Science Fiction & Fantasy writing prompt
The Map of Lost Worlds
Write a story about an apprentice cartographer who is granted an ancient map that reveals hidden portals to lost worlds. When one of the portals transports them to a city where time flows backwards, they must navigate through historical secrets to find their way back home.
Suggested length: A short story: 1,500 to 5,000 words, or flash fiction under 1,000
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Pick a sprint, start the clock and keep going until it stops. Momentum beats polish on a first draft.
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Three ways to take this prompt somewhere nobody else will.
- 1Let the hero's plan work, and make that the problem.
- 2Tell it from the point of view of someone who thinks this world is perfectly normal.
- 3Shrink the stakes to one family, one street, one night.
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- The Reality DetectivesDevelop a tale about time travelers who operate as reality detectives, fixing paradoxes and errors in the timeline. Their newest case involves a small, seemingly insignificant event that will lead them through various epochs and reveal a conspiracy involving the foundation of their own organization.
- The Dreamless DreamerIn a future where dreams are mined like resources, write about a character who has never been able to dream. One night, they start having vivid dreams that predict future events, leading them into conflict with the powerful "dream miners."
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