If you aren't comfortable with the horror genre, you could focus on a scene that develops the characters rather than any gore!
WRITING OBSTACLE
Write a story that includes an example of a braided narrative.
This structure uses multiple interwoven storylines, creating a complex and layered narrative. This can be most easily achieved with different character perspectives or different timelines.
WRITING OBSTACLE
Write a story where the plot twist is revealed by considering an alternate meaning of a word (pun).
For example, “date” can mean a fruit, a particular day, or a person!
WRITING OBSTACLE
Fangs,
Tantalizing,
Yours
Incorporate these three words naturally into a 400-word story or scene.
STORY STARTER
Your character summons the devil, but cannot believe their eyes when it appears.
Think about how the devil could surprise somebody so intent on summoning him, and what your character hoped to achieve.
POEM STARTER
Take the first line from a book and use it to begin a poem.
Try to choose a book at random and challenge yourself to write the poem around it, instead of planning to choose a book based on your poem idea.
STORY STARTER
You wake up and cannot feel your legs. Then you look down...
Continue the story. You could develop the mystery slowly or throw the audience into the thick of it.
WRITING OBSTACLE
Crackle. Pond. Night.
Write a description of a person or creature inspired by these three words. You may be as fantastical or realistic as you like. The words may inspire the description, or be used within it.
STORY STARTER
The shattered glass and broken furniture scattered everywhere gave the impression that a tornado had passed through, but it was something much worse.
Write a story explaining what has really happened in this scene.
STORY STARTER
Write a story through diary entries or letters discovered in an abandoned house.
Epistolary stories can offer unreliable narrators and incomplete narratives, giving you space to add mystery, confusion, or intrigue to your story.
STORY STARTER
Write a horror story that takes place in an airport.
This isn't a typical setting for a horror plot. Try to avoid overlapping with other genres like crime or mystery, and consider how you can adapt the themes of horror writing to this unusual setting.
WRITING OBSTACLE
Choose any book, and rewrite the blurb so that it appears to be a different genre.
Word choice and emphasis on different aspects of a story can transform perceptions of a book entirely. Bonus points if your readers can guess which book it is!
