If you love the new year as much as me you’ll know that there are a thousand stories of renewal and rebirth that you could write based around this time of year. However, sometimes you need a little bit of help getting started. I’ve made a list of 20 writing prompts below that are centred around the new year, catalysts for change in life, and new beginnings.
Enjoy, and I’d love to know if any of these inspired your work.
Happy New Year!
- Greta makes 10 New Year resolutions but discards all of them for a completely new life by the end of January.
- On a cold January day, Tony finds a strange letter at the back of a cupboard he is clearing out. It leads him on a year-long trail of secrets to uncover something shocking about the house’s previous occupant.
- On December 31st Darla executes her planned disappearance from her comfortable suburban life.
- Gemma hates her job and vows to change careers in the new year. She takes a sudden opportunity to move abroad and finds true meaning in her work.
- On New Year’s Eve, Josh finally stands up to his boss who has been bullying him all year.
- On New Year’s Day, Sophie finally gets rid of all her clutter and starts a new life.
- A drunk New Year bet for money sends George on a determined journey to steal another man’s wife.
- Emma vows that this new year will be different, and finds a way to lose the weight that she put on after her heart was broken.
- Bill leaves his type-A wife because he cannot bear one more year of being forced to make New Year’s resolutions with her.
- Disorganised and dishevelled Naomi decides to change her life on December 31st. On January 1st something magical happens.
- Sarah wishes she could turn the clock back. At midnight on New Year’s Eve, her wish is granted.
- Joy is stalked by a man while she watches New Year’s Eve fireworks.
- David looks back over the last year while alone on New Year’s Eve and realises he has made a terrible mistake.
- On New Year’s Day, two bored and lonely neighbours realise they have a terrible secret in common.
- Darlene makes a plan to get revenge on her sister in the coming year, who had an affair with her husband over Christmas.
- Ernest tries to sabotage his next-door neighbour’s New Year’s Eve party.
- Jane has planned her revenge all year, and she executes it perfectly on the meaningful date of December 31st, one year after she was slighted.
- An angry couple argue yet again. They decide to stay home for New Year’s Eve. As the hours pass, each of them goes through different emotions and they finally reconcile at midnight.
- Looking for New Year exercise equipment she had stored in the attic, Sharon discovers a box of secrets left behind by her late husband.
- Ellie decides to take up running on New Year’s Day. She doesn’t expect to end up in the emergency department with a broken ankle and a very attractive man who rescued her in the park.
I love the potential a new year brings. It’s a time to reflect on the previous year and make sense of your goals for the coming 12 months.
Perhaps this year is the year for finally getting your novel finished?
