The Founder’s Missing Watch
In a small lakeside town, during the annual summer festival, a legendary old watch said to belong to the town's founder goes missing. The protagonist and their friends discover a cryptic map tucked inside an old library book, launching them into a thrilling race to find the watch before it's lost forever.
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 your hero make a big mistake for a reason the reader understands.
- End with a choice only this hero would make.
- Make the adults well-meaning but wrong.
Writing young adult books
Ages 12 to 18: firsts, identity and everything at stake.
Young adult fiction is written for teens, with protagonists usually 14 to 18. Every genre lives here, from fantasy to thrillers to romance. What makes it YA is the voice: immediate, intense and inside a teenager's head.
What readers expect
- A teen protagonist
- An immediate, close voice
- Identity and independence
- Big feelings, taken seriously
A tip before you start
Write from inside a teen's head, not from an adult looking back. That immediacy is what separates YA from an adult book with a young hero.
More YA Mystery and Thriller prompts
- Sabotage Before the Science FairThe night before a regional science fair, the groundbreaking project of a brilliant teen inventor is mysteriously sabotaged. Teaming up with a rival…
- The High School TagWhen a notorious graffiti artist who targets only the most secure public buildings suddenly stops, the community breathes a sigh of relief. That is…
- The Letter in the BottleWrite a story about a group of high school friends who discover an old, unopened letter in a bottle while cleaning the beach for their community…
- The Camera's Old PhotographsWrite a tale about two siblings who find an old camera at a yard sale. When they develop the film still inside, they find pictures of people they…
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.