t tell tales!
Foreign investor. Local businessman. Conflicting priorities.
Hidden talent: I’m a bathroom crooner.
Chocolate cake: for Pinkie, my Chihuahua.
With dread, he ate century eggs.
In tears, he returned the ring.
Big appetite. Ten burgers. Still hungry.
Slippery floor. I fell, face down.
He follows her from a distance.

by Kathryn Jones, a mysterious Christian writer

She was found – dead. Killer cuffed.

by Lyndon Loweth, imagination is my escape.

Inserting the syringe, hope fills me.

by André Lepine, just writing down dreams.

Rainy sidewalks make graveyards for worms.
Coffee and whiskey bookend Father’s days.
Whining car, whining driver, winter morning.
Home isn’t built in a day.
Elephants never put off till tomorrow…

by Valerie Fish – Writing from the heart

No heartbeat, no life. Heartbreaking delivery.
Redhead finds blonde hair. Wedding off.
Snoring husband smothered. Verdict crime passionel.
Winning ticket down drain. Divorce pending.
Wrong button pressed. Nuclear explosion. Obliteration.

by Samikshya Mishra, writer of anything fiction

I hated because I saw myself.
I was always forgotten, never ignored.
‘Twas goodbye, but we met again.
She cooked for all, never herself.
“Fight,” they said, hiding behind me.
I’ll wait until I find us.
After receiving everything, she’d said, “More.”
Look around, you are not alone.
None would know that they’re God.
I loved myself, never got betrayed.

by Pippa Stroud, insomniac and mountain biker

Mosquito net. Windows open. Door locked.

by Anita Bowden – happy bunny in disguise

Old flame sent photo. Eyes missing.
Opens card. “Happy deathday.” Wardrobe opens.
Delivers cat food. Starved child eats.
Decades later lovers reunite. Barren. Impotent.
Caught in the act. Homicidal thespian.
Packed arena. Special performance. Lion roars.
Murder your darlings. Before she does.
Cold hands, warm heart. Transplant success.

by Chris Tattersall, esteemed writer in waiting.

Football hooligans, waiting to kick off.

by Taj Fregene. Doctor. Writer. Musician. Dreamer

Her beauty and his love faded

and then some from yours truly… Morgen Bailey, Morgen With an E

Productive day but nothing to show.
Watching TV – I should be writing.
Unrequited love – it’s finally sunk in.

If you’d like to submit your 6-worders (up to ten per blog post, although you can send as many as you like and I’ll either pick the best ones or if I like most / all of them, schedule ahead) and / or 500-word max. stories for considerationfor Flash Fiction Friday take a lookhere.

Morgen 'with an e' Bailey

Editor, Author, Tutor & Mentor, Speaker, Competition Columnist & Judge

Tag: short stories

Please vote for my story (if you like it!)

Today’s poetry and story exercises: 16th Nov 2018

Today’s poetry and story exercises: 15th Nov 2018

Today’s poetry and story exercises: 14th Nov 2018

Today’s poetry and story exercises: 13th Nov 2018

Today’s poetry and story exercises: 12th Nov 2018

Flash Fiction Friday 192: 6-word stories batch 45