The Telepathic Secret
Set your story on a distant planet where all forms of communication are done through a unique form of telepathy. Introduce a character from Earth who struggles to adapt to this new form of interaction, uncovering a dark secret about how this telepathic power is granted.
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.
- Start in the middle of the strangest moment, and explain nothing for a page.
- Write it as a document from the world: a letter, a field report, a warning sign.
- Make the magic or technology cost your hero something they can't get back.
Writing science fiction
Change one thing about the world. Follow it all the way.
Science fiction asks what happens to people when science, technology or contact with something new changes the rules. The spaceships are optional; the question is the point. The best of it says as much about today as it does about the future.
What readers expect
- An idea that drives the plot
- Technology or science with consequences
- Futures, other worlds or alternate presents
- Big questions about being human
A tip before you start
Show how your big change reshapes ordinary life: what people eat, fear and joke about. Scenery alone isn't world-building.
More Science Fiction prompts
- The Memory BrokerIn an intergalactic society where memories can be bought and sold, a low-ranking memory broker stumbles upon a set of memories that reveal the truth…
- The Engineer's Reprogrammed RobotsSet on a colony ship traveling to an uncharted planet, the story follows a young engineer who accidentally self-reprograms a pod of service robots.…
- Quantum Jumps Unravel RealityAfter a breakthrough in quantum computing enables instantaneous travel across the universe, a scientist discovers that these "quantum jumps" have…
- The Atmospheric Water RebellionCreate a future where humanity has depleted all natural sources of water, and the control of synthetic water is in the hands of a powerful…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
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