A Year of Creative Thinking E-Book

Jessica Swale

• Herausgeber: Nick Hern Books
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 396

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

A treasure trove of prompts, provocations and practical exercises to help you spark new ideas, hone your craft and unleash your creativity. In A Year of Creative Thinking, award-winning writer, director and film-maker Jessica Swale guides you through 366 fun and rewarding activities – one for every day of the year (including leap years!) – to fire up your imagination and flex your creative muscles. You'll find a host of writing prompts and imaginative challenges to get you going, quick-fire exercises to help you focus on key aspects of craft (including inventing scenarios, writing dialogue, building subtext, creating atmosphere and plot, and developing your characters), and plenty of quirky and unusual challenges to test your limits and help you explore new avenues. Some are writing exercises, others encourage you to draw, to listen to music, to get outside and find inspiration in your surroundings. Work through the activities day by day, or dip in to suit your needs, the choice is yours!  Whether being creative is a professional goal, your aspiration or simply your hobby, you'll discover a storehouse of ideas and inspiration, along with insights from a wide range of literary and cultural figures – from T. S. Eliot to Quentin Tarantino, Jane Austen to Jimi Hendrix, Maya Angelou to George R. R. Martin, and Virginia Woolf to Paddington Bear. Fun, engaging and pressure-free, this book is designed to supercharge your imagination and boost your creativity, helping you build a set of expressive tools that you can apply in all aspects of your life. 'Jessica Swale is one of the most inspiringly creative people I know, and in this book she's kind enough to share some of her spark and magic. It is a must-read for any creative spirit' Zooey Deschanel 'Jessica has stitched together an endlessly inventive, engaging, accessible ejector-seat (parachute included) into the heart and soul of creativity itself. That energy flows through every page: challenging and guiding you into releasing your inner mad-genius. I wish there were more days in the year for more of her exercises!' Inua Ellams 'Wonderful' Emerald Fennell 'The most brilliant book on creativity – so inspiring it will make you want to write your own book!' Tom Fletcher 'An enticing treasure chest of inspiration for any writer or creative' Deborah Frances-White 'This book will last you a lifetime, as you'll return again and again to these gems of wise, witty prompts and provocations – guaranteed to inspire not just your creativity, but your outlook on life in general' Sabrina Mahfouz 'Charming, imaginative, practical and light-hearted, this is the perfect gift for anyone, young or not so young, wanting to kickstart their creativity and have fun while doing it' Kate Mosse 'As I sit in my room smashing my head repeatedly against my laptop, it gives me (some) joy to report not all writers do the same. Jessica's book is a great big fantastic soulful fizzy key to make you think and work hopefully. 16th April is my favourite, but her point is: there are delights on every day of the year' Jack Thorne

Leseprobe

Contents

Dedication

Introduction

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

About the Author

Acknowledgements

Index of Quoted Writers, Artists and Thinkers

Index of Exercises

Copyright Information

For six women who have inspired me in my moments of greatest silliness, solace, elation and imagination.

Gemma, Jen, Gugu, Claire, Harriet and Vicky.

You’re the sisters I wish I’d had. My anam cara.

Introduction

Hello. How lovely to meet you!

Thanks so much for coming, we’re going to have a ball doing this creative thinking malarkey.

Don’t worry if you’re not sure about this. Maybe you bought this book in a fit of great energy and resolution, and now the idea of ‘being creative’ seems like massively hard work. You know what: it might be. But here in this book, you’ll find an easy, pressure-free way to at least have a go. And even if you only do a little, I promise you it’ll be worth it.

Putting time aside to be creative is always a good idea. To challenge your methods of thinking, give your hard-working, responsible brain a break from its usual tasks, to take time out of everyday life to explore a story, an idea, a picture or a song… it’s fuel for the soul. The worst thing that’s about to happen is that you create something that isn’t genius. But who cares? You’re creating! Practising. And practising makes… well, better. And it’s a muscle, your creative imagination. It’s like a puppy; it needs exercising or it’ll develop bad habits, or get old and fat and never want to leave the house. No judgement on any readers who also might fit this description – age is wisdom and all bodies are beautiful, especially yours; today you look absolutely spiffing. I’m just saying, don’t let that creative muscle get lazy, or it will seize up and give you grief and you’ll never want to use it again.

So what is this book? Firstly, this book is pressure-free and non-judgemental. You are not required to do anything ‘good’. Exercise is exercise – you don’t have to be an athlete. Doing any sort of exertion all adds to your fitness and stamina, and it’s the same with creative activity. Stretching your imagination, challenging yourself to do some magical thinking, inventing, pondering, dreaming is all good for your brain. Scientifically, you are creating new neural pathways and strengthening cognitive functions. It’s also very good for your mental health. Not to mention it’s an excellent escape from the stresses of daily life. But most of all, it is fun. And we like fun. So enjoy this book and embrace the opportunities like a chance encounter with your favourite celebrity. Though in real life, maybe don’t hug famous people – they might get upset and I wouldn’t like to be responsible for that.

How to Use This Book

You can use this book in any way you want. Although the book is arranged day by day, month by month, season by season, you can start wherever you like, whenever you like. And if you skip a day, or a month, or just roam around the book cherry-picking what you fancy, go for gold. It’s your book and no one will ever know!

Enjoy the kickabout, forget about the goals

Let’s be clear, the aim of this book isn’t for you to complete an epic novel by the time you’ve finished it. The only goal is to find your most creative, most imaginative self, and to enjoy the act of invention as a means to expand your mind and happiness. You may have aspirations to be a writer by profession – or a creative artist, a lyricist, a musician, the next great sculptor of note… Or you may not. This might be a hobby. It might be a whim. Whatever brought you here, take the pressure off and enjoy the ride. The very least you’ll do is have some ideas and stretch your brain. And who knows, maybe you will write an epic novel afterwards. But for now, just embrace the opportunity and use this book like a playground – try out all the slides and whizz down the imaginative zip wire. It’ll be fun, I guarantee it.

Building an arsenal of creative weapons

Each of the exercises is designed to help you flex your creative muscles. Some are writing-focused, others tap into other forms of creative thinking, be it drawing, making, even walking and moving. And, once or twice, eating! By working holistically like this, challenging yourself in a multitude of different imaginative ways, you are building an arsenal of creative tools that you can then apply in all aspects of your life. If you do have a singular piece of work you are aiming to complete, you can use these exercises as a way to further explore and develop it, but that isn’t the aim. By the time the year is out, if you follow these exercises you will have a whole plethora of new ideas to pick from, and I’ll bet some of them will thrill you more than anything you’ve already started. So chill and take it slow, enjoy the daydreaming and imaginative thinking that the exercises encourage, and try to stay in the moment rather than looking for an end result.

A question of form

In order to build a diving board to leap off into your creative swimming pool, you have to choose a building material. And the easiest material to start with is a pen – and the art, writing. Whilst this book offers an array of different types of creative exercise, I focus on writing because through words you learn to create pictures, stories, people and tone. And words on a page can take you anywhere.

You may also have a form of writing you’re most passionate about, be it poetry, prose or plays. This book offers you provocations in all of these. Most often you can choose which form to work in within each exercise. But if you do have a specific preference, try to challenge yourself to write in other forms too, as some of these exercises encourage. It is all building your personal skills bank, and nothing is wasted – often the best understanding of prose-writing comes after script work, as writing drama requires a dexterity with character and dialogue that will benefit any fiction you write afterwards.

The exercises in this book vary in scope, length, size and focus. You will encounter many varieties – some quick-fire, others long-form. Some are inspired by a writer whose birthday is celebrated on that particular day, encouraging you to use their techniques. Some are days of celebration or commemoration, from International Sweatpants Day to International Women’s Day or Popcorn Day (yes, that’s a thing). Some focus on the season, some on connecting with the wider world, looking for inspiration outside your writing space. Some are technical, investigating vocabulary, story, comedy, form, or breaking down structure to help you understand shape and story on a more molecular level. Some tap into memory. Some offer simple provocations. Some ask you to draw, to listen to music, to create something three-dimensional or just to spend some time thinking and observing.

I have purposefully mixed the exercises up so no two consecutive days are alike… which is why I recommend working through each day in order, if possible, so that you enjoy the variety as it is intended. You’ll probably gravitate towards some exercises more than others, but do try everything, you may surprise yourself; often those that seem hardest initially will yield the greatest results.

My one piece of advice is this. Actually, three. Three pieces of advice, if I may:

1. Get yourself a notebook so you can keep all your writing together. Occasionally I may ask you to go back and revisit a piece you’ve written, so it’s rather nice to have them in one place.

2. Get yourself a pen. Try doing these exercises by hand. Just try it. It’s good for your brain, it’s easier to avoid the distractions of that pesky internet, and it’s good for your finger skills – so if you decide you hate writing, you can take up the guitar, get noodling and go join a rock band instead.

3. Start. Off you go! And enjoy!

1st January

“I am not at all in a humour for writing; I must write on till I am.”

Jane Austen

Today is International Commitment Day. Sound fun? No, I don’t think so either.

Commitment is a dirty word. Something about it is inherently off-putting. It’s long. It’s formal. You have to tense your mouth up to say it. It’s the verbal equivalent of handcuffs. Welcome to ‘International “You’re Under Arrest” Day’. ‘You Cannot Wriggle Out Of This Day.’ ‘“I Thought This Was Going To Be Fun… Vegas Seemed Like Such A Good Idea… Who Knew It Was For Life?” Day.’

So why don’t we rethink it and put it a different way? Let’s make a pact. Never to think of writing as a commitment or chore. Make it a choice. And when you choose to do it, even if it’s tough at the start, once you’ve got going, that’s when you start to flow. And when you flow, that’s when the fun starts. Do it once, you begin to want to do it again. And again. And the more you do it, the easier it gets – and the better your writing becomes. It’s like a muscle. By the end of even the first week, those mini dumb-bells will be replaced by some super-strong sumo weights.

You’ve just got to get going. So let’s begin! Like Austen said, even if you’re not at all in a humour to write, do it for a bit, and you’ll find the flow. Give yourself a break and let’s start with an easy exercise…

Turn to the next blank page in your notebook and pick up your pen. You’re going to write freehand for two sides. Don’t censor yourself, don’t edit. Write free-flow, which means try not to stop, and don’t go back over it. Carry on until you’ve filled two pages and do it with no judgement. It is the verbal equivalent of turning the tap on. And your first line is this: ‘I am a writer and, when I imagine myself writing, I…’

Try to put yourself into character. The character of a writer. A creative thinker. And imaginer. What does this look like? Who is this person – your creative self? Write about why you write. Who you might be. Go on a journey. Or rant about something. It’s up to you. Just do it. And when you’re done…

Congratulations! You’ve had a bout of creativity. You are now a writer. You have broken the seal. The journey has begun. If you want to read over, edit or rewrite, you can. But there’s no need. The point is a writer is someone who puts words on the page – and that’s you, my friend. Off we go.

2nd January

“Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.”

Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Space, time travel, black holes, AI… whether it’s your genre or not, embrace the chance to dive into an alternate reality in this exercise on Science Fiction Day.

Choose one of the following prompts as a jumping-off point. Write for ten minutes. Don’t overthink it, just start writing – and go with your gut. And if you’re having a good time, carry on!

• Society is in a mess. Crime, depression, chaos, social media. Until the most unlikely unheroic person (a granny, a teenaged geek, a school cleaner) discovers that they actually have an extraordinary power and that they are… in fact… a superhero! And they’re about to save a… What? That bit’s up to you. Go wild! Let your imagination fly like a space cadet.

• On an otherwise unremarkable day, in an unremarkable kids’ playground, in an unremarkable town, out of nowhere, a sinkhole appears, so deep no one can see the bottom. Then, a strange smell begins to emanate from it. Then odd noises. Someone has to volunteer to go and investigate…

3rd January

“Not all those who wander are lost.”

J. R. R. Tolkein, The Fellowship of the Ring

I’m a restless writer. I don’t like to sit in one place for too long, and I often have my best ideas when I’m wandering around. I like to walk in parks. Along rivers. Through little streets. Around markets. Where doesn’t matter particularly. The important thing is that I am moving, and I am a giving my brain a chance to dream. To wander. No phone, no earphones, no podcasts, only my body – and my brain – wandering.

Today’s exercise is to go for a wander. Simply walk and see where your imagination goes. No need to write anything down – unless you feel compelled to. Switch off the incoming technological buzz (that’s non-negotiable), and just walk. Try not to think about anything specific.

Daydream. It’s food for the writer’s soul.

4th January

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies… The man who never reads lives only one.”

George R. R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons

Open a newspaper or magazine at random and look for a picture with lots of people in it. Pick someone who isn’t the focus of the story. A random passer-by. Someone caught in the edge of the frame. Now write down the following ‘facts’ about them:

1. What is their name?

2. Their age?

3. Their occupation?

4. In one sentence, how would you describe them?

5. Where are they from?

6. What are they doing there?

7. Where were they going?

8. What happens in this moment? Or what is about to happen that changes their day – or their life – sending them off in a new direction?

For us to be interested in a character, the character has to change during the story. They have to be active: forced to do something, negotiate a situation, and therefore come out differently. Stories need drama – so work out what is happening or is about to happen to this person, and how it will change them, to ensure they’re different after this photo, transformed by the day’s event and how they dealt with it. And then write their story.

5th January

“There is a certain fate to the universe and a certain randomness.”

Harlan Coben

Creative storytelling often comes from the way we join disparate ideas in new and surprising ways: the pin-to-pin threads on a police suspect board, the unusual links between familiar things… the embracing and intertwining of random ideas.

Today you’re going to write something using the following four elements. Unrelated… until now!

• A scarlet hat.

• A tourist information centre on the slopes of a mountain.

• A ukulele.

• A woman with an irregular heartbeat.

6th January

“Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.”

Marie Curie

Today is the day of Epiphany. You don’t have to be a Christian to like this celebration. I’m not, I just like the word. Epiphany! It sounds exciting. Pop-py. Like – zing! An idea has landed, and it’s fantastic!

Epiphanies don’t come easily. And don’t panic, today’s task isn’t to have one. Instead, it’s an exercise inspired by Marie Curie and her notion that inspiration often arises from finding things out. And look at what she did with her life. I bet the day of her epiphany was a good one. ‘Zing! Radium! Now there’s an idea.’

So today, you’re not going to write, you’re going to read. Pick a book, article or newspaper that you wouldn’t normally read (tabloid newspapers excluded; read something good). It doesn’t have to be hard, but the content should be outside your go-to topics of interest. For me, that would mean an article about business or finance. Or football. Or a book about hedge-trimming.

Have a read, and see where it takes you. And if you feel inspired, write a little – a paragraph or two – about a person in the world that you’re reading about. Perhaps my next character will be a hedge-trimmer. Who knows? Certainly once I’ve read that book, I’ll be able to write that character with much more nuance than I could yesterday.

7th January

“I like good, strong words that mean something.”

Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

Today we’re a week into the new year, and I don’t know about you, but this tends to be when all my good new resolutions fail. Whoever thought giving up alcohol in the coldest, quietest, post-celebratory slump of a month was a good idea? And if you live anywhere near me, it’s usually rainy. Plus, my Christmas chocolate has just about run out. It’s a sad day.

Until now! Because today’s exercise is a joy-bringer. Write down all your favourite words. That’s it. Stick the heating on, put your feet up and write them down. Long ones, short ones, funny ones; they can be names and place names as well as ‘proper’ words.

I like words that are fun to say. I also like words that sound like music. I’ll give you a few of mine to jump-start the proverbial car: Mellifluous. Fandango. Fling. Sot. Clodpoll. Bollocks. Atoll. Mum. Hodgelet. Startle. Snack.

8th January

“Let’s be reasonable and add an eighth day to the week that is devoted exclusively to reading.”

Lena Dunham

Lena Dunham knows what she’s talking about. She’s a fantastic screenwriter – and that’s partly because she is a devourer of the written (and filmed) word. Reading expands your ideas, references, vocabulary and worldview.

Today, pick four books from your shelves that you haven’t read. Get a cuppa, raid the biscuit tin, get comfortable and just read. Read the first chapter of all four books. But do it with a writer’s eye. Try to observe what the writer is doing. How they draw you in. How they share their prose, their choice of vocabulary, use of dialogue, character. What works for you? What doesn’t? Which of the four is the book you want to carry on reading?

You don’t need to write anything down; just park all these ideas in your brain-bank and remember them for the next time you’re writing.

9th January

“The first writing of the human being was drawing, not writing.”

Marjane Satrapi

It’s time for an art task! Today you’re going to create a comic strip or storyboard. It’s quite a skill to tell a story in a number of images… it’s a great exercise in how to be succinct.

Take a story you know well. It could be a favourite fairytale, a short story, a myth, or you could choose a section from a novel. And storyboard it as follows: write down the main points of the story. Try to reduce these to eight bite-sized pieces. Work out what the image would be that encapsulates that. And remember that storyboards require action to make the images sing. Set-dressing does not a good comic strip make.

Now draw it! When you’ve done it, have a think about how you have managed to tell your story with an incredibly minimal number of words. What from the original story was dispensable? What was essential? Put this in your writing brain for later when you’re editing your own work.

10th January

“It is better to create than learn! Creating is the essence of life.”

Julius Caesar

Today let’s focus on creating atmosphere.

Writers use many techniques to do this. Sometimes writing sensorially, using all five senses. Sometimes writing sparsely – to keep us on our toes and on the edge of our seats. They might use pace to create tension. Use heat, light, a sense of movement to create a landscape that allows the reader to find themselves there. Or drip-feed us information to build the drama.

Look at how Jeanine Cummins hooks us into her nail-biting thriller American Dirt. It’s the story of mother and son on the run across South America, trying to escape the cartel. It’s not my usual fare, but from page one it was so visually arresting in her use of description, that I found I couldn’t put it down. It opens:

‘One of the very first bullets come in through the open window above the toilet where Luca is standing. He doesn’t immediately understand that it’s a bullet at all, and it’s only luck that it doesn’t strike him between the eyes. Luca hardly registers the mild noise it makes as it flies past and lodges into the tiled wall behind him. But the wash of bullets that follows is loud, booming, and thudding, clack-clacking with helicopter speed. There is a raft of screams, too, but that noise is short-lived, soon exterminated by the gunfire. Before Luca can zip his pants, lower the lid, climb up to look out, before he has time to verify the source of that terrible clamour, the bathroom door swings open and Mami is there.’

Immediately, there’s drama, character and specific peril, as it becomes obvious that Luca is a child. That’s what hooked me. Peril of an innocent – and so vividly realised. We know we’re in for a roller-coaster ride.

Now choose a tense scenario – something with high stakes. Go on, make your characters’ lives as difficult a possible! Three people stuck in an underwater cave as water is rising. A tourist, lost on a jungle trek, who thinks they have refound their group… only to discover it’s a pack of dangerous animals. Or a nervy dad in a queue for a bungee jump… with a crazed bungee instructor strapping him in. Have a go. Just a paragraph. See what drama you can create in only a few words.

11th January

“To survive, you must tell stories.”

Umberto Eco

Imagine that it’s the end of the world. Everyone has been extinguished… everyone but the residents of one place. Everyone there is (so far) blissfully unaware that the rest of the world is no longer. They are the only survivors, and between them, will have to build their own society. When they find out, of course.

Who are they? Oh, so many options. There’s obviously a huge, serious tale to tell here – if you choose a nuclear submarine or a government bunker. But what other choices are there? Many are way more fun, especially if you want to write something comedic. What happens if the last people on earth are the contestants of an annual morris-dancing convention in the village hall? Or a coachful of retired singletons with romantic aspirations, on a package tour of Peru? Or a family that cannot stand the sight of each other?

And what the hell has happened to the rest of the world? Let your imagination run wild and see what you come up with. You can write your scenario or draw it in a series of vignettes.

12th January

“I like books that aren’t just lovely but have memories in themselves. Just like playing a song, picking up a book again, the memories can take you back to another place or another time.”

Emma Watson

Today is National Youth Day. What’s your most vivid childhood memory?

Write it… twice.

Once in the first person (‘I…’), honestly, as close to reality as you can remember.

Then a second time, now in the third person (‘he/she/they/Ali/the man…’), viewing yourself as a character. In this second version, feel free to play around with the truth, rewriting it to be a story based on a memory – allowing yourself poetic licence.

13th January

“A wise bear always keeps a marmalade sandwich in his hat in case of emergency.”

Paddington Bear

So often it’s the esoteric details of a character that make them memorable. A habit, a tic, a distinctive style. Or, in Paddington’s case, his preference of sandwich filling.

For today’s exercise (on the birthday of Paddington’s creator, Michael Bond), go to your fridge or kitchen cupboard, and choose an item of food. Bring it back to your desk and have a look at it. Who (other than you) might eat this?

Write down four options for a person who might love – or hate – this food. I want you to choose four so that you go beyond the most clichéd choice. A pepperoni sausage, for example, would be an obvious pick for an Italian gangster or an overweight telly addict. But wouldn’t you rather read about the high-profile vegan campaigner, who cannot help her secret addiction, knowing that her reputation will be destroyed if anyone finds out?

Now write a paragraph or two in which your character has a confrontation with the food. Perhaps they come home late at night after the most dramatic day of their life and this brings them comfort. What happened that day? Or have they secreted it on their person because they’re about to face – what? – and they can’t do without it?

One tip. I would strongly suggest you sample this food, so that you can write about it with more sensory detail. I hope you picked something delicious and not a bottle of hot sauce.

14th January

“Organising is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.”

A. A. Milne

Today, on Organise Your Home Day, you’re going to organise your writing space.

Just like a dish that tastes extra delicious because it’s beautifully presented, take your environment seriously. Make a space for yourself in which you will enjoy writing.

Consider the following: Is it light enough? Is it tidy? Does it smell nice? Would you burn a candle while you write? Listen to music? Do you want to be able to see outside? Or be free of distractions? Will you write better staring at a blank wall, or a wall covered in pictures and quotes that inspire you? Would a pot plant or flowers make you feel full of the joys of spring… or aggravate your hay fever?

Or, if you are writing in public – in a library or a café perhaps – think about finding the best environment within this space. Perhaps you always sit at the big, crowded tables in the library, but have you explored all the floors? Maybe there’s a nook. A book nook. Maybe there’s a quiet corner that catches the sunlight. What kind of books might inspire your ideas? You don’t have to sit in fiction. Maybe you want to be steeped in history. Or trains. Or cookery books.

And if you’re in a café, where are you sitting? Some people love to write in a noisy space as it can, conversely, help you concentrate. Does the smell of coffee pick you up or distract you with its temptations? Might you be better going to the park and sitting on a bench? Even if you think you have no options – question that. Perhaps you do.

This is your chance make yourself a treat of a writer’s space. Even if you don’t have a designated nook, wherever you write, try to make it as personal and inspiring as possible.

15th January

“I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny, but we can have lots of good fun that is funny.”

Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat

It’s National Hat Day, but let’s not write a story about hats.

Today’s exercise turns to the well-known genius Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. Author of lots of weird and fantastical children’s books, he was a thinker, an educator and a rather eccentric guy who regularly challenged himself to write with restrictions. His most famous book, The Cat in the Hat (tenuous ‘Hat Day link’ here), remarkably uses only 255 words.

No one thought that something so simple and, frankly, odd would ever work, let alone be a hit. But when the copies began flying off the shelves, Dr. Seuss and his editor knew they were on to something. His editor then bet him that he couldn’t write anything again with such a limited vocabulary pool. Of course, Dr. Seuss saw this as a challenge and a short time later came back with Green Eggs and Ham. And how many different words are in the story? Fifty. That’s it. No wonder it’s such an odd book! And yet it’s a bestseller multiple times over.

So here’s your challenge. You’re going to try to write a story using a vocabulary of only fifty words. It needs to rhyme. So I begin by finding two or three pairs of words that give you some characters and sense of tone. This will probably take up ten words. For example:

PET, MET

FROG, DOG

HORSE, COURSE

MAN, PLAN

WEED, DEED

SNOG, BOG

FREE, ME

BEE, TREE

Even from these simple pairs you could think up any number of very short tales. Pick a couple of pairs of words to give you a starting point, then start building. A warning: by the time you start adding linking words your fifty-word limit gets gobbled up very quickly, so don’t plan too much, just get going! I’d heartily recommend reading Green Eggs and Ham before you do.

And when you’re done, do yourself a favour and get yourself a copy of my favourite of all his books, Oh, the Places You’ll Go! It’s inspiration for life – and it’s wonderful.

And if you still want to write a story about hats, then here goes. As a second exercise, write your version of the beloved Mr Benn books. For those who don’t remember them, Mr Benn would visit a fancy-dress shop, choose a costume, then find himself stepping out of the shop in the world of that adventure (picking a suit of armour, he’d walk out into Camelot, for example). So write a Mr Benn story – but with a hat! And then feel very smug that you did two tasks today. Pat on the back for you. Perhaps purchase yourself a lovely hat as a reward.

16th January

“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.”

Susan Sontag

If you could arrive anywhere – anywhere – at any time in history, where would it be?

On Susan Sontag’s birthday, and inspired by her quote above, for today’s exercise, create a scenario in which your character (it could be you or someone else) opens a door and finds themselves in a completely different time and place. Build the world they encounter as fully as possible. Why are they there? What happens next?

Do this either in words or pictures, whichever gives you the bigger thrill today.

17th January

“I love the silent hour of night,

For blissful dreams may then arise,

Revealing to my charmed sight

What may not bless my waking eyes!”

Anne Brontë, ‘Night’

Happy birthday, Anne Brontë! In the spirit of her poem, today’s exercise is really simple.

Choose three people. One of them is you, the other two are characters you can make up. Perhaps based on people you’ve observed: someone in the supermarket, someone on the bus, or… invent someone. Make sure the other two people are quite different from you, in lifestyle, in terms of their role in society, age, and so on.

For each of these three people, think about what they dream about. What would make their lives better? What would bring them happiness – not just material wealth – real happiness? Jot down a list for each, but don’t rush. Allow yourself time to be inventive. Perhaps your supermarket-checkout teenager has recently lost a parent, which would explain why they’re always cross when they serve you. Perhaps the 1920s flapper that you invented has dreams of leaving her frustrating family behind, and running away to pursue the high life in New York. And you? What do you really want? Think carefully. It takes time to dig deep.

When you’ve made your three lists, choose the character whose dream is the most interesting to write about. Now, observing the character from the outside, write a short piece in which the character expresses their dream. It could be simply in their heads: ‘She flopped down on the dune and closed her eyes…’ Or perhaps they’re in conversation with someone else. Up to you. Dream big and have fun.

18th January

“Vocabularies are crossing circles and loops. We are defined by the lines we choose to cross or to be confined by.”

A. S. Byatt

Words, words, words! As Hamlet says. Today, seeing as it’s National Thesaurus Day, let’s play with them.

Find a paragraph in a book or magazine, the plainer the writing style, the better. And now rewrite it using a thesaurus.

Discover a melange of lyrical lexicon inscribed deftly within a conglomeration of verbal effluence, within a writerly folio or perchance an unsophisticated publication – the more abundantly boundless in verbal dexterity, the most wondrously superior – and grasp this singular opportunity to use your erudition to refashion the base, ignoble verbiage into an explosive kaleidoscope of ingenious utterances.

Use the most florid, most imaginative, most descriptive language you can. Just as I did.

Have fun with it. I give you full permission to be as over-the-top as you like… enjoy the vast wealth of language at your disposal.

19th January

“When people ask me if I went to film school I tell them no, I went to films.”

Quentin Tarantino

Today is National Popcorn Day. Hoorah! To celebrate, you have two tasks.

One: get yourself a big ole bag of the stuff, sit down and have a munch. Or even better, pop it yourself on the hob – there’s little in life more satisfying than the popping explosions of corn pinging against the pan lid.

Now, once you’re settled with snack in hand, let that scent send you right back to your favourite times in the movies. List a few of your favourite films. And then ponder on this: Nearly every film follows the same basic structure. A character exists in the status quo, until they encounter a problem. They must then tackle that problem/adversary/obstacle, in order to overcome it. It’s so simple, but you’ll find it’s true of nearly every movie. Essentially, structure runs like this:

1. Set-up: Here’s our character getting on with their life…

2. Inciting Incident: …Until X happens/arrives/changes to challenge that. Problem!

3. Journey and Progress: In which our protagonist has to tackle the problem, win the girl, solve the puzzle, save the earth, usually by initially making progress, before…

4. The Turning Point (midpoint and dramatic build ): When things get much worse. These stages (numbers 3, 4 and 5) are the central arc, the adventure, some wins, some losses, ramping towards a middle when – uh-oh – major setback! Things get worse and worse; in fact, can they get any worse? Now we’re on a roller coaster and it turns out: Yes! They can get worse – they can reach the peak of all disaster. There seems to be no coming back. The lovers hate each other. The world is about to be annihilated. The time is about to run out… until…

5. Climax/Resolution: The story climaxes and resolves. Usually with our heroes winning, although the resolution doesn’t have to be good. In Hollywood, of course, it usually is: the aliens are defeated, the gal gets her guy, the planet is saved from apes/zombies/massive chunks of space junk.

Have a think about your favourite movies and see if you can analyse them within this five-act structure. And remember: they don’t have to be literal. Whilst adventure films like Back to the Future or The Goonies obviously follow the structure of adventure, most films share this shape when you really look at it, regardless of genre. Think of the adventure as the character’s internal journey.

Now, have a go at it yourself. Choose a simple premise. Think of a hero, give them a ‘normal life’, and then consider what bombshell might drop on them to send them off on an adventure. A simple way to do it is to think of a person who has a very specific comfort zone, then put them in a scenario where they have to confront it. The man who has terrible vertigo, whose children get stranded on top of a mountain and will only survive if he can get them down. The woman who has become a house-bound recluse since her husband died, who is offered the chance of a lifetime… which requires an international trip. The kid who is determined to be a Premier League footballer… but lives in the Arctic.

Then follow the five-point plan to write the broadest of outlines for your film.

There you go, Tarantino-in-the-making! Hopefully with a bit less blood and gore. And if you’d rather draw your five points as a storyboard, feel free. Get creative.

When you’re done, hold on to this, we’re going to come back to it tomorrow. And if you weren’t intending to write tomorrow, too late! You’ve already begun, so now you have no excuse. I’ll see you then.

20th January

“Cinema is a matter of what’s in the frame and what’s out.”

Martin Scorsese

Today is an unusual day in this book because it’s Part Two of an exercise. Ooh, a doubler! So if you didn’t do yesterday’s exercise, I’d recommend going back and doing that first.

But if you did: have a house point/gold star/champion’s cup, you swot. You should be wielding your five-point film plan, all ready to shoot your Oscar-worthy epic. Or at least, you have a rough outline of a story that’s fit for purpose. That’s cool too. We can’t all be Scorsese.

So you have your five story points. Now here’s the magic. Each of these ‘story beats’ will be quite unwieldy. For each one, you are going to divide it into three parts – a beginning, middle and ending – giving you mini-structures within your super-structure. Let’s look at Beat 1 – the set-up – as an example:

Here’s our character getting on with their life. You know that in the next beat there will be an inciting incident that turns their world upside down. So in your set-up you need to… guess what… set that up! You can use your set-up to make the inciting incident as powerful as possible, by working out what would destabilise your protagonist the most.

Use the three points of your mini-structure well. Make them into a story – and ensure your character/s are in a different position at the end of this beat, to the beginning. So in the set-up:

• Beginning: Establish your character – where, when, who, their situation.

• Middle: What’s happening to that character, what’s the mini-drama of the present – they are likely to be doing something or trying to.

• Ending: Now, ramp up to set up your inciting incident – the climax of this first beat.

By way of example, let’s use the classic story of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. Read the short story, or watch one of the many film adaptations.

In the set-up, Dickens establishes the world, who Scrooge is, and works up towards the inciting incident – the moment when Scrooge meets the three ghosts, and when he begins his journey into the past, present and future. He needs to reach that point during the set-up, which works as follows:

• Beginning of the set-up: Scrooge is an old miser who despises Christmas and is mean to everybody. No one believes he will ever change. He is stuck in his ways and determined not to celebrate Christmas, nor allow anyone working for him to do so either.

• Middle of the set-up: This part advances that plot, making Scrooge even more mean and sending a ripple of ‘something’s gonna happen’. He refuses an invitation to join his nephew’s family for Christmas, as he doesn’t see why anyone would celebrate Christmas. He allows poor Bob Cratchit, who works for him, one day off, but that’s all.

• End of the set-up: This section moves towards the climax of your ‘set-up’ beat, teeing up the big change. A ghost appears with a warning for Scrooge. It’s Marley – his very old and very dead business partner – who tells Scrooge that he must change his ways before it’s too late, and that three more ghosts will vist him to make sure he does. Duh-duh-duh! That’s the set-up; time to move on to the second beat…

You should spend some time breaking down each of your five beats into three-part structures, and then you’ll have fifteen beats in your story, giving you your route-markers as you write it. Congratulations!

Now, as a bonus exercise that I would heartily recommend, in celebrating National Camcorder Day (who knew?!), try coming up with an image for each of them. You can either:

• Draw them.

• Take photographs, or…

• (and this is where you win all the points) Record some short video clips.

If you choose the last option (and you can use a smartphone rather than a camcorder, of course): Ta-dah! You already have a movie. It’s short, fine – but it’s a full fifteen story beats, which, let’s face it, is an awful lot more storytelling than some of the movies out there.

21st January

“The very reason I write is so that I might not sleepwalk through my entire life.”

Zadie Smith

Today your task is to get outside and do some exercise.

Don’t look at me like that. It isInternational Sweatpants Day, and whilst you might hope that that would mean your task is to sit on your sweet ass and do jack-all, it ain’t.

Here’s the thing: exercise gives you endorphins, sends blood to your brain and gets it firing on all cylinders… and that is great news for your imagination. It’s science. Believe me.

There’s a vast amount of evidence that people have their best ideas when they’re out moving their bodies. Check out Haruki Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. He is an astonishing writer who regards his daily exercise routines as a key part of his creative process. And though, unlike Murakami, I am no marathon runner, I either walk or run every day before I begin work, regardless of the weather. It clears my head and gets me in a creative space to start writing.

So, whether you want to walk or run, that’s up to you, but your task today is to take yourself outside and move quickly. And crucially DON’T LISTEN TO ANYTHING!

I know, you’re probably used to stepping out with your earphones on, constantly feeding your brain with stuff. But if you want to get to the deeper parts of your imagination, the cerebral bit, the subconscious, then you have to allow yourself to daydream. And daydreaming only happens when you go through a boredom threshold.

Most of the time our brains are overstimulated. They’re used to a constant barrage of information. You are always feeding your brain with sound, thoughts, to-do lists, feedback, podcasts, gossip, worries and plans. And when you go out and don’t listen to something, that quiet can make you panic. Quick! Put something in my ears! I can’t possibly listen to my own thoughts!

Get over it. Previous generations used to walk for miles without earphones and (except for plague, rampant misogyny, leeches and the constant threat of bandits) they were perfectly content to listen to their own thoughts.

So take your earphones out. You will then inevitably go through what I like to technically term the ‘chatter’ phase, which is a mixture of your brain shouting ‘give me something to listen to’ and you making mental to-do lists. Only once you’ve had all those conscious thoughts and ignored them, will you transition into the next phase… the ‘bored now, I’ll just swim around in the subconscious’ dreamy phase. And that is the magic bit.

This subconscious deep-dive is where you have ideas. You probably won’t even know it, but magically, that idea that you’ve been toying with might – when you revisit it – somehow have been expanded. And when you run, or walk, and your brain has a wonderful ‘rush of blood to the head’, you’re helping this creative process no end.

So today I don’t want you to write anything. Just get out and get the juices flowing, enjoy your subconscious wanderings and know that you’re giving yourself a great gift – and when you write tomorrow it will inevitably be a work of genius.

22nd January

“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.”

Anaïs Nin

Here’s what we do today… we are going to celebrate the many excellent things in life. It’s Celebration of Life Day. So think of the things that make you happy. Treat yourself. And enjoy every moment of the experience. And write nothing down. Go on, I give you permission.

Maybe a treat for you is a walk in a forest. Or a really good cup of coffee. Or a massage. Or a stroll with a mate. Or fifteen minutes on your own without the family banging on the door. Each to his own. Mine is a cinnamon swirl from a Danish bakery. If you live near one, try it. Those buns are something else.

When you’ve organised your treat, you’re sitting with your bun/ coffee/crisp, cold pint in a pub garden, I want you to take this little bit of time to really enjoy the experience. Feel it. Savour it. Walk, drink or eat meditatively. Think about how it feels. The detail. The flavours. The spice-bazaar scent of the cinnamon; the pillow-puff texture of the sweet bread; the childhood-birthday taste of the icing; the delight of eating something purely for pleasure, in the full glorious knowledge that it has absolutely no nutritional value. Yum.

And that’s it. As writers we need to feed off our experiences, notice the world around us in order to write with nuance, with a sense of individuality, with honesty. And God knows there’s often enough suffering or difficulty to draw on for the dark moments in our writing. So today, give yourself some self-care, some you-time, and maybe one day it’ll be useful material for a bit of writing. And if it isn’t – who cares? It was a lovely cinnamon swirl.

23rd January

“I prefer the pen. There is something elemental about the glide and flow of nib and ink on paper.”

James Robertson, The Testament of Gideon Mack

Today, it’s National Handwriting Day. So even if you usually write on a laptop, you’re going to write on paper. Put aside the technology, we’re going back to basics, and it’s wonderful. Writing by hand often helps you think differently, I find.