Welcome back to our weekly creative ritual. Showing up consistently is the best way to ensure your imagination stays sharp. Of course, even the most disciplined writer can find the silence of a blank page a bit daunting.
That’s the beauty of prompts. Use these as starting points to explore the shadows and see what stories are waiting to be told. Just pick your length and roll with the prompt to get your creative process started. And if you publish your fiction online, please link back to this page. Thanks!
100-word prompt
Write a short story in any genre that’s 100 words or less and includes the following three words: river, whisper, brave
Advanced Challenge: Make your story drabble. Drabble is exactly 100 words, including the title.
500-word prompt
Write a short story in any genre that’s 500 words or less and includes the following elements:
Location: Somewhere underwater
Item: A cracked magnifying glass
Character: Someone who is waiting for a message that will never arrive
Feel free to get creative with how you include the elements. The story doesn’t have to be trapped in the location, for example. The way you interpret the character summary can be as unconventional as you like.
Just make sure you touch on each.
Advanced Challenge: Make your story microfiction. Microfiction is 300 words or less.
1,200-word prompt
Write a short story in any genre that’s 1,200 words or less and uses the following situation as a starting point:
Your character arrives at a familiar location only to find a single, inexplicable detail has been altered. While everyone else acts as if nothing is wrong, the discrepancy gnaws at them.
Advanced Challenge: Include the three words from the 100-word prompt.
Happy writing!