Trapped Inside the Novel
You're a teenager who gains the ability to jump into any book you touch and interact with its world. During one of your adventures in a sci-fi novel, the book suddenly closes, trapping you inside. Navigate this new reality, make friends, and find a way to break out of the book back into the real world.
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.
- End with a choice only this hero would make.
- Make the adults well-meaning but wrong.
- Use the way your hero texts to show who they are.
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 Sci-Fi prompts
- The Dream in the LibraryYou live in a world where dreams can be recorded, shared, and even edited. One day, you find a dream in your library that you don’t remember dreaming.…
- Dreams for SaleIn a future where dreams are recorded and sold as entertainment, a group of teenagers discovers a conspiracy. Their dreams reveal the truth about the…
- The Teen Who Spoke MachineWrite a story about a teenager who develops the ability to communicate with machines. Initially using the power for trivial gains, they soon uncover a…
- The Robot Only I Could WakeIn a distant future, society is divided by the technology people can afford. The rich have advanced AI that can predict their every need, while the…
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.