Written by : Anushka Mukherjee – She works in media, is a writer and blogger nursing a constant need for more books, longer naps and solitude.

Here we have five prompts to keep you writing this monsoon! Monsoon is arguably, a writer’s favourite season. The sound of the rain tapping against the windows, petrichor in the air, cold, grey skies: a perfect day to stay bundled up under the covers. Grab your laptop and a steaming cup of coffee, its writing time! Some of us may be simply looking for opportunities to begin writing, some of us may be stuck in a block, unable to pen down the whirlwind of words in our head. But it’s time to break the rut with the oldest trick in the book, with a little twist. What better catalyst than the season of chai and pakoras? Using monsoon as a theme, here are five prompts to keep you writing!

1. You’re reading a book in your bedroom. It’s raining outside: tap-tap-tap against your window. The tapping increases, becomes louder by the tap. You look up: a little boy, drenched in the rain, stares back at you in the dim light of the street. He taps on the window in rhythm to the rain. You go up to the window and open it. What’s next?

2. It’s drizzling, little drops of the rain plonk on a puddle. You’re sitting at a bus stop. You take out a page from the notebook in your backpack, make a paperboat out of it and lay it on the puddle, crouching next to it. To you astonishment, the water sucks it in. Slowly you dip your finger into the puddle. The next thing you know, you’re pulled into another world…

3. The sight of rain always reminds him of her. God, how she loved the rain. He could picture her sitting in the balcony and sipping her tea while the vapour would steam up her glasses. It was like she was sitting right in front of him. In the quiet of the house, the sound of rain spoke to him, as if she had come back. Who is he? Why does the rain remind him of her?

4. Two co-workers, a man and a woman stay back in their office building, finishing off their work late at night. Not particularly fond of each other, they’re itching to get home, away from the awkward silence. Just as they’re about to leave, the sky breaks into half and rain comes pouring down. The office loses its electricity, save for a battery run bulb in a corner somewhere. Until the rain subsides, they’re both stuck in this office. How do they spend this time?

5. It’s dark and the rain is flooding the streets. An old man, probably in his sixties stands by the sidewalk, looking frantic. He stops anyone who crosses him. “Have you seen a little girl? 8 years old?” He wipes the rain of his glasses and keeps walking, stumbling through the rain. The tears that stream down his face mix with the rain. “Gudiya? Gudiya?” He is inaudible in the roaring downpour, but he keeps calling out her name. What happens next? Let your thoughts run wild!

Start your stories with this paragraph, or change them up. Write a short story, a poem, a novel – wherever your words take you. Get writing now!

Do tag us when you post these stories on your blog/social media and mention ‘Monsoon writing prompt by Writersmelon.’