As I’m sure many of you already know: writing isn’t easy. It’s a glorious and painstaking process. I mean, think about it: the biggest obstacle between most writers and a finished book is simply getting the words on the page. And yes, writer’s block is a thing. Or maybe you’ve been rigorously researching a remote town in Idaho for six months straight and you need a break (she says definitely not from experience or anything).
Whatever the reason you’ve stalled, it’s important to find ways to keep those fingers typing or those pens swirling. One of my favorite ways to keep the creativity flowing is with a writing prompt. My writing group will often set a flash fiction (less than 1,000 words) prompt that we can bring in the following week. I find that when I set to writing a short story and complete it, it’s such an awesome feeling that the creativity spills over into my larger, long-term projects. There’s just something about that instant gratification of finishing something in one night and being able to say:
So! Why am I telling you all this? Because! I recently found a really fun writing prompt generator!
You just hop on over there, scroll down and click the generate button! You can pick one based on what you’re feeling that day. I skipped the first prompt it gave me and opted for the second because I knew I didn’t have a ton of time to write that day the second one was only 300 words. The prompt provides a word count, genre, character, material, sentence and a bonus idea that you can add in if you’re feeling frisky.
I’ll share my short story and then afterwards, I’ll share the prompt!
*Warning: it’s a little dark.*
Unnamed Story:
“What have I done?” she asked, emotion tightening her throat.
Her hair was heavy with water. Strands fell into her eyes as she looked down to see her clothing soaked through. She pressed her hand against the fabric, surprised to see red flow over her fingers. Her fingers. The skin was clean but a reddish brown color clung under her nails. Blood, she thought as she reached to touch her forehead. Her head swam as she touched something smooth. Smooth like bone. Her hands flew as far from the laceration as they could reach.
She swallowed hard and with effort, lifted her head. Time slowed so that her breath matched each new plume of smoke off the water: a sailboat completely engulfed in flame some distance off the coast. Her eyes blurred and new warmth fell to her cheeks. She collapsed to the sand, her knees against her chest.
Some faint awareness rose as something fell from her pocket.
A golden coin rested on the sand.
A blinding flash of light and a deafening explosion rang in her head the moment her eyes met the luminous metal. She closed her eyes and covered her ears.
A whisper surrounded her as if carried on the wind, “Take it.”
She looked toward the woods behind her.
“Hello?” she said.
She stared hard at each patch of brush, leaf, or branch dancing in the wind, but heard nothing more.
She looked back at the coin, stared for what could have been days.
Her fingers outstreched, she hesitated for what could have been hours.
She took it.
She stood, with certainty in her eyes.
She walked toward the sailboat.
She walked to her ankles, to her knees, to her waist, to her shoulders.
She walked until the world became a blur beneath the waves.
Prompt
Word count: 300
Genre: Suspense
Character: A remorseful murderer
Material: A coin
Sentence: Hello?
Bonus: Your character is shipwrecked.
The coin was totes cursed. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this dark, damp story!