The Board Game Portal
Write a story about two friends who find an old, dusty board game in the attic that turns out to be a portal to a fantasy realm. Every game piece represents a real character in that world who seeks their help to defeat an encroaching darkness.
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.
- Let your hero make a big mistake for a reason the reader understands.
- End with a choice only this hero would make.
- Make the adults well-meaning but wrong.
Writing young adult books
Ages 12 to 18: firsts, identity and everything at stake.
Young adult fiction is written for teens, with protagonists usually 14 to 18. Every genre lives here, from fantasy to thrillers to romance. What makes it YA is the voice: immediate, intense and inside a teenager's head.
What readers expect
- A teen protagonist
- An immediate, close voice
- Identity and independence
- Big feelings, taken seriously
A tip before you start
Write from inside a teen's head, not from an adult looking back. That immediacy is what separates YA from an adult book with a young hero.
More YA Fantasy and Adventure prompts
- The Homecoming FieldCraft a tale set in a modern high school where every student secretly belongs to a different fantasy race (elves, wizards, merfolk, etc.). Focus on a…
- The Frostbite Mountain QuestImagine a world where every teen, upon turning 15, must embark on a quest as a rite of passage. Describe the journey of a young protagonist whose…
- The Map to Phoenix NestDive into a world where mythical beasts are not just legends but reality. A group of teenagers find a map leading to the Phoenix Nest, a place of…
- The Forbidden BookImagine a world where your social status and wealth depend on how many books you've read. The protagonist, a fifteen-year-old girl, stumbles upon a…
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