Hey everyone! Sorry I’ve been so MIA recently. I’ve had a lot to think about with my WIP and submitting for MA. But that’s all done now and I’m back. I’m ready to share these crazy prompts with you again and see where they can take our imagination for the next 10 minutes.

Also this week will be the return of Pates Pages Recommended Reads! I have a handful of beautiful books lined up that I want to share with you so keep an eye out for those on my recommended reads page!

For now though, take a look at this weeks prompt, set your timers and let your imagination flow.

Let’s see what you come up with!

Please do share your creativity if you feel up to it!

Take a look at the beginnings of Flo’s discovery.

Space adventure? Earth invasion? Galaxy exploration? 10 minutes of undisturbed writing to find out where this can take you.

Feel free to share any of your own pieces. Check mine out here.

Don’t get it right, get it written!

Spend 10 minutes free writing from this prompt. Don’t let structure or spelling or word choice let your fingers stop. Get your ideas out; you can always refine it later.

Check out my piece here.

Don’t get it right, get it written.

Here it is. The first writing prompt. This was one of my favourites offered to me from my course and now I’d love to offer it to you.

Remember, ten minutes of just letting your creative flare shine.

I’ll post mine on my writing page when I’m done!

Don’t get it right, get it written.

Often, the thing that stops us being productive (or me at least) is that we want something to be perfect straight away.

I know that my first attempt/draft/sentence is not going to end up in a state I’m happy with. This will usually mean I put off starting.

With this in mind, and the notion that I’m not alone in this, I’d like to share an activity I try and do regularly to help me push past the initial ‘I can’t do this.’

Each week, I will share a writing prompt with you. You can then have a go at explorative writing.

Explorative Writing – Just write for ten continuous minutes. Let the keypad/pen flow without a plan of where its going. The idea of explorative writing is brilliant and something I try to do regularly because I am not restricted by grammar or structure or deciding on the best word to use. In those ten minutes, I don’t give time to that so my idea is able to spill out onto the page.

This doesn’t produce my best pieces. That’s where the wonderful world of Editing comes in. However for those ten minutes, you’re creative flare is unrestrained. I’m going to be doing these prompts with you and you’ll be able to find them on my Writing page.

So when taking on these writing prompts, here are the things to consider

• Digest the prompt – but you are not planning anything here
• Set a 10 minute timer
• Write without stopping – see what creativity has been hiding inside you
• Read your piece for clarity
• Step away from it – 30 minutes, a few hours, a day?

Finally 2020 is behind us and hopefully we can have a much better 2021.

Lots of people see a new year as a time to reinvent themselves or reach incredible goals and if that’s for you then that’s great.

For me though, and I’m sure for some of you out there, the pressure of needing the new year to mean there should be some huge development in my life is very daunting.

Instead I like to think of the new year as a time to reflect. What went well last year, what didn’t and what can I do about it.

If it helps, maybe have a go at sifting through the enormity of 2020 and try and write down 5-10 things that you appreciated or achieved in 2020.

Here’s mine:

1. I started my Masters in writing
2. I worked hard on my fitness
3. I turned 25 (in a global pandemic so that’s definitely something to appreciate)
4. I had the best summer with Archie and I am so appreciative of the time I had with him before he had to go
5. I explored some stunning places e.g. climbed Mt. Snowdon, Sugar Loaf and Peny Fan and walked around lake Llyn Ogwen

I hope looking back at the positives can help you have a positive start to 2021 and know in the back of your mind, even in the worst years, you can pick out sunny days, adventures and accomplishments that can make you happy and proud of yourself.

I’d love to read some of your positives from 2020 so if you’d like to share please leave a message on my Contact Form.

Any good book must draw the reader in from the very first line. I touched on this in my last blog and I want to explore that more.

The first line has a huge task in that it has to leave the reader feeling hungry for more.

Here’s some examples of where the first line of a book has done that for me…

“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.” – Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone, J.K. Rowling.

“They shouldn’t have been out on the snow.” – FrostHeart, Jamie Littler.

These first lines show the reader several things about the story. They let you know that there is the threat of change. In Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling is setting the Dursely’s up as the normal and any first time reader of the book will be able to guess that ‘the normal’ is about to be shattered.

In Frostheart, Jamie Littler makes us ask questions. Why shouldn’t they be on the snow? Who are they? What secrets are hiding beneath the snow? Raising these questions in the readers minds means they are drawn to need to read on to find the answers.

Activity – Recreate The Opening Line

Take a look at this blurb of The Care and Feeding of my Pet Black Hole, Michelle Cuevas.

Thinking about what makes an opening line work, have a go at writing your own opening line for this book.

I’d like to introduce you to someone very special to me and I dedicate a lot of my creative abilities to him.

Growing up I’ve always loved reading. It was always my go to activity when I had time to fill, and even when I didn’t! I loved visiting new worlds, meeting characters and embarking on hundreds of journeys, and I still do!

I have always had another passion though.

Dogs. And with Archie, I could get lost in my own head and he would come right along with me. It didn’t matter what the next part of my story was, he was happy to watch and listen to me tell it. I really feel when you’ve experienced the love of a dog, you have been privileged. They’re unfaltering love and devotion is something that can’t be taught. It’s innate.

At 11 years old, I met Archie.

I fell in love with the small, ginger, tubby ball of wrinkles that he was. He loved me too and we were inseparable from the first day.

He was my little shadow. I remember we used to lay on the trampoline together and I’d watch the clouds in the sky and I’d use them to create stories.

Sadly, I lost Archie back in September 2020. He was almost 14 years old and he was able to enjoy the summer sun for one final summer. It was the perfect send for the perfect boy.

Even though he’s not with me anymore, I still read my writing aloud to him and picture his face looking at me as he listens.

Today I want to talk about the beginning.

Everything has a beginning. A book, a recipe, a walk, a job; they all start somewhere.

My love of writing started when I was a little girl. It grew from my love of reading. But my writing journey has only just started.

Activity – Your beginning

Have a think about the book made you fall in love with reading or writing. Do you still have it? If so, why not give it another read and remind yourself of the wonders that made you fall in love with it.

Here’s mine – The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis. I fell in love with the each and every character in this book. As a child, my favourite was Lucy because I wanted to be her, I wanted to be the one finding the magic. As an adult, my favourite is Professor Digory Kirkenone, the owner of the country house and, therefore, the magical wardrobe. He encourages the children to believe and belief is a very powerful thing.