The Official and the Resistance
Develop a story set in a dystopian future where political dissent is stifled by a powerful surveillance state. The protagonist, once a loyal government official, discovers a secret resistance movement. Torn between duty and a new understanding of freedom, they must decide whether to suppress or help expose the truth.
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.
- Trap your hero in one place they can't easily leave.
- Raise the stakes from personal to public halfway through.
- Open with the threat already in motion, not the setup.
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.
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- The Algorithm in the AgencyWrite a story where a new intern at a high-profile government agency uncovers a secret, but highly influential, decision-making algorithm. As the…
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