Creative writing has been one of my favourite hobbies for as long as I can remember. From an early age, I could often be found scribbling down stories on to paper, and just letting my imagination run wild, and, well, not much has changed in the last twenty-five years. I write something almost every day. Sure, I'm not the best writer in the world and I never will be, but I enjoy it anyway, and that's all that really matters at the end of the day, right?
I usually have a bunch of ideas orbiting around my head, but there are days when I'm stuck for inspiration, so I love turning to creative journal books filled with prompts for a little help. My latest source of influence is a brilliant little book called 642 Tiny Things To Write About.
642 Tiny Things To Write About is a follow up to two other Things To Write About books, 642 Things To Write About and 712 More Things To Write About, both of which I love and write from regularly.
Unlike the first two books in the series, 642 Tiny Things is pocket-sized. It's still packed full of fantastic prompts, but the difference is, each task is designed to be completed in a couple of paragraphs or less, with some requiring just a few words. This means every challenge can be completed in minutes, which is ideal if you don't have much time to spare, or if you just like writing in small doses. You can pop it in your bag, and write whenever you get a burst of inspiration or you have some time to kill- say, on the commute to work. There is space beneath each prompt to write, so you don't need a separate notebook; all you need is a pen and your imagination, and you're good to go!
Some pages are plain, some pages are lined, and each features one to four prompts to write about. There's a great variety of prompts and writing styles to try, which keep things fresh and interesting, and I think they will inspire and challenge both amateurs and advanced writers alike.
Some of my favourite prompts in the book include:
♥ You're going to die next week, and you need to destroy a few things before you family find them. What?
♥ Write a headline for the day after the world ends.
♥ Write a thank you note to your feet for some of the places they've taken you.
♥ What piece of advice do you most often give and least often follow?
♥ It's 2045. Describe a road side attraction on the moon.
♥ A postcard arrives. It was mailed 11 years ago. It reads...
♥ Regardless of where you were born, where do you feel like you're from?
♥ You live in a world in which everyone gets one word tattooed on their forehead. What's the word you pick?
♥ If you could kill off one relative, who would it be?
♥ You come home from a cousin's wedding, where something went tragically wrong. But you're secretly happy that at least something interesting happened. What was it?
♥ You come home from a cousin's wedding, where something went tragically wrong. But you're secretly happy that at least something interesting happened. What was it?
And of course, there are more than six hundred other tasks to play with, too.
I'm personally inspired by the majority of them, and there aren't any I dislike. I think I'll eventually make my way through every last one. I've only had the book a week, but I'm having so much fun with it already, and have completed a bunch of tasks in the last few days.
I'd say the book is best aimed at adults, as there are a few prompts about sex, nudity, relationships, and violence. None are particularly graphic. but I'd recommend checking the content over before you give the book to your kids, teenagers, or anybody particularly sensitive.
The book is currently available from Waterstones, although Amazon have the release date as mid September, which is confusing. I'm not sure how easy it is to find UK bookshops right now. but I bought my copy from Wordery on eBay here, where it is currently £6.77. I received my order in five days, and had no problems with them at all.
I'd recommend 642 Tiny Things To Write About to any adult who enjoys creative writing, particularly those who have limited time to spare for the hobby, but still want to write.
Are you a creative writer? Where do you turn for writing inspiration?
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I think these kinds of books are so fun and something different to do xx
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