Weekly Wattpad Contests

August Free Write 2

I've not been having a good time thinking up prompts. It would be the easiest thing in the world to search the internet for writing prompts, but I feel that would be both uninspiring and cheating.

The internet is so vanilla – we only bring you the very best from Contests! – but I'm afraid I'm pretty vanilla too.

I do like new, and fun, and exciting, so I try to change the format up for every contest – my steadfast belief is that utter unpredictability is a powerful tool in any author's repertoire. So, that's where we're drawing inspiration from for this week's free-write.

1. Character Prompts. These are stories which focus on character exploration and building. My highest priority when writing and reviewing stories is always interesting, real characters.

a) Llovoi is a robot whose memories have been deleted. He came to awareness while standing in the calm ocean with a sword, in the middle of a moonlit night. There was nobody around him, and no trace of his purpose. He explores the world in order to find a new purpose for himself.

b) Yue has always had a strong connection to the moon. As she descends to its surface in the People's Republic of China's final human expedition, she reflects on the circumstances of her life that had brought her to that moment.

c) Haeptomec has a peculiar gift – a peculiar curse. One of the youngest initiates into the Order of Osiris, he has been touched by a god. The implications are severe, and curious. He can taste human souls when he's near them, but if he drinks that taste in too much, he becomes it. An interesting blessing, and perhaps a difficult life to lead.

d) Bloom is a thieving little creature. She's very good at it, but she prefers stealing flowers. Each one is a precious gift to her, and when they die, a piece of her dies with it. It's a self-destructive cycle, and there's only so much she hurt she can take.

e) We are the ghosts, and we whisper to the walls. We want them to tell you that we long to be seen.

f) Fray August is searching for his twin sister. Somewhere, something went wrong, and there is no memory of her, no trace of her existence, except his conviction that she must exist. He begins to wonder whether it's him or the world that has gone mad.

g) The Lady Who Waits is seen every morning, in her pyjamas, sitting at the Ocean View cafe, sipping wine, and staring out over the ocean. She always pays in Tremissis, and never speaks. That is, until one day a ship sails past, and she does.

2. Plot Prompts. These are stories which focus on circumstances and events. They're less concerned with characters and aim to prompt interesting narratives.

a) The trees at the park have begun to bleed an unknown resin. The park has been closed off and collection and consumption of the sap has been outlawed due the unpredictable effects it has on humans. But, more and more trees, all over the city, are beginning to produce the dangerous substance.

b) There's a very strange newspaper popping up around the city. It's always one day ahead, and everything it says is almost always true. Police forces begin to use it in order to prevent crime – they always fail. Investors use it to buy stocks – the economy faces dire consequences. Over time, the reports become darker and darker, and people live in fear of the day it declares the end of the world.

c) There's a living forest in Norway, regarded with the greatest superstitions. At night, there are floating lights, the grass grows blue, and the trees seem to be ever changing. And growing. Larger and larger. Further and further. The forest begins to encroach on a small town, and the 58 residents begin to fear for their lives.

d) At the heart of Mars, there is a clock. It's ticking.

e) Vey begins to remember things from a life long ago. A historical romance, a war, and her flee from Venice are paralleled in the modern world with her new job at a security firm which has very strange secrets to hide.

f) There are reports of people across the globe that suddenly develop what is termed 'Altered State Existence'. It is an umbrella term for symptoms depicting unexplained physiological changes that enable humans to exist in multiple dimensions at once, though existing in more than one at a time is not recommended. It glitches the system.

g) Watering regularly: good advice for both plants and people.

I'mma be honest, that last one was just a lapse in my synaptic networks. I'm bad at these, but I have an interesting idea for next week's free write, and it's super interactive. So we'll look at being fun again then.

Remember to share your stories here so others can see them too!

Whodunit Note: I'm sure we're all anticipating the next phase of the whodunit, but there has been an interesting turn of events that I still have to work through. Expect that in the very near future!