Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

← All contests

#203 Back to Basics

If you’re signed up to the Prompts newsletter, you’re probably interested in writing short stories — and love getting emails from people called Laura. With that in mind, I have a recommendation for you...


Editor Laura Mae Isaacman offers a free, 10-day email course on How to Craft a Killer Short Story. She has edited literary giants like Noam Chomsky and Joyce Carol Oates, and her course breaks down the principles of short story writing into manageable chunks. 


This week’s prompts take cues from Laura’s tips and examples, taking us back to the basics of storytelling, and can help you brush up your short story skills alongside the course.

This week's prompts

Write a story during which two conversations happen simultaneously.

Dialogue – 28 stories

Write about how a single event affects a seemingly unrelated area of a character’s life (their friendships, career, romantic relationships, etc.)

Character – 35 stories

Write about two friends getting into a fist fight.

Angst – 30 stories

Write a story that experiments with tone — perhaps a difficult subject dealt with in a playful way, or an ostensibly happy scene that hints at darkness lurking beneath.

Short Story – 63 stories

Start your story in the middle of the action.

Short Story – 68 stories

Stories

We Don't Use That Word Anymore

Submitted to Contest #203

Day 1I arrived by ambulance. Actually, it's Night 1. I don't remember if I was rolled or walked in, or why. Well, maybe why.I had my own room, complete with a bathroom with ashower stall that didn't work, no curtain, no curtain rod, and no shower head, so I'm guessing, no way to hang myself.Someone put me to bed, and I drifted off to sleep. Then, bright lights and loud chatter, and raucous laughter woke me. Sorry to the good third-shift workers, but I believe the worst hospital staff are assigned to the night shift. Loud, rude, and dismissiv...

24 likes 20 comments 20
Read story

A List of Demands

Submitted to Contest #203

The young man on the phone was laughing after the first slap, but I kept my cool. “We are listening.” “Then you know that I am not screwing around and that I want to speak to someone higher up right now!” There was a particular etiquette in these situations and I was following it to the letter. My boss, the main officer on the case, put me in charge for a reason: he did not really care about this one. A man – really, a kid - had a supermarket locked down with a gun and the promise to use it. It was not in a very important part of town – immi...

24 likes 20 comments 20
Read story

The Truth About Maine

Shortlisted for Contest #203 ⭐️

“It wasn’t the beginning of the end, it was the end of the end. And he knew it and I knew it and only one of us was pretending we didn’t.” This is how I start my story. I’m shotgun in Meg’s car, heading north on a girls’ trip to Maine. We’ve left behind our husbands and children, scratching the surface of our mom-and-wife warpaint to reveal something freer underneath. Maine is going to do this for us. A lifetime ago, Maine broke my heart. But this time, it’s going heal something in me. “Tell me more,” Meg says, her eyes trained on the lo...

23 likes 9 comments 9
Read story

Dangerous Descent

Submitted to Contest #203

Just because Mike was a billionaire, didn’t mean he didn’t need to listen to his wife. Cathy patiently waited for him to finish explaining all the details of his new gadget, an ACH160 business helicopter, as they ate dinner.After his lengthy monologue, Cathy jumped in to fill him in on a topic that was much more dear to her heart.“My sister is having her 25th anniversary party. It's in Sheboygan, this July.”“That’s nice.” He said, while chewing on the white asparagus appetizer, obviously still thinking about helicopters. One needs to be dire...

23 likes 21 comments 21
Read story

Blood and Water

Submitted to Contest #203

Sandra reached for her phone. It was an automatic movement, something she did hundreds of times a day in the hope of seeing something that would make her brain go, 'Ah, yes". Today, dozens of notifications glared back at her, and her stomach twisted. Instead of sweet distraction, all she saw were reminders of the inescapable. Barely comprehending the digital onslaught, Sandra scrolled down the list. Cousin Amy, who lived her life via Facebook, tagging every family member she could think of in her public announcement of grief.: #sadd...

22 likes 22 comments 22
Read story

Legend of Imelda: Dark Countess

Submitted to Contest #203

There were Shadow Skulls everywhere, pouring into the Hall through every door and window, a seemingly endless amount, cloaks flapping, blades slashing as they charged at the Champion, determined to keep him from his love.    Van was close to the tower in which the object of this final quest awaited, but having fought his way through horde after horde of the Undead, exhausted his supplies, given everything he had, he knew he wasn’t going to make it. Not unless he used the Atomic Spirit, the weapon he’d ventured into a secr...

22 likes 16 comments 16
Read story

Dead man

Shortlisted for Contest #203 ⭐️

August heat swaddled me as I made my way home from the community swimming pool. A damp towel hung from my neck. My trunks, reeking of chlorine, drooped from my narrow hips as I shuffled on dime-store plastic flipflops.I was 11, shirtless, recklessly sunburned, and alone. That’s how I rolled as a kid in Eugene, Oregon, back in the mid-60s. My family was so large, and our house was so cramped that I grew up like a feral cat, roaming and poking around trouble without fretting about consequences.The pool was five or six minutes from our house. H...

22 likes 15 comments 15
Read story

Salt and Pepper

Submitted to Contest #203

Benjamin Pendergast-Manifold had been waiting seemingly forever for an opportunity like this to drop into his lap. Or more accurately, his hands. Just typical, wasn’t it. He kept his LinkedIn profile pristine and up-to-date, only to be rewarded only with thousands of nonsense emails a week. He attended recruitment fairs where reps seemed thrown if you dared ask them about anything about their companies other than to ask for one of keyrings they were handing out. He attended parties in the hopes of networking, when he’d rather be lying on t...

21 likes 11 comments 11
Read story

THE EDGE

Submitted to Contest #203

“Please don’t die.”Freddie’s eyes were open but could not see. Her pupils were dilated to the extent that the greenish-gold color they once were had now all but disappeared.   “Come back. Please come back.”Freddie’s face turned slightly to the sound of Michael’s voice. Her lips quivered. Michael lowered his head.“What is it?” he whispered, “I’m here.”* * *“Mike, we're over here!”Michael Woodman, a fourth generation Phi Beta Kappa, was filling his party goblet from the house keg.  He'd be...

21 likes 20 comments 20
Read story

Career Decisions

Shortlisted for Contest #203 ⭐️

“God, that one exam,” Jennifer said. “She kept me on the phone for hours. It was something about court procedures…?”Samantha laughed. “Evidence. She called me about that too.”  “Yes!  She was certain she was going to fail that one. And of course, if she failed that one, she was going to fail out of school entirely, have to move back home—” “Yep.” “And I told her—I told her, ‘Amy, you’ve never failed an exam in your life. You’ve never even gotten below a B plus in your life—’” “‘But law school is d...

21 likes 18 comments 18
Read story

Today is Going to be a Good Day

Shortlisted for Contest #203 ⭐️

The smell of fried dough reaches the upstairs washroom where I run my fingers through my curls. My stomach grumbles, pleading for a bite. Today should be a good day. The sun is out but so is a cool breeze, so hopefully it won’t be too stuffy in the church. Grandma made her signature empanadas which are solely reserved for special occasions, and my older cousins aren’t allowed to pick on me today as per Grandma’s orders. Today was “too important” and Grandma didn’t want me crying because of my cousins’ jokes or shoves. They say people tend to...

21 likes 9 comments 9
Read story

Harrowing evening

Submitted to Contest #203

The sparkles hit her nose as she drew the glass to her lips. With a naughty smile, Amy sipped the drink and sighed —no life without gin and tonic. The bubbles from the drink burst on her tongue, releasing tangy flavours. She stared at Richard, who stood tall next to her. He was a perfect catch. Her lips widened, pushing the cheeks to reveal a dimple. We’re gonna have a great time. Her fingers caressed the stubble on his chin of the charming man she had met a few days ago. The venue was buzzing with loud music and after-work chatter. She sat ...

20 likes 14 comments 14
Read story

Run Through the Tape

Submitted to Contest #203

Run Through the Tape“You should laugh every day.”   - Jim ValvanoIt’s hard to make a hospital room look homey. Too much white- walls, ceilings, sheets, even the attire of the doctors and nurses. And a little heavy on metal- the frames of the bed and chairs, cabinets, dinner tray, door, the TV bracket, the light fixture above, and the steel pole holding the bags that occasionally pumped life-sustaining and pain-killing fluids into Carl. Nothing soft and colorful, a scarcity of anything that would remind one of wood. A square bo...

19 likes 20 comments 20
Read story

Quack

Submitted to Contest #203

‘You know you'll never see her again, don't you? Because of your actions. Because of your behaviour. Because of your delusions.’‘You’re wrong! You’re just blatantly wrong! I'm not crazy, man- You don't understand- No-one does- Except us- Me and her. You don't know what it was like. When we were together. It was otherworldly - Metaphysical - Heaven on Earth! We’re like Napoleon and Josephine. We chose each other- Outside the simulation! It’s a great love- A love for the ages! We know each other… And we have known each other- For aeons!’The ps...

18 likes 17 comments 17
Read story

The Chauffeur

Submitted to Contest #203

Trigger warning: Mentions suicide, death, and mental health Dr. Miriam Brooks opened the door to her office and shuffled her client back to reception for check out. Miriam’s next client wasn’t scheduled for another half an hour. To her surprise, however, a man, who looked to be in his early forties, was sitting in the waiting room. His hair was short with a mix of black and grey. He had a tattered leather book in his hand, and he was intently reading it. Written in gold letters, Miriam could see the title, The Bib...

18 likes 19 comments 19
Read story

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

How to Write a Novel
Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

Join our weekly contest

Get 5 new writing prompts every Friday. Write and submit a story for a chance to win $250.