Happy New Year, Detectives!

The beginning of 2021 has been more difficult for me than I was expecting. I am absolutely fine and safe, but for (non-covid) personal reasons I’m not able to spend very much time online at the moment. I’m not going to be responding to emails for a while, or filming new videos, and I’m very behind on reading website comments. I will read your wonderful stories for Prompt 25 eventually, but for now I’m just going to share a new prompt with you, as I know those of you in lockdown will be looking for a new challenge!

My prompt for you for the beginning of 2021 is something I think we’re all looking for in our lives at the moment: magic.

Your story (or poem, or script, or song) can be about the magic of everyday life or the kind of magical spell that you wish you could cast. You can set it in our own world, a fantasy realm, the past, the future … anything you like! As always, the way you interpret this prompt is totally up to you. Have fun with it!

The rules:

It can be as long or as short as you like, and take you as much or as little time as you want.It can be any genre (type) of story you want. If you have an idea for something that I haven’t mentioned, don’t wait for my permission – just go for it! This is your creativity working!You are not allowed to worry about grammar or spelling.You are not allowed to worry if it isn’t perfect, or criticise yourself as you’re writing.You are encouraged to make a plan before you begin, to make it easier for you to get to the end of the story. This can be two words or a whole page! But if you don’t want to do this, you don’t have to.Get to the end of the story without stopping to go back and fix bits you don’t like. Once you’ve finished, read it through again. If you still don’t like those bits, you can edit them now!If you want (and only if you want!) you’re allowed to post the first 500 words of your story in the comments below. I have to moderate the comments so it may take a while for them to show up – please be patient. I don’t want to see you apologising for your story or minimising what you’ve done when you post – writing a story is a triumph and you should be proud!Please do not use your full name when you comment – first names are fine, or you can make up a username that you like! Also remember to stay safe online and not get into private discussions with anyone you don’t know in real life without telling an adult first.If you like someone else’s story, you are allowed to comment to say so! If you’d like to give them ideas that might make their story even stronger, that’s OK, but please be kind and remember how deeply we all care about our writing. A good format for feedback might be something like: ‘I loved ****! Have you thought of ****? I think it might make your story even better!’ I will delete any comment if I feel it’s critical without being constructive.I can’t promise to give feedback on any individual stories – I’m not marking them!This isn’t a competition, and there will be no winners and no prizes, though I may choose a story or two to highlight in future posts.

I will look at these stories when I can, but I can’t guarantee when that will be at the moment. Until I’m back, stay safe, take care of yourselves and your loved ones and delight in all the small good things that make up our lives.