The Dream Tax Auditor
Imagine a world where dreams are taxed by a mysterious government agency. Your protagonist, a rebellious dream auditor, starts to falsify reports to save impoverished citizens from increasing dream taxes, leading to unexpected alliances and a profound questioning of reality.
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 fantasy books
Magic is real, and it costs something.
Fantasy builds a world where the impossible works: dragons, spells, gods who answer back. It might be a whole invented continent or one enchanted door in an ordinary house. Either way, readers come for the wonder and stay for the people paying the price for it.
What readers expect
- Magic or the supernatural, with limits
- A world that feels lived in
- Quests, wars or a power worth fighting over
- Myths and history under the surface
A tip before you start
Give magic a cost. Readers believe in a power when they can see what it takes from the person using it.
More Contemporary Fantasy prompts
- The City That Appears Once**Echoes of the Lost City**: During a school excursion, a group of students finds themselves transported to a legendary lost city that appears every…
- The Purple Sea PortalA small coastal town holds a secret tradition: when the sea turns a peculiar shade of purple, a portal opens to an enchanted underwater kingdom. Write…
- The Glowing Moonlit SeaA small coastal town is known for its peculiar weather and the myths surrounding it. Every full moon, the sea glows brightly, attracting tourists and…
- The Power SwapIn a contemporary city where everyone possesses a mild superpower, your protagonist wakes up to discover they have swapped powers with a stranger.…
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