The Sunset Symphony
Envision an alternate reality where colors are not seen but heard. Detail the experiences of a famous conductor who becomes the first to compose a symphony using the rarest sounds, the hues of the sunset, perceived by very few. Delve into his journey towards the performance and the unprecedented auditory spectacle that follows.
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.
- Start in the middle of the strangest moment, and explain nothing for a page.
- Write it as a document from the world: a letter, a field report, a warning sign.
- Make the magic or technology cost your hero something they can't get back.
Writing science fiction
Change one thing about the world. Follow it all the way.
Science fiction asks what happens to people when science, technology or contact with something new changes the rules. The spaceships are optional; the question is the point. The best of it says as much about today as it does about the future.
What readers expect
- An idea that drives the plot
- Technology or science with consequences
- Futures, other worlds or alternate presents
- Big questions about being human
A tip before you start
Show how your big change reshapes ordinary life: what people eat, fear and joke about. Scenery alone isn't world-building.
More Alternate Reality prompts
- The Dream WeaverWrite a tale set in a universe where dreams are not personal but shared among communities. Describe how different towns and cities cultivate different…
- The Historian Who Changed TimeWrite a story set in a reality where historical and future events can be visited like destinations, using a time-travel-like technology. Describe the…
- The City That Mirrors EmotionWrite a story set in a futuristic city where every building and vehicle can change its appearance based on the occupants' emotions and desires.…
- The Machine to the Sky IslandsIn a world divided into floating islands in the sky and the Depths below shrouded in perpetual darkness, there is no communication or travel between…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
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