A Stray Dog’s City
Write a story from the perspective of a stray dog in a bustling city, revealing its encounters and relationships with different humans and animals, showcasing themes of survival, unspoken bonds, and the quest for a forever home.
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 Coffee Cup ConnectionDevelop a tale where a mundane item - like a coffee cup or a pair of glasses - plays a pivotal role in intertwining the lives of two characters from…
- The Letter in the Secondhand BookWrite the inner monologue of a person who decides to change their life completely after discovering a letter hidden in a secondhand book. What does…
- Saving Camp EvergreenImagine a scenario where a middle-aged character decides to return to their childhood summer camp as a counselor, only to find it on the brink of…
- The Unmarked PackagesCraft a story about a neighborhood where every house inexplicably receives a plain, unmarked package one morning. Explore the reactions of different…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
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