<![CDATA[Creative Constraints Club: Prompts]]>https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/s/promptshttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A6Vs!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdfac2895-84de-470d-9eaf-61d0e49e9b8b_1024x1024.pngCreative Constraints Club: Promptshttps://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/s/promptsSubstackSat, 25 Jul 2026 14:52:36 GMT<![CDATA[Friday's creative constraint]]>https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/fridays-creative-constraint-9ebhttps://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/fridays-creative-constraint-9ebFri, 24 Jul 2026 09:30:43 GMTI’d only seen Mount Fuji in photos. An impossible shape, I imagined people were playing with lenses. Nope. No trick photography. Fuji is a melting ice cube, from a distance all wonderful width and drift. I found it impossible not to respond in poems.

My favourite came out Fuji-shaped. I’ve learned that a poem mimicking the shape of its subject is called a concrete poem. Let’s write one to end our week in JAPAN.

TODAY’S CREATIVE CONSTRAINT

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]]><![CDATA[Thursday's creative constraint]]>https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/thursdays-creative-constraint-44chttps://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/thursdays-creative-constraint-44cThu, 23 Jul 2026 09:30:22 GMTThe Beauty of Everyday Things is beautiful in itself. Soetsu Yanagi explores our relationship with “objects that fill our everyday lives”. He encourages us to look after them, respect them, even to love them. It reminds me of a 26.org.uk project.

Where 26 Treasures invited people to write a sestude in response to museum artefacts, I wonder if we could we use the form with everyday objects?

TODAY’S CREATIVE CONSTRAINT

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]]><![CDATA[Wednesday's creative constraint]]>https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/wednesdays-creative-constraint-934https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/wednesdays-creative-constraint-934Wed, 22 Jul 2026 09:31:18 GMTTokyo was mad. So busy, so noisy, so over-stimulating. I had to get away a few days, so travelled with a friend to Lake Kawaguchiko. I stayed in a traditional ryokan, bathed in a steaming onsen, tried eating nattō (look it up), and fell for distant Mount Fuji.

One day, on a bike ride around the lake, I came across a statue. Its plaque intrigued me, and inspired this story I wrote that evening. Might the story inspire you?

TODAY’S CREATIVE CONSTRAINT

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]]><![CDATA[Tuesday's creative constraint]]>https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/tuesdays-creative-constraint-352https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/tuesdays-creative-constraint-352Tue, 21 Jul 2026 09:31:17 GMTLanding at Tokyo airport felt surreal. All the kanji, ordered busyness, trying to buy a train ticket. The latter got me in trouble, accidentally jumping a queue of disgruntled commuters. Oops. Eventually I got to the Shinkansen for the ride of my life.

The bullet train to downtown Tokyo reaches up to 199mph. It’s exhilarating. Whoosh, we’re there! Sadly it means no time to get to know your fellow passengers.

TODAY’S CREATIVE CONSTRAINT

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]]><![CDATA[Monday's creative constraint]]>https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/mondays-creative-constraint-51ahttps://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/mondays-creative-constraint-51aMon, 20 Jul 2026 09:31:26 GMTWelcome back to Creative Constraints Club. This week we head to JAPAN.

A friend visited recently and brought back stories, reminding me of my visit. How I fell for Japanese culture, people and landscape. I long to return. Until then, I’ll continue to sip the sweet ginjo of books, poetry, film and art. And play in Japanese language.

One wet evening in Tokyo, I was taught to write my name in kanji. Next day, I bought Haruki Murakami’s After The Quake and had fun trying to translate bits.

TODAY’S CREATIVE CONSTRAINT
SKILLS YOU’LL BOOST

Writing compelling openings
Enjoying another language
Allowing interpretation

Boost these skills and no language can intimidate you. You’ll embrace the unknown, allowing yourself freedom in interpretation. Your inner critic will be forced quiet.

Happy writing

Rob

Club Member? DM me a response to any prompt you take on. I’ll pick and publish some each Sunday for others to enjoy. Guests and Members can now comment.

GROWING THE CLUB - VERY SPECIAL OFFER

Sign up now for 30 days of Creative Constraints Club fun absolutely free. Enjoy a creative constraint Monday to Friday, and the chance to appear in Sunday Showcase.

Hopefully you’ll love it. If not, simply unsubscribe before the end of your 30 days.

]]><![CDATA[Friday's creative constraint]]>https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/fridays-creative-constraint-6b2https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/fridays-creative-constraint-6b2Fri, 17 Jul 2026 09:30:23 GMTYou don’t need to tell Ava to play. Whenever I see my niece, she’s turning blank paper into weird, wacky, wondrous scenes. I sometimes ask her to describe her creation. Oh the grin. Children should be an inspiration to all adults who have lost their way.

When did you last sit down with a clean piece of A4 and felt tip? And draw a thing? Then write a thing? Scribble for the sake of it? I know, I have the answer: today.

TODAY’S CREATIVE CONSTRAINT

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]]><![CDATA[Thursday's creative constraint]]>https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/thursdays-creative-constraint-a44https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/thursdays-creative-constraint-a44Thu, 16 Jul 2026 11:34:52 GMTI visited Queen’s House in London this spring. Some of the classical artwork is bigger than walls in my flat! But it was a tiny modern embroidered piece about identity that drew me in. It was exquisite. Such fine detail, the thread telling a moving story.

I spotted a typo. Oh no! What a ruination! Actually, did it spoil my experience? Not at all. Now I’m not saying fill your writing with typos but— Actually, let’s do that.

TODAY’S CREATIVE CONSTRAINT

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]]><![CDATA[Wednesday's creative constraint]]>https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/wednesdays-creative-constraint-c80https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/wednesdays-creative-constraint-c80Wed, 15 Jul 2026 09:30:14 GMTI love coming up with our themes, prompts and constraints. Not only do I pay more attention to my days, but I smile more. It’s magic to nurture ideas. To encourage those seeds to grow. And to then condense into a template, my own creative constraint.

To be honest, I feel selfish keeping this joy to myself. So I’d like to invite you to have a go. If you were leading Creative Constraints Club today, what would you post?

TODAY’S CREATIVE CONSTRAINT

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]]><![CDATA[Tuesday's creative constraint]]>https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/tuesdays-creative-constraint-0behttps://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/tuesdays-creative-constraint-0beTue, 14 Jul 2026 09:31:09 GMTThere once was a man from Nantucket... Oh limericks, how we love your silliness. Edward Lear is perhaps the most famous limericker. He’s as known for the oddness of his rhymes as he is the brilliance of his art and illustration. Perhaps more so.

He’s quoted as saying: “Nonsense is the breath of my nostrils.” What a wonderfully weird thought. Very Lear indeed. Let’s use it to spark our own limerick poem.

TODAY’S CREATIVE CONSTRAINT

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]]><![CDATA[Monday's creative constraint]]>https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/mondays-creative-constraint-aa2https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/mondays-creative-constraint-aa2Mon, 13 Jul 2026 09:30:12 GMTWelcome back to Creative Constraints Club. It’s week seven, and time to PLAY.

Things have got a bit serious around here. Let’s have some fun. Play is the best way to learn anyway, according to science. It reduces pressure. Gives us a dopamine hit. And motivates us to keep going, keep trying, developing our skills as we go.

Kids have mastered play. Give them bricks and say, “Make something” and they’ll get creative. Say it to an adult and they’ll ask, “Like what?” Time to be more child.

TODAY’S CREATIVE CONSTRAINT
SKILLS YOU’LL BOOST

Unleashing your creativity
Developing a character
Playing with plot

Boost these skills and you’ll soften the outer edges of your writing. You won’t just be silly, you’ll be playful with words. Readers will love you for your imagination.

Happy writing

Rob

Club Member? DM me a response to any prompt you take on. I’ll pick and publish some each Sunday for others to enjoy. Guests and Members can now comment.

GROWING THE CLUB - VERY SPECIAL OFFER

Sign up now for 30 days of Creative Constraints Club fun absolutely free. Enjoy a creative constraint Monday to Friday, and the chance to appear in Sunday Showcase.

Hopefully you’ll love it. If not, simply unsubscribe before the end of your 30 days.

]]><![CDATA[Friday's creative constraint]]>https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/fridays-creative-constraint-8ebhttps://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/fridays-creative-constraint-8ebFri, 10 Jul 2026 09:30:07 GMTFrom a soaking below Rio Iguaçu’s falls in Argentina to staring in awe as the Columbia floods the Pacific near Portland, USA, I’ve experienced some of our planet’s most spectacular rivers. But there’s one closer to home that speaks to my heart.

A wooden bench at Fishers Green in Essex invites you to watch the River Lea trickle by. And often I do. If rivers reflect us, I am the Lea – happiest when life gently ripples.

TODAY’S CREATIVE CONSTRAINT

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]]><![CDATA[Thursday's creative constraint]]>https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/thursdays-creative-constraint-f08https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/thursdays-creative-constraint-f08Thu, 09 Jul 2026 09:31:31 GMTIt’s coming on Christmas. No, not yet. Though I’ve been playing ‘River’ a lot thanks to our theme. They say it’s a festive song, but I love it all year. Joni Mitchell’s songwriting is poetry. No surprise her anthology is called The Complete Poems And Lyrics.

‘River’ is a piece of writing and music with many of Joni’s personal stories woven in. It’s also an ode to those times we miss the people we love and have lost.

TODAY’S CREATIVE CONSTRAINT

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]]><![CDATA[Wednesday's creative constraint]]>https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/wednesdays-creative-constraint-a9bhttps://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/wednesdays-creative-constraint-a9bWed, 08 Jul 2026 09:31:08 GMTWhenever I design our prompts or teasers, I now spot a waterway. Today’s in particular, where the teaser looks like a river opening to the sea. It makes me think of ‘Albert Bridge’, a clever poem written by Stuart Delves, and typeset by Sam Gray.

Did you know the white space that runs through text is called a ‘river’? Like Stuart and Sam, I love playing when I typeset my writing. It’s fun to guide a reader through.

TODAY’S CREATIVE CONSTRAINT

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]]><![CDATA[Tuesday's creative constraint]]>https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/tuesdays-creative-constraint-2c5https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/tuesdays-creative-constraint-2c5Tue, 07 Jul 2026 09:31:30 GMTOne of the best things about living near London is exploring what’s below. Roman ruins. Pagan temples. And rivers. Lots of rivers. More than 20 tributaries of the Thames still cross the city. Disguised, forgotten, converted, but still there.

River Fleet is most famous. I’ll trace its course with a friend this year. Sadly we won’t see much of what Samuel Scott saw in 1750. It’s more sewer than riverscape now.

TODAY’S CREATIVE CONSTRAINT

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]]><![CDATA[Monday's creative constraint]]>https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/mondays-creative-constraint-754https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/mondays-creative-constraint-754Mon, 06 Jul 2026 09:31:05 GMTWelcome back to Creative Constraints Club. Week six carries us along the RIVER.

I’ve been re-reading Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book Flow. The psychologist writes that “it is being fully involved with every detail of our lives [...] that we find happiness”. It makes sense. I mean, when did you last see a flowing river look unhappy?

I used the concept to develop Gumtree’s ‘refreshingly optimistic’ language. Training was amazingly fun. I loved seeing staff smile as they revealed the positives.

TODAY’S CREATIVE CONSTRAINT

Never tried automatic writing? Find guides on everything we write in our Library.

SKILLS YOU’LL BOOST

Finding the positives
Quietening the inner critic
Inspiring yourself

Boost these skills and you’ll always be able to dip into your own writing for a spark. You’ll bring optimism to your voice, and encourage a reader to smile.

Happy writing

Rob

Club Member? DM me a response to any prompt you take on. I’ll pick and publish some each Sunday for others to enjoy. Guests and Members can now comment.

GROWING THE CLUB - VERY SPECIAL OFFER

Sign up now for 30 days of Creative Constraints Club fun absolutely free. Enjoy a creative constraint Monday to Friday, and the chance to appear in Sunday Showcase.

Hopefully you’ll love it. If not, simply unsubscribe before the end of your 30 days.

]]><![CDATA[Friday's creative constraint]]>https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/fridays-creative-constraint-035https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/fridays-creative-constraint-035Fri, 03 Jul 2026 09:30:21 GMT“We’re family now” is a line from Richard Gadd’s HBO drama Half Man, and a sinister statement of foreboding. I half enjoyed Half Man. Though, for me, its depiction of family veers into caricature. Characters become so grotesque I stopped caring.

But the show did get me thinking about real family. My real family. The challenges, heartache and joys. And how I’d sum us up if a producer came knocking.

TODAY’S CREATIVE CONSTRAINT

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]]><![CDATA[Thursday's creative constraint]]>https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/thursdays-creative-constraint-499https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/thursdays-creative-constraint-499Thu, 02 Jul 2026 09:30:09 GMTSince Dad passed, I’ve continued to buy him a birthday card. He died at a rotten time for my family, when Mum was recovering from a brain bleed. Dad didn’t get to see Mum better. So I gift him an update each year. It helps me to feel he’s close.

As a writer, you’re told to write for your audience. Absolutely. Do that. But also write for yourself at times. Feel the healing power of getting feelings down.

TODAY’S CREATIVE CONSTRAINT
SKILLS YOU’LL BOOST

Bringing emotions to the surface
Writing from heart to heart
Healing through words

Boost these skills and writing will never seem like a job. It will be a release, a moment of meditation, a way to process your feelings. Words will become a life companion.

Happy writing

Rob

Remember, you can DM me a response to any prompt you take on. I’ll pick and publish some each Sunday for others to enjoy. Guests and Members can comment.

]]><![CDATA[Wednesday's creative constraint]]>https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/wednesdays-creative-constraint-09bhttps://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/wednesdays-creative-constraint-09bWed, 01 Jul 2026 09:30:47 GMTDid you know ‘Family’ comes from the Latin famulus, meaning ‘servant’? Once, family was more than blood. It was everyone connected to your household. This got me thinking about who’s part of my wider family, and what they mean to me.

I don’t have servants. But I’m lucky to know dear people who serve my most human needs, like friendship, compassion and advice. Hm, how often do I tell them?

TODAY’S CREATIVE CONSTRAINT

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]]><![CDATA[Tuesday's creative constraint]]>https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/tuesdays-creative-constraint-48bhttps://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/tuesdays-creative-constraint-48bTue, 30 Jun 2026 09:31:16 GMTFor my Family Matters poem, I reflected on feeling my dad’s presence soon after he died. As a writer still awaiting the poet’s calling, I drafted in free verse. My editor challenged me to bring meter and rhyme to the piece. I’m pleased he did.

I enjoy how writing can be chameleon. Often, something you create in one form goes on to work better in another. You just don’t know until you try.

TODAY’S CREATIVE CONSTRAINT

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]]><![CDATA[Monday's creative constraint]]>https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/mondays-creative-constraint-dd8https://www.creativeconstraintsclub.org/p/mondays-creative-constraint-dd8Mon, 29 Jun 2026 09:30:17 GMTWelcome back to Creative Constraints Club. Week five is all about FAMILY.

I’m delighted to share that my poem ‘Being there’ appears in Dark Angels’ third poetry anthology, Family Matters. It’s a beautiful collection of family-focused pieces, written by some of the finest writers I know. Together, we explore what family means to us.

I’m not a natural poet. But the work of my fellow Dark Angels inspired me to write. I hope one day my words encourage others to give writing a go. Perhaps today?

TODAY’S CREATIVE CONSTRAINT
SKILLS YOU’LL BOOST

Finding inspiration in another
Seeing the world like a poet
Making every word count

Boost these skills and you’ll become an advanced reader as well as writer, tuned to the words, phrases and rhythms of what you read. Poetry will enter your bloodstream.

Happy writing

Rob

Club Member? DM me a response to any prompt you take on. I’ll pick and publish some each Sunday for others to enjoy. Guests and Members can comment.

GROWING THE CLUB - VERY SPECIAL OFFER

Sign up now for 30 days of Creative Constraints Club fun absolutely free. Enjoy a creative constraint Monday to Friday, and the chance to appear in Sunday Showcase.

Hopefully you’ll love it. If not, simply unsubscribe before the end of your 30 days.

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