The Big Book of Prompts, Let's Get Writing, So Now You're Published

 

There are three prompts a day for the whole of 2023. Some are short and pithy, others are inspired by obscure days e.g. 8 January Bubble Bath Day, and some go into more detail on an aspect of writing craft. There are series that go over a number of days. A few prompts are about works in progress and several give you the choice of working with a text you have already created, creating something new or even editing a completed piece of work. But every prompt gives you the opportunity to write something as well.

These prompts were put together by writers published by the Bridge House, CaféLit and Chapeltown imprints, and their friends.

Happy writing!

What shall I do with my Creative Writing group?

Here are a list of suggestions based on what you might do over a year, whether  you meet once a week or once a month. Each suggested session plan allows you to plan an interesting session with your group, and suggests what to do in the session, what you need to prepare before the session and how you might follow it up. Suggested timings are included.     

Have fun with my Let's get Writing. Those creative juices will soon be flowing.  

 

updated October 2024 

The last thing most writers want to do is spend a lot of time on marketing. Yet books don't sell themselves by magic, no matter how good they are. Publishers do what they can but time and money is limited, and inevitably they have to move on to the next project. If you can adapt a few useful routines, especially ones you find palatable and fun, you'll hardly notice you're doing it. There are heaps of useful suggestions here and handy check lists to keep you on track.

 Buy all three for £3.00 

Note, they will be supplied as a PDF  

 

Here I talk to Wendy Beasley, whose book 'Charlotte and the Monster' has recently been published

 

So, I gather Charlotte and the Monster is actually the second book in the series. Will there be others?

1.    Charlotte and the Monster is the second in the Charlotte series following on from Charlotte and the Fairies published in 2020. Although the second book can be read as a stand-alone story, I would love to think that the children who had the original book read to them have reached an age where they can read the next episode for themselves and get to know Marty the reluctant monster.

  
Who do you see as the ideal reader for this book?

1.    These children would be my ideal readers as they already know all about Charlotte and have waited patiently for the next episode, with many of their parents asking when that might be. That said, I hope this story may also resonate with children who believe they don’t fit in. Marty doesn’t fit in, and William doesn’t try to. Both find their place in this tale and prove that being different isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

 
How did you become interested in writing for this reader?

1.    I started writing stories for my grandchildren to help them cope with things they were struggling with. Charlotte and the fairies was born out of an attempt to help my four-year-old granddaughter, Charlotte, who had moved to new house and was finding it hard to settle. Subsequent books have tackled problems I encountered when working at a primary school and seeing children struggle with different family dynamics and a fear of rejection. Taking children to a fantasy world that mirrors their own situation and seeing it resolved can empower them to see things more positively.

 

 
Can you tell us about other material you write?

1.    In addition to my children’s books, I write adult fiction. Hard hitting tales of strong women in the face of adversity. These women, show both strength and resilience together with an enviable ability to overcome incredible odds and recover and yet retain a vulnerability that makes the reader empathise and care what happens to them. 

 

 

What would you say are the main ingredients needed for writing for children?

1.    The main ingredient in a children’s book must be suspense. Causing the reader to care what happens and need to know the outcome will keep them turning the pages. Characters the child can identify with, be they human or fantasy all help but most importantly something must need to be discovered.

 

 

 
Tell us a little about your writing routine.

1.    My writing routine is a little patchy. I write every day, but it might not be anything that contributes to a current project. I write poetry for my own entertainment and start countless new stories when the ideas enter my head. I can stall for months at a stage of a story when I don’t really know where it’s going and then write reams when the inspiration comes. My method is a little unconventional as I have no idea how my books will end. I start with an idea and expand on it to see where it takes me. It’s a bit like telling myself a story and finding out as I go along where it will lead me. It’s a method that works for me as I believe if discovering the ending excites me it will do the same for my readers.

 
Are you working on any other projects at the moment?

1.    I am working on a book called Random, and adult which sees a return of the two detectives from The Girl in the Cupboard trying to discover the identity of a particularly prolific serial killer. I’ve also made a start on Charlotte and the Witches or perhaps this should be Marty and the Witches.

 

F   Find your copy of  Charlotte and the Monster  here