'Truth is stranger than fiction', to borrow a cliche from Mark Twain, 'because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities'.
This week's prompt is inspired by a creativity exercise for fiction writers, designed by Sarah Lewis and Jo Gatford of Writers HQ. The idea is to create a book cover at random, then use it as inspiration for a story.
Here are the instructions:
1. Get your book title by going to the random quote generator and picking the last two or three words of the final quote.
2. Get your book cover by going to this collection of images and picking one you like.
Optional: If you are feeling artistic and want to design an actual book cover, you can make a free account at Canva, or use the Penguin Classics Cover Generator.
3. Reverse engineer your 'novel of 2020' by playing around with ideas for a suitable theme, characters, plot, and contemporary setting.
4. Write the blurb and pick an image and/or book cover if you like.
Huge thanks to Sarah and Jo for giving their permission for us to adapt their exercise. You can read their version in full, here.
