It is essential to have tension in your writing. It is all very pleasant when everyone sits around enjoying a nice conversation, but it makes for dull reading. Especially if that’s all anybody does. This week I want you to ramp up the tension between two characters, thinking about how to make your dialogue sizzle on the page as your characters disagree with and surprise each other, revealing secrets, desires and passions.

Using less that 500 words write a scene with two characters who haven’t seen each other for a number of years. What does each character want? Why haven’t they seen each other for so long? Can you convey this while maintaining tension?

This week we’re using an image prompt to help us think about language and description. When we’re setting a scene, often as writers we use the first words that come to mind rather than taking the time to actually experience or imagine a richer, more textured description.

In the photograph for the prompt, you see a snowy landscape with footprints. It would be obvious to use the word cold, but when you touch snow, it doesn’t at first feel cold because it takes a moment for your skin to notice just how cold it really is. Also the word white probably springs to mind. But is the snow here truly white or various shades of grey, blue and yellow? Small details like this shift your writing from the ordinary to the extraordinary.

Using less that 400 words describe the setting in this photograph. If you’ve never felt snow, or if it has been years since you’ve seen it, you’ll have to research what it might be like in a snowy landscape. If you live somewhere where snow is a regular occurrence, then take the time to really capture the essence of what a cold, sunny day is like, not just what you think it would be like at first glance. If you want to move toward a poem, please do, if you want to include a narrative, think about who or what might have left those footprints in the snow.

Challenging yourself as a writer pushes your imagination and your skills. The prompt this week follows a few steps to challenge your writing ability.

One thing we’ve been thinking about during these prompts is how to find new and original ways to say things. For example, in a poem, instead of saying ‘My heart bled’ find a more unusual way to describe the pain of loss.

This week we’re going to use the prompt WINTER MORNING. And we’re going to write a poem – even if you don’t normally write poetry (I told you it might be challenging).

First, I want you to list any words that come to mind when you see the words WINTER MORNING.

Re-read what you’ve read. The words on your list are the words I do NOT want you to use when you write your poem. The words on your list are your first impressions, but I want you to dig deeper this week and find out what else you have to say. Forbid yourself the words on this first list. You cannot use them in your poem.

Write a second list of NEW words using WINTER MORNING as a prompt – this list may be shorter, but it will be more original.

Use these words to put together a poem.

Remember, you don’t have to use rhyme, but you do need to think about language and how to bring ideas together in new ways. And it doesn’t have to be long. Sometimes, less is more.