The Robot's Past Life
In a world where everyone is assigned a robot companion at birth, you discover that your robot has memories of a past life - memories that could unravel the secrets of the world's government. Together, you embark on a quest to uncover the truth, taking on various challenges and discovering new alliances along the way.
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.
- Raise the stakes until the hero's identity is on the line.
- Give your hero a secret they're keeping from their best friend.
- Let your hero make a big mistake for a reason the reader understands.
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 Sci-Fi prompts
- Dreams Beyond Government ControlIn a dystopian future where dreams are monitored and regulated by the government, a teenager begins to have vivid dreams that somehow bypass the…
- Students in the Future WarCreate a tale about a group of friends who accidentally time-travel to a significant futuristic war during a school science experiment gone wrong.…
- The Rigged Teen TestImagine a world where every teenager has to pass a specific government test to determine their role in society. One rebel teen discovers the dark…
- The Artifact in the BackyardWrite a story about a teenager who finds an alien artifact in their backyard. The object grants them incredible knowledge and technology far beyond…
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