101 Writing Prompts for Fantasy 2 - Laura Grant

8/16/2019 101 Writing Prompts for Fantasy 2 - Laura Grant

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101 Writing Prompts for Fantasy and

Science Fiction Writers

Volume 2

By L. K. Grant



Text copyright © 2012 L. K. Grant

Cover art copyright © 2012 GeoffreyA. Pratt

Cover design copyright © 2012 L. K.

Grant



for the sweet ladies and gents from

various writing groups

who were kind enough

to be my guinea pigs



for Jo Carson

who showed me the dragon

and the way past it





Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface

Using These Prompts

Thank You!





Preface

Dear Writer,

You’re back! I hope that last round ofwriting prompts has served you well!

Seriously, I’d love to read them some

ime, so please email me:

[email protected]

As with the last one, I wanted this

book to be more than just a list of

writing prompts, though it certainly

delivers that.

hope to show you, a writer of



speculative and outlandish fiction, a

way of generating your own prompts

or fantasy and sci-fi stories using

history, personal and anecdotal

experiences, and the fascinating

origins of common words and

phrases.

Many pages of this book offer not jus

a prompt but also the seed of the

prompt, showing you how I have usedreality to create reality-bending story

deas.

have tried to derive many of theseprompts from real science, real

experiences and real people. Truly

engaging fantasy, science and



speculative fiction all contain one

hing: a grain of truth. When readers

sense verisimilitude, they will let you

ake them to fascinating new worlds.

They will believe everything you tell

hem.



Using These Prompts

f you downloaded this book, chancesare you already know how writing

prompts work. But as a refresher, her

are a few tips.

Give each prompt at least five

minutes of solid writing. If you find

yourself writing for a couple of hours

as the result of one prompt, great!

Some of them may even lead you to

complete stories or novels, and if that

happens, awesome. But give yourbrain a chance to kick in to gear with

each one. Even if you sit in front of

he computer for four and a half



minutes with nothing of worth comin

out, you are giving your brain a

workout. Your brain is like you

probably were in high school: it gets

bored in class and starts to daydream

While daydreams got you in trouble

when you were a teenager, they areexactly what your brain should be

doing.

With many prompts, I ask severalquestions. Feel free to answer some,

all or none of them.

Many writers use prompts to get the

creative juices flowing before sitting

down to the hard slog of writing.



Others use prompts to give their brain

some relief, especially if they find

hemselves stuck within a longer piece

of fiction. With this in mind, I have

written a lot of these prompts with

“your character” as the main subject,

so that you can take your protagonistout of the novel/story you are

currently working on and plop

him/her down in another setting, just

o shake things up a bit and see what

happens. If you’re just writing to get

he aforementioned juices flowing,

his may be a great way for you tomeet’ new characters, characters tha

may decide that you are the one to

write their story.



Some pages provide simply a strange

or underused word and its definition.

The dictionary is a great place to find

nspiration, and for these prompts I

suggest that you try one of several

methods: write the word into a scene

use the word as the title of a book orstory, or use the word as a name for a

new character and write about that

character, showing how that characte

does (or doesn’t) live up to the name

Good luck, and please feel free to

contact me at any time. I’d love to see

what comes of these prompts and

answer any questions you might have



~Laura

[email protected]



***1***

Amulet: an object worn to ward off

evil, illness or bad luck. Usually anatural object.

Your character has need of an amulet

What does he/she need protectionrom?



***2***

Talisman: an object worn to attract

power, or to amplify power a personalready possesses. Often a man-made

object.

Your character has finally found aalisman that he/she has been seekin

or decades. What’s the next step?



***3***

Your character thinks he/she has

ound an amulet to ward off an evilorce that has been chasing him/her,

but discovers instead that the object

s a talisman. What happens next?



***4***

Your character has spent half of

his/her life searching for a talisman,only to discover that it is, in fact, an

amulet. What happens next?



***5***

A tall, dark-skinned woman is running

or her life. Behind, the creaturesgiving chase are finally beginning to

catch up. The mist clears, and she

skids to a stop. A deep chasm yawns

before her.



***6***

Your character finds a little girl hiding

n a closet. She clutches a small doll, adoll that looks an awful lot like your

character.



***7***

A young student sits in the library,

ong after everyone else has left. Onhe table sits a book, dusty from year

or even decades of neglect. The

student turns to the first page and

reads the first line aloud.

Suddenly, the lights in the library go

dark.



***8***

A man sits on a café patio, pretending

o read a newspaper. No one in thecafé knows that he’s an android, or

hat he’s been sent to kill the

waitress.



***9***

Your character lands on a planet

where all of the aliens sing tocommunicate. The language is easy

enough to learn, but your character is

one deaf.



***10***

Your character is a judge in a murder

rial. The defendant is giving his

estimony when suddenly he

disappears.



***11***

Write Prompt #10 from the

prosecution’s POV.



***12***

Write Prompt #10 from the jury’s POV



***13***

Writing Prompt #10 from the

defendant’s POV.



***14***

The birth of the son of the king was

highly anticipated.

No one expected the baby to be born

with a lion’s mane and tail.



***15***

A couple are driving down the road,

arguing. They hit a traffic jam that isback up for miles around a bend in

he road. Unbeknownst to them, a

Tyrannosaurus Rex is blocking the

way, just around the corner.



***16***

Write a radio broadcast for an

apocalyptic event.



***17***

Your character wakes up to find that

he/she is a foot tall. Describe yourcharacter’s struggles to get out of bed



***18***

Write from the POV of a magic sword.





***20***

Your character is a witch or warlock

who must dance to seal a sacredcircle.



***21***

Your character is a doctor at a secret

government facility. A geneticallyengineered creature has just escaped



***22***

Write Prompt #21 from the POV of a

anitor.



***23***

Write Prompt #21 from the POV of the

creature.



***24***

An elf has lived his entire life in the

woods, and has never seen a humanbefore. He is walking a familiar path

when he comes across a human camp

What does he see?



***25***

Your character finds dragon bones in

a cave. What happens when he/shepicks them up?



***26***

Your character is a ghost who haunts

a train station. Who is he/she? Why iyour character trapped there? What

does your character see?



***27***

“Oh God,” she thought, looking dow

at her hands. “It’s happening again.”



***28***

A newlywed couple arrives at their

hotel on their wedding night. They dohe things newlyweds do on their

honeymoon. In the middle of the

night, the bride wakes up to a strange

clicking noise coming from the pillownext to hers.



***29***

Your character wears a special suit to

work every day. It is painted on beforeach shift, and peeled off at the end

of the day. Why does your character

wear it? Does it protect? Enhance?



***30***

shara is the goddess of oaths for

several ancient cultures.

magine a civilization where a goddess

s in charge of making sure people

keep their promises. How would shepunish those who broke their word?

Does she take a physical form, or doe

she work unseen?



***31***

A woman moves into a house, and

begins to notice that certain thingsaround the house (the plants, the

andscaping, the stonework and the

ayout of the house) seem designed to

bring in power and protect the houserom supernatural forces.

Write about how she discovers this

power. Write about how she finds ou

what it’s being protected from.



***32***

Your character has a violin that, when

played, lulls anyone listening intocomplacency. For years, your

character has used this instrument to

steal from people. But now the army

has asked your character to helphem. They fly your character to the

rontlines and give him/her a

microphone and an amplifier.

Describe the first day on the job.



***33***

He ran inside and slammed the door.

Silence filled the room. Then, on theother side of the door, an ominous

sound.



***34***

Your character wakes up to his/her

alarm, and when he/she hits thesnooze button, the alarm shatters.

Your character looks down at his/her

hand and realizes that although it

ooks normal, and doesn’t feel heavy,t’s as hard as stone.



***35***

She filled a syringe with a black liquid

rom a small bottle. She finds a veinon the corpse’s arm and pushes the

plunger. The corpse opens his white

eyes and turns his gaze to her face.



***36***

Write Prompt #36 from the corpse’s

POV.





***38***

Grab a novel close to your desk, open

o the first chapter, and write downhe first five words. Use some or all of

hese words as the title for your next

novel, which is about one of the

ollowing: werewolves, elves, ghosts,aliens or centaurs. Write a blurb for

he back of your new novel. Let loose,

go crazy. SELL your book to the guy orgal standing in the bookstore who jus

picked it up.



***39***

Cloning humans has been legal for 75

years. Your character hascommissioned a clone from a budget

ab, and is on the way to the main

office to pick it up. Why is your

character so unhappy after picking theclone up?



***40***

Write Prompt #39 from the POV of the

clone.



***41***

Your character walks into the mouth

of a cave, torch in hand. From deepwithin comes a low rumble,

reverberating along the dripping

walls.



***42***

She wore a flashing emerald at her

hroat, and as he looked into hereyes, he realized she was not human.

Not one bit.





***44***

Write Prompt #43, but replace the

army with a lone bounty hunter.



***45***

“Sleep well, honey.”

“Goodnight, Mom.” As soon as her

mother closed the door, Elle threwback the covers and stood. She pulled

a bag out from under her bed and

ooked out the window. The moon

was almost as bright as daylight.



***46***

Your character enters a room, which i

ull of people, carrying a box. Thecrowd, seeing the box, begins to back

away.



***47***

A woman enters the bedchamber she

shares with her husband, only to findhe head of her lover pickled in a jar

and staring at her from the mantle.



***48***

Your character has made a watch that

can stop time...

…and it has just been stolen.



***49***

Your character has just stolen a watch

hat can stop time.



***50***

A young girl walks around a tree three

imes. With each revolution, theorest around her fades and a new

world takes shape.



***51***

The Magical Skull of Doom, made of

crystal and found in an archeologicaldig in Belize during the 1920s, is an

artifact shrouded in rumor and myth.

One rumor is that it has a particular

smell, and that anyone standing neart begins to hear chimes and bells.

Your character has just found a crysta

skull (not necessarily at a dig).

Describe this discovery, focusing on

he sounds and smells that come with

t.



***52***

Surrounded by tall, majestic,

mysterious stones, your character isabout to begin the ritual. The only

hing left to do is to wait for the

moon to rise between the two tallest

stones and spill light across the altar.





***54***

Using a different name from Prompt

#53, describe a guest of the innmeeting one of the ghosts.



***55***

Using yet another name from Prompt

#53, tell the story of a woman whoalls in love with one of the ghosts.



***56***

Using a new name from Prompt #53,

ell the story of a young boy whomoves into the inn when his parents

buy it. Describe his first encounter

with the ghost.



***57***

The last ghost on your list has a secre

hat she took to her grave (whichhappens to be under the floorboards

n the best suite in the inn). She will

only be free to leave the inn if she can

share that secret with someone.



***58***

One morning, a little girl and her

brother discover that they can walkhrough the mirror in the hallway.



***59***

There are four knights in a field.

You’re only allowed to let one of hem live.







***62***

Science fiction heroes have a lot of

exciting adventures, but they alsomust do normal things, like shop for

groceries, clean their teeth and… get

married.

Describe a wedding set 200 years in

he future.



***63***

Dolphins sleep unihemispherically,

meaning one side of their brain sleepwhile the other stays awake (this is

how they don’t drown).

magine that your characterexperiences unihemispheric sleep.

He/she can stay up all the time as a

result, and perhaps his/her job or

ifestyle reflects this ability. Describe a

day in the life of your character.



***64***

Animals were frequently prosecuted

as criminals in medieval courts, oftenor supernatural reasons, but also for

more ‘natural’ crimes, like theft and

murder. A majority of animal

defendants were pigs, most likelybecause they were allowed to roam

reely to forage by their owners. One

sow was convicted of killing an infant,and hanged from the gallows. Her

piglets were also charged as

accessories, but were acquitted



because of their youth and the bad

nfluence of their mother.

Write from the sow’s point of view,irst or third person. Give her a name,

and feel free to add a supernatural

element. Was she sent by someone to

kill the infant? Was she a human in

pig form, and if so, why didn’t she

change back into a human? Be sure to

nclude her piglets.





recently gotten into the fad of having

a chicken coops in their backyards,

and it has unfortunately attracted a

cockatrice. Write about a town

meeting where they discuss the

damage the cockatrice has done, and

how they’re going to get rid of it.



***66***

Aelurophobia is a deathly fear of cats

Your character has aelurophobia in a

world where hyper-intelligent cats

have taken over.



***67***

Your character is an executioner who

must execute the queen. Pick one (ormore): the executioner has been

bribed; the queen is not the real

queen; the executioner is not the rea

executioner.



***68***

Geomancy (in Arabic, “science of the

sand”) is a method of divination usedor centuries, and perhaps most

amously by Napoleon.

Your character is using sand to divinehe future. Options for this prompt:

colored sand, sand inside glass,

standing in a desert, water or other

iquid poured on or pooling in the

sand, divination by the seaside.



***69***

embroil, v: to throw into disorder or

confusion; to involve in conflict ordifficulties.





***71***

chimera, n: an imaginary monster

compounded of incongruous parts.

Quickly, create a list of six animals.

Using a die, choose an animal for the

head, the body, and then the tail of your chimera.

Your character comes across the

chimera you’ve created in a forestnear his/her village while collecting

medicinal plants.



***72***

Using the list you made for Prompt

#71, role the die again and create anew chimera.

Your character comes across the new

chimera you’ve created in a back alleyof a major metropolitan city while

walking to work.



***73***

Using the list you made for Prompt

#71, role the die again and create anew chimera.

Set this story about 50-75 years in the

uture. Your character comes acrosshe chimera after breaking into a lab

hat sells genetic modifications to the

public.



***74***

While entering a sacred, ancient city,

your character passes beneath acolossal statue of a man, which guard

he city, only to discover that the

statue is alive.



***75***

Your character is a young Egyptian

slave whose task is to bring water andood to the other slaves building the

pyramids, as well as the engineers an

overseers. While bringing a basket of

ood to the engineers one evening,your character overhears them

speaking to the starmen, who came

rom the sky in a great ship, and whoare showing them how to build the

giant structures.



***76***

She reached into the bowl of cherries

and picked up one ripe, cool, plumpspecimen. The first bite sent a flood o

sweet and slightly tangy juice into her

mouth. She pulled the pit from her

ips and held it between two longingers. The pit was glowing, with

potential, with purpose, with life…



***77***

Your character is the captain of a

cargo ship. In addition to the goodsbeing shipped, the vessel has taken

on three passengers: two scientists se

on studying marine life, and a

mysterious widow who stays in hercabin and speaks to no one.

The ship is attacked by a large sea

monster on the third day at sea. Writ

rom the captain’s POV.



***78***

Write Prompt #77 from a scientist’s

POV.



***79***

Write Prompt #77 from the widow’s

POV.



***80***

Your character is riding on the

shoulders of a steam-powered robot.Focus your writing on sights and

sounds.



***81***

Write about a conflict between a devi

and an angel, but in your story, thedevil is the hero.



***82***

Many fantasy novels feature games

nvented by the author for thecharacters to play. Write a scene in

which your characters are playing a

game. Don’t try to decide what the

rules are before you start writing;nvent the rules as you go.



***83***

Write Prompt #82 in a science fiction

setting.



***84***

Write about a warrior queen heading

nto battle. Give her a weapon and abattle animal.



***85***

Write about a president who is so

crazy he doesn’t even know he’spresident. Surround him with

handlers who keep things running. Se

he story 150 years in the future.



***86***

Ancient cultures used makeup for

more than just beauty. They wore eyeshadow to ward off blindness,

eyeliner to ward off evil, and lipstick

o protect against poison.

n a fantasy setting, describe your

character applying makeup that gives

him/her special abilities: protective,

strengthening, clairvoyant, etc.



***87***

Take the history from Prompt #86 and

apply it to a science fiction setting.Describe your character applying

makeup that is scientifically designed

o serve a purpose: protective,

offensive, recreational, etc.



***88***

ares and penates, n. pl. : household

gods.



***89***

apwing, n : from Old English “leap”

and “wink,” a crested Old Worldplover noted for slow, irregular

lapping wings and a shrill, wailing cry





***91***

“In the magical universe there are no

coincidences and there are noaccidents. Nothing happens unless

someone wills it to happen.”

~William S. Burrough



***92***

n France, it was once against the law

o say “violet” out loud.

Create a world where saying “violet”

out loud has extreme consequences.

Then have your character say it.



***93***

magine a world where the bird flu is

pervasive and destructive disease, anhumans have taken matters into their

own hands. Your character mans a

machine that pulls flocks of birds from

he sky. Be sure to describe themachines and how they work.

Things to think about: a world

without birds, the reactions of

environmentalists, ornithologists,

birdwatchers and hunters, the species

hat were prey to birds that no longer



have a predator threat.



***94***

Some historians believe that the

centaur myth came about when tribewho did not have horses (and had

probably never seen horses) met up

with tribes that rode on horseback.

Your character is out hunting for his

village (on horseback) when he/she

spies what looks like a man on

horseback. As your character gets

closer, it slowly dawns on him/her

hat there is something unusual abou

he way the rider is sitting on the



horse.



***95***

More than 700 people world-wide

have a hookworm in their bodies.

magine a world where these worms

are all in communication with one

another, and that they possesscurrently dormant) mind-control

abilities. They await only a critical

mass of infestation to begin

conquering the world, and one final

human is about to become infected…



***96***

He grabbed a fistful of salt and turned

o face the beast behind him.



***97***

Describe a world where human’s shed

heir skin like a snake. Do they do it inprivate, like other bathroom

unctions? Is it more public, like

coughing or sneezing? Are some

people ashamed? Are there contestsor the most-intact skin?



***98***

“I find the medicine worse than the

malady.”

~John Fletche



***99***

Scholars believe that throwing

pennies into a well for good luck goes

back to the Mayans, who used to

hrow maidens into wells and springso appease the spirits who lived there

Write from the POV of a spirit in a

spring. You can set the story in thepast or in modern times, or (because

spirits are timeless) describe

housands of years in the life of yourspirit. Are these gifts welcome? What

does the spirit think of them?



***100***

They invited her in because it was

raining and she looked cold. Theyoffered her supper because it was late

and she looked hungry. They asked

her to say the blessing because they

were friendly and she wore a cross.But when she opened her mouth, no

one recognized the strange, terrible

words she said.



***101***

Parthenogenesis is when an

unfertilized egg spontaneously splitsand develops into a pregnancy,

without the necessity of “male input.”

A German woman, who claimed to be

a virgin, experience parthenogenesisduring World War II. When doctors

ested her child, they found it to be

genetically a twin to the woman, andhey suggested that it was the shock

of the bombing that caused the egg to

split.



magine a world where women can

experience parthenogenesis under a

much lighter amount of shock.





Thank You!

Yup, you! The first volume got such a great

esponse, I had to write this second one, and

here you are with me at the end of the book.

hope you’ve found some great stories in thes

pages, and that you will do what you’re mean

o do: write.

Speaking of which, I’d love to read what you

came up with. Feel free at any time to email

me at [email protected]. You can alsoee a complete list of my books and catch up

on what I’m doing at

www.LauraTheNinja.com, or find the book at

www.facebook.com/deskandchair.

f you haven’t picked up Volume 1 yet, find it

here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0087



e=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&cre

20

And if you like this book, please consider

writing a review on Amazon! I am anndependent author, and I don’t have the

esources to promote the book like a

raditional publisher. Your Amazon review

goes a long way towards helping othereaders figure out if my book is what they’re

ooking for.

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101 Writing Prompts for Fantasy 2 - Laura Grant