IntShoWriMo 2016 Prompts: Day 30

Two moons rise over a darkened field. — Writing.Com

A frantic 7-year-old kid appears at your door, cursing like a sailor. He has nothing on him but a wallet of a 24-year-old man who looks like him. He needs your help and a shot of whiskey. — Reddit

Write a scene in a short story in which a character with creative inclinations feels like he’s not being a helpful member of society. How does he shake himself out of it? Does his chosen course of action help his productivity as an artist? What does this change reveal about his place in the world of the story? — PW.Org

Write a story where you propose a convincing reason why vampires express a strong aversion to sunlight. Your explanation may be comic but it must be original. — Akpan

IntShoWriMo 2016 Prompts: Day 27

The copier wasn't working again and I was on my last nerve when suddenly... — Writing.Com

You wake up one morning and find yourself inside a Looney Tunes cartoon with a burning desire to hunt down a certain Bugs Bunny, no matter the cost. What happens next? — Writer’s Digest

Melinda Alcott and Dwayne Modderman meet in a bank. One of them is a loner. Describe how they meet. — creativewritingprompts.com

A crew of astronauts departs on a voyage to colonize a planet, first time ever. They go into hibernation only to be awakened somewhere mid-trip by a more advanced and faster ship, by far more advanced humans, technologically and biologically enhanced, who departed years after them. — Reddit

IntShoWriMo 2016 Prompts: Day 26

You heard rumors of a zombie attack on your way to the club with your buddies and waved it off like another urban legend. You came home late at night totally knocked out and went straight to bed only to be awakened in the dead of night by unearthly sounds. You peep through your keyhole and can hardly believe your eyes; there are white-faced, living corpses filling your corridor and one of them is heading straight for your bedroom door. Write the story. — Akpan

“I wasn’t planning on this. Falling in love with you was the last thing I wanted. Because I know our time would have to come to end. Yet, here I am, begging you not to turn the page.” Who is the speaker and who is the speaker talking to? Finish the scene. — Writer’s Digest

It turns out that a common vaccine lying dormant inside everyone is what turns everyone into zombies, except for the anti-vaxxers. — Reddit

A vacuum cleaner is invented that generates life from dust... — Writing.Com

IntShoWriMo 2016 Prompts: Day 25

The human race has finally settled in space in large colonies. Now citizens of this outer space world seek to cut off all ties with mother earth and become a unique planet even if it means incurring the wrath of the head council on earth. — Akpan

Bonnie Steinweg and Louie Cunningham meet while he is waiting for his date. One of them works two jobs. Write their story. — creativewritingprompts.com

Write about getting lost and finding an alternative way - it can be literal or metaphorical. — Writing.Com

Science always changes with new info. Today you found something that not only changes everything we know, but proves it all wrong. — Reddit

IntShoWriMo 2016 Prompts: Day 24

Write a zombie story where the hunger for flesh has been taken out of the flesh-eaters but a powerful science-oriented organization is trying their best to change that for reasons best known to them. Do they succeed? What happens if things spin out of control? How do the people of that world co-exist with the zombies? — Akpan

After a freak accident, you've split into two versions of yourself. One good, the other evil. For some reason you two are able to cooperate quite easily. — Reddit

Use this mixed personification to spark a poem or story: sorrow croons as love begs. — creativewritingprompts.com

Create a character that might live in a park or recreation area near you. Why do they live there and how do they interact with visitors? — Writing.Com

IntShoWriMo 2016 Prompts: Day 23

Everyone is fighting an unseen battle, yours happens to be the ghost of an ancient Spartan king who can occasionally possess your body. — Reddit

Write a short story that gives love a "bad name," first plotting the blossoming and struggle of a relationship in your story arc, and then its ultimate dissolution. What's the primary obstacle for your characters? Are your lovers hindered by geographic distance, opposing political viewpoints, or financial woes? Does the tale involve online dating and mistaken identity? Or is it finally the characters' own emotional histories that provide the biggest conflict? Perhaps at love's peak your characters will catch a hopeful glimpse of “full possession.” — PW.Org

Write about someone you would love to see put in jail. — creativewritingprompts.com

You are an 18-year-old adoptee. You have your birth mother's name and phone number in your hand. — Writing.Com

IntShoWriMo 2016 Prompts: Day 22

Write a story revolving around these words, “The world seemed to stand still.” — From Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”

What’s your idea of a perfect vacation? — creativewritingprompts.com

Write a seemingly normal story, except for the last sentence, which makes the entire story creepy. — Reddit

You've graduated from clown college and have been named valedictorian of your class. You must give an inspirational speech to all the other bozos in the crowd and, after weeks of writing, you finally think you've nailed it. Show us you delivering your speech. — Writer’s Digest

IntShoWriMo 2016 Prompts: Day 20

Day 20
Vladimir Nabokov said, “Although we read with our minds, the seat of artistic delight is between the shoulder blades. That little shiver behind is quite certainly the highest form of emotion that humanity has attained when evolving pure art and pure science. Let us worship the spine and its tingle.” Try your hand at writing a spine-tingling tale. You might create a feeling of mystery or unease by introducing a creepy premise in the first sentence, or decide to lull the reader into a sense of security with a few run-of-the-mill details before unleashing an element of horror. — PW.Org

Dragon Riders grow in size to better suit their winged friends. This is the story of one that didn't. — Reddit

As a doctor for hire you’ve met a fair share of odd folks. Nothing quite like this though: A man in his mid-thirties stands before you, clutching a wound just given to him by another man sprinting down the street. Now the perpetrator trips and lands on his own knife. Screaming for help and not knowing what the heck just happened—what do you do? — Writer’s Digest

Create a news story with this headline: Beer-Crazed Elephants Face Execution! — creativewritingprompts.com

IntShoWriMo 2016 Prompts: Day 19

You have been hired on a large renovation project which is taking place in a cave beneath a mansion. Some of the specifications, however, leave you with some questions for Mr. Wayne. — Reddit

“I’d love to _____ but my _____ just _____!” (And then write a story that follows it.) — Writer’s Digest

“Damaged emotion, especially lost love, guilt and shame, can lead one into a spiral of depression.” — Steven Barnes. Write a story about a character that justifies this quote.

Write a short story that starts with a scene in which your main character interacts with another character while in disguise. What does your character hope to gain by taking on this new persona? How must the character transform—both physically and emotionally? What are the limitations or pitfalls of the disguise? Conversely, are there doors that might now be open to this new identity that were closed before? — PW.Org

IntShoWriMo 2016 Prompts: Day 8

This dialogue must appear somewhere in your story: “You know what else children don’t know?” — creativewritingprompts.com

One day as you were cleaning you noticed air being sucked towards the base of wall near the cupboard. Perplexed you went closer to investigate. The air was going in, slightly yet in. You hold your breath and gingerly peel away at the wallpaper until a huge wrought iron door stands before you. Where does it lead? Did you imagine this? What happens next? — Writer’s Digest

In his bestselling memoir, ‘On Writing’ Stephen King said, “I believe stories are found things like fossil in the ground. The writer’s job is to use the tools in his or her toolbox to get as much of each one out of the ground intact as possible.” Now write a story where a writer literally digs up inspiration for his story. Is it an ancient relic or bones of an unknown person or maybe just a simple object that arouses his curiosity? — Akpan

Write a short story in which your narrator’s voice is both informal and informed. How will you take advantage of a point of view that can travel through time and space? — PW.Org

IntShoWriMo 2016 Prompts: Day 7

The office building seemed normal enough. You shrug off the feeling of dread as you enter the doors. There’s no receptionist. Simply two doors. One is green, the other orange. Which do you take? Why are you there? What happens next? — Writer’s Digest

For this exercise, pick a character who appears in a story or novel currently in progress. Write a letter to yourself in the voice of that character in which he or she reveals something to you that you didn’t know before. — PW.Org

Write your eulogy. — Writing.Com

Every 50 years all the different coalitions of planets come together to pit their toughest predator against each other in a duel tournament. This year the Terran coalition is out to win for the first time in 54 tournaments since their entry to the intergalactic stage. — Reddit

IntShoWriMo 2016 Prompts: Day 4

Unexpectedly dying people start yelling, screaming and crying before they take their last breath. Your brother just died, he screamed "I see him! He's coming for me!" in a terrified voice as he died. — Reddit

Feathers flew from the chicken coop and squawks rang out across the farm yard. — Writing.Com

Try your hand by first writing about what comes to mind immediately: perhaps the changing colors and textures of autumn leaves outside, or everyday details about upcoming holidays and visiting family. Try not to pause or edit yourself. Gradually let your mind progress into an associative stream of consciousness. Take a look at what you’ve written and, using your favorite elements, write a short short story with a seasonal theme, allowing it to be nonsensical, absurd, or surreal. — PW.Org

At first it's like any other day. You wake up, shower, start to brew your morning cup of coffee, and that's when you notice—outside the window, there's nothing there. Just an endless black void. What happened? Where are you? How do you get back to reality? — Writer’s Digest

IntShoWriMo 2016 Prompts: Day 3

Choose an emotional event from your past and transmute it into a fictional scene. Create new, imagined consequences that nonetheless reflect the true anguish of the moment. How can turning fact into fiction construct a distance between the life and the work that offers a new take on an intense situation? — PW.Org

Write a story about a father looking for his son. The child was one of the passengers in a plane that crashed earlier that day. — creativewritingprompts.com

Every time you step out the door of your house, you hear a 'tick' in the recesses of your mind, like a countdown. Its been 10 years since the first 'tick'. Now it's ticking faster than it ever has... — Reddit

You meet a character who cannot keep his private thoughts private. — Writing.Com

IntShoWriMo 2016 Prompts: Day 2

Write a scene in which a character—human or animal—finds himself in a situation where he is a fish out of water. Does he explore the new and foreign environment surrounding him, or is he in need of rescue? — PW.Org

Your first experience at a concert. — Writing.Com

You are a professional assassin for the CIA. But you are also a double agent. One day, you are assigned with killing a foreign agent. This foreign agent is your other alias. — Reddit

After a grueling day at work you go home. The sweet allure of your couch and captain crunch is over powering! You arrive at the door, stick in the key, yank it open and … see a writhing horde of Minotaur chanting in the night and then one notices you and charges. You slam the door, wait a minute and try again. This time it’s a mountain with climbers clambering up the towering heights. One waves at you. What do you do? What’s going on with this door of yours? Do you go in? — Writer’s Digest

IntShoWriMo 2016 Prompts: Day 1

You are renting a room in someone’s house as you transition to living in a new city. The owner tells you that basement is absolutely, 100% off limits. You don’t bat an eye at this request, until you start hearing noises from the basement at night. After several week of this, you sneak downstairs to see what’s going on. Finish the scene. — Writer’s Digest

Sorry, but swimmers are not allowed to ... — Writing.Com

You see a light at the end of the tunnel but it’s everything but inviting. It seems to possess a personality with an evil aura who is more likely to eat you up than convey you to safety. How did you get in the tunnel in the first place? Who is in the light? Do you yield to the glow and its evil presence? Write your story. — Akpan

In a world of crime, you alone have the ability to shoot things from your hands. Fireballs, ice, you name it. Only, what comes out is completely random. — Reddit

Day 30: The Right to Remain Silent, Permanently

IntShoWriMo 2015: Day 30 Prompt:

You live in a society where all crime is forgiven until 1st January every year. Upon this day, all criminals are hunted down and killed using differing techniques based on the severity of their crime. You look out the window to see that your judgement has come. - REDDIT

Word Count: 2k+

Akpan

Day 26: Crocodiles Cry Too

IntShoWriMo 2015: Day 26 Prompt:

You're a door-to-door thief who visits houses when everybody is off at work, but today, you walk into someone about to hang themselves. - REDDIT

Word Count: 2k+

Akpan

Day 11: Stuck in a Flawed Groove

IntShoWriMo 2015: Day 11 Prompts:
You sit at the same coffee shop sipping vanilla lattes watching the world go by, one day a female barista asks you want you think about as you watch the people walk by, you respond with 'Do you wanna know?' — REDDIT

Word Count: 2k+

Akpan

Day 8: When Daylight Leaves

IntShoWriMo 2015: Day 8 Prompts:
You cut a deal with death, you will die in 200 days but until then you will have unlimited fortune and happiness. It's day 180 and you've just met the love your life. — REDDIT

Word Count: 2k+

Akpan

Day 6: Chalk-Writing in a Storm

IntShoWriMo 2015: Day 6 Prompts:
You are a private investigator who can travel through time and to parallel universes. You are hired by people who want their "what if?" scenarios answered. — REDDIT

Word Count: 2k+

Akpan