5,000 Writing Prompts

by Bryn Donovan

  She isn’t happy about being left at home to run the castle when they go off to war… and she winds up leading the biggest battle of all.

  Once every thousand years, the phoenixes catch fire, burn to ash, and are reborn again from their own ashes. Contrary to legend, they aren’t birds, but humanoid creatures.

  A fae, a giant, and a gnome walk into a tavern.

  A woman survives being struck by lightning, but it left a map burned onto her back.

  The mermaids are empaths who find it hard to resist the urge to sing about the desires of any human nearby.

  This hideous monster is pretty nice when you get to know him.

  The birth of twins was considered bad luck in their country, so his father ordered his twin sister to be killed at birth. Someone disobeyed the order, and she’s still alive.

  The magical spell turned the hoard of gold and jewels into a living, sparkling dragon.

  A man is sent to kidnap the king’s daughter, and things don’t go according to plan.

  The barbarian girl from the north arrives at the school for priests.

  A royal birth is usually a happy occasion, but this time it leads to disaster.

  He’s the zookeeper at a zoo for magical and mythological beasts.

  The playwright didn’t realize at first that his plays predicted the future.

  The king sent his son on the quest fully expecting that the young man would get killed.

  She commands the fireflies.

  This so-called school for wizards is a scam—no one can do magic. Until now.

  Can he prevent civil war by betraying the man who’s both his friend and his king?

  She’s looking for her brothers who were turned into wolves.

  When one takes out the jewel, it absorbs all of the light within about a mile radius.

  The fallen angel tries to get a second chance.

  Two souls live within the same body.

  Nobody wants to be the woman whose foot fits into that slipper.

  They call him the King of Keys. Well, he calls himself that, anyway.

  The potion poisons anyone who has just told the truth.

  The hellhounds have been locked out of hell.

  His only magic is being able to weaken other people’s spells.

  This library is also a kind of arsenal.

  What good is a banshee who has been rendered mute?

  A new virus with strange symptoms affects only one magical species.

  His voice magically compels everyone else to obey. Only she is unaffected.

  Because of his unique parentage, he travels easily between the land of the living and the land of the dead.

  Entrusting the quest to a couple of non-warriors turned out to be a terrible idea.

  Anyone who touches the cursed river will die of thirst, no matter how much they drink.

  Although humans don’t know it, a certain business or institution is run by a cadre of supernatural beings.

  She was a minor goddess once, but now she’s the only one left.

  He can smell fear. Also jealousy. And embarrassment. All emotions have specific scents to him.

  Two warriors fight. One of them desperately wishes to avoid hurting the other.

  No one remembers it now, but the four suits in a deck of playing cards or Tarot cards were based on four long-lost kingdoms.

  The demon is in trouble for being disloyal.

  The horses burst into flames.

  This magical item erases the wearer’s bad memories as soon as they are made.

  They’ve got a good reason to bring the evil guy back to life.

  Whoever he shoots with one of his arrows falls in love…with him.

  Thunderstorms bring him power, which he loses gradually over long stretches of clear weather.

  She believes a shocking act of bloodshed is needed to inspire the uprising.

  The statue appeared in the middle of town and no one knows how it got there.

  In this culture, one of the most profound bonds is between the steed and the rider.

  The weapon makes its owner invincible for a time, but will also be the death of its owner.

  They are the spirits of the waterfalls.

  One bone in his body once belonged to someone else.

  When the woodsman cut down a tree, he freed a sprite imprisoned there.

  In this land, exchanging wedding vows causes the couple to be able to hear one another’s thoughts for the rest of their lives.

  Any person who kills her will inherit her power.

  Giant peacocks stand guard at the gate.

  These walls do talk if you touch them in the right places.

  She wants to poison the sacred well.

  A wizard’s severed hand wields fearsome power, but only if it is willingly sacrificed to the owner.

  Everyone thinks he’s the Chosen One, but he’s just a good liar.

  This incense can mask any smell.

  The only black market in the realm is on the open ocean.

  She pretended to be dead to escape the seven men in the woods.

  A chieftain must sacrifice one of his warriors without telling him why.

  They are able to cross the desert by taking the form of sandstorms.

  The queen decides her son is unworthy to inherit the throne because of one particular reason.

  No one ventures here without a mask.

  A so-called fool triumphs in a battle over her enemies.

  This plan will both appease a monster and rid the city of its undesirable residents.

  The waters of this river will make anybody drunk.

  The local police force actually knows all about her “secret” supernatural activities.

  He recruits new servants among souls yet to be born.

  Reincarnation is real, and she remembers all her past lives…and her future ones, too.

  The good witch had been under the impression that it was a good spell.

  She breaks the oath. It was a stupid oath anyway.

  Getting that particular ancient symbol tattooed on that particular place on her body has unforeseen consequences.

  The hero’s captors are surprisingly polite.

  No human who has entered this cave has ever emerged alive again.

  The angel is reluctant to deliver this message.

  The problem with hobgoblin companions is that they love playing practical jokes.

  A man offers to take his place at the executioner’s block despite being a complete stranger.

  Party in the catacombs!

  In the middle of a duel, the most embarrassing thing happens.

  He called for all witches to be punished by death, not realizing his wife was one.

  The Biblical rod of Aaron, which turns into a snake when thrown on the ground, has survived to the present day.

  She doesn’t know why he can read the runes.

  The curse was lifted from him, but he wants it back.

  They are from two different, warring species, and they’re falling in love.

  She reveals her true identity: she’s the princess. Nobody believes her.

  As the two sit by the fire, he makes a shocking confession.

  The gargoyles are no longer stone.

  The servant of the cruel master accidentally murders him.

  Why does this modern corporation have a necromancer on the payroll?

  Oh, no. He forgot to take off the ring.

  The myth of the Easter Bunny is based on a true story.

  She’s been indoctrinated in this magical cult from childhood, but now she has doubts.

  His armor has one special opening.

 
The magical sword was melted down to make various objects that are now scattered across the world.

  This path changes course as you walk on it.

  Some astounding things are for sale at the goblin market.

  He first suspects he is the incarnation of an ancient god.

  A musician can kill, heal, or resurrect people with his or her songs.

  People are committing surprising acts in their sleep.

  This might cure the current plague…if it can be found.

  A smuggler, mercenary, or thief takes down or helps take down an oppressive ruler or regime.

  An attempt to rescue a friend, family member, or lover will put a larger mission or cause in jeopardy.

  A peasant girl, who may be good or evil, believes that a divine figure in a vision told her to lead an army to victory.

  The ones who live in the bottom of the ocean come to the surface.

  Someone can bring a person back to life by taking his or her place in the underworld.

  A counterfeiter’s coins or a forger’s fake works of art become more valuable than the real thing for this one reason.

  A warrior defects to the other side in hopes of bringing a costly war to a quicker resolution.

  Anything becomes true if enough people believe in it deeply enough.

  A person has been turned into an object by magic.

  To open the door, a person must use a key whittled out of one of his or her own bones.

  A person doesn’t know why he or she has stopped aging.

  After an archaeologist digs up an ancient treasure, the original owner shows up to take it back.

  Two allies or two factions of the same army are tricked into attacking one another.

  Miners discover stone spheres with strange markings.

  Soldiers take souvenirs from their fallen enemies, which proves to be their downfall.

  A woman or a group of women plot an escape or revolt against a forced marriage or a whole system of forced marriage.

  His magical powers don’t work when he’s drunk.

  The flowers from this garden are the most precious commodities in the realm…for a very good reason.

  A vending machine dispenses some very peculiar items instead of Coke.

  For this race of beings, the sense of smell is more important than vision or hearing.

  She made a noble sacrifice, and now, as a ghost, she resents it.

  They live on an island in the middle of a lava lake. It has advantages and disadvantages.

  For this society, battle is a religious observance.

  This is the most pitiful excuse for a castle in all the land.

  This so-called magical sword has turned out to be a piece of junk.

  A beautiful unmanned ship sails itself into the harbor.

  So many birds or butterflies migrate across this land that for days, it darkens the skies.

  The land has been cursed to permanent darkness, daytime, fog, wind, or lightning strikes.

  Sibling rivalry is intense when it’s between twin demigods.

  At this auction, people are bidding a lot more than money.

  He’s the keeper of a hive of sentient bees.

  A worker learns that the tower they are building will serve a much different purpose than what they were all told.

  Each person’s spirit is connected to a particular tree in the forest.

  He’s been hiding in the catacombs for years.

  They find the fossil or skeleton of a creature they’d assumed to be mythical.

  The changeling thought she was human, but now she’s been returned to her own kind.

  A spirit possesses a human or animal body and is then unable to get out of it.

  The river has a soul of its own.

  The king ran away and is living under an assumed name.

  They fought long and hard to bring this new king to the throne, and it turns out he’s totally incompetent.

  This muse inspires artists, writers, and musicians to great work, but when she leaves them, they become so despondent they sometimes die.

  He’s assigned to be a bodyguard to someone on whom the fate of the world depends. The tricky part is, she can never find out that’s what he’s really doing.

  No one knows who made the Garden of Obelisks or what the stone pillars signify.

  There are good things and bad things about having an invisible dog for a pet.

  The leaves of this tree make great parachutes.

  The evil ruler is forcing her to forge an ancient prophecy that foretells his glorious reign.

  She finds a century-old catalog, attempts to place an order, and succeeds.

  The hero is killed halfway through, and the sidekick takes over.

  150 Science Fiction Prompts

  Some of these may be more along the lines of “speculative fiction” than science fiction. They include prompts about the environment, artificial intelligence, genetics, medicine, time travel, space exploration, alien races, and alternative histories.

  All citizens are temporarily neutered at birth. Would-be parents must prove to the government that they’ll be suitable caretakers and providers before they are allowed to procreate.

  All marriages must be approved by a department of the government, which analyzes massive amounts of data to predict the success of the union, its economic and social impact on society, the health and welfare of any children, and so on. It’s such a hassle that many people opt for government-arranged marriages instead.

  Global warming prompts rapid mutations in the human species.

  The world’s leaders broker a deal with the alien invaders that many see as unfair.

  Humans have discovered a way to communicate directly with animals, and all the meat humans consume now is lab-created.

  Extreme elective surgery is the societal norm, and humans undergo creative modifications that include extra limbs, cartoon-like features, and so on.

  Breeding modern humans with large amounts of Neanderthal DNA leads to interesting results.

  In this world, Napoleon’s army took over Australia, and he never lost at Waterloo. France took control of most of Europe, and World War I and World War II never happened.

  An alien from a planet where no one else experiences empathy comes to live on Earth, believing s/he will fit in better there.

  A drug that makes people non-confrontational has been added to the public water supply and to all beverages sold by major corporations.

  The huge, thin sheets of material covering some trees and yards turn out to be discarded placentas.

  A low-level employee in a bureaucratic government office realizes the paperwork he files every day contains codes that determine others’ fates.

  A human and alien fall in love, causing an interplanetary crisis.

  An alien doesn’t know how to tell the humans she’s become intimately involved with that she’s an alien, even though they will find out soon enough.

  High-speed robotic horses become a trendy alternative to cars and weave through heavy traffic with ease.

  Hunters track down fugitives who resisted vaccinations or implants.

  Personal information, including patterns of behavior and psychological triggers, has never been easier to obtain. Corporations synthesize and sell algorithms about consumers that make it easier than ever before to get them to buy goods and services.

  Mars has been terraformed by dropping nuclear bombs on its poles, and the first human colonists have been assured that almost all of the radiation has escaped the atmosphere.

  An attempt to save the honeybees has surprising consequences.

  Online bullying is made a felony, which leads to unforeseen complications.

  At a new u
nderwater amusement park and resort, built at a greater depth than any other construction before, the guests face an unforeseen threat.

  Spies use tiny implants in the retina that record and transmit everything to the commanders in another country. The implants dissolve after a certain amount of time.

  The first time travelers seem to have no ability to improve the course of human events. If they kill Hitler, for instance, some other person does exactly what he did. They search for a way to really alter the timeline.

  Astronauts develop strange and unexpected symptoms in response to traveling at light speed.

  It’s easy to look up exactly where any person is at any given time.

  New fitness devices track your movements and everything you eat automatically.

  A new device automatically tracks your mood levels and emotions. This leads people to avoid more of what makes them unhappy and do more of what makes them feel good.

  People become human mood rings: they get implants that make them change color along with their mood.

  Criminals and dissidents undergo illegal genetic therapy to change their DNA so the government has no record of them.

  Euthanasia is legal and painless means are widely available. A detective specializes in suspicious cases of euthanasia that may have been murder.

  Books and videogames have both been replaced by interactive virtual worlds filled with fascinating characters.

  Colonists on another planet want to be an independent country and lead a rebellion.

  People from a civilization that mysteriously disappeared centuries ago, such as ancestral Puebloans in the U.S. Southwest, return.

  An alien planet outsources city planning by creating a complex, engrossing city-building videogame popular with humans.

  A time traveler from centuries in the future fails in their attempt to impersonate a person of the 21st century. They enlist someone’s help to carry out a mission.

  A virus can be transmitted from computers or other machines to humans with bionic upgrades.

  Advertisements appear randomly in thin air in front of a person. Getting media without this advertising is prohibitively expensive.

  Scientists attempt to genetically alter a human to adapt to another planet’s terrain or outer space travel. They accidentally make him or her immortal.

  Implants make telepathy possible between the humans who get them.