Day 22: Gifted

Day 22, what’s new?

Quick and fun one today.

‘Tis the season for giving and we predict a pile of presents in your future, but what if you had a different kind of gift? An honest-to-Betsy special power? Except the only catch is that it’s not superhero level but something innocuous and a bit mundane…

For example:

Always knowing the exact time without looking at a clock.

The ability to teleport—but only six feet at a time.

Never tripping up or falling over, like a self-righting rescue boat.

Always remembering people’s names.

Hangnail immunity.

Or knowing exactly when your cup of tea is at the perfect temperature instead of forgetting about it until it’s gone cold… Actually that one IS superhero level. We’ll take that.

Gif of a boy saying "some say I have a gift"

You get the idea. Spend 20 minutes coming up with some silly, almost useless special power and writing a little tale about what it would be like to have it.

Then come and tell us all about your gifts in the forum.

OR…

If you’re feeling a little more Grinch-like, you could flip this one and write a list of minor hexes and inconveniences, such as:

Your biscuits always fall into your tea.

Your WiFi is permanently patchy.

Every time you put on a sock your toe pokes through a hole.

There’s a strange smell in your house but you can’t figure out what it is.

One side of your headphones never works.

The last page of every book you own is missing… Okay, that one might be going a bit too far, but you get the general mood. (This one is actually stolen from a WHQ Twitter thread from last year: The Writers’ HQ Guide to Minor but Infuriating Hexes—you’re welcome.)

Same rules apply as above: pick a curse or make one up, apply it to a fictional character and write for 20 minutes about the sheer horror of it all.

Gif of a comedy skit - a man shakes his fist and says "it's a curse is what it is!"

Then come share your terrible hexes in the forum and restore balance to the force.

Happy gifting/cursing! We’ll see you tomorrow for Day 23 (homg so close)!

Useful Stuff & Things

Blog:
We’re heading into slipstream territory with this one… And if you have no idea what that means, or are interested in the many different speculative genres and sub-genres, this blog might be for you.

Course:
Or if you want to explore this one further, have a think about The Many Arcs of Charlie Baxter from our Making People Characterisation Masterclass, which will help to develop your gifts and curses even more…