Tanya Landman's novel Apache was inspired by the statue of Pocahontas in Gravesend. Read her suggestions for writing your own stories inspired by statues:

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“First sight” Statues are potent symbols. Soldiers on war memorials; gigantic figures of dictators; grotesque gargoyles; stone angels – they each have a special kind of power. The story starts with someone seeing a statue for the first time.

The writer needs to have a very strong idea of what the statue looks like.

• Is it of a person?  If so, are they alive or dead? A historical figure or a mythical one? Or perhaps it’s a statue of an animal? A mythical beast? How big is it?
• What is it made of? Metal? Stone? Clay? Marble? Is it newly made or ancient? Whole or broken? Beautiful or ugly?
• What was it made for? Is it an idol? Does it have religious or political significance? Was the statue made as a celebration of someone’s great deeds? Or to commemorate something that shouldn’t be forgotten?
• What did the sculptor mean to convey? Power? Beauty? What did the maker want people to feel when they look at it? Awe? Fear? Joy?

Next the writer needs to decide on the location of the statue.

• Where is it? Is it in this country, or abroad?
• Outside? Raised on a plinth? In a garden? A town square? A graveyard? A clifftop? Or inside? In a temple? A church? A house? A palace?
• Is it clearly visible or tucked away? Is it hidden by overgrown vegetation? Half buried under rubble?

What is the narrator doing when they first see the statue?

• Going for a walk? On holiday? Shopping?

What’s happening to it?

• Crumbling away to nothing? Rusting? Is it being vandalised? Erected for the first time? Being deliberately toppled? Why?