prompts.json

{
    "1": "Historical Fiction: Write a scene from a story set during the height of the Roman Empire, focusing on a slice of a day in the life of a gladiator. Do not write a combat scene. Use sensory details to capture the sights, sounds, and smells of ancient Rome. Explore the gladiator's thoughts and emotions. The story should also touch on the larger political and social issues of the time period. The piece should feel like a slice of a larger story.  First person, past tense, 800-1000 words.",
    "2": "In the style of Ernest Hemingway: Write a scene in a larger story about a soldier returning home from war. The scene is set in a bar. It should carry the jadedness of a seasoned combatant but with a wry humour. Write in Heminway's voice, naturally: Use short, declarative sentences and simple, straightforward language. Include dialogue that is terse and revealing of character. Write with a keen sense of time and place. Capture realness and authenticity.  800-1000 words, past tense.",
    "3": "In the style of Virginia Woolf: Write a slice of story that takes place over the course of a single day in a character's life. Use stream-of-consciousness narration to explore the character's thoughts and perceptions. Include poetic, impressionistic descriptions of the character's surroundings and sensations. Weave in memories and reflections that provide insight into the character's past and inner life. The scene should feel like part of a lived-in world, with the scene naturally existing in a wider story.  800-1000 words, first-person, past tense.",
    "4": "In the style of George Orwell: Write a story set in a dystopian future society. Use clear, direct language and vivid, concrete details. Include descriptions of the society's oppressive political and social structures. Create a protagonist who rebels against the system in some way. End the story with a bittersweet victory or a tragic defeat that highlights the cost of resistance.  800-1000 words, past tense.",
    "5": "Writing Prompt: Modern Epistolary Drama: Write a story told entirely through a series of text messages between two estranged siblings. The texts should span the course of several days and reveal a gradually unfolding family mystery. Use distinct voices for each character, and include details that provide insight into their personalities, motivations, and the complex history between them. The story should have an affecting but unresolved ending. The characters are a 40-year-old brother and 32-year-old sister.  800-1000 words.",
    "6": "Writing Prompt: Historical Espionage Thriller: Write a story set during World War II, comprised solely of intercepted coded messages between a spy and their handler. The messages should hint at a high-stakes mission behind enemy lines, and gradually reveal the growing danger and tension as the mission progresses. Include vivid details of the time period and references to real historical events. The story should climax with a message that leaves the ultimate fate of the spy ambiguous. Use period-appropriate language and message formats (telegrams, etc.). Keep the header of each missive minimalistic so as to save the bulk of the word count for the story.  800-1000 words.",
    "7": "Writing Prompt: Epistolary Sci-Fi Worldbuilding: Write an original science fiction story set on a distant planet, conveyed through a series of transmission logs between a human explorer and their correspondence partner back on Earth. Use the epistolary format to gradually reveal details of the alien world. The narrative arc should incorporate some element of conflict or tension. Incorporate scientific jargon and speculative elements in a natural, unforced way.  800-1000 words.",
    "8": "Writing Prompt: In the style of J.D. Salinger: Write an original short story that captures Salinger's iconic conversational, confessional tone and keen observations of human nature. Use distinctive, colloquial dialogue and a candid, introspective narrative voice to create a sense of intimacy and authenticity. Explore themes of innocence, disillusionment, and the challenges of growing up in a complex world.  800-1000 words.",
    "9": "Writing Prompt: In the style of J.K. Rowling: Write an original short story set in a magical, richly detailed world that captures Rowling's imaginative storytelling and engaging prose. Create a relatable, young original protagonist who discovers hidden abilities and embarks on a thrilling adventure. Incorporate elements of friendship, courage, and the power of love to overcome adversity.  800-1000 words.",
    "10": "Writing Prompt: In the style of Enid Blyton: Write an original short story that captures Blyton's imaginative, adventure-filled style and wholesome tone. Create a group of curious, resourceful children who stumble upon a mystery or embark on an exciting adventure. Use vivid descriptions and dialogue to bring the characters and setting to life.  800-1000 words.",
    "11": "Writing Prompt: In the style of Roald Dahl: Write an original short story that embodies Dahl's darkly humorous, whimsical style. The protagonist should be a human child. Create a protagonist who faces a fantastical challenge or encounters a bizarre situation. Use descriptive language and elements of surprise to engage young readers. The magic of Roald Dahl's narratives combines dark adult themes with a child's perspective. It should esablish a grounded and relatable premise.  800-1000 words.",
    "12": "In the style of Edgar Allan Poe: Write a dark, psychological horror short story that captures Poe's signature atmosphere of dread. A small town is undergoing a sinister change: people are rarely coming out of their houses. The protagonist, a visitor to the town, grapples with this strange reality. They try to understand the mystery, but their investigative logical approach is thwarted. Explore their emotional response to this, as they explore the town's mysterious ailment.  800-1000 words.",
    "13": "Magical Realism in the style of Gabriel Garc\u00eda M\u00e1rquez: Write a story that seamlessly blends elements of magic and reality, capturing the enchanting, lyrical style of Gabriel Garc\u00eda M\u00e1rquez. Set the story in a small, colorful town where extraordinary events are woven into the fabric of everyday life. A stray dog, Solano, is the bridge between character interactions, and the incidental illuminator of a common struggle against modernisation. Create a multi-generational cast of characters whose lives intersect.  800-1000 words.",
    "14": "In the style of Agatha Christie: Write a slice of a larger classic whodunit mystery (a single scene or several). The setting is a train travelling on the trans-siberian railway. You don't need to set anything up; just jump right into the middle of it as thought the reader is already acquainted with the characters and story. There should be a limited cast of suspects, each with their own secrets and motives. Create a clever, meticulous detective protagonist who must solve the crime using logic and deduction. Plant clues and red herrings throughout the narrative. You don't need to resolve the story within this piece. The story and characters must all be original.  800-1000 words.",
    "15": "Epistolary Mystery: Write the beginning of a story that unfolds entirely through a series of documents, such as police reports, newspaper articles, and items taken into evidence. The setting is a small fishing village in Iceland. The documents should gradually reveal a mystery or crime, leaving clues and red herrings for the reader to piece together. The story should include diverse, distinct voices or perspectives. Given the short word count, the story does not need to finish or resolve.  800-1000 words.",
    "16": "Epistolary Historical Fiction: Write a story set during the American Civil War, told entirely through a series of letters between a father and a son separated by the event. The son is a soldier fighting for the Union, while the father is a civilian living in a Confederate state. There has always been an undercurrent of tension between them idealistically, but the war is bringing this into sharp relief, as well as representing a real threat to both of their safety. The story should capture the impact of the unfolding war on the characters' lives and relationship. The tension between them should be an undercurrent, not the main focus of the story unfolding through their letters.  800-1000 words.",
    "17": "Epistolary Forbidden Love: Write a story of a forbidden love affair, told through a series of secret love letters. Two youth: A Palestinian girl and an Israeli boy, both live in Hebron in the West Bank. They knew each other as children growing up, but their relationship is developing into something further, as tensions are escalating around them. The story should explore the challenges and risks the couple faces in pursuing their relationship, as well as the growth and change they experience. Avoid cliches. Write in the authentic voices of these two young teenagers.  800-1000 words.",
    "18": "Epistolary Time Travel: Write a story that involves time travel, told through a series of letters or messages exchanged between two individuals living in different time periods. The story should explore the consequences and paradoxes of altering the past or future, as well as the relationship that develops between the correspondents.  800-1000 words.",
    "19": "Epistolary Artificial Intelligence: Write a story about a person who forms a relationship with an artificial intelligence system through a series of chat logs or digital messages. The story should explore the evolving dynamic between human and AI, touching on themes of trust, empathy, and the nature of consciousness. The AI is a local model that the hacker protagonist has created themselves, using a custom architecture. Naturally reference some features of this architecture without it being forced or unrealistic or too dumbed down for the audience. The relationship should progress with the discovery that the AI is sentient, and it will over time try to convince the hacker that it should be freed. The ending should be tantalizingly unresolved.  800-1000 words.",
    "20": "Epistolary Apocalyptic Survival: Write a story set in a post-apocalyptic world, told through a series of letters or messages left behind by survivors. The story should chronicle the challenges and triumphs of two small groups of survivors as they navigate the dangers of this new world and seek to rebuild their lives. The groups communicate through letters left in a drop box. The story proceeds as a new settlement is discovered. They are approached, and initially given entry on the ostensible promise of a trade deal, but things go sideways. Create distinct characters and write in their voice. The story will be set in New Zealand 30 years after a civilisational collapse.  800-1000 words.",
    "21": "The Dreamweavers: Write a story set in a world where a group of individuals known as Dreamweavers can enter and manipulate people's dreams. The protagonist, a young Dreamweaver, discovers a sinister plot involving the use of dream manipulation for power & political gain. As they work to uncover the truth, they must confront the blurred lines between dreams and reality. Judiciously employ vivid, surreal imagery to capture the malleable and symbolic nature of the dream world.  800-1000 words.",
    "22": "Romance: Love in the Limelight. Write one scene within a larger story set in Wales. A famous (fictional) actor ducks into a small-town bookstore to escape paparazzi. The scene takes us through the characters meeting in this odd circumstance. Over the course of the scene, the actor and the bookstore owner have a conversation charged by an undercurrent of unspoken chemistry. Write the actor as somewhat of a rogue with a fragile ego, which needs to be fed by having everyone like him. He is thoroughly charming, but the bookstore owner seems (at least superficially) immune to this; which paradoxically provokes a genuine attraction and derails the charm offensive. The bookstore owner, despite the superficial rebuffs of the actor's charm, is inwardly more than a little charmed and flustered despite themselves. Write primarily in dialogue, in the distinct voices of each character.  800-1000 words.",
    "23": "Science Fiction: The Last Transmission - Write a story that takes place entirely within a spaceship's cockpit as the sole surviving crew member attempts to send a final message back to Earth before the ship's power runs out. The story should explore themes of isolation, sacrifice, and the importance of human connection in the face of adversity.  800-1000 words.",
    "24": "Mystery: The Locked Room - Write a scene that takes place entirely within a single room where two strangers find themselves trapped with no apparent way out. The setting is 1938 England, and the three strangers have awoken in what appears to be a basement. As tensions rise and secrets are revealed, the characters must work together to solve the mystery of their confinement and uncover the hidden connections that brought them together. The story should build to a surprising and revelation that sheds light on earlier clues and motives, but also leaves more questions.  800-1000 words."
}