The Town's Secret Festival
Write a story about a small town where every year, the locals hold a secret festival that nobody outside the town knows about. This year, an outsider accidentally discovers the festival and decides to stay.
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 conflict something the reader has faced themselves.
- Keep what the hero wants and what they need in tension.
- Tell it through the messages, notes or voicemails the characters leave.
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 Fiction prompts
- The Cafe's Locked BriefcaseCreate a narrative centered around a neighborhood cafe that serves as the meeting point for an eclectic group of regulars. One day, an unusual…
- Snowbound on the Cross-Country TrainDescribe the lives of passengers on a cross-country train that gets stuck in a remote area due to a snowstorm. Focus on how they cope with the…
- Solace on the Cross-Country TrainCreate a story about two strangers who sit next to each other on a cross-country train ride. Each has a different reason for their journey, but they…
- The Family Birthday TaskDevelop a story about a unique tradition in a family where each member must complete a particular (and peculiar) task when they turn a certain age.…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
Chapterly gives a draft somewhere to grow: chapters, daily word goals, and readers when you're ready.
Plans from $9.99 a month. Cancel any time. Your words are always yours.