Category: Writer’s Prompts

All things sword! This prompt is truly meant for the fantasy genre, all this month we will be following our hero characters. Explore what it means to be the hero. Is it all fun and games? Maybe it is and they are tired of that. Maybe the sword chose the wrong hero. This month we’re going to explore what it means for a character who is essentially morally good to wield a sword.

Swordtember was created by Faith Schaffer in 2020 as a prompt list for artists to design a sword daily for different characters.  Most of the monthly themes on the blog began as prompts for visual artists, but there is no good reason we as writers can’t use them too. Either as a stand alone piece, or as an addition to your other work use one or all of these prompts to get your creativity flowing.

Any genre of fantasy can work here. From the more personal narratives of the sword and sorcery stories to the epics where the world is at stake, explore what it means to be the hero. 

Prompts & Ideas

Week One: Insert Here Vs Insert Here. Two fantasy nations at odds. Tell us who they are and what the spat is about. Is it violent or friendly fire? What is gained by winning. This could be a political piece, or something more personal between two or a few people. Is the battle worth it?

Week Two: The Sword with a Name. The history of the blade is almost as important as the main character. How does your character come to possess it and learn its powers? Is it passed down through the bloodline? Does it appear in great need? What does it do?

Week Three: The Sword you can’t get rid of. Once you accept ownership you can only get rid of it by…tell us the lengths your character will go to to get rid of it once and for all. Is it cursed? Can it only be lost in battle? Why doesn’t the character want it?
Week Four: Crafting of a magical blade. A blacksmith, a mage, who is crafting this sword, and what makes it magical? Is the crafting of it a skill that takes many years to learn? Or can anyone with a manual and a DIY kit from the internet do it?

Here be dragons! Giant reptiles of many varieties have worn the name, what imagery comes to mind when you think of dragons? Is a dragon the fearsome creature of mediaeval legend? Or does a more snakelike creature from folklore come to mind?

Smaugust began in 2016. Stories of dragons have fascinated people world over for aeons. As a writer of fantasy most of us are going to want to write a dragon story at some point, and Smaugust provides us with a great opportunity to do so.

Most of the monthly themes on the blog began as prompts for visual artists, but there is no good reason we as writers can’t use them too. Either as a stand-alone piece, or as an addition to your other work use one or all of these prompts to get your creativity flowing.

Prompts & Ideas

Week one: But I want to ride it! Forget slaying, tell us about the time your character convinced a dragon to let them ride it. Whether for need or fun, write about a human who gets to ride a dragon. Was the dragon happy about it? Begrudgingly accepted the ride? Is it the dragon’s goal?

Week Two: The Lair was Empty. They were ready for battle, but no one was home. Are they nervous? Dare they touch anything? What happens if the dragon comes back? How would it play on the mind of adventurers to find an empty lair after months of searching?

Week Three: The treasure wasn’t what they expected. Maybe the greatest prize turns out to be books. Maybe a person? A pie? Is the character happy or mad about it? This could be an exploration of what “treasure” means or the perspective of different characters about the treasure.

Week Four: It’ll hatch any day now. Who is waiting for the special moment and why? Will be be a pet or sold? Do they want dragons or is this unexpected chaos? What goes into raising baby dragons?

Julycanthropy began as an artist challenge in 2016/17 and as you can guess, all things werewolf is the theme. However, all things shapeshifting work for this month. Werewolves are the obvious choice but any animal, real or mythical could work for this. The act of shapeshifting has been attributed to many animals across global mythology, so there is a wide array of ideas to choose from.

Most of the monthly themes on the blog began as prompts for visual artists, but there is no good reason we as writers can’t use them too. Either as a stand alone piece, or as an addition to your other work use one or all of these prompts to get your creativity flowing.

Prompts & Ideas

Week One: Wings. Is it just visible wings on a human frame? Do they morph into a bird? Were they a bird first or a human? Write a monologue from the perspective of a bird shifter.

All kinds of animals have been used in stories as alternate forms, and each tells us something about the character. Stereotypes of certain animals, such as a dog’s loyalty or a snake’s cunning, form part of the character’s personality. What if the character were naturally the opposite? What if the girl who changes into a bear was a ballerina? What if the swan was the star quarterback? What do they wish others simply understood?

Week Two: What about the locals? How does the average human feel about “them shifters”? Are they advocating rights? Avoiding at all costs? Or maybe they are hunting them? The process of transformation is dramatic enough that everyone would have an opinion of some sort. Give us a story of the transformation process from the perspective of a stranger.

Try writing this as a guidebook. A guide to hunting, negotiating, raising, any kind of guide. Write from either the perspective of a shifter trying to educate or a human who thinks they know it all.

Week Three: On the night of…Maybe it isn’t the full moon that makes your character change form. When does the magic moment happen? Is it special or an inconvenience? Write a scene in which the particular evening or timing brings about a shift that cannot be stopped.

Perhaps it isn’t tied to a night, but triggered by another event. What if your character transformed each time a song was sung in their presence? Maybe it is a deliberate event triggered by drinking a potion. What triggers the change and can anyone use this trigger?

Week Four: Surprise Shift! What if your character didn’t know they were a shapeshifter? How and when do they find out? Were they in the middle of something big or were they just trying to relax? Write the whole story about that moment.

Or write it from the perspective of someone close to them. It would surely be a shock for them too. Use their field of view to give more detail on the physical transformation or focus on the confusion and emotions of witnessing this change.

Week Two: Weather Matters. In colder climes, bugs tend to be smaller than their subtropical counterparts. Give us a species profile for any habitat, with how the bugs survive. Does the climate impact their breeding cycle? What happens during unseasonal weather?

Write a set of instructions for an apprentice or tradesmen on how to deal with the local area while completing their job. Perhaps a fact sheet of the dangerous bugs in your fantasy land, with what they can do and more importantly, how to fend them off.

Week Three: Examination. What bug is your character obsessed with? Tracking? Absolutely sick of it? In what way does this bug impact their life? And why can’t they get rid of it?

Or, if someone had the super power or controlling bugs, what would they do with it? Could they be responsible and use the power for good? Or is it finally time to get some revenge?

Week Four: Extermination. Time to get rid of them! What kinds of magical methods are employed for dealing with vermin and other pests?

Tell us a tale by a local who lived through the great invasion. Was the whole town reduced to tears and fear? Or was it an invasion that impacted that character only. This is a great place to practice anecdotal stories that still include a fast paced element.

I would love to see what you do with these prompts! If you publish them please tag me on social media so I know where to look. You can find me on X/Twitter or email me at cmwellsmore@gmail.com

Week Two: The Midnight Zone. What kind of Mer creature lives in a place of perpetual darkness? Is it peaceful? Is it a predator or prey species? Is it driven by a need to feed? Is food scarce down there? Or maybe they are happily living their lives until underwater research teams invade their privacy. 

While darkness is used in many fear driven plotlines, darkness itself doesn’t have to be scary. Maybe it’s the light that inspires fear. Have a try at writing a scene in which the darkness provides comfort, or the light lets them see all too clearly the danger ahead.

Week Three: Oceanic Chimera. Do an image search for “sea animal”. Create a story of your character’s first encounter with a composite of the first three animals in the results. An Octurphin (octopus, dolphin, turtle) doesn’t sound too intimidating, but what if your character was silly enough to bring one on board? Is it a creature to slay or do they wind up the best of friends?

As an additional element, what kind of ship would you expect to see in your genre of fantasy? Is the ship itself magical? Sentient? Does it require a magical skillset to operate? Try to work the ship your character is on as a key feature to the plot.

Week Four: The Shoreline. What aquatic people might also spend time on land? Give us a race that is coastal and aquatic. What does it take to breathe underwater? Is it a natural part of their species’ biology? A spell? Enchanted gadgets? A potion maybe? How does your terrestrial character intend to navigate the watery depths, or why does your aquatic character want to spend time on land?

Are other societies aware of the aquatic people? Are they accepted or feared? Do the locals think of them as mythical? Does this suit the aquatic people? Or to venture down another line of thought, what does your aquatic civilization think of the locals?

I would love to see what you do with these prompts! If you publish them please tag me on social media so I know where to look. You can find me on X/Twitter or email me at cmwellsmore@gmail.com

I found this one suggested on Brush Warriors, however had a bit of trouble finding an origin point for it. From my (albeit small) amount of searching, I found this post from 2014 which had it as part of an Art With Heart series. The earliest form I could find for an artist was found at deviant art on the page of kesleyleah.

I was quite excited at the idea of using this theme as a prompt for writers. Weather often features as a plot point, either descriptive or a catalyst, but what if we were to use it as the main feature of the story?

Week 1

The Squall Passed Quickly: A story of seafarers sent adrift in a storm. Was the storm natural or conjured? Who survived? Is the storm truly over?

As an extension of the theme: Is rain good or bad to your character? Do they have memories in which rain is a feature? What is the relation to rain for a forest spirit? A troll? A sorceress trying very hard to make it home? How does it impact your character’s actions or moon?

Quick Exercise: Pick three of the following and write a piece of no more than 100 words.

• The rain stick
• The water fairy
• The magical umbrella
• The weather gauge
• The rainboots
• The lost dragon
• The grateful garden
• The most morose gnome
• The leak in the roof
• Not that kind of magic

Week 2

And then there was the flood: Did they know it was coming? Can they get to high ground? Is it ending or is this a new way of life?

On Writing Visual Descriptions: Go overboard with the visual description on purpose. Use all the adjectives you can and leave no detail out. Read through it again a little later and cross out any part that doesn’t give you an impression of what the character is thinking or doing. Re-write it only with the details remaining, then compare the first with the second draft.

Week 3

The storm goddess is angry: is she withholding all the rain? Nonstop rain? Is she wrecking the countryside? Why is she angry and what will it take to appease her?

Snowball Plotline: Write a plot using one sentence each for the beginning, middle and end.

• Ex: Harriet was on a quest to recover her grandmother’s amulet. Along the way she learns a dark family secret. Will she choose power or love?

Now expand each sentence into three:

• Harriet never knew her grandmother. Her family’s power was tied to the amulet the old woman fled with. If she wanted her birthright, she would have to find her grandmother.
• Along the way she meets people who knew/know her grandmother. The woman had made many enemies and hidden a secret from the family for years. A few people follow her, hoping to settle scores.
• She led the mage straight to her grandmother’s lair. The mage places the grandmother in danger. She must choose between saving her grandmother or reclaiming the pendant.

This may be enough for some pantsers (it is for this pantser anyways) but you can choose to snowball it again and write another three sentences for each of the nine above. Continue until you reach a point where you feel confident writing the scene, knowing what’s going to happen.

Week 4

Weather Spell Gone Wrong: They did everything right. They followed all the instructions to the letter. So what went wrong? How does the spell take a very very wrong turn?

As an extension of the theme: Life giving rain on a dried out land…are the farmers happy? What about those in the lowlands? How much rain is too much? What kind of plot points or situations can you think of that would halt your character in their tracks, and what do they do about it?

This one has something of a branching history, which is summed up beautifully by Brush Warriors. For the sake of us writers, I thought I would focus on tales of magical heroines. As last month the goal is at least 4, but really as many stories as you want to write. I think I’ve settled into the 100 word Drabble as being my mainstay. The main theme for this month is to write a story about any magical woman. Any kind of magic, any type of person, check out the below for inspiration.

Week One: The Almighty and Powerful One: comedic take on the bumbling hero? Super scary evil villain? who is this powerful one? What can they do that makes them “Almighty”? What do they do with it?

Week Two: The Hero is Tired: After so many battles, so many wins & losses, all the hero wants is to go home. Can they? Are they on their way or wistfully dreaming? Is home the same as it once was?

Week Three: Forest Retreat: The witch, the mage, the priestess, all could own an enchanted forest retreat. What does it look like? Are strange attributes at play? Who uses it? What for?

Week Four: On the night of the Full Moon: Are the shapeshifters out? Do the fae roam? Do the elves party? Whats happening during a full moon in your universe?

LetterMo is not actually an artist challenge. It was started by author Mary Robinette Kowal and is an invitation to write and send real mail in the post every day throughout February.

As artistic inspiration, Epistolary fiction – A letter written from one character to another – can be a fun way to explore a character. As it is a narrative piece, it will be coloured with the character’s personality and worldview. Here I’ve compiled a list of 4 different prompts you can use over the course of February to explore this subject. Break it down into daily bites, or go for a longer piece you work on over a few days.

And if you are looking for more inspiration, check out the standing Writer’s Exercise page for more short story exploration.

Week 1 – Dear Diary

Let’s start with the familiar letter to the self. What elements of the day’s events do your character feel they need to express privately and how do they feel about it?

Week 3 – I Have the Most Wonderful News

Full of vivid description and bursting with details, does this letter speak of a prize? A goal attained? Or a loved one returned?

Week 4 – I’m Not Sure What to Make of This

Confusion? Hesitant Rage? Why is your character perplexed and what do they expect the reader to do about it?