avatarZane Dickens the Instigator

Summary

The website content outlines a writing prompt initiative called "Hope Springs Eternal" for the month of September, which is a collaboration with "The Dystopian Project," focusing on the theme of famine and encouraging writers to explore narratives of optimism or pessimism in the face of environmental and societal challenges.

Abstract

"Hope Springs Eternal" is a monthly writing prompt series that has released its third prompt for September, titled "The Famine." This prompt is part of a crossover collaboration with "The Dystopian Project," founded by Jann, a writer for "Microcosm" and participant in the "100 Story Challenger." The narrative setup describes a period of severe drought and crop failures leading to a great famine. A group offers the struggling government a solution, involving the construction of irrigation systems, sustainable farming practices, and education on land preservation, which ultimately revives the community and heals the land. Writers are invited to contribute stories of either utopian or dystopian outcomes, with guidelines suggesting a word count between 100 to 1000 words and requesting that contributors link back to the prompt for broader engagement.

Opinions

  • The initiative presents a hopeful perspective, suggesting that innovation and collaboration can lead to solutions for dire environmental and societal issues.
  • The collaboration with "The Dystopian Project" indicates a recognition of the importance of diverse narrative voices, particularly those that explore challenging and darker themes.
  • By encouraging writers to tag their stories but avoid using the "Writing Prompts" tag, the organizers seem to desire a balance between categorization for discoverability and maintaining a unique identity for the initiative.
  • The explicit request for contributors to link back to the prompt reflects a community-building ethos, aiming to foster a network of writers participating in the thematic exploration.
  • The inclusion of a substack link ("What if we could redesign fiction?") suggests an interest in broader discussions about the evolution and reimagining of storytelling formats and platforms.

Hope Springs Eternal 3/5

Writing Prompt: The Famine

Dry Earth by Zane Dickens (and Midjourney)

Here’s our third prompt for September for Hope Springs Eternal

Remember this is a crossover collab month with The Dystopian Project founded by Jann a writer at Microcosm and a 100 Story Challenger.

The Great Hunger

It was a time of great famine.

Crops had failed for several years in a row, and the land was parched and dry.

The people were desperate.

They begged the government for help, but the government was struggling to survive itself. A group came to the government with a proposal.

They said that they could help if the government would give them the resources they needed. The government agreed, and the group set to work.

They built irrigation systems and planted crops.

They taught the people how to farm in a way that would not deplete the land.

They showed the people how to live off the land without destroying it.

The people thrived, and the land began to heal.

Do we march toward Utopia or Dystopia?

  1. If you’re an optimist write with us for we welcome your brave soul.
  2. If you’re pulled toward the dark cliff of pessimism then share here:

Rules:

  1. 100–1000 words for the story bits.
  2. Tag your story as you like, e.g. Fiction or Flash Fiction But don’t use Writing Prompts please.
  3. 🙏 link back to the prompt so others can find it too.

New here? Here’s how to write with us.

What if we could redesign fiction?

Writing Prompts
Writing
Fiction
Fiction Writing
Microcosm
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