The Restaurant’s Second Chance
Imagine a young chef is trying to bring a sabotaged family restaurant back to its former glory in a gentrifying neighborhood. Along the way, they uncover deeply buried family secrets and new friendships that reshape their goals.
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.
- Write the scene everyone else would skip: the morning after.
- End on a small gesture rather than a speech.
- Give your main character a job you know well, and use its details.
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
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- The Cab's Midnight PassengersImagine a character who works as a cab driver in a bustling metropolis. Over the course of one night shift, they encounter several passengers who…
- 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…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
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