The Weather-Shifting Machine
A scientist invents a device that can alter the weather, but every change comes with unpredictable side effects impacting personal relationships. Narrate a day in the life of someone living in this constantly shifting climate.
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.
- Write it as a document from the world: a letter, a field report, a warning sign.
- Make the magic or technology cost your hero something they can't get back.
- Give the villain a reason that would convince you, if you lived there.
Writing science fiction
Change one thing about the world. Follow it all the way.
Science fiction asks what happens to people when science, technology or contact with something new changes the rules. The spaceships are optional; the question is the point. The best of it says as much about today as it does about the future.
What readers expect
- An idea that drives the plot
- Technology or science with consequences
- Futures, other worlds or alternate presents
- Big questions about being human
A tip before you start
Show how your big change reshapes ordinary life: what people eat, fear and joke about. Scenery alone isn't world-building.
More High-Tech Sci-Fi prompts
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- Lives in Parallel UniversesThe first successful time machine has been built, but instead of traveling through time, it transports people into parallel universes. Write about a…
- The AI Who ChoseSet in a world where artificial intelligence governs every aspect of life to ensure maximum efficiency and happiness, an AI psychologist begins to…
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