Up in the air

The theme of "the message in a bottle" is a common one across many forms of romantic literature and movies, much less art forms in general. Typically packed full with unfulfilled desires and dreams, it's a way for someone, anyone, to wonder about what could have been, and possibly rescue the sender from their tedium.

Or something.

Today, write about someone who's done a slight variation on that. That is, someone who's attached either map coordinates, or some sort of note to lanterns/balloons, and sent them into the sky. When the recipient of such notes manages to find the sender however, they find them desiring no conversation, or general interaction with anyone who may have discovered their letters.

Why might this be? Who would search out someone who took the time to send letters across the world, seemingly at random? What does either party hope to get out of the situation?

Enjoy!

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Verbal fisticuffs

Bit of a shorter one today, as it's nearly 3am in my current location.

Today, imagine in place of boxing, two opponents who spar using words, ruled over by a set of judges and a referee or two, and each with their own requisite fans. They themselves belong to a larger organization that specializes in settling disputes in "the ring."

Imagine a setting for these characters, not even necessarily a fight between them. What are such "weapons of choice?" How did such a system come about?

Bit of a metaprompt today, but I shall hopefully come up with something for you all tomorrow!

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Lines in the sand

Considering the magnitude of the technological developments in the past century or so, I'm surprised that someone hasn't figured out how to cross various desert climates quickly and efficiently, without resorting to flying. The creation of a literal "sand crawler," if you will.

Today, write about someone who's transformed a normally water-bearing ship into one that can easily traverse sand, currently in the middle of their journey across one of the many deserts in the world.

What initially drove them to modify their ship? Do they intend to provide services for others, or simply have it for their own personal uses? Is anyone else along for the ride? How secretive are they about the technology they've managed to develop?

Enjoy!

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Conductor

I've had a weird fascinating with trains lately. Typically stylized artwork of trains, doing...train things. I dunno.

Anyway, as I am preparing for my yearly foray into National Novel Writing Month, I've been coming up with more and more ideas that can be fleshed out, or others that can simply be set aside for a later date. This is one of those prompts.

Place the character in a train station. A grand testament to the architect's talent and the impressive collaboration of human progress, only missing two things: the trains themsevles, and the people. Have the character strike up a conversation with someone claiming to be "the conductor" of a train.

What do they talk about? Why isn't there anyone else around? Why is the other person in the conversation claiming to be a conductor, whether or not they actually are one?

Enjoy!

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Butterfly net

As I'm sure we've all faced, it'd be nice to be able to visualize our constant sources of inspiration, our motivation, and can it, putting it into a jar, and tapping the sides in order to have it spawn some form of inspiration. If the lack of prompts over the past few months is any indication, I could certainly use some.

In any case, write about someone who attempts to manifest their inspirations, their creativity, and jar it for their own personal use. Barring the question of why (as hopefully, your story should show, not tell this), how did such an idea come about in the first place? To what lengths is the central character willing to go to achieve their goals? Is this a common practice?

Think about these questions and many more as you write about this mildly meta prompt!

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Mountain man

Wouldn't it be nice if there was someone who traveled the world, imparting infinite wisdom to all who came to see them? Or perhaps, even just reaching a destination that ended up enlightening the travelers along the way?

Today, write about such a mythical place. Have your character encounter fantastical tales about the knowledge that others have supposedly gained, and, having nothing better to do, decide to trek up the requisite mountain for themselves.

What do they find in the cave? Would such a person exist, or would it just be teachings and scribblings left behind for others to pour over? Do they discover something along the way regardless?

Enjoy!

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The stories between you and I

It can be argued (along with many other points of view) that the universe is made up of stories. Stories between people, families, places, hell, this entire subreddit is dedicated to writing stories based on the ideas of others. In a way, a microcosm is formed between users behind screens, likely hundreds of miles/kilometers/what have you away.

Today, take the ideas of stories forming people and take it literally. That is, what if people were represented by the stories they all carried and had to tell inside them? How would it change the interactions between people? To see an outstretched arm and instead of tattoos, reading into someone's personal history would certainly be off-putting to many, but it's something to think about.

Enjoy!

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A Dysfunctional Family

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Vocoder

Fraught by, as many are, thoughts about what to do during their dying years, many people will travel around the world, seeing all that the can and hoping that something, anything, is memorable for them and for others. But what happens after? The idea of "leaving a legacy" is part of the eternally desirable 'American Dream,' to leave a mark on as many as possible, as either a sign of your greatness, or humbleness.

Today, write about someone who does that through song. Faced with their rapidly approaching death, someone decides to record themselves in song, and leave a note behind with it. What would such a song sound like? Is there any clues as to who they were specifically? What about the note? Is it more about the legacy and their lasting mark after their death, or what happened during their lives?

Enjoy!

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Lightning flowers

After a few unexpected delays in my return, along with a lack of internet at the dorm I'm staying at, I've come back from the highlands of Tibet, fresh with experiences and prompts.

First up, a relatively shorter one that popped into my head: write about a pair of stormchasers that follow thunderheads and other such systems if only in search of the elusive "lightning flower," which is a lightning strike that looks, unsurprisingly, like a flower.

What happens to them when they encounter such a flower, if ever? What gives them the opportunity to chase such storms? How are they planning on recording such a moment?

I'll be back with many more prompts before long!

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Colors

So I'm givin this a shot since legoland is partying in Tibet.

Pick your favorite color. Then in the room you are in or outdoor area or whatever look for things that color. The order is very important so take the FIRST FIVE things that color that you set your eyes upon and write about them. Here's the twist: in your piece you have to change them all to another color but the same color. (I.E. you pick five blue things you change them all to yellow) Enjoy!

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Anyone else do this?

So me and two of my friends started this game; they would text me a prompt, a random word that just popped into their head, and I would try to write a poem with that word in it, or about that word. Most of my poetry manuscript is made up of poems created this way and I'm curious if anyone else has done this?

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Lead Man

Write about the birth of an abnormal super power.

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Since no one is posting prompts I guess I'll give it a try.

Write about a game show. I could be the story of contestants competing together or against each other. If together what is their relationship. What is the game show, what do you win, why did they want to get on it? Not sure if this is too specific or not. Feel free to use the prompt as loosely as possible.

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