How's the new novel going?

How is your new novel Chapter One going? If you have started this with the intention of entering this challenge, good luck and I will look forward to reading the results. If you haven't started yet, you still have plenty of time. All entries received will be included in this article. Please drop by from time to time for updates.

If you would still like to enter, here's what you need to do:

Write a chapter of a novel based on any art work you have seen and been inspired by. This my be a painting, sculpture, artistic photograph or other work of art. Needs to be 600-1800 words. If it's longer, don't worry too much but as a slow reader I don't promise to read much more than that.

The art work needs to be included as your featured image so please be sure you are not breaching any copyright or other rights when posting it.

Write a very brief description of how you think your story might progress to novel-length book, but without giving too much away. Yes, of course you may not know exactly where the story will go but we just need a taster to entice us to want to buy the book when you eventually publish it.

Post the chapter, with explanation at the end and the featured image of your inspirational art work in the usual way on Vocal and then copy the link into comments on this article and/or any of the other articles about the challenge, or the Vocal+ Assist FB group. As long as I can see it, that's fine and if I don't respond within a few days, do please let me know. You can post in Chapters, Fiction, or wherever you think best as long as you provide the link to the chapter and explanation to enter.

That's all there is to it.

Deadline: Sat Aug 31 @23:59 UTC (EST=20:00, BST=23:00).

How to choose an art work

It could be anything that moves you to write a story. Tracey Chevalier was moved to write story about Girl with a Pearl Earring. Wondering who the girl in the painting was (there is no historical record to identify the model) she put together a work set in the time of the painter.

It doesn't have to be a portrait. It could be a landscape, seascape, a beautiful (or ugly) piece of architecture. How about an emotion packed Chagall or Munch (Evening Melancholy pictured)? A Barbara Hepworth abstract? A Rothko angst-filled deep color of the Seagram Murals? A dramatic Turner battle scene. A bit of Bansky street art? You choose, just think about something you have seen in a gallery or elsewhere that made you think beyond the here and now.

If you still need some help, just do an online search on Google, Wikipedia, Wikimedia, ask Bing AI or other free AI app to suggest some works of art for you. Or you could just visit a gallery, or even a local poster shop. Think about the scene set by the artist, any characters portrayed, who are they? What are they doing? What were their lives like outside of the work?

You are welcome to look at some of my arty articles to see if you can find any inspiration and, of course, you can look at the vocal Art community for ideas too. Oh and check out the original story setting the challenge:

Girl with a golden earring

And now, without further ado...

ENTRIES SO FAR

First to enter is Kendall Defoe:

What a fantastic choice of art work. Intriguing in its imagery and immediately begs the question: What is it all about? Death must surely play a part in this story. Check out Kendall's work to find out if it does.

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Gael MacLean offers this reflective tale inspired by a photographic work.

Another powerful entry and an artist who is new to me. I will certainly read with interest and I would urge you to do so too.

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Addison Alder takes an imaginative look at the story behind the story of Edvard Munch's well-known painting The Scream.

The above caption sums it all up. Join me in reading and enjoying this work which fills a lot of fictional detail into the sparsely known facts of Munch's real life. The image below shows the painting The Scream, by Edvard Munch.

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I'm delighted to welcome Lana V Lynx to the party with a wonderful entry, taking as its inspiration a painting that was rediscovered amid trash on a New York Steet last year. An intriguing mystery as to how it got there. If you want to know more, please read:

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Sarah Parker choses a truly lavish canvass for her inspiration and what inspiration. The murder of a Roman emperor has got to be a tale worth telling and worth reading. Please check it out here:

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Another superb choice of artist and painting for inspiration. A sea tale to stir the soul. Adventure abounds in this story from Matthew Fromm. Do take a look and hold on tight!

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This final entry from John Cox is a superb sea yarn in the manner of Herman Melville. Please read and let us know if you agree

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