Write a story about someone experiencing a lightbulb moment of writing inspiration.

Posted in Short Story on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 140 stories

“How NOT to self publish a book – a short memoir” by S. D. McKinley

Submitted to Contest #46

My lightbulb went off when I became homeless... Beyond the darkness, way past what you can see or even imagine is a massive wheel turning. It turns and trudges through people’s existence of experience, memories and dreams. Sometimes is tugs at your soul. Sometimes it pulls at your soul so hard you have no choice but to write. If you don’t write something down it will probably eat your lunch before it is able to hit your stomach. Then, after it eats all of your lunch the wheel will eat at your soul and consume the whole of you if ...

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“Interesting Day” by A.J. Brown

Submitted to Contest #46

She looked around the room. Looked at her flat screen TV. Looked at her rug. Looked at her ceiling. Looked down her bare legs that were stretched out across the couch, her back rested on the armrest, her laptop sitting on her thighs, her bare feet resting at the other end of the couch with her toes pointed up at the ceiling. Erin loved to read – she read over 25 books a year. She wanted to write so badly but her life was so uninteresting that she had nothing to write about. She couldn’t pull much from her imag...

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“Memories” by David Goldsmith

Submitted to Contest #46

The words were there. But they also weren’t. He could feel them on the tips of his fingers. Little jots awaiting their opportunity to jump onto the page. Three hours later the page was still blank. Stan knew that he could write. In fact, he had written many things. Columns for the local paper, a blog that had been running for several years, and even some magazine articles found their way from his mind into print. Yes, Stan had seen the words appear, both on paper through a blue pen, and on-screen in boring black pixels. Yet still, there he s...

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“Inspiration” by Richard Thompson

Submitted to Contest #46

Inspiration By Richard Thompson Just like that, it came. Like a flash of lightning in a summer storm, a torrent of inspiration came sleeting out of the cosmos and threw itself bodily into my mind. Oh wait, that was the heavies boot going into my gut. Reality check, no divine inspiration here, no odds on favourite to win and certainly not the great redemption I spent so much of my spare time dreaming of in those endless days of summer that encouraged indolence and a slack approach to life. Nope, it was just my mo...

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“Argument with a Muse” by R G Pham

Submitted to Contest #46

“She’s breathing.” A smile crawls across Rachael’s face. She looks at the man. “She’s finally breathing. A limping, lifeless thing... but, she’s finally real.” “Work quickly now and put her into trouble.” The man rocks back on his toes, balancing with the hind legs of his chair and eyeballs Rachael. Does not have time for her crap. “Yes, yes I know.” Rachael chews her lip, eyes scanning the page. Plunging forward the chair thumps and the man about to spring over the desk grasps the edge. “If you don’t do it right now she’ll...

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“In the Coffee Garden” by Alyssa Lutz

Submitted to Contest #46

The air was crisp with a cold that made you pull your scarf and hat tighter around your neck and ears. White fluffy snow started falling, dancing, and swirling around making it feel like a snow globe scene. Walking through the town’s streets, on a night like this, made a heart like mine glow with the possibility of magic in the air. Unrealistic, I know, but I needed some inspiration. Something to spark my writing life or maybe just my life. The street and building lights illuminated the streets as people bustled about trying to avoid ...

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“Two Portraits” by OB Jato

Submitted to Contest #46

Her dream had a demon with a paintbrush. When she woke up at quarter past six in the evening, she was sweating. The lights of her room were switched off. She made her way to the switchboard, and ran her finger over the familiar switch. A flicker and a half later, the light had been switched on. She stretched. Her thin body felt unnecessarily heavy today, even though she had skipped lunch. And now, she felt hungry. She also realised her dream was not the only thing which had made her sweat – in a rush to rest aft...

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“Changing Lanes” by Tim Benson

Submitted to Contest #46

“Changing Lanes” The garage door squeaked and groaned as it opened, just like it had for years. The morning light revealed the years of oil stains on the concrete floor and the dust that seemed to cover everything inside. For Ben it was like stepping back in time; garden tools and a lawnmower resting in the corner, a workbench with an array of hand tools neatly hanging on the pegboard wall above it. He’d spent so much time there learning how to use tools and making things and listening to the ballgames on the big silver boom-box sitting on...

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“2:30 AM” by Stephanie Jeannot

Submitted to Contest #46

Am I the only one that wakes up pulsating with a storm of writing energy in the middle of the night when the rest of the people in the city are sleeping? It’s weird. I wouldn’t consider myself as being the most loquacious person. I’m usually pretty quiet on most days. Speaking about my experiences and deep-rooted thoughts would probably be well beyond my comfort zone. I enjoy my quietude and I get made when the momentum is disrupted. It is almost as if my words are locked away in a hidden room of the movie theater of my mind. The...

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“Out Of The Woods ” by Kathryn D

Submitted to Contest #46

It should have mattered whether she was alive or not. It should have, but I didn’t see it that way. All I saw and all I felt was grateful, pleased, ecstatic; I was finally witnessing something that people only wrote about. I only wrote about. Then came the ideas, flooding into my head, little bursts of the blood spilling down her chin, and hand, pale and crooked. I was happy, and I was desperate to get out of the woods and back to my cabin before I forgot all of these beautiful scenes. I began to mutter to myself the little words I...

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“Pressed Flowers” by Jenny Zhao

Submitted to Contest #46

Pressed Flowers Writer’s block is like a chronic illness –never fully gone and always ready to flare up. There was one week in September last year where it showed up with a vengeance. I had been gifted a new Moleskin Notebook and it sat on my desk mocking me. So I decided it was time to finally leave the house and find inspiration in the city. The Lower East Side called to me, so I ventured out, and stumbled around the neighborhood until I found some friends at Benson’s. There was some artist event that night that was coming to a c...

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“My Life Story” by Adyson Jacobs

Submitted to Contest #46

I heard the screams and cri... "Ugh, I am not a good writer and I will never be!" I complained to my teacher. My classmates glanced my way and it felt as if their eyes were lasers burning into the back of my skull. Some laughed as they sat on their phone, others just kept quiet. I begged my teacher to excuse me for the rest of the class, and when she approved, I scurried out the door to meet my best friend. "Hey, Megan! I don't have much time before my next class, so get talking! What's up?" I love her! She can be so insensitive sometimes, ...

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“Writing the Future” by E S

Submitted to Contest #46

The blank page, the shaking pen in my hand, the audience, they all steal my courage. I tap my foot twice, next, my pen on the desk. Tap, tap. Tap, tap. The slow beat continues until it morphs into a tune I quietly hum. “Hurry it up, Hannah!” My kidnapper snarls the last word, his nose scrunching up like that of an angry dog. Tap, tap. Tap, tap. My life wasn’t always like this—strapped down to a chair, writing away at a manuscript I don’t care to write. This is my life now and nothing will change that, well, except the end of the worl...

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“The First Draft” by Dom Goodwin

Submitted to Contest #46

Lucillien bursts through the wide iron doors and into the throne room. Sitting on his precious seat is her father, the king. She unholsters her ray gun and aims it at his head. “Give me back my kingdom or, so help me, I’ll blast a hole straight through your head.” She yells with the ferocity that could only come from a woman who has been wronged.Nope, that’s stupid. If I were typing this out, I would hit the backspace button with “the ferocity of a boy who can’t come up with a good story.” (I don’t even know if I’m using “ferocity” right) In...

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“The Golden Pen” by Phoebe Neighbour

Submitted to Contest #46

Adam hadn’t been back home in years, and the only reason he came back now was for the funeral. He felt guilty. He’d spent the weekend clearing out his mother’s old house, packing books and records and clothes into boxes for donation. The house felt lonely when it was so quiet. He remembered the magical stories she told Adam throughout his childhood. Looking at the fireplace in the living room, he remembered her stories about miniature dragons that lived in the ashes and lit the coals when they grew cold. From where he stood, he could see the...

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Write a story about someone experiencing a lightbulb moment of writing inspiration.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 140 stories

“How NOT to self publish a book – a short memoir” by S. D. McKinley

“Interesting Day” by A.J. Brown

“Memories” by David Goldsmith

“Inspiration” by Richard Thompson

“Argument with a Muse” by R G Pham

“In the Coffee Garden” by Alyssa Lutz

“Two Portraits” by OB Jato

“Changing Lanes” by Tim Benson

“2:30 AM” by Stephanie Jeannot

“Out Of The Woods ” by Kathryn D

“Pressed Flowers” by Jenny Zhao

“My Life Story” by Adyson Jacobs

“Writing the Future” by E S

“The First Draft” by Dom Goodwin

“The Golden Pen” by Phoebe Neighbour

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that takes place in a writer's circle.

Write a story about an author who has just published a book.

Write a story about someone returning to their craft after a long hiatus.

Write a story about someone who has just finished writing their first story/book.

Contest #46

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

618

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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