darren r hill

the creative minimalist

As we begin the new year of 2025, I’m excited to share my collection of journals with you in this week’s vlog. I have a new daily planner, as well as music and fiction journals, and various vocabulary notebooks.
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My word of the year for 2025 is odyssey. It both a journey with a destination in mind and plenty of wiggle room for distractions.
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I found myself thinking about how it is perfectionism created by myself, which, ironically, destroys my creativity. This week’s vlog examines how I must embrace the unknown and let creativity flow.
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Hello worlds! I have found myself in a creative rut, my creativity has become automated and feels unnatural. This week’s vlog is all about beginning to rewild my imagination and creativity.
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Hello worlds! I made a video for my song “We’re not Actors” from the album “The Same Old Fear”.
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This week’s vlog looks at how we may need to change our minds or opinions to get truly creative. And it all starts with the question, when was the last time you changed your mind?
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Friday Fiction Writing Prompt exploring grow
A Fiction Writing Prompt exploring the word grow to stretch the literary muscles. No rules. No word counts. Simply write and explore.

I didn’t know if it was a plea, prayer or premonition, but the word left my lips as I saw the first shoot… ‘grow’

Writing Prompt Expanded

Waiting for something to happen can be frustrating. It can test our patience. However, this prompt is about the next step. The waiting is over, there is progress, something is happening.

This prompt is all about expectation and need. You know what you want to grow, but there is plenty of time between emergence and fruition.
- What are you wanting to grow?
- What new emotions emerge as the process begins?
- What are your hopes?
- What are your fears?
The image suggests that it is a plant you want to grow, however, feel free to use this prompt as a metaphor. There are many things that we would like to grow, relationships, success, well-being, healing. Any of these can be explored in your fiction, or in your journal. And may your words emerge and grow into something creative.

As always these writing prompts are optional and entirely open to your interpretation. Use them as a starting point for a short story, something a little more grandiose, or some reflective time in your journal. If you do write something, please share, or mention it or a link, in the comments, use the hashtag #ffwp or tag me @darrenrhill. I’d love to read what you create. Write and enjoy the learning process.

Original plant image by Ngo Minh Tuan from Pixabay.

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

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5 March 2021
Grow — Weekly Creative Prompt
It’s time for another weekly creative prompt word. These weekly words, or prompts, are to give me, and anyone else who wants to join in, some focus to our creative work.

The other day I was driving and the sun was out, it felt like a lovely spring day. On the side of the road, I saw some daffodils. They were the first flowers I had seen in the wild this year in fact, the first flowers I had seen anywhere since last year. But there they were, new life by the side of the road. Spring is often associated with new life, new beginnings, and new developments. Therefore…

This week’s creative prompt word is:

Grow — germinate and develop:

grow is a verb, often used with objects and other words to create more complex phrases and sentences, basically, it can create and develop them

Let the prompt inspire you in any area of creativity that you are interested:
- writing fiction
- art journaling
- songwriting
- journaling
- photography
- painting
- composing
- blog posts
- art therapy
- anything that could use a little nudge to begin
I now have ‘grow’ written on the board above my computer. I am confident it will inspire me on my creative journey this week. Furthermore, I can already feel it bringing new life to ideas and developing others that have been on hold during the wintertime. Spring is hereabouts, what can you grow?

As mentioned before, this isn’t a ‘challenge’ but the prompts can be used that way if you want. If you do create anything using them, I would love to see or hear about it. Leave a link in the comments below or tag me @darrenrhill or #thecreativeminimalist on any social platform.

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

Sign up for my (ir)regular newsletter to keep up to date with my creative adventures, including special offers, and join me on Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest
28 February 2021
Prognosis fear — Friday Fiction Writing Prompt
A Fiction Writing Prompt exploring fear to stretch the literary muscles. No rules. No word counts. Simply write and explore. Warning: this prompt may trigger deep emotions if you have or are dealing with illness. You may want to avoid it.

The doctor glanced one final time at the computer monitor, as if for confirmation. She then turned to me and said…

Writing Prompt Expanded

This Friday Fiction Writing Prompt is all about the narrator’s reaction. It is linked to my weekly creative prompt ‘fear’. So often, as we wait for something we spend our time worrying about what will happen, we fear the outcome. This is a learned response, however, without all the facts our fear is often unfounded. We go to the doctor because we don’t know. The doctor is the one who can interpret the situation correctly.

The doctor is about to speak:
- What do they say?
- What is the reaction?
- Is it positive or negative news, or even something else?
- Are the words for the narrator or another member of the family?
- What is the emotional response?
Writing this prompt in the first person allows you to really get under the skin of your character. There is an emotional scene in the TV series Breaking Bad. Walter White is told that he has terminal lung cancer. The doctor is talking, but Walter isn’t listening to the words. Walter is focussed on a sauce stain on the doctor’s coat. That’s Walter’s reaction to the doctor’s words. What will the reaction be in your fiction?

This may trigger very personal memories. Don’t attempt to use this prompt if that is so. However, it can be a good way to begin exploring your feelings and emotions, of the past and perhaps the future. Do seek professional help and guidance if you want to explore this further.

As always these writing prompts are optional and entirely open to your interpretation. Use them as a starting point for a short story, something a little more grandiose or some personal journal time. If you do write something, please share it or a link, in the comments or tag me #ffwp or @darrenrhill. I’d love to read what you create. Write and enjoy the learning process.

Original medical image by StockSnap from Pixabay

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

Sign up for my (ir)regular newsletter to keep up to date with my creative adventures, including special offers, and join me on Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest
26 February 2021
Fear — Weekly Creative Prompt
It’s time for another weekly creative prompt word. These weekly words, or prompts, are to give me, and anyone else who wants to join in, some focus to our creative work and journaling.

A few weeks ago the weekly creative prompt word was ‘hope’. Hope is seen as positive, and yet so many times we tag it to something we don’t want to happen ‘I hope x or y doesn’t… etc’. In these situations, we betray the emotions that are really running through our minds. Therefore…

This week’s creative prompt word is:

Fear — an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm:

I admit to being a little fascinated by the concept of fear, the fact that so many of the threats are created by my thoughts. Something I try to deal with quite often as I journal.

Let the prompt inspire you in any area of creativity and journaling that you are interested:
- writing fiction
- art journaling
- songwriting
- journaling
- photography
- painting
- composing
- blog posts
- art therapy
- anything that could use a little nudge to begin
I now have ‘fear’ written on the board above my computer, although, I have added a smiley face next to it. The prompt is not to instill fear but to explore how fear is linked to the unknown and what-ifs and maybes. Fear is no more a reality than hope, and yet so often I let it control my thoughts and actions. I am confident it will inspire me on my creative journey and journaling this week. Furthermore, I can already feel it impinging on how I can begin to overcome fear and be positive and proactive.

As mentioned before, this isn’t a ‘challenge’ but the prompts can be used that way if you want. If you do create anything using them, I would love to see or hear about it. Leave a link in the comments below or tag me @darrenrhill or #thecreativeminimalist on any social platform.

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

Sign up for my (ir)regular newsletter to keep up to date with my creative adventures, including special offers, and join me on Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest
21 February 2021
Pausing at a Pace

It is always good to stop and pause. It feels to me like this past year, with lockdown and the virus, has all been about ‘pause’. But it hasn’t, not really. Things have been happening. Nothing really stands still. We continue to eat, drink, breathe, move.

The problem is that it feels like we are on a pause. Because of this, we don’t take time to actually stop and take a moment. A moment to give thanks, to be grateful. A time to remember all that we have even in this time of loss and restriction.

We should take time to pause at this moment because soon, things will begin to move at a pace. Then we will have even more need to pause, but at least we will know why.

Take a moment to pause, to really pause and be grateful.

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

Sign up for my (ir)regular newsletter to keep up to date with my creative adventures, including special offers, and join me on Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest

20 February 2021
Friday Fiction Writing Prompt exploring the cold
A Fiction Writing Prompt exploring the word cold to stretch the literary muscles. No rules. No word counts. Simply write and explore.

She pulled the blanket up around her neck. Only her face was left exposed. The room was cold just like her thoughts.

Writing Prompt Expanded

It’s no secret that a little sunshine can lift our spirits. Likewise, a damp grey sky can have us crawling for a mug of hot coffee and a seat by the fireside. Alternatively, you may dislike the sun and like the wet and gloomy, either way, the weather has an effect on the way we feel.

This prompt is all about linking the physical; the weather, the temperature, to the thoughts and feelings of the person we are writing about.
- What was she thinking?
- Why was it cold where she was?
- Are her thoughts and the temperature related in several ways?
- How can you describe her thoughts and the temperature in a similar way?
It could be that as you write you find yourself deliberately misleading the reader. It may read like you are talking about her thoughts and yet, you are describing the cold or the other way around. The challenge is to mix the two together somehow… and that, my writing friends, is a chilling thought.

As always these writing prompts are optional and entirely open to your interpretation. Use them as a starting point for a short story or something a little more grandiose. If you do write something, please share it or a link, in the comments, use the hashtag #ffwp or tag me @darrenrhill. I’d love to read what you create. Write and enjoy the learning process.

Original sheets image by JayMantri from Pixabay

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

Sign up for my (ir)regular newsletter to keep up to date with my creative adventures, including special offers, and join me on Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest
19 February 2021