Prompts Set 0,022

A – Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

B – If I hadn't tripped over the tramp

C - Carousel

D - Oh Lord, Where Did the Feeling Go?

E - Woman is the Nigger of the World

F – Thirty-five, going on ninety

G – Now is the winter of our discontent

H – Letter from HMRC

I – I have often walked down this street before

J - Even now, after the service, after the letters

K - A Story beginning: Three years of whispering, seven of forgetting

L – I have had scientific training

M – Everything will be returned to its proper place

N - Cry Murder!

O – I prefer my cave

P – Did we make them leave? Did we say the right thing?

Q - Witness

R – Letter from Flaubert

S – Bonanza

T – The Things We Carry

U - In Parliament, more or less

V - Twitching

W – Dirtier than you would expect

X – He has a book and reads it, reads it, reads it

Y – Water!

Z – I hear the sound of distant drums

Prompts Set 0,021

A – Sisters

B – The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Black Death

C - I'm on a See-Saw

D - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

E - Only Women Bleed

F – Changing a Bulb

G – Uploading

H – No, she's out.

I – Please find enclosed, one...

J - This is the summer version

K - A Story beginning: I guess it's going to be dark soon

L – Rock, Rock.

M – It's a far, far better thing

N - How the West was won

O – You wave a gun and complain that a man with a knife is dangerous

P – Excuse me Sir

Q - PLONK!

R – Eloise, my dear, I have written to you to

S – Rawhide

T – The Smell of Chrysanthemums

U - OK, it's over

V - A Bun in the Oven

W – As far as you can go on the District Line

X – Something about electrolyte balance

Y – Rioja

Z – Can you hear it, that low whistle

Prompts Set 0,020

A – He ain't heavy, he's my brother

B – Dancing in the dark

C - Smoke gets in your eyes

D - If I ruled the world

E - Groovy Kind of Love

F – At seventeen I read a poem

G – What Innocence? What Guilt?

H – Suspicious of my Nation

I - we are the law-makers

J - Looks pretty waterproof to me

K - A Story beginning: There are sunsets and sunsets

L – Stone on Stone

M – Something rotten in the state of Denmark

N - Merchants of Culture

O – I have destroyed your house. You have destroyed my life

P – Miss! Miss!

Q - C-r-r-r-r-e-e-e-a-a-a-ak!!

R – My Dear Robert, it's been a long time...

S – Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

T – The Smell of the trenches

U - They released the doves. THEY shot them

V - Hitch-hiking in Vietnam

W – On the Underground

X – I don't feel right, I just don't

Y – A fine Chianti

Z – We hear footsteps, whisper, touch our skins

Prompts List 0,018

A – The Smell of Toast

B – Going to Meet the Man

C - Saying it seven times makes it true

D - Slide

E - I should be going, if that's all right?

F – Pick a Colour

G – Not Guilty, No, Not Guilty

H – The Cocktail Party

I - The smell of Sunday Lunches, radio through open windows

J - My Grandfather's house

K - A Story beginning: There are many ways to look at love

L – Scrabble

M – It was good but I fell asleep

N - Going down for Mam's order

O – Various Old Records

P – I need to think, give me a minute or ten

Q - Petit Pois

R – I need to take my tablets

S – Clip go the shears boys, clip, clip, clip.

T – People come here to die.

U - Pink, a sky as pink as a bridesmaid's dress

V - Coals to Newcastle

W – We gotta get out of this place

X – The Wart

Y – I was Kaiser Bill's Batman
Z – Volare

Prompts Set 0,017

A – With my little pick and shovel

B – Appointment in Lothbury

C - It's arguable, yes, but it still isn't so

D - Washed away

E - I will rise up and be gone

F – How we intermet

G – Buzz Lightyear's Dilemma

H – She had a little number

I - On a night like this, what else?

J - The soporific tucking of the old hall clock

K - A Story beginning: At the start we didn't think it would be hard

L – Monopoly Money

M – Where the marks are. It's hard to believe

N - What's fer tea, Mam? Shit and Sugar

O – It might as well rain until September

P – Desert

Q - Another word for Broccolli

R – A Rose is a rose is a Rose

S – There's a hole in my bucket, Dear Lisa, Dear Lisa

T – The TB Hospital

U - The Greenest Skies

V - Grapes from Morrocco

W – Sort of a Gunslinger

X – The way it lurks and quietly grows

Y – Don't be Nervous

Z – I have often walked, down this street before

Prompts Set 0,016

A – Dig!

B – Meeting at Waterloo

C - I can, I could, but I can't

D - The shark in the floodwater

E - Considering various alternatives

F – How the sun rises, how it falls

G – Trouble in Toy-Town

H – Beautiful Woman in a Black Dress

I - Love or Sex?

J - The hiss, so gentle, of a gas-light

K - A Story beginning: OK, here we go

L – My son, but I will visit him

M – It happened here but they've taken him away

N - Them what asks don't get

O – Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain

P – Seas, Oceans

Q - TASK: Write a story while listening to Jazz

R – Daisy, Daisy, Daisy, Daisy!

S – The hand that rocked the cradle has kicked the bucket

T – Please do not expectorate

U - As I remember it, bright, sky-blue, everything possible

V - Cerise

W – The Shooting of the Coward Arthur P Jones

X – I have a pain in my stomach

Y – Breakdown
Z – The sea is calm tonight

Prompts Set 0,015

A – Cleaning the Office

B – Cold Tea in a Sad Cafe

C - Hallelujah!

D - Bugger Me! said the King, and 3 courtiers were killed in the rush

E - TASK: Write a story from the POV of an emotion

F – December, crisp a low light rising

G – Andy Pandy Loves Noddy

H – Lady in Red

I - TASK: Describe a setting showing mood without mentioning mood

J - Penny-Farthing

K - A Story beginning: From the year Dot

L – My daughter has finished her reading

M – This was Bleaney's room. That is the bed.

N - You can look but don't STARE

O – The Postman Always Knocks Twice

P – Hills and Valleys

Q - TASK: Write a story while listening to Wagner LOUD

R – Buttercup, a sweet girl...

S – When all is said and done... it's done

T – Not in the tent

U - I want to dress in a cream suit, wear an expensive hat, drive a white Rolls-Royce

V - If it's green it's not your typical green

W – Dreyfus

X – She has not been found

Y – SPLIT

Z – We have no time to stand and stare

2011 Prompts Set 0,014

A – Fleur-de-Lys
B – Dirty nights in seedy motels
C - Bingo
D - The King’s Speech
E - TASK: Write a story involving many colours
F – Seeing this was August, warm soft, the low night falling
G – Tick-Tock, I’m a clock
H – You are beautiful by lamplight
I - TASK: Write a backwards story
J - Bicycles
K - A Story beginning:.
L – The Little Gatsby
M – I have known such lips already. I have known them all
N - Don’t Look Now
O – You’ve Got Mail
P – It’s there. I have to climb it
Q - TASK: Write an animal story without any reference or cheap clues to the animal type
R – Waiting for Daisy
S – After the luncheons, the teas, the formal evenings
T – Apparently, they prevent frostbite
U - A faint light across the causeway, blinking
V - Coabalt Blue
W – Major-General DuFarb
X – Only sort-of a burglary
Y – CRANK
Z – There will be time; there always is

2011 Prompts 0,013

A - All the pretty people

B - My daughter is critiquing a novel, by ---- me!

C - Or we could just sleep

D - The windows are opening, the sun is breaking through

E - TASK: Play some music, something HOT like rock or wild classical, very loud then write something FAST

F - I am Arnold, shit-man, and this is my shit-domain

G - TWANG!

H - I fell in love with the Sally Ann Girl on the tambourine

I - TASK: Write a story based on a lie.

J - As the noose falls

K - A Story beginning: Today, today. It must happen.

L - We, sorry, you, are all so old

M - Here and now, more or less

N - Furry Godmother

O - A story ending: I am leaving now. Don't turn on the light.

P - The river is dirty and old

Q - TASK: Write a story with a stammering narrator with no mention of a stammer or stutter and no s-s-silly stuff.

R - Where's the Galaxy?

S - The Zombie I met in Tesco

T – The Hero's Journey

U - Let us go now, you and I

V - She calls him her BTN, Better than Nothing.

W - Even the silent majority is in uproar

X - The scalpel opens you up like a Christmas Parcel

Y - I am afraid the future is bleak

Z - Tiny Tom

2011 Prompts Set 0,012

A - It was twenty years ago today

B - The muttering streets, the whispering houses

C - What my sister couldn't do

D - Hyancinths are blooming on the verges

E - TASK: Respond to Shakespeare's Othello

F - Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

G - CLANG

H - Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition

I - TASK: Write a story based on a parable or fable, never mentioning it.

J - You Cannot be Serious

K - A Story beginning: I would walk but the rain is so heavy

L - All the young dudes

M - Yesterday, or a week ago

N - Cinderella, late again

O - A story ending: I cannot feel bad about it.

P - A newspaper came swirling about my feet

Q - TASK: Write a story with a seriously deluded narrator

R - The Moon's a Balloon

S - The dead are never pretty

T – Bring some in a small container

U - Let us go and make our peace

V - My daughter, heavy on the bedroom boards

W - The ping of the microwave

X - You have my heart, bitch!

Y - We will win by October
Z - You wouldn't like it her. Wish you were.

2011 - Prompt Set 0,011

A - Two years dead already, Mam

B - Bratislava or somewhere

C - My father couldn't close the door of the telephone box

D - Her false teeth on the mantlepiece

E - TASK: Turn off your screen or set font colour to white. NOW write

F - Agatha Christie

G - PLONK!

H - Maybe in the front room

I - TASK: Pick to random objects and write their story

J - I made this up, sure I did.

K - A Story beginning: An old church in Ireland

L - All the sad young men, the lost wives

M - I have walked out in the rain, shirtless, free

N - Pooch

O - A story ending: Would you have done any different?

P - Sleeping with Bears

Q - TASK: Write a story that argues with itself

R - I know the dark, really know the dark

S - They are coming for us

T – Squits

U - The nurse is tickling my feet

V - As deaths go, this is pleasant enough

W - A clatter of kitchen metal

X - I will come back, after all you have my liver.

Y - An Easter Rising

Z - You would like it here

2011 Prompts Set 0,010

A - Tea in a Posh Hotel

B - Dropping someone off in Hayward's Heath

C - Here I am, old. It is January somewhere

D - The German is staring from his window

E - TASK: Play The Birdy Song on loop and write a SAD or heavy story

F - A Woman Cleans Up. She will not cry

G - To be eaten, to be divided up.

H - The Fraulein, who turned suddenly on the stairs

I - TASK: Pick a piece of seriously sad music, put it on loop and write something ditzy, happy, or comic

J - I did not make this up

K - A Story beginning: If it keeps on raining

L - The Hitch-Hiker and the Witch

M - Jenkins finally crossed the bridge

N - A little dog in the rain

O - A story ending: My daughter the Racist

P - Yes, it is a dangerous snake, but it's asleep

Q - TASK: Write a story with some phrase or sentence repeating often

R - I am more than a little bit tired

S - I think he died in '62

T – It's probably one of the injectors

U - Run it under a cold tap, luvvy

V - I suppose this is dying

W - Quiet sounds in the kitchen

X - OK, I will go, but I will walk very slowly

Y - Christmas Black

Z - The dogs, smelling of dog, at my feet

2011 Prompts Set 0,009

A - We walk, rest, eat, talk a little

B - SOS, seen from outer space

C - There is no magic

D - We pay, but with a certain anger

E - TASK: Play Buckley's "Hallelujah"on repeat and write a story

F - A drawer full of brass swastikas

G - So many things have passed, will pass again

H - Clarinet

I - TASK: Write something as a response to a Shakespeare play

J - Roundabout

K - A Story beginning: There were three of us, and Jones

L - How love becomes hate

M - Loan

N - A short walk in a storm

O - A story ending: And now I must sleep

P - Something scribbled in my mother's hand-writing

Q - TASK:

R - The Names of the Months

S - Those who are with us, are with us. That is enough

T – Smooth it down

U - I wrote it in San Bartolome

V - Pushing harder, hurting less

W - The evening bells like dying cattle

X - Javelin

Y - Play The Birdy Song for me and dance

Z - I had a strategy when I started

2011 Prompt Set 0,008

A - How ugly, these people

B - I won't see you any more

C - Ploughs cut through the clay

D - The sun on my neck

E - TASK: Play a song on loop, on repeat, three times, then leave it on as you write a story without breaks

F - You sing untrue songs

G - Somewhere a pot bubbles, a bowl is ready

H - Where a paper boat was sailing

I - TASK: Set font-colour to white (so you cannot see what you write) and write a complete flash

........... if you get "lost" just press carriage return a few times and continue. You will need to tidy the story but post the original second

J - Looking at another man's edits.

K - A Story beginning: What will follow may not be accurate

L - Not making love.

M - Carrots

N - I must go down to the sea again

O - A story ending: And that is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

P - Plaster of Paris

Q - TASK: Read a poem and respond to it with an answering short-story

R - Dead Horses

S - You cannot imagine how deeply sad I am

T – as if my life had never been

U - Reading Checkhov

V - I had a brother. His name escapes me.

W - The barbarity of the dentist

X - Chick-Chick-Chick-Chick-Chicken

Y - Made in Wales

Z - A French Stick