The Prompt

 

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Debbie Ridpath Ohi

Debbie Ridpath Ohi is a Canadian author and illustrator whose work has appeared in over 20 books for young people. Her art most recently appeared in books by Michael Ian Black and Judy Blume. Find out more about Debbie and her work at DebbieOhi.com

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Remember: Please don’t post your story in the comments here (and I talk more about why not, here). Best practice: Leave us a comment about how it went, or share your favorite line from your story.

 

The Prompt

Write a story of exactly 100 words with the theme “Inhuman”.

My illustration for this prompt suggests one way to go with this theme, but I can think of many ways you could twist this and surprise readers.

Don’t forget it’s OK to over-write or under-write and then trim or add, as necessary.

(for more tips on how to write a story in 100 words read this previous prompt: )

Then, consider submitting it to 100 Foot Crow, before their May 15, 2026 deadline.

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Julie Duffy

Julie Duffy is a writer and the host of StoryADay. You can dip in to 300+ episodes of the StoryADay podcast (with writing prompts, interviews, and inspiration) here: StoryADay Podcast

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Join the discussion: what will you do with today’s prompt OR how did it go? Need support? Post here!

Remember: Please don’t post your story in the comments here (and I talk more about why not, here). Best practice: Leave us a comment about how it went, or share your favorite line from your story.

The Prompt

Choose a bleak, hopeless setting (examples: a dystopian city, a prison, a refugee boat).

Write a story in this setting and make everything dark for the protagonists. They can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel.

Without changing the setting or the characters (and without writing a sequel/prequel), write a story where everything is hopeful.

• What choices from the protagonists can make that setting a hopeful one?
• What narrative decisions could change this perspective?
• What plot beats could change the story from a dark one to a hopeful one?

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Renan Bernardo

Renan Bernardo is an author of science fiction and fantasy.

He is a Nebula Finalist, Ignyte Nominee, Utopian nominee, and a Locus-recommended author. His work has been published in English, Portuguese, Chinese, German, Italian, and Japanese.

You can find his stories in several publications, including Clarkesworld, Reactor (Tor.com), Apex Magazine, Podcastle, Escape Pod, Samovar, Solarpunk Magazine, Translunar Travelers Lounge, and more.

His collection of Solarpunk/Climate Fiction stories, DIFFERENT KINDS OF DEFIANCE, was published in 2024 by Android Press. His dark space opera novella, DISGRACED RETURN OF THE KAP’S NEEDLE, was published in 2025 by Dark Matter Ink and was a finalist for the Nebula Award.

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Join the discussion: what will you do with today’s prompt OR how did it go? Need support? Post here!

Remember: Please don’t post your story in the comments here (and I talk more about why not, here). Best practice: Leave us a comment about how it went, or share your favorite line from your story.

 

The Prompt

Begin with a confined space. This could mean physically cramped, or that your character is constrained such that they must—for whatever reasons—remain in place for a spell. (A cave and a mandatory business dinner both confine in their own way.)

In this space, a phone that does not belong to your character rings loudly, in succession, at least ten times. (This is about five nonstop minutes of ringing.)

Questions to consider:
To whom might the phone belong? What does the ringing trigger in your character? Who will or will not answer it? Who is on the other end? What do they want? How is the phone silenced and what consequences might result?

Whatever the answers:
It can no longer be ignored.

Enjoy mining the conflicts and compelling needs this may spark. Happy writing!

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Lara Hughes

Lara Hughes is a recipient of the 2025 PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize. Her fiction has appeared in Best Debut Short Stories 2025 (Catapult), The Arkansas International, and is forthcoming in the Indiana Review. She holds an MFA from Vanderbilt University and currently lives in Nashville, where she is at work on a novel and short story collection.

www.LaraHughes.com

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Join the discussion: what will you do with today’s prompt OR how did it go? Need support? Post here!

Remember: Please don’t post your story in the comments here (and I talk more about why not, here). Best practice: Leave us a comment about how it went, or share your favorite line from your story.

 

The Prompt

Think of a time you saw something that was so out-of-place that it made you wonder, “How did that happen?” Answer yourself with a story.

Examples: A rolling suitcase abandoned at a busy intersection, a street bicycle propped against a tree in the middle of a national forest, a woman in a ballgown riding the bus, a green velvet chair sitting on an elevator in an office building, a standing mirror in a pasture, a tree with hundreds of small bits of glass and poppets hanging from its branches, a dragon statue in a hospita, two teenage girls dining at a cafe where all the other tables are filled with Shriners.

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Gabrielle Johansen

Gabrielle writes all stripes of fantasy and still believes in magic.

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Join the discussion: what will you do with today’s prompt OR how did it go? Need support? Post here!

Remember: Please don’t post your story in the comments here (and I talk more about why not, here). Best practice: Leave us a comment about how it went, or share your favorite line from your story.