Menu

Prompts

Contests

Stories

Blog

Menu

✕

CONNECT

Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites

BLOG

Success Stories

APPS

TOOLS

Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships

ABOUT

About Reedsy Terms Privacy

CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#72: Shocking Developments

Have you ever heard that there are only so many types of stories in the world? Some people say seven, some say three, some six… Regardless of the number, the idea is that you can boil down any narrative into universal templates.

While it’s true that many stories do follow familiar structures (and understanding them can help you learn how to craft a compelling narrative), there’s so much variety in how those structures unfold that the best stories still feel fresh and original.

One of the ways writers manage this is by filling their stories with unexpected details — so this week, our prompts are all about characters finding themselves in situations they’d never have imagined. But to really get something unique, don’t stop there: ask yourself what would happen if your characters made each of the possible choices before them, then write the one that surprised you the most!

This week's prompts

Write a mystery where the detective realizes at the last moment that they have the wrong suspect.

Mystery – 117 stories

Write a romance where your character falls in love with the last person they expected to.

Romance – 193 stories

Write about someone getting a job offer they never would have thought to apply for.

Adults – 94 stories

Write about someone who gets an inheritance from a relative they’ve never heard of, but they’ll need to do something completely outside their comfort zone in order to collect it.

Teens – 144 stories

Write a science fiction story where all human behavior can be predicted — until your character does something the algorithm did not expect.

Science Fiction – 139 stories

Stories

“Tiny Voices” by N M

Submitted to Contest #72

Three. Four. Five steps to the bedroom window. I rose every day at exactly sixty minutes to sunrise, not a minute earlier or later; otherwise I had stomach pains well into the evening. During that time I tended to several tasks, opening the windows in the right order. First the second floor, starting from the bedroom, seventeen steps to the bathroom, and twenty more step to the immaculately neat guest room (despite the fact it had not accommodated any guest for years). Afterwards down the twelve staircase steps. First left foot then joined b...

Read story

“Blood Money ” by Amber Brownlee

Submitted to Contest #72

Every day my life was the same, get up check the mail and go to work. Day in and out was the same boring routine until one day it wasn’t. I had just finished my cup of coffee and was getting ready to check the mail when the phone rang it was my mother, she sounded different not upset more like shocked. Her bother had just passed, I didn’t know she had a brother. There was something else apparently my mother and where the only family that he had left, that being the case he left me large inheritance but left my mother nothing. I told my moth...

Read story

“The Ghost's of Three” by L U C A .

Submitted to Contest #72

The ghost’s of three Three is a small number. Unless of course you want to summon three dead people from the deep pits of Hades. It's just unthinkable. But that is what I was trying to do: summon the dead back into the world. It can’t be that hard right? Yes. Yes it can. Several times I had almost died trying to collect the ingredients. There was centaur blood which was toxin if touched by skin and I needed three liters of the stuff. I finally found an already dying centaur to give me some blood. Then there were the tears of a hippocampus w...

Read story

“Across the border” by Seeker C

Submitted to Contest #72

Everyone turned to look at me as the last line of the Will was read out. Gasps and hushed whispers. “Do what?” “Can she really?” “What was he thinking?” Mum reached out and held my fingers tightly, “You don't have to do this.” She didn't know that I indeed had to. My future depended on what this unknown grinch had left for me. I was running out of time and money and I needed to do this. He’d spent his entire life staying away from us and now he seemed determined to collect. They say that she was the love of his life; the daughter who looked ...

Read story

“Gopali's Will” by Auntika Ahmed

Submitted to Contest #72

The ship to Dhaka was set to sail along the roaring Padma River. The ilish fish I sold at the bazaar yesterday was just enough to pay for the fare. Accompanied by officials, I held on to the remaining takas in my bag, bundled inside my salwar kameez, along with the will. I had nothing else. I was leaving my home because of a sister I would never know. “I will look after Firoja,” promised Janisha Ghazi Ratna, a lawyer and a close family friend to my Amu and Abu. They refused to come with me. The raging waters swirled und...

Read story

“THE FACE IN THE MIRROR” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #72

THE FACE IN THE MIRROR Undoubtedly it had been a big, a good stroke of luck, indeed a colossal stroke of luck, a godsend, as everyone had said him, both friends, relatives and acquaintances, and even those who did not know him, but who had known what (it) had rained on him. Since he, George P., thirty years old, freelance journalist, with modest income, who led a barely dignified life, had suddenly, and at all unexpectedly found himself heir of a truly colossal fortune, such colossal it was that he was rather ...

Read story

“Roommate ” by Allison Courtenay

Submitted to Contest #72

I woke up the same as always, a tug-of-war with the promise of the day versus the comfort of my slumber. Rounds one and two of the game resulted in a draw, with sleep winning out in round three. The game lasted long enough that the world of my dream had flitted away leaving only dissonant puzzle pieces. The back of the head of a ginger boy, my bloody hands with no wounds, the high-pitch yap of a small dog. I tried to gather the pieces with a sudden urgency but they slipped through my fingers like sand. There was a weight in my stomach the si...

Read story

“The Hierarchy” by Mairéad Ní Shúilleabháin

Submitted to Contest #72

‘What did they say?!’ said the Manager. He banged his fists on the table a few times for good measure. He was in charge after all. ‘Donate it to charity,’ said the other Manager, with a casual flick of his hand, a raised eyebrow and pursed lips. He was in charge after all. ‘Donate? To charity?!’ ‘That’s what they said.’ ‘Let me get this straight, they got the most sales in the last six weeks, so you offered them the prize and they said-‘ ‘Donate it to charity.’ ‘Did they say why?’ ‘They just said they didn’t want it.’ ‘Didn’t want it? But,...

Read story

“The Race is not to the Swift” by Monica Davis

Submitted to Contest #72

The Race is not to the Swift So this is what it's like. To overcome insurmountable odds and defeat the unbeatable foe. To be the turtle crossing the finish line as the hare looks on in horror and disbelief. I must admit, I never would have dreamed that this moment would arrive. Yet, here we are. Victorious in our humility. Magnificent in our mediocrity. They didn't stand a chance. Sure, we were outnumbered; their weapons far superior and their strategy nearly flawless. But in their hubris, they neglected a crucial detail. Fate. Fortune fav...

Read story

“The Ultimate Sacrifice” by Hannah Messinger

Submitted to Contest #72

“Thanks Mackenzie,” my younger sister says, standing up. I had just finished braiding her hair, and now she runs her hands over it, examining for bumps.“Of course.”Together, the two of us walk out of her room and down the stairs. Mom is by the stove making breakfast, and Dad is reading the paper.This is how it is in every house in my city. Siblings help each other get ready, parents switch off making food. Every morning, the same thing. Every night, the same thing. Every single day of our lives is programmed for us, and we go along with it. ...

Read story

“Grace is the voice that calls us to change” by Merel Cooijmans

Submitted to Contest #72

1.964 words Simon woke up at 6:21, like he did every morning. "Good morning Simon" he heard. It was a cheerful, kind voice of a woman. Just like he programmed his drone to sound like. The shiny white softly humming system projected a screen on his ceiling. The screen showed him an Instagram feed. Grace started scrolling, just in the right pace. Slow enough for Simon to be able to really take in the pictures and fast enough for him to see all the new posts In exactly 6 minutes. At 6:27 the feed changed Into Facebook. Here he could see w...

Read story

“Patterns” by Marissa M

Submitted to Contest #72

People always called me crazy. "Ambrose, robots aren't going to take over society", "Ambrose, you're going crazy", "Come on Ro, you don't actually believe all that stuff, do you?". I was used to it really. Conversations would stop when I entered the room, mothers would hold their child closer when I was around, etc. . . No one believes me, but I don't care. It was a normal Wednesday afternoon, I was on a shopping trip. Like usual. I waved to an employee who pretended he didn't see me. Predictable. There was a child throwing a fit. Predictabl...

Read story

“Runaway” by Marvel Geek Girl

Submitted to Contest #72

My name is - was - Nancy. I was born in the city of Westside Mountainview. A “beautiful city where dreams come true!”. I’m calling load BS on that. My grandparents moved there when they were just married, wanting to become farmers or vets. But the Head Honcho there chose what your job was, and enfused your DNA with not caring what your job was, not talking back or fighting back, stupid genetic stuff like that. My grandpa became a construction worker instead of a farmer, and was very happy. Or that's what he thought. &...

Read story

“For the Perfect Future” by Briana Spring

Submitted to Contest #72

The Prognosticative Differential had declared Mazarine would have an auspicious future.Nineteen years of rule-following, studying and volunteering had deemed it so. Mazarine knew with certainty the Differential Test was in the right, for it analyzed each person's personality and past behavior patterns before reaching its irrefutable conclusion.She smiled at her calibrated results. At that moment, she stopped caring that the Differential Test was merely a way for the state to modulate the population's conduct. All it meant for her then was th...

Read story

“Co0K!e Monk3y” by Conor Thackray

Submitted to Contest #72

There is a black monkey sat on my shoulder. Its toes curl deep into the meat of my flesh, and it’s human like hands, guide my own toward my phone before returning to its work. My monkey watches my screen blink to life first thing in the morning, watches me run my thumb across the faces of people I used to know, shoving their personal accounts up and out of my eyeline. Only when I stop, does Monkey really take notice, he stares at my screen, his big red eyes taking in as much information and detail as possible. When I tap a news item, or a pi...

Read story

Load more stories

$50

Prize money

687

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 18, 2020 EST

Won by Julie Ward 🏆

Title: Currents

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢