May Daily Writing Prompts (2)

High Days and (Bank) Holidays

1)        May Day/Beltane:

Dancing around a Maypole where the ribbons have a mind of their own; spring evening fires to protect, purify and welcome the season; it’s entirely up to you as always. What other traditions and rituals are there – cultural, historical, familial – in May? Feel free to modify and invent.

2)        The Green Man:

A face of foliage, a body of bark. Something friendly or something with nefarious intent? What’s the symbolism, the appearance, the location, association, the significance? Change the gender, the colour, the tradition as you like.

3)        The secret life of a bee:

Buzzing through gardens, parks and fields: what does your bee encounter as it goes about its business?

4)        Long weekend encounter/invitation:

Expected encounter or unexpected adventures, where does your spring bank holiday take you?

5)        The rain in May: Invoke your senses to describe the sounds, smells and sights of May weather.

6)        A lost or unlikely picnic:

A family, a couple or a group of friends set off for a picnic – with a twist. Someone stumbles across an abandoned picnic… what happened? An unlikely fictional or historical meet-up on a gingham picnic blanket… Who was present and what happened is up to you.

7)        If trees could talk…

Choose a tree, any tree you are familiar with. Who passes-by? What does it see over the minutes, days, years and decades?

8)        The shortcut, the unexpected path:

For any reason, or no reason whatsoever, you take a different route to work or a much-frequented destination.

9)        My life in ice creams: Write a list or write about the perfect spring treat. Detail the moment. The flavours and the feelings. It doesn’t have to be ice cream – and it doesn’t have to be real. Imagine a new spring culinary treat, perhaps.

10)  Tiny worlds: What’s hidden in the grass, the flowers and the burgeoning hedgerows?

11)        A letter for the future:

You can write to yourself, a loved one or indeed anyone: but the letter cannot be opened until a future date. When, and why?

12)        Window view:

An NWP favourite, but for May. Look carefully out of the window. Look near, far, wide and narrow. What’s happening beyond the glass?

13)        Memory box:

A character finds or puts together a collection of forgotten objects, all with provenance.

14)        Funfair:

The sights, the sounds, the atmosphere, the objects… and the excitement!

15)        A recipe for happiness:

A touch of… a sprinkle of… a spoonful of… write a recipe with ingredients that are not food.

16)        Campfire stories.

17)        A (secret) map.

What does it tell you?

18)        One small change:

A key detail, a small act of kindness: someone’s ordinary day is changed in a meaningful way.

19)        False summer:

The rain has gone; the air is heavy and dry. What are the impulses, the expectations, the reactions?

20) Four seasons:

Yes, another weather-related prompt. Because our weather is changeable: a heatwave breaks, an hour of hail is followed by clear skies…

21)        Fetes & volunteers:

Similar to the funfair, imagine the attractions. The stalls, the village characters, the competitions. The largest vegetable. The tombola. The unexpected events.

22)        “Nul points;”

In a nod to a certain (mostly) European music competition, write about a moment or a day where a lot of effort, planning and rehearsal didn’t turn out as planned. Use a memory (real or altered), invent something new.

23)        The foods of spring: The first strawberries, the local produce. What is connected to you, to spring, and why?

24)        Pencil point of view:

Exam season is upon us. Write the feelings, the events, the perspectives.

25)        Stuck in holiday traffic:

Hold up, it’s another tractor. Another motorway jam. The rest breaks, fellow travellers, conversations and arguments. ‘I spy…’ When a bank holiday trip has other ideas, perhaps…

26)        Longer days:

Inside or out, what do longer spring days mean? What happens on lighter mornings, on later evenings in May? Describe the greening of spring – the birds and the blossom. How do moods and atmospheres change?

27)        By the river:

Take a walk along a riverbank, by the canal, along a towpath.

28)        The Music of May:

A musician performs in the street. A band plays at the local pub. A soundtrack to the first barbecue of the year.

29)        A mysterious sighting:

In the twilight of the darkening evening, something unusual is spotted…

30)  Nature, reclaimed:

With the month almost at an end and foliage abound, what has nature reclaimed for itself? The abandoned buildings, the forgotten artefacts, etc, etc.

31)  The finale:

May is often the climax of sporting or other competitions. Real or imagined, straightforward or with an unexpected twist. The details, as ever, are up to you.