Creative Play

 I need to get back into writing. I've got a full book to edit, and I do really just love juggling words around and seeing what shapes they make as they land on the page.

I recently had a friend staying over the winter break, and we both wanted to work on our writing. We did a couple of writing sessions in a coffee shop in town, but the thing that really helped me was sitting down and giving each other timed prompts. We each chose a double-part prompt for the other, and set a 15 minute timer.

It didn't feel like work, it felt like playing. It was scary knowing the time was ticking down and I still didn't have anything written on the page, but the second time was easier. 

For the first one, I couldn't think how to start, so I did a bit of brainstorming on the page just to put pen to paper. The prompt was "a young girl, looking up a shadowy staircase". I wanted to know WHO the girl was, WHERE the staircase led to, WHY it was shadowy and WHAT the emotions were that I wanted to convey. And then I wanted to subvert initial expectations. 

Once I'd got those in place, it was easier to begin writing. I decided that the shadows weren't scary, they were safe; it was the patches of light that held the danger. I wanted her to be determined to reach her goal and confident that she knew how to achieve it. 

Niss scanned the steps before her. There were patches of shadow scattered across her route, and she totted up the distances between them; how many steps from one patch of safety to the next.

The harsh light poured in through the gaps in the walls. She'd have to move quickly. Pulling her hood over her head, she darted up the staircase. At the top she paused, and surveyed the corridor ahead. From the plans, she knew that her target was located in one of the far rooms. The ceiling here had collapsed, leaving whole swathes of the floor in sunlight.

The next prompt was "a religious idol; a worshipper who is not content". I found this time it was much easier to begin, and only jotted a few brief notes before starting to write.

The chapel was out of the way, and it took Asha almost half a day to get there. She'd left early, so as to be sure of getting back before night fell on the ruins.

Eventually she spotted the entrance to the alley that led to her destination. Sandwiched between the tall buildings, it almost looked like a dead end, but among the rubble and debris she spotted the door.

She tore away the plywood that boarded it up, and stepped into the gloom. 

It was a mostly empty space, long since stripped of the wooden pews, and any valuable metal taken away to be melted down.

The idol was placed on the raised end of the room, staring with empty eyes at an invisible congregation. Asha approached and typed her prayer into the keypad at the side.

The idol's eyes flickered to life and Asha grudgingly crouched in front of it to drop a handful of batteries in the offering bowl.

After we'd both read our snippets out loud, we had to choose our favourite of the other person's for them to develop with a further prompt. I'm to develop the world/character from the second one, with the additional prompt of "something precious stolen". 

(The first two prompts I gave were "a talisman, in a sci fi world" and "a technological world overtaken by nature; a struggle". I then chose the first one for my friend to develop, with the additional prompt of "an incident over food".)

If you feel inspired by any of these prompts, I'd love to see what you come up with!