The Siblings' Last Weekend
Craft a narrative centered around a family gathering that reunites estranged siblings after many years. Explore the tensions and latent affections that surface over a long weekend in their childhood home, now on the brink of being sold.
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.
- Make the conflict something the reader has faced themselves.
- Keep what the hero wants and what they need in tension.
- Tell it through the messages, notes or voicemails the characters leave.
Writing literary fiction
Who is this person, really?
Literary fiction cares most about character, language and meaning. Plot still matters, but it serves the inner life. These are the books that win prizes and start arguments in book clubs, and they ask to be read slowly.
What readers expect
- Rich inner lives
- Prose that rewards attention
- Themes that linger
- Endings that may stay open
A tip before you start
Read your pages aloud. In literary fiction the rhythm of a sentence is part of what you're promising.
More Literary Fiction prompts
- Postcards from Unknown CitiesTell the story of a character who begins receiving postcards from cities they’ve never visited, all signed with the same enigmatic initials. As they…
- Coincidences on the City BlockDevelop a narrative where the protagonist, after experiencing a profound loss, begins to notice peculiar coincidences that suggest an underlying…
- Notes from the Coastal BookshopWrite a story in which a character inherits a small, independent bookstore in a quaint coastal town. The previous owner leaves behind a series of…
- The Road Trip PromiseIn a tale of friendship and betrayal, create a scenario where two lifelong friends embark on a road trip to fulfill a mutual friend’s dying wish. As…
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