Story Starter: Nothing Happened Here…


Another gift from the Story Starter fairy….This wee brass plaque is on a gatepost on a house up the hill from the office. It made me smile, as it’s plainly intended to. It’s quite a hill, and by the time walkers have gasped their way up there, they need a bit of light relief.

I’m really not sure what kind of story might emerge from this one, so I’ll leave it entirely up to you this week. The one thing I am sure of is that you’ll think of something!

Every week now, the fiction team receive a story that the writer tells us was inspired by one of the Story Starter pics, and it’s very, very rewarding to hear that.

That hill, by the way, is Dundee Law, the plug of an extinct volcano that rises just to the north of the city centre. It’s only a ten-minute walk from the office. Ten minutes of steady incline to the base of it, that is, and then another tough ten minutes up the steep paths and steps to the top. But boy, once you’ve caught your breath, it’s worth it! From the top you have the most wonderful 360 degree panorama, out east over the North Sea, south over the Tay to Fife, west up the Carse of Gowrie and beyond, and north to the Sidlaw Hills. Spectacular. I’d post one of the pics I took but it was a cloudy day and they’re a bit grey. Maybe I’ll tackle it on a bright sunny day next for better photos.

And coming down, it’s a breeze. Practically a straight path down, though a wee bit tough on the knees. I can attach a pic of that from halfway up. Fortunately nothing happened here either!

Anyway, it’s over to you. I’m still only interested in 2000 or 3000-word stories for now, please.

Oh, and I’ll add the workshops booking form again just because I can.

Shirley Blair

Fiction Ed Shirley’s been with the “Friend” since 2007 and calls it her dream job because she gets to read fiction all day every day. Hobbies? Well, that would be reading! She also enjoys writing fiction when she has time, long walks, travel, and watching Scandi thrillers on TV.