Writing prompts | Fiction writing

Mad as a March Writing Prompt

New prompts from The Fiction Writer’s Den

Hi all, and welcome another set of fiction writing prompts. If you missed the list from February, check it out below! Once again, I’ll will share a separate round-up of responses.

My focus this time is on weird and wonderful March Hare vibes…

the crazier the better!

Let’s get creative! And consider submitting your fiction to us here at The Den this spring.

Idea 1

It’s spring! Write a flash fiction story based around something growing — or failing to grow. Or, to be more metaphorical, it could be about a person, object or creature that springs up unexpectedly.

Idea 2

Madness is sometimes described as ‘great folly.’ Write a story about someone doing something very foolish, or otherwise engaged in some kind of folly. Do they know, are they warned, and do they go ahead anyway?

Idea 3

Another definition of madness is acting in a way that is outside of the social norm. Write a drabble or flash fiction story about someone whose behaviour is uncommon or rarely seen… but perhaps they have a good reason for it!

Idea 4

Write a story where the value of something is in doubt. Perhaps something is suspected of being a fake. Or perhaps it’s not an object, but an action or gesture that is disputed, or even a cultural tradition.

Idea 5

As to March hares… Write a short story which features a gathering of unusual characters, perhaps of multiple species, like the tea party in Alice in Wonderland.

Idea 6

Alice entered Wonderland via a rabbit hole, and Lucy entered Narnia through a wardrobe. But the options for an isekai story are limitless — try to come up with an original way in which one character moves from one world to another.

Idea 7

You might remember the urban myth/story of a guy that just kept ‘trading up’, and swapped his way from paperclip to house. Read about it here! It’s time to write a fantasy fiction or sci-fi take on the same thing? Kobold toothpick to dragon-drawn airship, maybe? (See also this story).

Idea 8

Tell a flash fiction story based around a mysterious community. Perhaps a stranger stumbles across a village and has to stay there, only to find that the people are very weird in some way (vampires? A cult? A Stepford wives situation? Or something else?). See also this story by Grim Flandango.

Idea 9

Craft a ‘treble drabble’ that involves three parts of a person’s day – morning, afternoon, evening. We should see some kind of progression or character arc in the story.

Idea 10

Write a story involving a physical change. Perhaps it’s an injury, or perhaps something more surreal — does a character have horns sprouting from their head, or something even more sinister? Is the change real, or in their imagination? That’s all up to you!

Thanks for reading! I hope found some inspiration from these prompts. Find out more about my writing here.