Notes on Coffee Cups
A young barista secretly writes warm, motivational quotes on cups but remains personally reclusive and shy. A regular customer, intrigued by these quotes, attempts to uncover which barista writes them, leading to a tentative, sweet relationship that starts over cups of coffee.
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 the first meeting so it goes badly, in a way they'll laugh about later.
- Show the moment one of them almost walks away.
- Give them a deadline: the contest, the wedding, the last train.
Writing romance books
Not whether they end up together, but how.
Romance puts a love story at the center and promises a happy ending: happily ever after, or at least happy for now. Readers know where it's going. The pleasure is in the obstacles, the banter and the moment the two leads finally stop fighting it.
What readers expect
- Two leads the reader roots for
- Obstacles that keep them apart
- Emotional growth, not just attraction
- A happy ending, guaranteed
A tip before you start
The happy ending isn't optional. Without it you've written a love story, and romance readers will tell you so.
More Contemporary Romance prompts
- Rivals on the Same StoryWrite a story about a journalist who falls in love with a mysterious interviewee, only to find out they are writing competing pieces on the same…
- The Rival Coffee Shop OwnersDescribe a scenario where two rival coffee shop owners on the same street disdain each other, yet anonymously connect and flirt through an online…
- The DJ's Secret LoveImagine a scenario where one half of the couple is a morning radio DJ, always discussing their anonymous love interest’s quirks and habits on air. The…
- Rivals in the Writing ClassTwo professional rivals who despise each other in the corporate world accidentally sign up for the same anonymous online writing class. Initially…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
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