The Prompt
The world remade.
Emma Burnett
Emma Burnett is a researcher and writer. She has had stories in Nature:Futures, Mythaxis, Northern Gravy, Radon, Flash Fiction Online, Apex, Utopia, MetaStellar, Milk Candy Review, Roi Fainéant, JAKE, and more. Her favourite story this month is Rebirth of the Rain by Vivian Chou in Penumbric.
You can find Emma @slashnburnett.bsky.social or emmaburnett.uk.
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This was a tough one. It was so open to interpretation, it really had me racking my brain for story ideas. Eventually, I wrote a short story about a scientist trying to convince their community of a new path towards rebuilding their society, which had collapsed several generations before. It turned out to be an excellent opportunity to combine my creativity with some of my philosophical musings!
This prompt allowed me to bring back a character whom I had given a literary death earlier this month, one that I wasn’t quite at peace with. I rearranged his name, reimagined his world, and gave him a new life. I now have another chapter of adventures for him… one I imagine might become something of an isekai. It lightened a rather heavy day for me.
I’m not a big fan of free writing because I never know what to write about. Today I wrote about a girl in a writing class. Her teacher asks the class to free write. She has no idea what to write about. She dreading handing in this assignment. She just writes about things around her. A spider spinning a web in the corner, a man running outside her classroom window, two classmates sitting side by side working together and her teacher. I wrote 368 words on my 45 minute lunch break. (Mind you I had to eat too). Going to finish it tonight.
I just want to say , I love the prompts. I’ve used most of them and ventured off with my own ideas a couple of days. The best part is that I am writing and loving it! I’m still pondering today’s prompt but I have several avenues I can take.
Keep writing,
Mary
I wrote a poem. Definitely needs work. It’s about a day in my world. If I knew then what I know now, what, if anything, would I have done differently?
Incredible how you can kno more about yourself and your personal style while doing this excercise.
Well, I’m going to make a comment. I have started stories on most days, missing a few which I’ll work at getting caught up. Not all stories are complete. Not all are particularly long. With this wide open prompt I first thought, oh no! The one morning I can commit 45 minutes and no parameters! But then I recalled that we’d made jokes about our electoral system and governing system and I decided to start a story with the leader of that system. It’s got a decent beginning and now I’ll get to put my scheme into a story.
My mind tends to slide around like Bambi on ice when given wide open, gorgeous prompts like this one. I didn’t know what to do with it, but I decided to set a time limit and start a story anyway. The worst opening happened: a guy wakes up to a nice morning and cheerfully looks out the window at an idyllic urban scene. Then the story took off into a high-concept, twilight zone-ish deal that I very much feel has legs—and not the Bambi on ice kind, more like a millipede? (Determined, creepy, probably crawling up a wall where you least want to see it or haunting your bathtub on the muggiest day of summer.)
I will probably end the day with what I have right now (an opening plus copious gleeful notes) or possibly a slightly more elaborate outline / zero draft, but I am so happy with how this turned out and will definitely to return to it next month and make it a thing.
I had been playing around with the concept of the time change. “Spring forward/fall back” for a few months. I could never figure out how to make it work. This prompt allowed me to write a scene and then let the characters go back have a redo. It turned into a story.
Cool!
I drafted a poem about a world which, unlike ours (which was made by chance and in which the capability of forethought evolved, which enabled us to foresee our doom, which in turn led us to imagine a forethoughtful creator god) was made by a forethoughtful creator god, which ensured that no creature evolved capable of forethought. In my poem that’s supposed to be a good thing.
Wow, Walter!
This prompt loomed gargantuan, at first glance, but I’ve had a blast with it. I wrote my rough draft about a wrestler nicknamed “The World.” I’ve tucked an additional story spark or two for later. I’m thankful for the prompt, for writing buddies and the joy I feel when I’m writing☺️
Ahh I LOVE this interpretation of the prompt, Melanie! So clever!!
Thanks, Elizabeth! 😊
I wrote…something. It’s not exactly a story. More like some thoughts on an idea. It could possibly be a series blurb. But, it’s more than I’ve done for the last couple prompts, so I’m going to count it.
‘and still love remains the most dangerous battlefield of all.’
Definitely count it! 😄 and you write every day, so count them all!
Awesome, Fallon!