The Journalist and the Smuggled Antiques
A novice journalist stumbles upon an underground network of crime while researching for a seemingly innocuous article about urban development. Delving deeper, they uncover a story involving corruption, smuggled antiques, and old vendettas. Describe their risky path towards exposing the truth, risking their safety with every step.
Suggested length: A short story: 1,500 to 5,000 words, or flash fiction under 1,000
Start the clock
Pick a sprint, press start and keep going until it stops. Momentum beats polish on a first draft.
Make it yours
Three ways to take this prompt somewhere nobody else will.
- End with the solution in a single line of dialogue.
- Plant the key clue in the first scene, in plain sight.
- Limit it to one location and one night.
Writing crime fiction
Not who did it, but why, and whether they'll get away with it.
Crime fiction covers any story built around a crime, and it's often told from the criminal's side. Where a mystery is a puzzle, crime fiction is about people: the pressures that lead to the crime, and what it costs everyone involved.
What readers expect
- A crime at the heart of the story
- Moral gray areas
- Criminals as real people
- Tension over who gets caught
A tip before you start
Give your criminal a reason the reader understands, even one they'd never act on themselves.
More Crime Fiction prompts
- The Cleaner and the Cold CaseDescribe a day in the life of a crime scene cleaner who accidentally discovers evidence that could solve a cold case. The discovery leads them into…
- The Magician and the Missing PaintingIn a bustling city market, a famous painting goes missing from a high-security mobile exhibition. The main suspect is a street magician who claims he…
- The Lighthouse Keeper’s CoinIn a small coastal town, the beloved lighthouse keeper is found murdered, his body discovered at the base of the lighthouse. The only clue is a…
- The Detective and the City HeistsAfter receiving a cryptic letter, an infamous retired detective is drawn back into the world of crime-solving when the letter leads to the unfolding…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
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