Sometimes All You Need Is a Spark
A spark can ignite a bonfire. Today’s story prompt, the third in its series, provides not just a couple of sentences but a comprehensive outline that could kindle subplots or entire novels.
If you create a story or poem based on something you read in this post, I’d love to hear from you in the comments area or via the contact form at the top of this page.
We Begin With the Opening Paragraphs of a Story
A jagged rock stabbed into my lower back. I tried to roll over but realized I was shackled to the floor. A stench filled the dampness, a stench of hay or straw soiled with the contents of someone’s voided bowels. Mine?
My eyes flicked open. A head loomed in the darkness.
Who Might the Head Belong to?
Possibilities:
- a gorilla
- a wolf
- a tiger
- a lioness
- a cougar
- a grizzly bear
- a fellow prisoner
- an alien
- a medieval cave dweller
- a Tyrannosaurus rex
- a giant [bat, ant, spider, house cat, rat, cockroach, venomous snake]
Let’s Make the Scenario More Interesting
Mix time periods. The protagonist could be:
- a soldier from the Napoleonic Wars encountering a cave person
- a present-day scientist facing an extinct humanoid
- a medieval being in a modern world. (The opening paragraphs would have to reflect appropriate speech and thought patterns.)
- a modern space traveler in a prehistoric world
Is the Body that Belongs to the Head Also Shackled?
Shackle materials should represent appropriate time periods and genres.
- Fiction based in the distant past might require leather, braided reeds, or rope instead of metal.
- Stories set in modern times could include shock collars like those used to control dogs.
- Sci-fi stories could rely on force fields or brain implants.
- Fantasy could incorporate spells or mystical forces.
How Did the Protagonist End Up in This Situation?
- kidnapped by a human-trafficking ring
- imprisoned during [an armored car robbery, a bank heist, a terrorist attack, a battle between medieval cave tribes, a gang war, a conflict in space, a blood feud]
- stepping/flying through a time portal
- being detained after discovering a plot to overthrow the government
- fooling around with the wrong person’s significant other
Can You Add a Twist?
Maybe you could turn it into humor … perhaps with a hint of romance.
Are You Interested in Tips for Writers and More Writing Prompts?
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Hi Miss Kathy,
Thanks for another cool story prompt post. I like the way you added a lot of possibilities. Gives me lot of ideas. Shows me how to think my way through an idea.
Good stuff!
Happy fall.
Fist bumps.
Thanks, Lenny. Broke my right shoulder on Sunday, and it wasn’t a “happy fall.”
No blogging for a couple of weeks. 🙁
Left-handed fist bump.