An April Fools’ Day Writing Prompt

Happy April 1st! April Fools’ Day: The day of mild to malevolent trickery, laughter, and hurt feelings. If you’ve ever played a trick on someone for April Fools’, or if you were unfortunate enough to have a major one played on you, then you probably have some strong emotional memories about April 1st.

Time to turn that torment into writing inspiration! Here are a few starter ideas for how to use April Fools’ Day to fire up your writing!

• Make one of your characters an inveterate trickster. It can cause laughs, break up some friendships, deepen others, and provide ample opportunity for plot problems and creative solutions.
• Use an elaborate trick as a hook. Many people love the idea of elaborate tricks but lack the motivation/time/energy/guts to pull one off. Starting off a story with one can really  get a reader’s interest. If it’s pulled on the main character, you’re set up for sympathy. If the character instigates it, we can admire the brains/guts or wince along with him/her when it backfires.
• Add it in as background. It could have nothing to do with the driving plot and everything to do with the everyday details. Remember: holidays and day-to-day minutia beef up a story. They makes the story feel more real.

Got any others? Or any good examples of April Fools’ Day practical jokes? (Successful or no…)