Messages in the Morning Mail
Develop a narrative involving a character who starts receiving anonymous, life-affirming messages in their mailbox every morning. How does it affect their life, and how do they go about uncovering the sender?
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.
- Give your main character a job you know well, and use its details.
- Let a minor character change the ending.
- Set it all in one day.
Writing contemporary fiction
People like us, now, in trouble we recognize.
Contemporary fiction is set in the present day and deals with life as it's actually lived: families, marriages, friendships, work, loss. It sits between literary and commercial fiction, often shelved as book club or upmarket fiction.
What readers expect
- A present-day, realistic setting
- Relatable, flawed characters
- Emotional stakes over action
- Issues readers face themselves
A tip before you start
Today is your setting, so use it: the group chat, the parking ticket, the brand of cereal. Specifics make it feel true.
More Contemporary Fiction prompts
- Postcards Without a SenderImagine a character who starts receiving mysterious postcards from all around the world with no return address. Each postcard contains a clue that…
- The Eve of EighteenDescribe the pressures and the last-minute decisions of one teenager on the eve of their 18th birthday.
- The Town's Secret FestivalWrite a story about a small town where every year, the locals hold a secret festival that nobody outside the town knows about. This year, an outsider…
- The Cafe's Locked BriefcaseCreate a narrative centered around a neighborhood cafe that serves as the meeting point for an eclectic group of regulars. One day, an unusual…
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