Threat Above the Atlantic
Conceive a plot centered around a flight attendant on a transatlantic flight who overhears a suspicious conversation that points to an imminent threat aboard. With limited time and no way to communicate with the ground, they must identify and stop the threat with the help of unsuspecting allies among the passengers and crew.
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 a scene on a phone call, a knock or a name.
- Let the reader know something the hero doesn't.
- Cut every scene the moment the tension drops.
Writing thriller books
Something terrible is coming. Can they stop it in time?
Where a mystery looks back at a crime, a thriller looks forward at a threat. The reader often knows more than the hero, and the tension comes from watching danger close in. Short chapters, high stakes and a ticking clock are the tools of the trade.
What readers expect
- A clear, escalating threat
- A hero under pressure
- Twists and reversals
- Pace: little time to breathe
A tip before you start
Put a clock on it. A deadline the reader can count down turns every scene into a race.
More Thriller and Suspense prompts
- Codes in the ClassifiedsWrite a story where a small-town journalist discovers a series of coded messages in the classifieds section of their local newspaper. The journalist's…
- The Locksmith's ConfessionAn expert locksmith, known for his ability to break into any security system, attempts one last job before retiring — cracking a safe that supposedly…
- The Librarian's Coded ChaseAfter receiving mysterious instructions through an encoded message in an old library book, an unassuming librarian is thrust into an international…
- Locked Inside Father's HouseTwo estranged siblings reunite to settle their deceased father's estate only to find themselves locked in his secure, tech-savvy house. As they try to…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
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