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| 12 Days of Christmas 2023 |
Melissa Gijsbers has created another set of wonderful writing prompts to bring in the New Year with her 12 Days of Christmas ideas.
| Welcome! The year is half gone and, as always, best-laid plans have meant no newsletters have been sent out! This has been an interesting year. I got a new job in February that will come to an end this month. It was a great experience working in a different industry than I’ve worked in before, so now I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next. One thing that is coming up is my brand-new writing program. If you’ve been part of my 12 Days of Christmas or Get Sporty programs, that will give you an idea of what this is. The Joy of Writing is a subscription where I will send out a writing activity every week for you to have fun with. The idea is to do some free writing and play with the prompt and stories. There is no pressure to share your writing so it can be completely imperfect. The activities are suitable for writers of all ages and stages. I’m really excited about this as it’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time. The subscription is only $9 a month and you can get a single subscription for the whole family! Click here for more details and to subscribe. If you follow my blog and Facebook page, you will have read that I was diagnosed autistic and with ADHD last year. I have been working on a novel recently about a late-diagnosed autistic woman. I started writing this around 2018 and didn’t have a ‘why’ to my main character and how she was feeling, probably because I didn’t have a ‘why’ for myself. Now that I found that, the novel is coming along and is much stronger for it. A tip for all you writers out there, know the ‘why’ to your story, regardless of whether you’re a plotter or pantser, knowing the why will make your story sing. I have also shared some blog posts about my diagnosis and writing, they are linked below. I can’t promise it won’t be months before another newsletter, I hope you will join in the Joy of Writing, and discover how much fun creative writing can be when you write for the pure joy of it. Until next time & happy reading, Melissa Gijsbers |
| Melissa Gijsbers |
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| Day 1 Hello blogging friends and creatives, Welcome to Day 1 of the 12 Days of Christmas for 2023. I hope you’ve had a lovely day today no matter what you are planning. I am sending this before I head off to join my family for the day. If I’m honest, I doubt writing will happen today. Many people write thank you notes for gifts they receive. Today, write a thank you note. It could be for one of the gifts you receive, or it could be a fun note as a response to the gifts in the 12 Days of Christmas song, a thank you note by a fictional character, or even a thank you note to Santa. These can be as imaginative as you like. If it’s a genuine thank you note, send it to the person you are writing to in the mail rather than as an email to give them a lovely surprise. Remember there is no pressure to write every day and you can save these prompts until another time. You are welcome to share your writing in our Facebook group. I hope you have fun with this prompt and I’ll be back with another one tomorrow. Best wishes, Melissa |
| Sometimes I write a whole short story for the prompts or a simple paragraph. Why don’t you have a go? It doesn’t matter when you start or if you do all the prompts. It’s the fun of getting your creative juices flowing. – Jill |
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Hello, my creative friends,
Welcome to Day 2 of the 12 Days of Christmas for 2023. If anyone didn’t receive the email yesterday, the prompts are also posted in the Facebook group, and I will put them all in a PDF at the end.
Many people are travelling for their holidays today, it’s also Boxing Day.
When I was a kid, we used to have fun making boxcars. If you don’t know what they are, you get a cardboard box and decorate it like a car with things like sticking on paper plates to be wheels and a paper plate for a steering wheel, then painting or colouring it any colour we like.
Imagine you, or the kids, make a box car. Then you climb in. All of a sudden, the car takes you on a magical, fantastical adventure.
Write a story about your adventure. If you want to, build a box car too!
Remember there is no pressure to write every day and you can save these prompts until another time. You are welcome to share your writing in our Facebook group.
I hope you have fun with this prompt and I’ll be back with another one tomorrow.
Best wishes,
Melissa
| Day 3 Hello Jill, Welcome to Day 3 of the 12 Days of Christmas for 2023. In Australia, Boxing Day is a day for sales. I used to live near Chadstone Shopping Centre in Melbourne and these days were always insane with so many people packing the centre, however, you could get some great deals. Imagine you are an alien, sent to Earth to report on the activities and customs of humans. Write a report to your superiors about Boxing Day Sales. If you’ve never been to one, there are plenty of photos and descriptions that can help you. Do a search on ‘Boxing Day Sales’ or even ‘Boxing Day Sales Chadstone’ or similar. Remember there is no pressure to write every day and you can save these prompts until another time. You are welcome to share your writing in our Facebook group. The Facebook group isn’t essential, I am investigating other options for having a place to share writing for those who want to. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. I hope you have fun with this prompt and I’ll be back with another one tomorrow. Best wishes, Melissa |
| Day 4 Hello Jill, Welcome to Day 4 of the 12 Days of Christmas for 2023. Yesterday, I got a burst of energy and did some gardening. Some of our garden beds are overgrown with weeds! For today, imagine that you are in the garden, and you discover a treasure chest. Write a story about your discovery. Remember there is no pressure to write every day and you can save these prompts until another time. You are welcome to share your writing in our Facebook group. The Facebook group isn’t essential, I am investigating other options for having a place to share writing for those who want to. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. I hope you have fun with this prompt and I’ll be back with another one tomorrow. Best wishes, Melissa |
Hello Jill,
Welcome to Day 5 of the 12 Days of Christmas for 2023.
Day five is our Last Line prompt day. If you haven’t done a last-line prompt before, it’s simple. I give you the last line of the story, and you write the beginning. It’s a bit more challenging than a first-line prompt, but it’s just as fun.
Last Line: They all lived happily ever after, except for Charlie Murgatroyd, who was assigned to do the washing up for the rest of the holiday.
Remember there is no pressure to write every day and you can save these prompts until another time. You are welcome to share your writing in our Facebook group. The Facebook group isn’t essential, I am investigating other options for having a place to share writing for those who want to. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.
I hope you have fun with this prompt and I’ll be back with another one tomorrow.
Best wishes,
Melissa
I love the quirky prompts. I hope you do too. We’re up to day 5 which is when I’m posting this. From tomorrow on I’ll do more but add books I’m adding to my collection, or, surprise, surprise, a book review or two. Happy creative start to 2024 friends. – Jill
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