Creative Writing in One Minute a Day

Image courtesy of Mrs Logic / Flickr.com

Do you often use the complaint that you don't have enough time to write? What if I said you could kickstart your creativity in just one minute a day?

In a previous post (here) I mentioned a site called oneword.com. The basic premise behind the site is that when you press the 'go' button you are presented with a screen with the random word of the day at the top and a text box for you to type into. You are given 1 minute to write down whatever comes to mind using that word. After you have finished your entry is submitted to the site and you can then read through everyone else's entry for that day's word. If you give it a go I promise you will be surprised at how quickly you manage to get down a sentence or two. These sentences may do nothing more than give your creativity a bit of a workout, or they may inspire a short story or even a novel.

Below I have copied in a random selection of some of my entries on the site, with the word of the day highlighted. Every single one of them brings up a whole host of questions in my mind that could be explored further to tease out a plot or two.


The jeans she was wearing were bang on trend, it was just a pity about the the 1960′s jumper she was wearing tucked into them

She felt like a pawn in some sick game, being battered from pillar to post for someone else’s amusement. She’d had enough,it was time to fight back.

She stood there, mouth agape, looking for all the world like she was screaming, but no sound escaped her lips.

He didn’t understand, how could he? No-one could, not unless they had lived through it themselves. And very few had, very few could ever survive that.

The trees were closing in on her, cutting out the light. She no longer knew which way was north and the panic really began to set in, her breathing becoming ragged …

He tried his hardest to raise the barrier and let her through but there was no shifting it, they were trapped on opposite sides and the end was coming

She could hear him calling her, somewhere in the distance. Her attention was elsewhere though, she couldn’t take her eyes from the marvel in front of her, drawing her in, closer … closer 

They were hiding out in the den again. She liked this time they spent together, alone, away from all his mates. She knew she was just one of the lads to him, but for her …

The pouch at his waist contained all that he would need from this moment on, all other worldly possessions were now unnecessary.

It was stunnIng, everything they had ever dreamed of. So why did she have such misgivings about the place? Every cell of her body was telling her to run and get the hell out of there.

Now it's your turn. Give the site a go and let us know how you got on. You could even post your response in the comments below, I'd love to hear from you.