Other Writing Challenges

Need a challenge? Take a look at this (growing) list of writing challenges

Blank Notebook Image courtesy of Photoraidz FreeDigitalPhotos.net


1. Try writing a short story in a genre you wouldn't normally choose.

2. Pick up a travel brochure for a country you haven't visited, or randomly pick a country from a world map and write a short story based in that country. Research the culture and the buildings and describe these things even though you haven't experienced them first hand.

3. Write a story from the point of view of a teacher you had at school.

4. Use a celebrity that you (for whatever reason) do  not like, and use your preconceived ideas about their personality to develop a character that everyone loves to hate. Use a different name to avoid lawsuits though!

5. Take a bit-part character from your favourite book and place them in a different setting, among different characters and write them their own story.

6. Take the last line from a poem, and use it as a starting sentence.

7. Get a friend to randomly pick 10 words out of a dictionary or thesaurus. Read through the words and discard any you do not like, then use the remaining words to begin a series of writing exercises, for example free-writing or brain-storming/word clusters. To make it extra challenging try to create a story that links all of the words that were chosen.

8. Think of a pet hate, a habit people have that really drives you mad. Write all about it, describing what it is about that habit that you dislike so much. Now create a character from those notes.

9. Write a story where the plot involves a misunderstanding regarding a handbag (purse).

10. Get out of your comfort zone, if you tend to write stories with a certain type of main character, for example strong females try the complete opposite for a change, you might surprise yourself!

11. Start your story at the end.

12. Write a story in the form of a letter asking for forgiveness.

13. Write the story of someone attending their own funeral.

14. Your protagonist is a teenager who doubts that the people who raised him/her are their real parents.

15. Pick your favourite hero/heroine from a classic piece of literature, now rewrite their good qualities so they are flaws and cast them as a modern day villain.


If you complete one of these challenges and would like to share your work (flash fiction, short story or poem) with our readers, please post it to the page using the comments box below

Please note that all stories submitted to this page will not be entered into the short story competition - this is for fun and potential feedback only.