Australian & Oceanian writing prompt
The Polynesian Wayfinder
Imagine the experience of a young Polynesian navigator in the pre-colonial Pacific Islands. Create a tale centered around their journey across vast oceans using traditional wayfinding techniques, encountering other island cultures, and the trials they face on these perilous sea voyages.
Suggested length: A short story: 1,500 to 5,000 words, or flash fiction under 1,000
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Three ways to take this prompt somewhere nobody else will.
- 1Choose one real detail of the period, like a price, a law or a song, and build a scene around it.
- 2Keep the famous event offstage and show its ripples.
- 3Make the dialogue sound of its time without becoming hard to read.
More australian & oceanian prompts
See them all- The Navigator's Ancient Sea RoutesIt's the early 20th century, and a Polynesian navigator sets out on a traditional voyaging canoe to rediscover ancient sea routes. Her journey becomes fraught with unexpected challenges as she encounters European explorers. Detail her interactions and the impact of these encounters on her own cultural identity and the preservation of her people's navigational lore.
- The Stranger in TasmaniaWrite from the perspective of a woman living in a remote Tasmanian town in the late 19th century. Her life takes a dramatic turn when a mysterious stranger with a dark past arrives, challenging the town's quiet life and exposing hidden histories.
- Letters from the Telegraph LineDuring the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line in the late 1800s, a young Irish engineer falls in love with the arid yet beautiful Australian interior. Use his letters home to illustrate his changing views on engineering, colonialism, and his own identity, as he grows more connected to the land and its original inhabitants.
- Bridge Builders in SydneySet in 1930s Australia during the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, write the story of a young engineer from England and a local Indigenous Australian who form an unlikely friendship amidst the backdrop of historical progress and social tensions.
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