Autumn can give writers material drawn from memories, changing weather and seasonal activities. These fifteen prompts offer scenes, opening lines and story ideas to try as summer gives way to autumn. They can help a reluctant writer begin, or give a more experienced writer a fresh starting point. Choose one that interests you; there is no need to work through them in order.
Autumn activities with a twist
These five exercises turn familiar autumn settings into scenes. For each one, decide who is involved and what changes once the action begins.
- Show a character taking part in their favourite autumn activity. Add a second character who cannot stand it, and let their different reactions shape the scene.
- Pick mystery, horror, romance, science fiction, fantasy or thriller. Begin in a pumpkin patch where something has gone badly wrong, then follow the situation in your chosen genre.
- Invent an autumn festival contest that overturns a tradition: rolling the largest pumpkin, baking apple pies with strange ingredients, or navigating a maize maze with an unexpected frightening or entertaining feature. Write about both the winners and the losers.
- Set a story in an apple orchard that is haunted or magical. Decide how its unusual nature becomes apparent to a character who enters it.
- Have your characters encounter a scarecrow that surprises them. It might be friendly, or it might be anything but; show how they respond.
Openings for cooler weather
Use any of these unfinished lines as the start of a scene. You can take the events in a comic, unsettling or serious direction without changing the opening premise.
- He dreaded the colder weather. It always… Continue by revealing what the change of season means to him.
- The pile of colourful leaves began to shake until suddenly… Decide what emerges and who sees it first.
- Hot apple cider used to be her favourite autumn drink until… Give her a reason for the change.
- Football season was probably going to be cancelled… Explore what has happened and who is most affected.
- They had been hiding for hours, but then the crunch of leaves broke the silence… Reveal who made the noise.
Memories, seasons and stories
The final five prompts leave more room to choose a form or setting. You might draw on a real memory or invent the experience entirely.
- Write about an autumn activity you enjoy. Include the first time you took part and a particular memory connected with it.
- Tell a story through personal letters. Make autumn essential to what happens, rather than simply describing the season in the background.
- Explore the move from one season to the next. Focus on how that transition feels to the person experiencing it.
- Invent a story explaining how autumn began. Alternatively, follow a single autumn leaf on an adventure.
- Write an autumn story for children featuring seasonal animals, decorative scarecrows or a favourite autumn holiday.
A fifteen-minute practice
Choose one prompt and write without stopping for fifteen minutes. If you need a detail to begin, consider a warm jumper, hot chocolate or leaves rustling underfoot. Keep writing from the idea you chose, even if the piece moves somewhere unexpected.