This week, like last week, my prompt is inspired by a submission-call from an anthology.
As a dyed-in-the-wool fan of disaster movies, I couldn’t resist this one.

The Prompt

Snowpocalypse

Tips

• Cast your mind back a few short months (if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, especially if you’re someone that gets hard winters) to the unrelenting, bitter winter. Think about those last few weeks of winter when you can barely remember what the world looks like in anything but monochrome. Remember how it made you feel. Think about how long it took to simply get out the front door when you can’t go out without fourteen layers of clothing.
• Put a character into this setting. Are they happy? Are they longing for spring?
• Come up with a reason why spring isn’t coming. Maybe it’s something like Narnia’s White Witch. Maybe it’s climate change. Maybe your character is on a planet where perms-winter is normal.
• Make something change. It can be the character’s desires, the weather patterns or the environment they’re in (if the dome cracks and the air outside is 40-below, that’s a crisis your character’s going to have to deal with)
• When something has changed, put your characters to work (together is good. Even more fun if they have conflicting personalities) to solve the problem or face their doom
• One of the best ways to launch yourself into ‘show not tell’ is to put characters together and let them talk about what they see, what they want, what they fear. Put two or more characters into your setting and get them talking as soon as possible.

Go!