On Blogging | Author Skills | Writing Prompts

100 Prompts in 20 Minutes

A chaotic challenge.

I like to share writing prompts every Monday, and it seemed like a good opportunity to try the ‘100 in 20 mins’ that a few of you have been doing.

Not sure if I understand the actual purpose of the challenge, mind you… is it like brainstorming? If so, here is my attempt to brainstorm 100 writing prompts in 20 minutes.

(Added — I only reached 71 on my first attempt. This is my second try at coming up with 100 items!)

The list

Okay, timer started. Here goes…

1. Describe a legendary weapon and its significance.
2. The oldest dragon.
3. “Going back to the start…”
4. The best blacksmith quits. Why?
5. The goblins unite.
6. Flying for the first time.
7. Superstitions in your fantasy story.
8. Music loved by a giant.
9. An unusual form of drums.
10. Soup recipe, goblin style.
11. 1000 years previously.
12. Modern life with Celtic gods.
13. Mixed-age D&D group.
14. Non-bucket list.
15. Three coincidental fires.
16. What happens in the shadows?
17. A fight between strangers.
18. One object I love.
19. Two forms of flirting.
20. A society of eagles.
21. Describe a guild.
22. Describe a cult.
23. Describe a royal household.
24. Describe court in a fantasy land.
25. Describe the laws of a fantasy land.
26. An old warrior guides a young child.
27. The best horse.
28. The fastest ship.
29. As we say around here, “….”
30. Describe an assassin getting ready.
31. Describe an assassin’s first day.
32. An assassin’s lunch break.
33. An assassin gets home for dinner.
34. Why ogres are angry.
35. Sci-fi meets fantasy.
36. An author gets stuck in their story.
37. An elf and a dwarf are friends.
38. 1000 miles to travel.
39. An ancient stone structure.
40. Describe the forest.
41. Describe your trail rations.
42. 5 newly-invented potions.
43. A magic spell never used before.
44. A day gathering magical ingredients.
45. The most valuable magic ingredient.
46. Three half-orcs walk into a bar.
47. What is the bard singing?
48. A wizard’s apprentice prefers to write poetry.
49. What is the queen thinking about?
50. What did the evil Duke do?
51. What happens in jail in your fantasy world?
52. Describe the jobs of the villagers in your fantasy world.
53. What is considered ‘cool’ in your fantasy world?
54. What do children do in the evening in your fantasy world?
55. At what age do people leave home in your fantasy world?
56. A smith’s apprentice makes their first sword.
57. Someone’s gender causes surprise.
58. Four groups compete to kill the dragon.
59. The forest is evil.
60. A farm is corrupted and poisoned.
61. Describe the song of the siren.
62. Two old friends plan a voyage.
63. A couple break up because one is an adventurer.
64. Someone is having nightmares.
65. An evil is rising in the cold north.
66. What does the chief villain of your story want?
67. Who works for the chief villain of your story, and why?
68. What do the local people fear?
69. How do the local people defend themselves?
70. Describe a typical peasant house.
71. Typical castles.
72. Docks and ports.
73. The best palace in the land.
74. The most secure castle in the land.
75. A wasteland. Is there anything there?
76. Creatures that rise from the earth.
77. Creatures that crawl up onto the shore by night.
78. Two rival royal families vie for the greatest prize.
79. Someone is robbed. What is taken from their backpack?
80. Adventurers in the snow. Why?
81. What is in the deepest dungeon?
82. You put together a team to take on the the deepest dungeon. Describe the squad.
83. First meeting of the team.
84. What does the outside of the deepest dungeon look like?
85. What is the first chamber?
86. Describe a dungeon trap.
87. Describe a dungeon puzzle or riddle.
88. Describe a society that has sprung up in the deepest dungeon.
89. What is it like to live in perpetual darkness?
90. A monster or villain is also a poet or writer.
91. An ugly youth wants to be a hero.
92. A magical creature wants to cut people’s hair.
93. Why is goop dripping from the ceiling?
94. What is in the treasure chest?
95. What can you buy with one copper piece? One silver? One gold?
96. What do rich retired adventurers do? Name 10 things.
97. What do pirates do in their spare time?
98. What is the most remote land called?
99. The bravest hero ever known…
100. The bravest hero meets their match.

Okay… done! With 06:45 still on my timer… 20 minutes seems to be enough time to do this if you write short, type fast, and don’t spend time on intro text!!

Enough time to shoutout some other purveyors of prompts and challenges:

Bradan Writes Stories, and his Monday mashup challenges, such as this one:

Ravyne Hawke with daily prompts. e.g. this:

Sweet Chaos with her hodgepodge challenges, such as:

Christine Graves with her ‘month of madness’ prompts, such as this:

Jann Christoph von der Pütten with various sets of imaginative prompts. such as these superpowered ones:

I still have the 70-odd items from my first attempt. I guess I’ll recycle them into next week’s prompts… 😆

Thanks for reading! Before you go, you can find more of my articles about blogging here, as well as guidance on creative writing right here. I also write fiction on Medium — check out some examples in this list! Avoid missing a thing by getting all my posts direct to your inbox! 🧠