The Prompt

Write a story in six sentences and/or no more than 400 words.

Choose a common idiom as your title (no, it doesn’t count towards the sentence/word limit) and then construct your story to subvert the readers’ expectations about the meaning of that idiom.

You can go dark, like, literal, or fanciful…but keep it to six sentences.

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Julie Duffy

Julie Duffy is a writer and the host of StoryADay. She is quite long-winded. She does, however, like a sentence with lots of clauses, and so feels that writing a six-sentence story should be—frankly—a doddle. She might even try it today. In fact she thinks she will. There, done.

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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

Write a story in which a secondary character has a secret — they are having their period. This doesn’t affect the plot, but it does affect the way the secondary character behaves.

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Mary Robinette Kowal

Mary Robinette Kowal is the USA Today Bestselling author of a dozen novels, including Apprehension and the Lady Astronaut series. A winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards, she is also a professional puppeteer and award-winning audiobook narrator. She co-hosts the Writing Excuses podcast, served as SFWA President, and has an asteroid named after her. Also, her cat talks.

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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

“I want to be brave.”

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Somto Ihezue

Somto Ihezue is a Nigerian–Igbo writer, acquiring editor, and filmmaker. He is an alumnus of the Tin House Winter Workshop, Milford SF Writers, Voodoonauts Summer Fellowship, and the 2024 Clarion West Writers Workshop. He is a member of SFWA (Science Fiction Writers Association), ASFS (African Science Fiction & Fantasy Society), BSFA (British Science Fiction Association), BFS (British Fantasy Society), and Codex.. Somto wants to write places where he can be afraid, brave, a work in progress, and a masterpiece, all at once. Or just… be.

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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 character who seems like a bit of a cliche. Begin writing a scene where they act in what looks like an irrational or out-of-character way.

Finish the story by adding more context: what has happened, in your character’s day, that makes their actions necessary or relatable? (You can add this context before and/or after the first scene you wrote).

Optional question: will you resolve matters for the reader or leave them guessing?)

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Julie Duffy

Julie Duffy is a writer and the host of StoryADay. She is also the host of the StoryADay Superstars writers’ group, and is available to talk to your group, on your podcast or at your conference. You can find her short fiction in anthologies and publications, including Analog.

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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

Today you’re going to dig into your memories and find one that has emotional resonance.

(Tip: it’s easy to reach for a dark memory, because those have strong emotions attached to them, but don’t be afraid to dig around for moments of joy, surprise, and happiness too. Happy stories can be deep, too!)

Put your characters into a scenario where they will feel similarly strong emotions. Then tell us that story, but practice doing it without ever naming an emotion.

Show us how they feel in their bodies, in what they notice, in any way you can. Make the scenery reflect their mood, if you want! Just don’t name the emotions.

This is excellent practice for any time you want readers to linger in the moment with your characters, or any time you want to highlight that This Is An Important Moment!

If you want more practice with the this technique, check out the One Story Challenge – Show, Don’t Tell Edition

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Julie Duffy

Julie Duffy is a writer and the host of StoryADay. She has been working with authors since 1998 and has run the StoryADay Superstars writing group since 2018. Browse some of her on-demand workshops and workshops, or sign up for a coaching session, here:

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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

In March, researchers at Matter Neuroscience installed a ‘Call a Boomer’ payphone near Boston University that connects to a similar ‘Call a Zoomer’ payphone in a Nevada senior living facility.

The project’s goal, in part, is to connect two of the loneliest US demographics and to study the role those interactions have in combatting that loneliness.

Neither callers nor recipients know the other’s identity when they call, and their conversation topics (recorded for the study) range from the weather to dating advice.
Write a story about one such conversation.

Or not.

But be sure to include a payphone.

• What are its features and how does this device fit (or not fit ) into your story world?
• How familiar are your characters with this technology?

A story about a payphone in ancient Mesopotamia, for example, would be wildly different from one set in 1970’s Manhattan.

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Michele Reisinger

Michele Reisinger’s short fiction has appeared in Across the Margin, Stories That Need to be Told, Sunspot Literary Journal, Dreamers Creative Writing, and others. Find more of her writing online at mereisinger.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.