April
Writers FORUM
GET STARTEDSpend fi ve minutes starting
Douglas’s homework on
page 11, jotting down ideas for
articles from a newspaper.LICK A LIMA male strippergr
Caerphilly...Write a list of random words
where each begins with the last
letter of the preceding word.
Your starter word isThree days to go until the
#222 poetry comp
deadline. Spend fi ve minutes
doing Sue’s p50 exerciseFLOWER POWERTo mark the 250th birthday
of William Wordsworth,
write a poem that starts
I wandered lonely as a...♫ ANSWER THE
QUESTION! ♫Will You Love Me Tomorrow
(The Shirelles, 1960)LETTERGrab the new
Writers’ Forum a ave
a go at writing something
for the lette page.On page 66, at the end of the
piece, Julia Chapman explains
what really made a writing space
for her... List what YOU need
in order to write.Write about...Three days to go until
the rolling deadline for the
fi ction comp.
Read the winner in this issue then
write down one big question you
would ask the god Amunoun...USER GENERATED
CONTENTCome up with your
own idea for a fi ve-minute
writing exercise and send it to
[email protected]BEGIN THE BEGINNINGHave a go at Barbara’s
Exercise A on page 25.MIND MAPWrite the word
in the middle of a page,
then all the words/ideas
it sparks around it...
until you fi ll the paper.Start your own story from the
of
by Ray Bradbury:On this day in 1930, BBC Radio
announced there was no news
(none fi t for its listeners anyway)
and played piano music instead.
What would you replace
today’s news with?Eight days to go until
the #223
fl ash comp deadline.
Spend fi ve minutes having
a go if you haven’t already.SHRINKING FEELING
A scanning electron microscope
was fi rst demonstrated to the
public 80 years ago today.
Write what it feels like as you
shrink to a cellular level.COULD BE VERSEChoose one of Sue’s four
Poetry Workouts
on page 51.GOING GREENToday is the 50th Earth Day,
encouraging us to care for
the planet. Write a list of things
you can do or change to play
your part.FOR ST GEORWhat dragons would you
like to slay today?Make as many words
and phrases as you can
from the letters inRoll a dice for Paula’s
on page 32
and plot the key scenes
of a story.WORRY HURRYPour out a current writing
problem into a letter and
send it to Dear Della or
the Mentor – or burn it.AUSSIE A-ZJames Cook landed
in Botany Bay 250 years ago.
Come up with something
Australian for each letter of
the alphabet.SUMMINWrite a list of everything
you’ve written this month
and/or everything you plan to
write next month, honest.Mon Tue Wed Thu
Get into the habit of writing every day by starting
with these fi ve-minute prompts. It’s all about
QUANTITY not QUALITY – simply a way to get
your creativity warmed up, so try not to edit as you
write. But if inspiration strikes, keep going!
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