The Detective's Birthday Letter
Write a story in which a retired detective receives a puzzling letter on the eve of their 60th birthday, implicating them in a crime they might have solved incorrectly decades ago. The only clue is a sealed, never-before-seen evidence bag attached to the letter.
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 person helping your hero the one to worry about.
- End a scene on a phone call, a knock or a name.
- Let the reader know something the hero doesn't.
Writing thriller books
Something terrible is coming. Can they stop it in time?
Where a mystery looks back at a crime, a thriller looks forward at a threat. The reader often knows more than the hero, and the tension comes from watching danger close in. Short chapters, high stakes and a ticking clock are the tools of the trade.
What readers expect
- A clear, escalating threat
- A hero under pressure
- Twists and reversals
- Pace: little time to breathe
A tip before you start
Put a clock on it. A deadline the reader can count down turns every scene into a race.
More Thriller and Suspense prompts
- The Journalist's Secret EmailsCraft a tale about a rookie journalist who stumbles upon a series of encrypted emails that hint at a high-profile conspiracy involving top government…
- The Fisherman's Sunken ChestIn a small coastal town, a local fisherman discovers a locked chest submerged beneath the pier. The contents inside lead to revelations about the…
- The Mansion's Village PactImagine a scenario where a small family inherits an old mansion in a remote village. As they settle in, they start to notice that the townspeople are…
- The Psychologist in Seat 12ADuring a flight, a psychologist realizes that the passenger seated next to them is using techniques to manipulate the crew and passengers. Outline the…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
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