Ideas for when you lose the muse - by Fran Hill

Browsing through the notebook I take to 'Association of Christian Writers' events, I see I've recorded many ideas for writing activities. Some have been inspired by ACW conferences and others by our local West Midlands group which meets four times a year and is the best writers' group in the country. I say that with no bias whatsoever.

Here's the notebook.

I spilt wine over it. Unfortunately, not white wine.

My notebook ideas might prove useful for writers' groups or, indeed, for any of you needing ideas to kickstart the writing muse. So, here they are, as they say on the X Factor, in no particular order.

1. Choose a common household object that you can see from where you're sitting: a teapot, a set of table mats, a wooden spoon, a hole punch, an envelope. Write a scene in which it is the central object.

2. Write a description of a professional at work, eg a potter, a musician, a banker, a dancer, a plumber.

3. Write a dialogue between a father and son in generational conflict.

4. If a friend/relative/key character were a house, vehicle, machine, or piece of furniture, which type would that person be and why? Make a list of reasons and then write a description of that person, drawing on your ideas.

5. Write a memory from your childhood, set in your primary or secondary school. Make the setting count, using it to reflect the emotions you're remembering.

6. Interview an inanimate object that you own, for instance your mirror, a favourite chair, your teddy from childhood, your purse. Ask it questions, eg When did you first meet your owner?/In what way are you like your owner?/When do you interact most with your owner?/Of whom/what are you jealous?/What would your owner do without you?  Use the answers to write a piece in the voice of the object about its relationship with you.

7. Browse through a magazine and choose a picture of a person. Write that person's story.

8. Play a piece of your favourite music and write while it's playing. What mood does it evoke? Choose a memory, or write a section of dialogue, or jot down ideas for a poem or story.

9. Using the theme 'private versus public' write a scene in which the two are in conflict or cause problems for someone.

10. Write a scene in which someone gives someone else a gift. What goes wrong?

11. Pick an emotion - happiness, guilt, frustration, fury, etc - and ask questions about it, using the senses. What does this emotion look like/smell like/sound like/feel like/taste like? What would it say if it could speak? Write notes based on your ideas then form them into a poem or longer piece. Do not mention the name of the emotion.

12. Write about a journey that a character does not want to be taking.

13. Write a scene set in the real world but with a fantastical element, such as a wardrobe that speaks, a cloud that sings or a character who metamorphoses into another being.

14. Write about a 'first'. Make a list of 'firsts' you have undergone in your life eg the first time you saw a dead body/went paintballing/rode a bicycle/got divorced/ran away from home/earned a salary. Firsts have great psychological resonance with us and can lead to powerful writing.

15. Browse through a history book or website and choose a moment in history, eg the Pilgrim Fathers set off for new lands / one of Henry VIII's wives hears of her forthcoming beheading / a soldier sets off for the First World War. Write from the point of view of one of the characters involved.

I'll stop there. There are probably ten more in my notebook, but I'll save those for the next blog post.

Happy writing! Let me know if any of these have inspired you. Also let me know if you think your ACW local group is better than mine and we can fight about it ;)

Fran Hill is a writer and English teacher based in Warwickshire. Her new book 'Miss, What Does Incomprehensible Mean?' comes out in May 2020, published by SPCK. You can find out more about Fran and her work here