#WriteCBC tip and task from Joanna Miller
BY Maya Fernandes
3rd Jul 2025
Welcome to our July 2025 #WriteCBC prompt challenge. I hope you’re ready to be inspired by our latest writing tip and task! If you haven’t taken part in a #WriteCBC competition before, we’re excited to welcome you to our writing community. Please note that #WriteCBC is now hosted on Bluesky. Get up to speed by reading our blog full of information about how to play and the prizes on offer. It’s a lot of fun, and you might just win a free place on one of our online writing courses (worth up to £230).
This month’s special guest is Joanna Miller, debut author of The Eights – out now from Fig Tree.
The Eights tells the story of four young women who are among the first to attend Oxford University in 1920. The novel follows grieving Dora, enthusiastic Beatrice, quiet Marianne and sharp-tongued Otto as they form friendships and learn from each other about love and loss.
Joanna's writing tip:
- Sparing use of surprising or unusual imagery can make a scene pop for a reader and help to layer character. Consider what figurative language your character might use and what it reveals about them on a subconscious level.
Think about how you can create a vivid picture in your reader’s mind. Imagery that initially seems unusual or unexpected can often enrich the narrative and create a more memorable scene. In The Eights, one of the protagonists, Marianne, lives beside the River Thames. Marianne’s narrative perspective often includes imagery drawn from nature and natural materials. The images and tiny details that Marianne notes often give away her preoccupations and hint at what is unspoken.
Read this passage from the opening of The Eights, in which the well-read, academic Beatrice expresses her desire to reinvent herself at Oxford University.
‘When she said goodbye to her father last night, she felt like a sheet of paper folded in half and torn roughly along the crease. Two smaller versions of herself exist now, each with an edge that is undefined and feathery. Her first day at St Hugh’s is an opportunity to rewrite one of those pages.’
Here, Beatrice’s apprehension and desire for reinvention are conveyed through the striking image of a torn sheet of paper. This metaphor not only captures her emotional rupture but also hints at the hope she places in starting anew. This deepens the reader’s understanding of her character, framing her motivations as the novel unfolds.
This brings us on perfectly to Joanna's prompt . . .
Joanna's writing task:
- Your character is wandering around a museum looking for a person or an object. Use specific detail and surprising imagery to reflect their state of mind. Perhaps they are hiding something from others – or even from themselves?
We’d love you to write a scene inspired by Joanna’s prompt, where your character walks through a museum in search of something. It could be a family member, a particular piece of art, a memory or even something more abstract. Whatever they’re searching for, the scene should offer a deeper insight into who they are and what they are thinking.
Subtext is especially important here – what isn’t said should matter just as much as what is. The reader should sense the undercurrents of emotion or motivation beneath the surface of your character’s actions and observations.
Here are a few more tips to inspire you:
- Setting. How does the location of the museum affect your character emotionally. What do they notice, or fail to notice, in this environment? Does it evoke feelings of nostalgia, connection or detachment? Do they feel at home or uncomfortable in this setting?
- Think about your characters’ idiosyncrasies. Every gesture your character makes offers an opportunity to convey their personality and get vital information across to the reader.
- Resist the urge to explain everything. It’s always more intriguing to tease the reader with snippets of information rather than telling the story flatly. Hint at your character’s state of mind, but withhold just enough to keep your reader curious.
We can’t wait to read your Bluesky post-length scenes. Reply to us over on @cbcreative.bsky.social with your responses to Joanna's task and you might win a free six-week online writing course place. Competition closes Fri 4 Jul, 10am (the winner will be announced on Bluesky and this blog at 11am).
Congratulations to this month’s winner, @rhiannamjones.bsky.social!
- They are displayed by the empty bullet casings. Sheafs of paper licked with ink, curling yellow. I shuffle to them, bones aching. Search with weak eyes for your scrawl. There you are. I know you by the flick at the tail of my name; the joined-up scribble of ‘love’. The sign reads: Letters, unsent.
What a brilliant entry! We absolutely loved how you used simple details to build emotion in this scene. The empty bullet casings and yellowed pages set a haunting tone, while the way the character recognises the handwriting by the flick of a letter adds a personal touch. You really nailed Joanna's #WriteCBC task! Well done Rhianna, you’ve earned a free place on an online writing course (worth up to £230).
And well done to this month’s runners-up – each getting a £50 course discount – @thelilyhyde.bsky.social and @oithmos.bsky.social. Congratulations, all!
To redeem your prizes, please email help@curtisbrowncreative.co.uk
Get your hands on a copy of The Eights.
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