The Criminal's Borrowed Shadow
In a city where people's shadows are bought and sold, your protagonist discovers they now possess the shadow of the city's most feared criminal. Write about their journey to either return it to its rightful owner or use it to uncover hidden secrets.
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.
- Tell it from the point of view of someone who thinks this world is perfectly normal.
- Shrink the stakes to one family, one street, one night.
- Choose one ordinary object and show how this world changed it.
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 Magic and Fantasy prompts
- The Village of Glowing StonesAfter a meteor shower, the people in a small coastal village begin to find magical, glowing stones on the beach that grant each holder a unique…
- The Girl Who Broke the SpellIn a world where music holds the power to cast spells, a tone-deaf girl discovers she can disrupt magic with her voice. Explore her journey as she…
- The Magic No One ExpectedImagine a society where people are assigned their role in life based on their inherent magical talents. Your character, who has never shown any…
- The Farmer's Prophetic ShadowIn a kingdom where shadows whisper secrets, a young farmer’s son is haunted by the shadow of an ancestor who prophesies the end of the monarchy. How…
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.