Consider this scenario. Strange things have been happening in your little town; disappearances, illness and murders, food stores that vanish overnight. No one knows why or who, or how to stop it. Your character becomes convinced that the animals in town–the dogs, the cats, the livestock–see things she can’t. What does your character do when […]

Imagine a world where no one believes in miracles. There are no spontaneous cures, no finding someone lost when all hope is gone, no faith in anything but the concrete. All that changes one morning, and miracles sprout as thick as dandelions in a meadow. Put a character in the middle of that scenario and […]

A stranger arrives one day. This person claims to know the answers to all the ills the world suffers, and how to cure them. The catch is this person refuses to tell what she/he knows. Why not, and what will happen if those secrets are let loose in the world? Write a story about that. […]

The sages say the world will end in ice–but the fires won’t stop burning. What do you, and the world, do? Put a character in the middle of that scenario and write a story. Remember: Challenges are supposed to be fun, but don’t forget to stretch yourself and take risks. If you normally write fantasy, […]

You’ve spent the last six years trying to convince your twin girls that the monster under the bed is imaginary. No matter how hard you try, the girls insist the monster is real…and he’s lonely. You come home from work late one night and the monster is at the kitchen table, having cookies and milk […]

What’s it like to be an explorer, the first to see lands, sights–and even universes–that no one has seen before. And what does it feel like to be out there all alone? Now write a story about a character in that position. Remember: Challenges are supposed to be fun, but don’t forget to stretch yourself […]

Imagine waking up one morning and finding your house full of pixies, brownies, sprites, and dragons. Magic is real. Write a story about how people learn to cope. Remember: Challenges are supposed to be fun, but don’t forget to stretch yourself and take risks. If you normally write fantasy, try science fiction. If you’ve never […]

Post apocalyptic or dystopian stories are a genre staple. We’re all familiar with stories about the harsh struggle to survive, let alone thrive. But here’s a different character or story twist to think about. What kind of person survives the end of the world? Think about what personality traits a survivor has, what skills, and […]

There are fundamental things about the world we live in that all of us take for granted. Water is wet, the sky is blue, and gravity holds us to the earth are just a few. There are many more. How does changing one of those unchangeable things alter the world your characters live in? Remember: […]

The best stories can come from imagining yourself in another place, another situation. Pictures this: You go to bed in your own house and wake up in a colony ship, millions of miles out in space. You wander levels of this huge space for days, and while there is plenty of food and water, you […]