It’s that time again! The Writing Prompt Review comes forth
to analyze a few more springboards of creativity. Today’s prompts come from
Writing Forward’s collection of 15 Creative Writing Prompts for speculative
fiction.
Speculative fiction
is loosely defined as “anything that ventures beyond known reality” and
includes both fantasy and science fiction. This description isn’t entirely faithful
to hard science-fiction, of course, which attempts by definition to expand
on what we know of the universe rather than leaving it and its laws behind entirely.
Perhaps a better way to say it would be that speculative fiction is “anything
that ventures beyond known experience.” We know that it’s possible to travel to
the edges of the solar system; we just haven’t managed to do it in practice
yet. On the other hand, if you aren’t in the mood for the constraints of physics
and the laws of nature, you can simply turn to the absolute freedom of fantasy.
Want to base an entire world off of an imaginary set of magical laws? Go for
it. No one will protest.
Writing Forward does not combine its prompts with images, as
was the case in the last review session. The flavor you bring to these prompts
will be dependent entirely upon your own brain. Listening to music can guide
your interpretation, if you like. But sometimes it can be fun to see how the
prompt comes across to your naked imagination.
#1. A team of researchers in a submarine is caught in a deadly sea storm. The instruments on board go haywire. They submerge deep into the ocean in search of calm waters until the storm passes. When it does, the sub surfaces but the instruments are still not functioning properly. They can’t get a fix on their location and cannot find land, which should be nearby. Then the researchers realize there are two moons in the sky and the constellations are completely unfamiliar.
You could argue that this is far too specific to be a truly
useful writing prompt, but it certainly is an interesting concept! What you
would ultimately have the freedom to decide on is where they are now and how
they got there. They could be in an entirely different solar system. But that
seems like the obvious answer. How about they’re in the same solar system, but so long ago that the Earth has two moons and
the stars are just different enough as to be unrecognizable. You could also
flip that around so that they have traveled forward in time – maybe the second
moon is the result of a large chunk of the Earth being ripped out by an
asteroid, or nuclear war. You just have to decide whether you want to play with
dimensional travel or time travel.
You don’t have to make it a submarine, either, or a storm.
This sort of story trope started with Rip Van Winkle – losing yourself in
another time or place because of unnatural occurrences. What’s the difference
in probability between entering another time/place by travelling deep into the
ocean vs. sleeping in a fairy ring? One has a fantasy flair, the other a
science fiction flair.
#2. A man who sees
ghosts checks himself into a mental institute, not realizing that the facility
has been closed for almost thirty years.
This prompt has the potential to be either spooky or
hilarious – and it would probably be an excellent exercise to try doing both!
Let’s start with horror. If the ghosts are real, you have a
man who finds himself trapped and tormented in one of the most macabre settings
on earth, alone and completely deluded by the dead caretakers who surround him.
It would be fascinating to see how many clues you could leave for the reader
without allowing the man to become aware of his situation himself. Not to mention all the rabbit trails that you
can go down describing each ghost and why they are there in the first place.
On the other hand, if the ghosts are not real, you can paint a picture of a man gradually losing more
and more of his sanity as he lives out his fantasy world in the very building
where his ills could be cured, if only he had picked an asylum that was
populated. This would be a story contained entirely within the mind of the man,
and I imagine it would get twisty very quickly.
However, if this prompt were to be played as comedic, I
would personally play up the farce to eleven. I see him as a prim, proper man
with a very set view on how things should be done, and bother if these ghosts
are going to make him miss his Aunt Bert’s tea party next month. The ghosts don’t
scare him at all, no matter how hard they try, and he just sniffs them away as
an inconvenience that needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible. Of course,
as soon as he arrives at the asylum, he notices how filthy it is (having been
abandoned for so long) and he makes it a personal project to spiff up the place
(after all, he’s going to be living there, and I mean really, every room deserves a proper duvet and the kitchen is
missing the appropriate amount of tea cozies).
So what do you think? What direction are your muses inclined
to go when faced with these prompts? Let me know via comment – or choose
another prompt from the list and go wild!
Keep reading, keep writing.
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