Lives in Parallel Universes
The first successful time machine has been built, but instead of traveling through time, it transports people into parallel universes. Write about a person who jumps through universes to find the version of their life where they made different choices, only to realize the consequences each choice brings.
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.
- Make the magic or technology cost your hero something they can't get back.
- Give the villain a reason that would convince you, if you lived there.
- Let the hero's plan work, and make that the problem.
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 High-Tech Sci-Fi prompts
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- The Ship’s Believing AIWrite about an interstellar ship where the AI system starts to malfunction, slowly adopting religious beliefs. The crew must decide whether to follow…
- The Engineer Between WorldsA brilliant engineer living in a technocratic society invents a device that allows the user to travel through alternate dimensions. During her…
- The Crime PredictionSet in a city where technology can predict crimes before they happen, your main character is wrongly accused and must clear their name. Explore how…
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