College Students Science Fiction Writing Prompts

Write a sci-fi scene about encountering an alien species that is not initially obviously intelligent.

What types of intelligence might not be recognisable to humans? How might we begin to recognise it?

Imagine you are peacefully drifting between the stars. Write a poem about this experience.

Don’t wake in the world where the trees all died...

Write the blurb of a book that has been written in another dimension.

Would the normal features of a blurb still apply in this dimension, or do time and space affect the style of stories in this universe?

Portray a futuristic cityscape without referring to technology.

What other elements can make something seem futuristic?

Write from the perspective of a character that has been experimented on their entire life.

Consider how they view themselves, and how they feel about the world, after the extensive modification of their body.

In an alternative future where nobody eats meat, your protagonist has been secretly running a small farm.

Create a story around this character and their scenario.

Write a story about a character, alone in a post-apocalyptic world, who struggles to find a purpose or reason to live.

Write a story using strong imagery representing the passage of time during a scene.

Here you could utilise typical time-based imagery, like ticking clocks, the changing colour of leaves etc, or you could create some interesting metatphors of your own.

A famous author writes a human-robot romance story which causes controversy.

Consider who will be the narrator or protagonist of this story, and what they have to do with this plot.

Write a story set in the future where a highly coveted item is something we would find very normal today.

When aliens invade earth, it is not to take over, but to beg for safety from an even greater threat...