Creative Club #1

A prompt, an exercise, and an experiment with our new community.

Photo by Jeremy Thomas on Unsplash

I’m so excited to be starting the fortnightly In Writing Creative Club. I hope it will give all of us a place to do something purely creative and fun, and to spur each other on in the process.

Below (wait for it) is a short sentence that I hope will spark your imagination. What I challenge you to do today – or in the next few days – is to take this prompt and write something, which you’ll then post in the comments. Let’s say it can be anywhere between 50 words and 300 words (and if you write something longer, just choose your favourite bit to share).

Write fiction, memoir, poetry or whatever you like. Use the prompt straightforwardly or tangentially – you can include the sentence itself in what you produce, or you can use the concept as a jumping-off point, or if it reminds you of a funny anecdote from your childhood, feel free to swerve away from the prompt and write about that instead. Write in whichever tense you like and from any perspective.

Then keep an eye on the comments to read what others have done and respond (encouragingly, please – no unsolicited critiques). I’ll have a go at this exercise too, and I’ll share mine as well as reading yours.

If you’re someone who writes but doesn’t usually show anyone, I’d like to put in a special appeal to you: please try this. Nobody can see it except paid subscribers (and there aren’t very many of you yet, as I’ve only just launched), and it’s a very safe place to try out something short. That’s the way to build confidence.

OK, it’s time for the writing prompt. Here it is: