It is often a common problem for writers, the world over, to keep their creativity levels consistent from one day to the next. There are many things that a writer can do to try and boost this level, though. For example, I find that researching images of characters, places and things that would fit into my story helps a great deal.
Another thing that you could try if you are really stuck is writing from word prompts. My flash fiction piece ‘Grace Departs’ was written from a three word writing prompt. I was provided with the words ‘grace’, ‘train’, and ‘whistle.’ Here are the results of that exercise…
Grace Departs
As Grace listened to the distant whisper of the train approaching from farther down the track, her heart sank. Gripping her mother’s hand tighter, she glanced up at her normally smiling face, noting instead the deeper lines of worry that now seemed permanently etched around her sad grey eyes and the pale, strained look of her unsmiling mouth. Had it only been a few short weeks ago that they had laughed together in front of the vanity mirror, trying on different shades of lipstick and eyeshadow to make themselves look like glamorous and exotic Hollywood actresses? What changes only a few short weeks could bring.
The train was so much closer now, it’s noise almost deafening – drowning out the hum of voices from the other people waiting along the platform. As the carriages rolled to a stop in front of them and the platform attendant slid open the heavy door, Grace felt tears well in her eyes. Her mother’s eyes were damp too, as she bent and kissed her gently on the cheek.
“Be a good girl for your Aunt Susan,” she told her, voice husky with emotion as she helped Grace up the steps and into the carriage. Handing Grace her small brown suitcase, she slid the door shut again, stepping back to silently watch as the train slowly began to pull away from the station.
For her mother’s sake, Grace refused to let the tears fall from her trembling lashes, even though she knew deep inside that from this moment forward, her life would never again be the same.
You can get automatically generated word prompts from various sites online, or even by just by picking up a random book, choosing a number, and then using whatever word is on the correlating page and word number within the text there.
Joining an online writer’s group like Fellowship and Fairydust can be super useful for things like word prompts, character name inspiration, and generating new ideas. It can also be beneficial to get the opinion of other people who are in the same position as you.
If you want to see if it will work for you, here is my 3-word prompt just to get you started…
- Mirror
- Peaceful
- Magic
Good luck, and happy writing!
[If you enjoyed this and would like to see other examples of the author’s work, please visit her website: www.bernadetteflynnauthor.com]