David Almond is the acclaimed, award-winning author of children’s books including Kit’s Wilderness, The Fire Eaters, Counting Stars, A Song for Ella Grey and Skellig, which won the Carnegie Medal. David is also our Chief Writing Ambassador, working with Paper Nations to share his own writing approaches, techniques and beliefs through special events and other collaborations. We chatted to David recently (full interview coming soon), and he gave us our first writing dare of 2017:
“You wake in the middle of the night and there’s some music playing in the garden. You open the curtains and you look out, and the moon is shining down. You see where the music is coming from, and you ask yourself: should I go down there and explore?”
Not sure where to start? Here’s some suggested questions from David Almond to help you imagine the details you might want to include:
- What’s the weather like? Is it summer, is it frosty?
- What are you wearing?
- Who else is in the house?
- What’s your bed like?
- What have you got on your feet?
- Can you hear anything else? Have you heard this music before?
Take a deep breath, and think about what you’d be leaving behind if you went outside. Then make a decision: do I go or not? Step out into the night, into the garden. What do you smell, what do you hear, what do you see? What’s underneath your feet?
We’d love to read whatever you come up with! Send us your stories by email, Twitter or Facebook. We’ll share our favourites here and on social media.