Urban writing prompt
Clues in the Bookshop
A vintage bookstore clerk finds a series of notes hidden inside various books, supposedly clues left by a previous employee leading to an undiscovered treasure or secret. Chronicle their adventure through urban landscapes to solve the mystery.
Suggested length: A short story: 1,500 to 5,000 words, or flash fiction under 1,000
Write it now
Pick a sprint, start the clock and keep going until it stops. Momentum beats polish on a first draft.
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Make it yours
Three ways to take this prompt somewhere nobody else will.
- 1Make the conflict something the reader has faced themselves.
- 2Keep what the hero wants and what they need in tension.
- 3Tell it through the messages, notes or voicemails the characters leave.
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