The Prompt

At this point, it’s almost impossible you haven’t encountered a piece of software that tried to convince you to use it’s new AI features.

Today you’re going to write a story that delves into the relationship between humans and technological pals…and this stuff is going to seem a lot less sci-fi than it used to!

Bonus points if you write this story in a non-narrative format. That means,

• Writing out a chat conversation, or making a list of things that your character needs to complete their project (and telling a story in the process).
• Or perhaps your character is trying to write a ‘rescue me’ note in a code that the AI won’t break.
• Or perhaps you’re writing the after-action report for your corporate overlords about how things went so spectacularly wrong.

If you don’t want to write about the tech we have today, you could have a medieval knight working with a clockwork squire; or steampunk Sherlock Holmes android invented by Dr Watson…run wild!

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Julie Duffy

Julie Duffy is a writer and the host of StoryADay. She lived in an era when humans still thought they were in charge of everything, and she thanks her Robot Overlords for allowing the relic of that time to continue to exist online.

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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 that revolves around an heirloom toy.

This might be a single character’s reminiscence of a beloved toy; a character’s discovery of an heirloom toy that changes everything; or perhaps you want to follow your heirloom toy through several ‘lifetimes’ in a series of short flash or micro-fiction pieces.

This can be a delightful story…or delightfully horrific, or anything in between.

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A Toy’s Tale

Julie Duffy is a writer and the host of StoryADay. She recently made an accidental pilgrimage to the Merrythought Teddy bear factory in the town of Ironbridge, that made her beloved child bears…and brought home a new friend. Because if we can’t play, what’s the point?

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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

We’ve all had the experience of being caught off guard in a situation and not known what to say, only coming up with the perfect response when it’s much too late. Use that memory to inspire a story. Will your character respond in the moment? Will they not? What else might happen? You decide.

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P.A. Cornell

P.A. Cornell is a Chilean-Canadian speculative fiction writer. A two-time finalist for the Nebula Award, her stories have been published in over seventy magazines and anthologies, including Lightspeed, Apex, and eight “Best of the Year” anthologies. In addition to becoming the first Chilean Nebula finalist in 2024, Cornell has been a finalist for the Aurora and World Fantasy Awards, and in 2022 won Canada’s Short Works Prize. When not writing, she can be found assembling intricate LEGO builds or drinking ridiculous quantities of tea. Sometimes both. For more on the author and her work, visit her website pacornell.com.

Latest Book: Shoeshine Boy & Cigarette Girl

Forthcoming Collection: The Astronaut Among the Flowers and Other Stories

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Sample Warm up for Day 1

Sample Brainstorming Exercise For Day 1

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.