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PR Isfeld

23 writing questions to wrap up 2023
23 writing questions to wrap up 2023
  • PR Isfeld
  • Writing

“Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection.”

–Winston Churchill

Now is as good a time as any to reflect on your writing year. Here are 23 questions to get you going:

1. What was your most memorable creative project this year? What inspired it? what did you learn?

2. Did you face writer’s block? If so, did you overcome it, and how? What advice do you have for others?

3. Did your style change or evolve over the past year? What prompted the changes? Are you happy with them?

4. What are the three favourite pieces you produced this year? Why? Are there any common elements?

5. Did any writing prompt or exercise particularly spark your creativity?

6. Where did feedback fit into your creative process? Where did the opinions or suggestions of others shape your work?

7. What were the best events, workshops or conferences you attended? Did you gain any insights that influenced your approach?

8. Did you collaborate on any pieces with anyone else? What did you learn?

9. Which genres or themes did you explore this year? Do you want to experiment with any others in 2024?

10. Did your writing reflect your emotions and experiences this year? Did it help you generate or channel those emotions?

11. Did any new books, authors, or writing styles influence your work?

12. Did you develop any rituals or habits to enhance your creativity? Which ones worked best? Will you refine them in 2024?

13. Were there moments when your imagination surprised you this year? What were they? Why were they surprising?

14. Did your personal experiences or life events inspire or inform your writing this year? Did you feel the need to disguise them in your work? Why?

15. Did you enter any challenges or contests? How did you do? Did you gain anything from the experiences, regardless of the outcome?

16. Did you use any new tech tools or platforms this year? How did they affect your work? Do you want to try anything else in 2024?

17. Were there recurring themes in your work this year? What were they? What do they say about you?

18. Do you have a writing routine? How necessary is it to your productivity and creativity?

19. What was your biggest writing accomplishment this year? What were the circumstances, and how did it motivate you?

20. How did you use sensory detail to create vivid and immersive scenes in your work?

21. Did you experiment with different writing approaches, and what did you discover?

22. How did friends, family, or writing communities contribute to your creative growth? Were there any moments when you needed to seek out solitude instead? What would you like to reinforce or change for next year?

23. What are your goals for the coming year?

Captives
A psychological mystery that explores the aftermath of a brutal abduction and the secrets that haunt the survivors.

Three years ago, Samantha Gilchrist and her friends Amanda, Kaylee and Maria forged an unbreakable bond when they survived a brutal kidnapping in Kandahar. Sam wrote a best-selling memoir about their ordeal and moved on to a great new career as a journalist and a happy relationship with Dave, a handsome intelligence officer she met in Afghanistan. Still, she can’t help wondering about the reasons behind their capture.

On their way to Maria’s remote Gatineau cottage to commemorate the anniversary of their escape and rescue, Sam and Kaylee hear news reports about a missing Afghan diplomat. Then, they think they see Ali, their former interpreter and the mastermind behind the hostage-taking, who was supposed to have died during their rescue. When Amanda’s lifeless body is found the next morning, the friends’ suspicions lead them down a dangerous path that uncovers dark secrets and hidden motives.

The narrative alternates between the present day and the version of events presented in Sam’s memoir, as she and her friends struggle with their grief over the loss of Amanda and lingering trauma and jealousy over their differing fortunes in the aftermath of the kidnapping. As tensions rise and secrets are revealed, Sam starts to question everything she thought she knew about her friends, her lover, and herself, not just in the past, but in the here and now. 

Full of suspense, complex characters, and unexpected twists, Captives will cause fans of mystery and psychological thrillers to make irresponsible decisions about their sleep. 

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