The Heist Anniversary Poem
Every year, on the anniversary of an unsolved high-profile bank heist, a poem is published in the city's largest newspaper, hinting at the location of the stolen millions. A retired detective, haunted by the one case he couldn't solve, teams up with a rookie cop to finally put the pieces together. They soon realize that solving the puzzle could lead them into a much larger conspiracy.
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 with the confession, and make the story about why it's false.
- Make the detective wrong at the midpoint, for a good reason.
- End with the solution in a single line of dialogue.
Writing crime fiction
Not who did it, but why, and whether they'll get away with it.
Crime fiction covers any story built around a crime, and it's often told from the criminal's side. Where a mystery is a puzzle, crime fiction is about people: the pressures that lead to the crime, and what it costs everyone involved.
What readers expect
- A crime at the heart of the story
- Moral gray areas
- Criminals as real people
- Tension over who gets caught
A tip before you start
Give your criminal a reason the reader understands, even one they'd never act on themselves.
More Crime Fiction prompts
- The Journalist and the Smuggled AntiquesA novice journalist stumbles upon an underground network of crime while researching for a seemingly innocuous article about urban development. Delving…
- The Cleaner and the Cold CaseDescribe a day in the life of a crime scene cleaner who accidentally discovers evidence that could solve a cold case. The discovery leads them into…
- The Magician and the Missing PaintingIn a bustling city market, a famous painting goes missing from a high-security mobile exhibition. The main suspect is a street magician who claims he…
- The Lighthouse Keeper’s CoinIn a small coastal town, the beloved lighthouse keeper is found murdered, his body discovered at the base of the lighthouse. The only clue is a…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
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