Use this as the first line of your story: “Every journey begins with the tears of kings.”
The Prompt
Use this as the first line of your story: “Every journey begins with the tears of kings.”
This can be taken literally as a story about a tragedy that’s befallen a king, or a searing indictment of the crocodile tears rulers use to start wars; or you can use this as a metaphor: instead of an actual physical journey, maybe it’s a journey of the soul.
Fleet Sparrow
Fleet Sparrow is a queer, genderless writer living in the Los Angeles area who makes zir financial living moving freight and zir creative living writing. Perhaps, one day, the twain shall meet.
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P.S. I haven’t forgotten about the bingo card. If you’re still faithfully filling in your gameboard, snap a picture and send it to me here for a chance to get some real-world mail from me.
Don’t forget, I’ll be reviewing pieces of some of your stories live, tonight at 7 pm Eastern US.
Watch your inbox for a Zoom link about an hour before the call, or you can simply follow along on YouTube
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I love plants, whether they are in pots on my desk, in my community garden plot, or–best of all–growing where they choose outdoors.
Do you have a favourite plant? One that you find particularly fascinating? Or repulsive?
It could be a tree or shrub, a vegetable or a plant known for its flowers, or a so-called ‘weed’.
What does it make you think of? Do you have memories, positive or negative, associated with it? Do you associate it with a favourite food or a terrible rash or a wonderful fragrance?
Think about the texture of the leaves, petals, or bark. How would you describe the smell? What does it taste like?
Use some of these ideas as the basis for your story.
The story could be a fleeting encounter with someone wearing a floral scent you find repulsive. Or a story about a child planting pretty flowers with their grandmother. It could be about the struggles of growing hops in a Martian settlement.
Or maybe your story won’t be about the plant itself at all.
Monique Cuillerier
Monique Cuillerier writes (mostly) science fiction. She lives in Ottawa (Canada) and spends her non-writing time running, knitting, getting angry on Twitter (@MoniqueAC), and (unsurprisingly) gardening. Her work can be found at notwhereilive.ca
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Your character writes a letter to their future self, in today’s StoryADay writing prompt
The Prompt
Sometimes when we are writing characters we forget how much they change, not just in the course of our stories, but in the course of their (fictional) lives.
Today, go back to last week’s story (What If by Leslie Stack) and imagine your character at the moment before everything started to go wrong, before the thing they regret and wished they could fix.
Have that younger version of your character write a letter to their future self, 10 years hence. (Your character might do this because they are given an exercise in a writing class, a leadership seminar, or it could be inspired by hitting a life milestone, a birthday or graduation, or even by reading an article like this.
What do they hope for their future self? What can you include (knowing what you know, from that earlier story) that will be bittersweet or amusing or ironic? What do they expect their life to be in 10 years?
And just to keep things interesting, like Wilfred in that link above, keep the letter to 280 words.
Julie Duffy
Julie Duffy is the founder & director of StoryADay. She writes stories and used to be famed among her far-flung friends, for writing epic letters. If you’d like to receive electronic letters from her, on the topic of writing, make sure you’re signed up at StoryADay!
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Write a ‘hermit crab’ story, a story written in the form of someone’s browser history
The Prompt
Tell a story using someone’s browser history. It could be nothing more than a list of sites visited, or perhaps there are a few narrative interludes, but the main goal should be to tell the bulk of the story with the trail of virtual breadcrumbs.
Gabrielle Johansen
Gabrielle Johansen is a fantasy writer from the south, who has gone down many a rabbit hole herself.
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his could also be a good recipe for a great memory or dream or the perfect evening.
Carey Shannon
Carey Shannon loves to write about humorous connections between items and subjects in life that may appear to be completely unrelated. A feat that is easy for an Elvis super fan and frequent blood donor. She has been a member of the Story A Day community since 2020 and now hopes to provide some inspiration quirkiness to other writers.
Here’s your next Bingo Piece. Download the pic, print it out and paste it onto your bingo sheet. Then share a picture of it on social media with #storyadaybingo
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today’s writing prompt invites you to write a short story in an unusual format: an overheard conversation
The Prompt
Write a one-sided conversation.
Tips
Imagine a character listening to one side of a Zoom call.
The person on the call is using headphones, so your character can only hear their words, not the responses.
Imagine a conflict for your two characters (it could be a parent and child, a romantic couple, roommates): Living together has certain stresses and we all need things from the folks we live with. Being in close confines causes conflicts every day, that build over time.
Your character has a problem with the person they live with. Maybe they want more of their time and attention. Maybe they want to leave. Maybe they just want to have a discussion about values.
How could the one-sided conversation they overhear illustrate (or solve, or illuminate the problem?
You could write this in sections – the first section is your character thinking about the problem, or rehearsing what they’re going to say to their housemate.
The second section could be the conversation they overhear. You can include your character’s internal (and external) reactions to what they here, or just leave that section as a block of monologue.
The third section might be showing your character’s actions in the wake of the understanding they have gained from eavesdropping on the conversation.
Don’t forget to include physical senses in some of the story. Where is your person standing? What does the room feel like? What can they smell? What else can they hear (are the floorboards creaking underfoot, as they try to conceal their presence? Or are they tapping on the door and being ignored/unheard? Are they sipping on a coffee or a cocktail? How does it taste?
Julie Duffy
Julie is the host of StoryADay and has been on more than her fair share of Zoom calls even before, you know, 2020. Julie often speaks to writers groups and business groups about creativity, writing, and the art of productivity. If you’d like her to speak to your group, you can find out more here
Here’s your next Bingo Piece. Download the pic, print it out and paste it onto your bingo sheet. Then share a picture of it on social media with #storyadaybingo
Join the discussion: what will you do with today’s prompt OR how did it go? Need support? Post here!
P. S. Over on the Fun-Size Challenge I’ve invited people to submit a story for a chance of getting feedback from me on a live call next week. You are also invited to the party. Get all the details.
Find out more about the StoryADay
Superstars
The only qualification to be a ‘Superstar” is a desire to write and support your fellow writers.
A supportive group of committed writers, who meet virtually, support each other’s efforts, and inspire each other.
