AUTHOR TOOLS | PROMPTS

A Different Side of Fiction

A dozen boundary-breaking writing prompts

Happy New Year!! Here at the Fiction Writer’s Den we wish you all the best for 2024. Let’s hope it’s a great year for creative writing.

We have really enjoyed reading your responses to recent prompts, such as our December selection,‘Writing Prompts as the Seasons Turn’.

We’ve also seen a lot of great drabbles submitted here, many in response to the one-word prompts from Grim Flandango:

For our monthly selection of prompts, this time, we’re looking for approaches to fiction that are a bit… different! Each of the following prompts asks for a story that is out of the ordinary in some way. Read on, brainstorm, and consider submitting your pieces to us here at The Den in January… or, really, any time that suits!

Idea 1

Write a flash fiction piece or drabble which is written mostly or entirely as dialogue, perhaps even just from a single character, or as a very one-sided conversation (like this example).

Idea 2

Write a story where most or all of the dialogue is curtailed in some way, perhaps interrupted by events or other speakers, or perhaps just trailing off into an ellipsis (Check out an example of what I mean by Jay C Wells here).

Idea 3

We love an unreliable narrator! Craft a fiction piece of any length where the truth is very different from what the narrator is trying to say. Is it obviously so? Well, that’s up to you…

Idea 4

We hear a lot about superpowers, but less about how superheroes pay the bills and balance the books. Write a short interview with a superhero where this is discussed (repeated from this list of prompts).

Idea 5

Write a story in which a small problem keeps snowballing.

Idea 6

Craft a compact drabble or ‘double drabble’ which focuses on a game. Perhaps it’s a deadly one. Certain game instructions could feature in the text of the story.

Idea 7

Write a short piece that incorporates a recipe… or perhaps the whole piece is a recipe? Alternatively, it could have a very strong food metaphor, or a lot of references and allusions (example here by Mary Papas).

Idea 8

Write a flash fiction piece of under 500 words (a.k.a. ‘sudden fiction’) that focuses on illness or injury. Perhaps the character is delirious, struggling through a fever. Or maybe it’s an injured warrior or traveler, trying to make it to safety. It could even be someone stuck in the desert, close to death (example here by Eva MacInnes).

Idea 9

Write a story that mashes together two genres or settings that are not often combined. Think “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” as an example.

Idea 10

Write a drabble or flash fiction story in a ‘how to’ format. For example, it could be someone giving instructions to someone on their first day, or the entire story could be the words of a motivational speaker. It could even be based around instructions on the side of a food carton.

Idea 11

Craft a scene or flash fiction story that involves humans and AI interfacing in some way, with vibes suggesting a cultural misunderstanding. Perhaps it is an AI creator, speaking to their ‘child’ for the first time, and telling them about the world of humans (one for you, FJCMontenegro?).

Idea 12

When is a story not just a story? Take a leaf out of Scarlet Ibis James’s book and craft part of a “story relay” — either challenging others to continue your own story, or writing one that builds on a piece by someone else.

I hope found some inspiration from these prompts. Below is a list with all of my writing prompts so far: