The Cab's Midnight Passengers
Imagine a character who works as a cab driver in a bustling metropolis. Over the course of one night shift, they encounter several passengers who unknowingly share a common link. These interactions lead the driver to a life-altering discovery about their own past.
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.
- Keep what the hero wants and what they need in tension.
- Tell it through the messages, notes or voicemails the characters leave.
- Write the scene everyone else would skip: the morning after.
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 Urban Fiction prompts
- The Sound Repairer's SilenceImagine a world where urban sounds (traffic, construction, people) create energy. Describe the life of a technician who repairs broken sound…
- Open Mind DayImagine a world where everyone in the city can hear each other's thoughts for one day every year, known as "Open Mind Day". Write about how this day…
- Farms Above the CityA young entrepreneur decides to bring farming into a bustling city by creating micro-farms on unused building spaces, like balconies and empty lots.…
- Three Days Without PowerDescribe the intertwined lives of residents in an urban high-rise during a citywide blackout that lasts for three days. Explore their interactions…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
Chapterly gives a draft somewhere to grow: chapters, daily word goals, and readers when you're ready.
Plans from $9.99 a month. Cancel any time. Your words are always yours.