Monthly Archives: April 2017

Names matter

This week’s prompt from Alex:     This is my latest acquisition by artist, and author Mary Griese. Give my sheep a name. Now make a list of names for your next short story or novel, and keep for reference and as prompts.  Remember, names go in and out of fashion. Ethel is back in, Derick is out. Invent some names. Names matter.

   Update on places: Booking is now open for workshop on Editing. How to edit your work, and what does a professional Editor do, with guest James Ellis. Thusrday 10.30-12.30pm July 6th at Hall and Woodhouse cafe. £26

What’s in a title?

This week’s prompt by Jude

In our creative writing sessions we frequently ask writers to find a title for the draft pieces they write. The intention is to find titles that are engaging and not common place. The book pictured is by well-known French crime writer, George Simenon, who was a prolific writer,publishing over 500 novels during his lifetime. This novel was published in 1949 and has a dated title – one you couldn’t get away with these days. Perhaps the French title was different. And better.

Your exercise is to write a story about a married woman who is lost and confused or is literally at sea somewhere. Give it a twenty-first century title. Four words long,  like the one in the picture. But don’t include ‘the’.