The Mansion's Village Pact
Imagine a scenario where a small family inherits an old mansion in a remote village. As they settle in, they start to notice that the townspeople are unnaturally interested in their every move. Delve into the secrets that the mansion holds, which ties every villager to a sinister pact made generations ago.
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.
- Let the reader know something the hero doesn't.
- Cut every scene the moment the tension drops.
- Put a clock on it: the hero has until midnight.
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.
More Thriller and Suspense prompts
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- The Surgeon Under BlackmailA celebrated heart surgeon with a dark past is blackmailed into assassinating one of his patients—who is scheduled for a routine operation but is also…
- Suspicion at Thirty Thousand FeetCreate a tale about an airplane passenger who overhears a suspicious conversation between two fellow travelers. Initially dismissed as paranoia, a…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
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