The Market of Memories
**Market of Memories**: In an ancient city, there exists a hidden market where one can buy or sell memories. The protagonist, who suffers from partial amnesia, stumbles upon this market and decides to buy a memory to fill in the gaps of their own past, only to receive one that clearly isn't theirs. Chasing the origins of this memory introduces them to conspiracies threading through the very fabric of the city.
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.
- Set it all in one day.
- Make the conflict something the reader has faced themselves.
- Keep what the hero wants and what they need in tension.
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 Contemporary Fantasy prompts
- The Night Market HeistEvery century, the elusive Night Market appears for a single night in random locations around the world bringing magical artifacts and peculiar…
- The Musician's Enchanted InstrumentCreate a story in which music is the key to unlocking magical abilities. A struggling street musician finds an unusual instrument in an antique store…
- Advice from the HouseplantAn ordinary houseplant suddenly begins to give life advice to its owner, a down-on-luck freelancer struggling to find their purpose. Write a story…
- The Talking TeacupWrite a story in which a mundane object in your protagonist's house begins talking to them. Despite the protagonist's initial fear, the object reveals…
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