A Fiction Writing or Journal Prompt exploring ‘fire’ to stretch the literary muscles. No rules. No word counts. Simply write and explore.

It’s a cliché but very apt right now, there is no smoke without fire.

Writing Prompt Expanded

A golden rule in writing is to avoid clichés. The thinking behind this is simple, using an overused phrase is lazy. Writers should be creative, therefore don’t use something that someone, or many ones, have used before. However, we do use clichés because they are so often true and convey meanings that are easily understood by many. In this prompt, we are using a cliché, intentionally, and intentional use is fine, permission granted.

This prompt is all about cause and effect, the fire is causing smoke, what the smoke and the fire are though is up to you…

• Is your smoke real or a metaphor for something?
• How do you notice the smoke?
• Can you use all your senses to describe the smoke?

The prompt works well for all genres of fiction, so you’ll have your creative muscles stretched to pin down an idea. If you are using this as a journal writing prompt, you could use it to explore actions in your life. What is the fire that causes you to act the way you do? Quite often we focus on the symptom and not the cause and then wonder why we struggle. What is the fire that perhaps needs putting out, or at least damping down? Enjoy the creative writing time, but remember, in general, avoid clichés like the plague.

In the next couple of days, I’ll be posting about a change in these creative prompts, until then…

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 a prompt in your journal. If you do write something, please share it or a link, in the comments, use the hashtag #ffwp or tag me. I’d love to read what you create. Write and enjoy the learning process.

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