The Oregon Town Project
Tell the story of a high school teacher in a rural Oregon town who inspires her students to organize a community project that unexpectedly brings national attention, forcing the town to confront its deeply held beliefs and traditions.
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 contemporary fiction
People like us, now, in trouble we recognize.
Contemporary fiction is set in the present day and deals with life as it's actually lived: families, marriages, friendships, work, loss. It sits between literary and commercial fiction, often shelved as book club or upmarket fiction.
What readers expect
- A present-day, realistic setting
- Relatable, flawed characters
- Emotional stakes over action
- Issues readers face themselves
A tip before you start
Today is your setting, so use it: the group chat, the parking ticket, the brand of cereal. Specifics make it feel true.
More Contemporary American Fiction prompts
- The Garden on Main StreetWrite about a woman who starts a community garden in a struggling, economically depressed town and how the garden becomes a unifying force for the…
- Secrets at the Louisiana ReunionCreate a narrative centered around a large family reunion in rural Louisiana, where deep secrets are revealed and old tensions resurface. Focus on one…
- Neighbors in a Changing NeighborhoodCreate a narrative about two neighbors living in a gentrifying neighborhood. One is a long-time resident resisting the change, and the other is a…
- Notes in the Returned BookWrite a story about a small town librarian who discovers, hidden in a returned book, a series of handwritten notes detailing someone's plan to leave…
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