A Story Every Day - Prompts for February 2024

February is almost on us, so here are some prompts for you for your brain to mull on!

Reminder:

• The aim is to post a short story (microfiction) EVERY DAY in 2024. Here's the post about it, and the follow-up.
• Word limit is 366 (minimum count 300)
• The prompts are aids only, not challenges (unless you want to use them that way).
• It doesn't have to be perfect. Hopefully a decent standard, but not perfect. Perfection is the enemy of creativity, no? The idea is to get the juices flowing. Stories that are short and sweet, and plenty of them.
• There's a way to keep your streak going if you know in advance you won't be able to get online on certain dates

Let's start with prompts linked to a date:

10th - Chinese New Year (the year of the dragon) - You know what to do 😎

14th - It has to be a romance today, sorry! Alexander McEvoy's prompt:- “They told me that to make her fall in love I had to make her laugh. But every time she laughs I’m the one who falls in love.”

29th - Write a story about a leap of faith OR about L.E.A.P (this acronym can be for a procedure, illness or agency that you've made up. )

If you have a birthday in February: On your birthday, write a story that is autobiographical, or partly autobiographical.

Photo prompts

Character Prompt

Write about a badass little old lady

Word Prompt

Write a story inspired by or including the word "curmudgeon"

Prompts from other Vocal members:

This month, I have an absolute cracker from Sirena Carroll. If you use this one, I'd love for you to leave Sirena a tip.

From Sirena Carroll - Tomorrow, my body would die, and my consciousness would be transferred to the AI shell my parents purchased for me. The sickness was too advanced; in the end, I would succumb. 'You will live forever,' mama told me. But the shells register taste as mere flavor profiles. They don't get too cold or too hot, lest their efficiency be compromised. They regenerate rather than sleep. If I wish to know something, I need only access a central database of stored knowledge. I might live forever, but what would become of my humanity?

A Prompt and a CHALLENGE - February

Write me a story about a sex robot

• Make it rude, make it clever, make me squirm (you know I hate erotica). Explore themes of sexuality, consent and psychology, have a message and paint it in metallic red lipgloss that won't smudge.
• Submit to Filthy, Sci Fi, or fiction
• Word limit the same as the others - 300-366!
• Link to it in the comments
• Closing date is the 28th
• Judging on the 29th
• $10 to the winner and $5 to a runner up

Stream of Consciousness Prompt

• Set a timer for six minutes, and write continuously until it goes off.
• Start with, "When I look in the mirror".
• DON'T STOP! This is very important. If your brain gets stuck, actually write, "I don't know what to write" or repeat the last word until a thought (any thought!) starts flowing again.

More prompts

- Write a story about unrequited love

- Write a story about betrayal

- star crossed lovers

- a jewellry box plays an important role

- a lap dancer

- write me a story where the MC is the opposite sex than you are. (So, for example, if you are a man, your MC is a woman, if you are a woman, your MC is a man.)

- a story told as a series of letters

- the setting for your story is a wedding

- a police procedural, where either the suspect or the MC is a (very obvious) extra terrestrial. (I'd love to see how that interview goes.)

- a society where religion is outlawed

- a story about a sentient heart

- set in an alternate universe

- If you are reading this, I need you to help me. They've shut me in here and I can't get out.

- Invent a word and centre your story around it

- scroll your twitter feed, and write a story inspired by a tweet

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Thank you for reading! Please comment to make it easy for me to reciprocate.

Let me know if you use one of these prompts!

If you have an idea for a prompt, please leave it in the comments!