Hello, lovely readers!

A very short announcement for you today…

I’m so excited that the fourth book in my A Novel Approach series is now available for pre-order as an ebook, ahead of its formal release on the 1st December. I am intending to also release this as a paperback, but that will be following shortly, due to the quiet time I need to sit and format a paperback! (And the large glass of wine which follows!)

“A Prompt A Day” contains, as the title suggests, a total of 366 prompts, to keep the ink flowing and the keys tapping for every single day of the year, no matter when you get started…

Recently, I’ve been working hard to maintain my daily writing practice, and I can definitely tell when I’ve had a successful ‘run’ of keeping this going; yes, there are literally more pages of writing in my notebook, but I also have a general sense of inner wellbeing, knowing that I am doing something entirely for me, and taking time for my ‘writing self’, which I haven’t always done in the past.

Having said that, I now also know to be kinder to myself than I have previously, if I don’t write every day. So, however you approach the prompts, whether working through a handful in a day or over a weekend, or following day-by-day, I hope you enjoy the process.

I really have had such a good time pulling this collection of prompts together, and I really hope that you find something in there to inspire the words to flow in whatever genre or style you write. The prompts have been compiled based on almost a decade of running North Tyneside Writers’ Circle and other workshops now, and should work for both poetry and prose (whether fiction or non-fiction).

Here are some examples of the prompts which await you within…

A popular trope in story-telling is to make somebody ‘a fish out of water’, putting them in a situation utterly alien to them. What situation would make you feel like this? Write about the emotions you would likely feel, and how you might cope (or not).

Have you ever thought about the relationships between writers and their characters? Write a letter from a famous character to their creator. Are they happy? Complaining? How might the author respond?

Write a set of instructions, as a recipe or ‘how to’ guide, for a daily practice, such as making tea, but make it beautiful, as though creating a piece of art, or important ritual.

Write an advert! The twist here is that the advertising text should be for something abstract, nothing you could actually buy in the world today, for example peace, love, or revenge… How might a company sell their product? Who is their target audience?

Think of a situation in which you have felt powerful, at any scale. Describe that moment in your writing today, capturing the feelings that were going through you, as well as the scene in which the moment was set. Bring it alive.

The ebook of A Prompt A Day can be pre-ordered here, and if you’re interested in my other writing, you can find out more here, on my Amazon page.