Category: Writing Prompts

Prompts are short, fun exercises that can be used to get the creative juices flowing or break the ice at a critique meeting. They start as a brief list of ingredients, forming a challenge for the writer to incorporate all of them into one self-contained piece. There are many ways to come up with prompts and each author will find a unique way to express a given prompt.

You Probably Think I’m a Lucky Guy

  • by jenThere was one reason.
  • having sex with a woman while
  • watch your fat feet
  • every inch of wall space was covered with mirrors
  • hidden pasta sauce recipe

Tune in next time part 849      Click Here for Earlier Installments

You probably think I’m a lucky guy. You probably think that there was no reason I would resist Titania’s advances. But you would be wrong. There was one reason. Tessa. I may not be the brightest hammer in the operating theater, but even I knew that having sex with a woman while trying to reunite and have a meaningful relationship with her sister was a bad idea. I just had to figure out how to escape the Crystal Clown with both my monogamy and my life.

The many, many layers of clothes she’d forced me into were working in my favor, mostly. She was ferociously turned on, but I was decidedly not.

“Out of the bed!” she suddenly cried. “Into the bathroom! Now! Now! I want to watch your fat feet squish against the mirrors!”

I rolled off the bed and waddled into the en suite, where not only the floor and ceiling, but every inch of wall space was covered with mirrors. I’m sensitive about the girthiness of my feet, and seeing them reflected in an infinity of infinite regressions helped kill the mood even deader than my numerous layers.

Titania skipped in to stand beside me, bouncing on her bare feet. I tried to find somewhere to direct my eyes where I wouldn’t be staring at her jiggling breasts or my own pudgy feet, and noticed something unexpected. The Ronald McDonald tribute tattoo on her thigh, when reflected back upon itself innumerable times, revealed a hidden pasta sauce recipe. And not just any pasta sauce recipe. *The* pasta sauce recipe, the one that every secret organization in the world was searching for.

bonus points for using them in order

about stichomancy writing prompts

try our stichomancy writing prompt generator!

Titania Pulled Open A Drawer

  • by KentAnd then you bite me!
  • an intensely awkward encounter
  • not sure about the sequined t-shirt
  • “You must wear them in bed,”
  • negotiating with a sneeze

Tune in next time part 848      Click Here for Earlier Installments

Titania pulled open a drawer. She grabbed blindly in it and tossed me whatever she got. “Put this on, too!” It was a leather miniskirt. While I struggled into that, she continued flinging more items at me. “And this! And this! And, and…” I was still trying to zip the skirt. “And then you bite me!” she said exuberantly.

I kept a careful eye on the Crystal Clown while wrapping myself in the additional garments. Fabrics were bunching and binding all over my sweaty body. Her eyes were hungry, and her nanobots in my original outfit were not letting up. Whether she really meant to let me bite her or not, it promised to be an intensely awkward encounter.

“Why do I need all these things?” I asked. I was especially not sure about the sequined t-shirt, which was itchy even through all the other layers.

“You need all of them because I said so!” Titania cried. “You must wear them in bed,” she went on, “and not take anything off until I tell you.”

She shoved me down on my back across the mattress and crawled up alongside me. She tipped her head back, perhaps showing me her neck but the expression on her face seemed more like she was negotiating with a sneeze. My question was, did she want to make it stop, or make it happen?

bonus points for using them in order

about stichomancy writing prompts

try our stichomancy writing prompt generator!

I Caught a Glimpse of Myself in the Mirror

  • by jen“wiggle room”
  • triggered in error by spiders
  • air conditioned, soundproof tent
  • he called it vertigo
  • makes things erotic

Tune in next time part 847      Click Here for Earlier Installments

I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and nearly laughed for real. I looked like a contestant on “Wiggle Room” — that old Svenborgian dance competition where the music all sounds like synthesizers triggered in error by spiders in the electronics. The show was filmed in an air conditioned, soundproof tent in the Svenborgian desert so that the music and the screams of the dancers wouldn’t disturb any neighbors. I loved that show, but Jason didn’t. He called it vertigo-inducing, as if that wasn’t the best part.

Titania snapped her fingers, causing the nanobots inhabiting my garments to pulsate in perfect synchronization. “That throbbing makes things erotic, don’t you think?” she purred.

I wasn’t sure what was so erotic about wearing two layers of clothes, but I nodded anyway. Anything to appease the Crystal Clown.

bonus points for using them in order

about stichomancy writing prompts

try our stichomancy writing prompt generator!

Titania Slouched Against the Wall

  • by Kentwearing nothing but a helmet and gloves
  • The nights are long, and Canada is cold
  • blowing the whistle in furious disapproval
  • if I have no other option, is it really laughter?
  • in a strange groping gesture

Tune in next time part 846      Click Here for Earlier Installments

Titania slouched against the wall, wearing nothing but a helmet and gloves made of the same dark metal. She looked pleased to see me, which was a relief. Not that I felt safe around her, but I thought it best to try to mask my uneasiness.

“Where’s Nigel?” I asked flippantly.

“Saskatoon,” she replied. “It’s nice to have him around, when I stay there. The nights are long, and Canada is cold.” She tilted her head contemplatively, and her smile grew wicked. “Of course, Nigel isn’t allowed out of Canada anymore, not after what happened on the train. Barreling through the station, blowing the whistle in furious disapproval of, I don’t know, maybe hockey? All things Canadian? Ironic, no?” She chuckled.

I laughed too, but if I have no other option, is it really laughter?

“You’re still not wearing your pajamas,” she sing-songed. She waved her gauntleted hand in a strange groping gesture, and suddenly the scientist getup I was wearing started to constrict in severely persuasive ways. I moved like a marionette whose operator was trying to put out a fire, compelled to wrestle the fringed pajamas on over my costume while the Crystal Clown cackled at my predicament.

bonus points for using them in order

about stichomancy writing prompts

try our stichomancy writing prompt generator!

Whose Room had I Blundered Into?

  • by jenstole a sideways look
  • grunting and thumping downstairs
  • I think it was, like, 3 AM
  • octopus farms would be
  • I think I broke your toilet

Tune in next time part 845      Click Here for Earlier Installments

Whose room had I blundered into? I stole a sideways look to try to find out, but saw no one. In order to see, I’d have to turn the whole way around, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that. The voice sounded slightly menacing, and also slightly familiar.

The voice continued, “Did the noise keep you up last night? All that grunting and thumping downstairs? I think it was, like, 3 AM when it started. It was coming from where the octopus farms would be if Fleur had stuck with the original schematics, but since she changed things, it was coming from the private bathroom off your office, General. I must apologize. None of this would have happened if Fleur hadn’t moved the octopus tanks. I had too many churros, and, well, I think I broke your toilet.”

Who was the silky voiced woman behind me? How did she know so much about this airship? And had she really been planning to poop in the octopus tank? I whirled around and my blood ran cold. Titania, the Crystal Clown.

bonus points for using them in order

about stichomancy writing prompts

try our stichomancy writing prompt generator!

Fleur Licked The Frosting Off Her Dagger

  • by Kentsecret clubs, secret organizations
  • barely used pajamas
  • lavishly fringed with wool yarn
  • zebra wallpaper, and glitter skulls
  • All you have to do is plop

Tune in next time part 844      Click Here for Earlier Installments

Fleur licked the frosting off her dagger, while staring daggers in my direction. It’s not too unusual to have a so-called secret weapon, but my wife excelled at it. In addition to the dagger that had appeared from some clever concealed place, I knew she had secret crossbows, secret blowguns, secret clubs, secret organizations to dream up yet more clandestine armamentations. But for the moment she was distracted by the cake. Tessa and Jim got in line for their slices, but I didn’t find it all that appealing.

With the talent show at last concluded, I could leave the auditorium. I roamed the airship’s corridors until I discovered an unlocked door into a random stateroom. Upon the bed lay some barely used pajamas lavishly fringed with wool yarn, upon the walls was aqua-and-pink zebra wallpaper, and glitter skulls overflowed the suitcase on the stand in the corner.

“You can stay for as long as you like,” came an unfamiliar voice from behind me. “All you have to do is plop your bod into those jammies and get cozy.” Someone had come out from the bathroom, cutting me off from the corridor.

bonus points for using them in order

about stichomancy writing prompts

try our stichomancy writing prompt generator!

How Could I Possibly Choose a Winner?

  • by jenboring, non-inflatable-object-related reasons
  • whipped out her dagger
  • portrait of a marriage in trouble
  • very-large-scale sculptures of robots
  • rise out of the mud like a lotus flower

Tune in next time part 843      Click Here for Earlier Installments

How could I possibly choose a winner? All of the children were equally, adorably, untalented. I closed my eyes, and pictured my mind as a fertile field, hoping that an idea would rise out of the mud like a lotus flower. My thoughts were so disordered that, instead, the only things to erupt from the soggy earth were very-large-scale sculptures of robots, ready for battle.

Unable to resist Fleur’s hypnotic command any longer, I mumbled into the microphone,

“In third place is Yolanda’s son — Not that one, but the other one.

In second place is Olga’s daughter — in the dress her mother bought her.

And in first, babe of Isolde — pick one from her numbers untold.”

There were gasps and cheers and boos. I could tell from one glance at Fleur that our relationship was the very portrait of a marriage in trouble. I should have chosen one of her children as the winner, but I didn’t, and now she whipped out her dagger.

“Watch where you’re waving that thing,” I cried. “We’re in a zeppelin!”

Her lips twitched in the faintest smile. “Fool! I will deal with you later. For now I will only use my dagger for the most boring, non-inflatable-object-related reasons.”

The cake replica of the zeppelin was brought onstage, and Fleur drove her blade straight into it, cutting off a large chunk to present to Isolde.

bonus points for using them in reverse order

about stichomancy writing prompts

try our stichomancy writing prompt generator!

The Evil Hypnotist

  • by Kentno way he spent his imprisonment just twiddling his thumbs
  • a track meet that had gotten out of control
  • at the height of her glorious sexiness
  • the name by which you wish to be called
  • fully clothed throughout the poem

Tune in next time part 842      Click Here for Earlier Installments

The evil hypnotist Jim meant had to be Ludwig “Wiggy” Wittgenberg. He did bear more than a passing resemblance to my wife, and was indeed quite deranged. Of course it didn’t matter if Fleur looked like any particular serial killer or evil hypnotist, but the comment prompted me to wonder where Wiggy had landed after serving time for his assorted deranged deeds. There was no way he spent his imprisonment just twiddling his thumbs, so in all likelihood he emerged far more dangerous than he went in.

I knew why Fleur didn’t want to handle selecting the winner. This talent show was like a track meet that had gotten out of control and no one knew who had the starter’s pistol anymore. Whoever chose the winner was going to make one baby’s momma very happy, and make a whole bunch of enemies in the process. I couldn’t believe that she, even being at the height of her glorious sexiness, expected to talk me into such a fool’s gambit. Of course she wasn’t talking, just staring at me and doing something with her thumbs. She was… twiddling them.

“You will come up on stage,” she said. I was horrified to find myself rising from my seat. She laughed as I made my way onto the stage.

My throat constricted when I tried to speak, but I rasped out a question. “What is the name by which you wish to be called? Are you Fleur, or are you Wiggy?”

The only answer I got was a smirk. Then she said, “You’re going to reveal the winner, and you’re going to do it in rhyme. And remember that there are children present, so kindly remain fully clothed throughout the poem.”

bonus points for using them in order

about stichomancy writing prompts

try our stichomancy writing prompt generator!

I Shrugged Pointedly at Fleur

  • by jenNo, a different deranged man.
  • Can we talk about how close you and your plumber are
  • a strange and curious inscription
  • “Silver Thursday”
  • it’s a competitive world

Tune in next time part 841      Click Here for Earlier Installments

I shrugged pointedly at Fleur. Infant talent shows are their own world, and, believe me, it’s a competitive world. I refused to jeopardize my own safety by being the one to declare the winner, not after that whole “Silver Thursday” debacle from my Academy days. My wife and her sister cooked up this whole escapade. Let them figure it out.

Fleur’s glare etched a strange and curious inscription in the air, leaving no doubt that she was displeased. I hadn’t seen a look like that since our honeymoon when she ambushed me with a big “Can we talk about how close you and your plumber are?” conversation, having mistaken a picture of Tessa in her Sexy Super Mario costume for the real thing.

Tessa leaned in and whispered, “Your wife looks like a serial killer.”

On my other side, Jim shook his head. “No, a different deranged man. An evil hypnotist, maybe.”

bonus points for using them in reverse order

about stichomancy writing prompts

try our stichomancy writing prompt generator!

Whatever His Faults

  • by Kenttouch the cake with their filthy hands
  • ran out of urine
  • — all those beautiful bullfrogs
  • “If you wanna eat ‘em, ya gotta listen to ‘em first.”
  • giggling as he tempts fate

Tune in next time part 840      Click Here for Earlier Installments

Whatever his faults — and they were many — Chad was a skilled argumentarian and I was quickly backed into a corner trying to justify my decree. We struck a compromise whereby I pretended that what I’d meant all along was a cake in the shape of the zeppelin, not the literal airship itself. The mothers were disappointed in me (and not for the first time).

Fleur sent Chad away to direct the preparation of this scaled-down prize. The devious look on his face as he accepted this task made me uncomfortable. Contrarian confectionery is its own kink, and I cringed at the idea that any bakers on this vessel were going to touch the cake with their filthy hands. The flavor might be palatable assuming they ran out of urine. There would of course be an algae-clogged pond in the kitchen where the frogs — all those beautiful bullfrogs — would serenade the vile pastry chefs. They have a saying: “If you wanna eat ’em, you gotta listen to ’em first.”

And worst of all, the decorator, whose job would be to create a convincing likeness of the Royal Contrarian Airship out of buttercream and fondant. I could just see the madman, giggling as he temps fate with some outlandish improvised coloring additive.

With the prize defined, all that remained was the actual declaration of the winner. Fleur was, of course, still looking archly at me.

bonus points for using them in order

about stichomancy writing prompts

try our stichomancy writing prompt generator!