creative – Writer’s Edit

This week's writing prompt, although for everyone, is especially useful for those who are working on a bigger project - perhaps a novel or novella. The problem with writing a bigger work is that generally, there's not much 'reward' in terms of recognition and publication throughout what is usually a long process. Most journals don't accept novel excerpts as submissions, and so unless you're working on multiple short stories as well as your novel, you won't be published until *fingers crossed* your novel hits the shelves. So here's something for you to try: This week's writing prompt lets you use your current project for an off-shoot story.Image Credit: Raheel Shahid via Flickr Creative Commons. Get yourself in the writing zone with a cup of tea and your favourite notepad. Draw a quick mind map of the main characters and the 'support cast' associated with them in your current work... The idea is to choose someone who is quietly relevant to your story - perhaps it is the actions of this character that made your protagonist act in a certain way or choose a certain path? It could be your lead man's mother? Or old school friend? The story could be set years before the events in your novel take place, like the protagonist's childhood, or the childhood of their parents, or lover... Choose a character whose backstory impacts the narrative in a subtle way. This is your opportunity to explore events and characters that you love but don't have room for in your current work. Write a short story based on one of these suggestions. It allows you to create something that can stand alone from your novel, yet benefit it at the same time. At best, you have a short story that you're able to submit to literary journals for consideration, and at worst, you've built onto the backstory of your novel, and enriched one of its support characters or settings. If you're after some more challenging writing prompts to get your creative juices flowing, click here. Happy writing!