101 Writing Prompts for Fantasy and

Science Fiction Writers

Volume 2

By L. K. Grant

Text copyright 2012 L. K. Grant

Cover art copyright 2012 Geoffrey
A. Pratt
Cover design copyright 2012 L. K.
Grant

for the sweet ladies and gents from

various writing groups
who were kind enough
to be my guinea pigs

for Jo Carson
who showed me the dragon
and the way past it

Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Preface
Using These Prompts
Thank You!

Preface
Dear Writer,
Youre back! I hope that last round of
writing prompts has served you well!
Seriously, Id love to read them some
time, so please email me:
LKeenerGrant@gmail.com
As with the last one, I wanted this
book to be more than just a list of
writing prompts, though it certainly
delivers that.
I hope to show you, a writer of

speculative and outlandish fiction, a

way of generating your own prompts
for fantasy and sci-fi stories using
history, personal and anecdotal
experiences, and the fascinating
origins of common words and
phrases.
Many pages of this book offer not just
a prompt but also the seed of the
prompt, showing you how I have used
reality to create reality-bending story
ideas.
I have tried to derive many of these
prompts from real science, real
experiences and real people. Truly
engaging fantasy, science and

speculative fiction all contain one

thing: a grain of truth. When readers
sense verisimilitude, they will let you
take them to fascinating new worlds.
They will believe everything you tell
them.

Using These Prompts

If you downloaded this book, chances
are you already know how writing
prompts work. But as a refresher, here
are a few tips.
Give each prompt at least five
minutes of solid writing. If you find
yourself writing for a couple of hours
as the result of one prompt, great!
Some of them may even lead you to
complete stories or novels, and if that
happens, awesome. But give your
brain a chance to kick in to gear with
each one. Even if you sit in front of
the computer for four and a half

minutes with nothing of worth coming

out, you are giving your brain a
workout. Your brain is like you
probably were in high school: it gets
bored in class and starts to daydream.
While daydreams got you in trouble
when you were a teenager, they are
exactly what your brain should be
doing.
With many prompts, I ask several
questions. Feel free to answer some,
all or none of them.

Many writers use prompts to get the

creative juices flowing before sitting
down to the hard slog of writing.

Others use prompts to give their brain

some relief, especially if they find
themselves stuck within a longer piece
of fiction. With this in mind, I have
written a lot of these prompts with
your character as the main subject,
so that you can take your protagonist
out of the novel/story you are
currently working on and plop
him/her down in another setting, just
to shake things up a bit and see what
happens. If youre just writing to get
the aforementioned juices flowing,
this may be a great way for you to
meet new characters, characters that
may decide that you are the one to
write their story.

Some pages provide simply a strange

or underused word and its definition.
The dictionary is a great place to find
inspiration, and for these prompts I
suggest that you try one of several
methods: write the word into a scene,
use the word as the title of a book or
story, or use the word as a name for a
new character and write about that
character, showing how that character
does (or doesnt) live up to the name.
Good luck, and please feel free to
contact me at any time. Id love to see
what comes of these prompts and
answer any questions you might have.

~Laura
LKeenerGrant@gmail.com

***1***

Amulet: an object worn to ward off

evil, illness or bad luck. Usually a
natural object.
Your character has need of an amulet.
What does he/she need protection
from?

***2***

Talisman: an object worn to attract

power, or to amplify power a person
already possesses. Often a man-made
object.
Your character has finally found a
talisman that he/she has been seeking
for decades. Whats the next step?

***3***

Your character thinks he/she has

found an amulet to ward off an evil
force that has been chasing him/her,
but discovers instead that the object
is a talisman. What happens next?

***4***

Your character has spent half of

his/her life searching for a talisman,
only to discover that it is, in fact, an
amulet. What happens next?

***5***

A tall, dark-skinned woman is running

for her life. Behind, the creatures
giving chase are finally beginning to
catch up. The mist clears, and she
skids to a stop. A deep chasm yawns
before her.

***6***

Your character finds a little girl hiding

in a closet. She clutches a small doll, a
doll that looks an awful lot like your
character.

***7***

A young student sits in the library,

long after everyone else has left. On
the table sits a book, dusty from year
or even decades of neglect. The
student turns to the first page and
reads the first line aloud.
Suddenly, the lights in the library go
dark.

***8***

A man sits on a caf patio, pretending

to read a newspaper. No one in the
caf knows that hes an android, or
that hes been sent to kill the
waitress.

***9***

Your character lands on a planet

where all of the aliens sing to
communicate. The language is easy
enough to learn, but your character is
tone deaf.

***10***
Your character is a judge in a murder
trial. The defendant is giving his
testimony when suddenly he
disappears.

***11***

Write Prompt #10 from the

prosecutions POV.

***12***

Write Prompt #10 from the jurys POV.

***13***

Writing Prompt #10 from the

defendants POV.

***14***

The birth of the son of the king was

highly anticipated.
No one expected the baby to be born
with a lions mane and tail.

***15***

A couple are driving down the road,

arguing. They hit a traffic jam that is
back up for miles around a bend in
the road. Unbeknownst to them, a
Tyrannosaurus Rex is blocking the
way, just around the corner.

***16***

Write a radio broadcast for an

apocalyptic event.

***17***

Your character wakes up to find that

he/she is a foot tall. Describe your
characters struggles to get out of bed.

***18***

Write from the POV of a magic sword.

***19***

A young boy is climbing a tree with

friends. As he climbs, the foliage gets
thicker, and soon enough he cant see
his friends. He begins to realize that
he cant hear them anymore, either.
But just above his head, hes about to
break through to the top of the
canopy.

***20***

Your character is a witch or warlock

who must dance to seal a sacred
circle.

***21***

Your character is a doctor at a secret

government facility. A genetically
engineered creature has just escaped.

***22***

Write Prompt #21 from the POV of a

janitor.

***23***

Write Prompt #21 from the POV of the

creature.

***24***

An elf has lived his entire life in the

woods, and has never seen a human
before. He is walking a familiar path
when he comes across a human camp.
What does he see?

***25***

Your character finds dragon bones in

a cave. What happens when he/she
picks them up?

***26***

Your character is a ghost who haunts

a train station. Who is he/she? Why is
your character trapped there? What
does your character see?

***27***

Oh God, she thought, looking down

at her hands. Its happening again.

***28***

A newlywed couple arrives at their

hotel on their wedding night. They do
the things newlyweds do on their
honeymoon. In the middle of the
night, the bride wakes up to a strange
clicking noise coming from the pillow
next to hers.

***29***

Your character wears a special suit to

work every day. It is painted on before
each shift, and peeled off at the end
of the day. Why does your character
wear it? Does it protect? Enhance?

***30***

Ishara is the goddess of oaths for

several ancient cultures.
Imagine a civilization where a goddess
is in charge of making sure people
keep their promises. How would she
punish those who broke their word?
Does she take a physical form, or does
she work unseen?

***31***

A woman moves into a house, and

begins to notice that certain things
around the house (the plants, the
landscaping, the stonework and the
layout of the house) seem designed to
bring in power and protect the house
from supernatural forces.
Write about how she discovers this
power. Write about how she finds out
what its being protected from.

***32***

Your character has a violin that, when

played, lulls anyone listening into
complacency. For years, your
character has used this instrument to
steal from people. But now the army
has asked your character to help
them. They fly your character to the
frontlines and give him/her a
microphone and an amplifier.
Describe the first day on the job.

***33***

He ran inside and slammed the door.

Silence filled the room. Then, on the
other side of the door, an ominous
sound.

***34***

Your character wakes up to his/her

alarm, and when he/she hits the
snooze button, the alarm shatters.
Your character looks down at his/her
hand and realizes that although it
looks normal, and doesnt feel heavy,
its as hard as stone.

***35***

She filled a syringe with a black liquid

from a small bottle. She finds a vein
on the corpses arm and pushes the
plunger. The corpse opens his white
eyes and turns his gaze to her face.

***36***

Write Prompt #36 from the corpses

POV.

***37***

Aliens are invading Earth. A man who

lives in New York City is running down
an alley to escape roving aliens, who
are vaporizing any humans in their
path. He finds one of the aliens lying
dead in the alley, and next to it, one
of the vaporizers the aliens have been
using to kills humans. He presses the
trigger, and blows a hole in the side of
a building. Inside, a woman cowers
behind a counter.

***38***

Grab a novel close to your desk, open

to the first chapter, and write down
the first five words. Use some or all of
these words as the title for your next
novel, which is about one of the
following: werewolves, elves, ghosts,
aliens or centaurs. Write a blurb for
the back of your new novel. Let loose,
go crazy. SELL your book to the guy or
gal standing in the bookstore who just
picked it up.

***39***

Cloning humans has been legal for 75

years. Your character has
commissioned a clone from a budget
lab, and is on the way to the main
office to pick it up. Why is your
character so unhappy after picking the
clone up?

***40***

Write Prompt #39 from the POV of the

clone.

***41***

Your character walks into the mouth

of a cave, torch in hand. From deep
within comes a low rumble,
reverberating along the dripping
walls.

***42***

She wore a flashing emerald at her

throat, and as he looked into her
eyes, he realized she was not human.
Not one bit.

***43***

Your character is climbing a mountain,

carrying a sacred object in a satchel.
Your character must reach the top of
the mountain before the army below,
which is only a few hundred yards
behind, catches up.

***44***

Write Prompt #43, but replace the

army with a lone bounty hunter.

***45***
Sleep well, honey.
Goodnight, Mom. As soon as her
mother closed the door, Elle threw
back the covers and stood. She pulled
a bag out from under her bed and
looked out the window. The moon
was almost as bright as daylight.

***46***

Your character enters a room, which is

full of people, carrying a box. The
crowd, seeing the box, begins to back
away.

***47***

A woman enters the bedchamber she

shares with her husband, only to find
the head of her lover pickled in a jar
and staring at her from the mantle.

***48***

Your character has made a watch that

can stop time...
and it has just been stolen.

***49***

Your character has just stolen a watch

that can stop time.

***50***

A young girl walks around a tree three

times. With each revolution, the
forest around her fades and a new
world takes shape.

***51***

The Magical Skull of Doom, made of

crystal and found in an archeological
dig in Belize during the 1920s, is an
artifact shrouded in rumor and myth.
One rumor is that it has a particular
smell, and that anyone standing near
it begins to hear chimes and bells.
Your character has just found a crystal
skull (not necessarily at a dig).
Describe this discovery, focusing on
the sounds and smells that come with
it.

***52***

Surrounded by tall, majestic,

mysterious stones, your character is
about to begin the ritual. The only
thing left to do is to wait for the
moon to rise between the two tallest
stones and spill light across the altar.

***53***

There are five ghosts inhabiting an old

inn in your hometown. Give each of
them a name, and take no more than
30 seconds or so to do so.
Choose a name and tell that ghosts
story.

***54***

Using a different name from Prompt

#53, describe a guest of the inn
meeting one of the ghosts.

***55***

Using yet another name from Prompt

#53, tell the story of a woman who
falls in love with one of the ghosts.

***56***

Using a new name from Prompt #53,

tell the story of a young boy who
moves into the inn when his parents
buy it. Describe his first encounter
with the ghost.

***57***

The last ghost on your list has a secret

that she took to her grave (which
happens to be under the floorboards
in the best suite in the inn). She will
only be free to leave the inn if she can
share that secret with someone.

***58***

One morning, a little girl and her

brother discover that they can walk
through the mirror in the hallway.

***59***

There are four knights in a field.

Youre only allowed to let one of
them live.

***60***

It is an odd thing, but every one who

disappears is said to be seen in the
San Francisco. It must be a delightful
city, and possess all the attractions of
the next world.
~Oscar Wilde

***61***

She held the chalice out to him, and

as it tipped toward him, he saw that it
held not wine, but something much
darker, much redder.

***62***

Science fiction heroes have a lot of

exciting adventures, but they also
must do normal things, like shop for
groceries, clean their teeth and get
married.
Describe a wedding set 200 years in
the future.

***63***

Dolphins sleep unihemispherically,

meaning one side of their brain sleeps
while the other stays awake (this is
how they dont drown).
Imagine that your character
experiences unihemispheric sleep.
He/she can stay up all the time as a
result, and perhaps his/her job or
lifestyle reflects this ability. Describe a
day in the life of your character.

***64***

Animals were frequently prosecuted

as criminals in medieval courts, often
for supernatural reasons, but also for
more natural crimes, like theft and
murder. A majority of animal
defendants were pigs, most likely
because they were allowed to roam
freely to forage by their owners. One
sow was convicted of killing an infant,
and hanged from the gallows. Her
piglets were also charged as
accessories, but were acquitted

because of their youth and the bad

influence of their mother.
Write from the sows point of view,
first or third person. Give her a name,
and feel free to add a supernatural
element. Was she sent by someone to
kill the infant? Was she a human in
pig form, and if so, why didnt she
change back into a human? Be sure to
include her piglets.

***65***

A cockatrice is a two-legged dragon

with a roosters head. Its gaze can
turn people to stone, and in some
legends, merely by touching or
breathing on the victim. According to
some bestiaries, the weasel is the only
animal immune to the glance of a
cockatrice. A cockatrice could die if it
heard a rooster crow, or if it looked at
itself in a mirror.
Imagine a modern-day city terrorized
by a cockatrice. Several people have

recently gotten into the fad of having

a chicken coops in their backyards,
and it has unfortunately attracted a
cockatrice. Write about a town
meeting where they discuss the
damage the cockatrice has done, and
how theyre going to get rid of it.

***66***

Aelurophobia is a deathly fear of cats.

Your character has aelurophobia in a
world where hyper-intelligent cats
have taken over.

***67***

Your character is an executioner who

must execute the queen. Pick one (or
more): the executioner has been
bribed; the queen is not the real
queen; the executioner is not the real
executioner.

***68***

Geomancy (in Arabic, science of the

sand) is a method of divination used
for centuries, and perhaps most
famously by Napoleon.
Your character is using sand to divine
the future. Options for this prompt:
colored sand, sand inside glass,
standing in a desert, water or other
liquid poured on or pooling in the
sand, divination by the seaside.

***69***

embroil, v: to throw into disorder or

confusion; to involve in conflict or
difficulties.

***70***

A peasant saves the life of a prince

just as the king comes along. Theres a
twist, though: the king didnt want the
prince to live.

***71***

chimera, n: an imaginary monster

compounded of incongruous parts.
Quickly, create a list of six animals.
Using a die, choose an animal for the
head, the body, and then the tail of
your chimera.
Your character comes across the
chimera youve created in a forest
near his/her village while collecting
medicinal plants.

***72***

Using the list you made for Prompt

#71, role the die again and create a
new chimera.
Your character comes across the new
chimera youve created in a back alley
of a major metropolitan city while
walking to work.

***73***

Using the list you made for Prompt

#71, role the die again and create a
new chimera.
Set this story about 50-75 years in the
future. Your character comes across
the chimera after breaking into a lab
that sells genetic modifications to the
public.

***74***

While entering a sacred, ancient city,

your character passes beneath a
colossal statue of a man, which guards
the city, only to discover that the
statue is alive.

***75***

Your character is a young Egyptian

slave whose task is to bring water and
food to the other slaves building the
pyramids, as well as the engineers and
overseers. While bringing a basket of
food to the engineers one evening,
your character overhears them
speaking to the starmen, who came
from the sky in a great ship, and who
are showing them how to build the
giant structures.

***76***

She reached into the bowl of cherries

and picked up one ripe, cool, plump
specimen. The first bite sent a flood of
sweet and slightly tangy juice into her
mouth. She pulled the pit from her
lips and held it between two long
fingers. The pit was glowing, with
potential, with purpose, with life

***77***

Your character is the captain of a

cargo ship. In addition to the goods
being shipped, the vessel has taken
on three passengers: two scientists set
on studying marine life, and a
mysterious widow who stays in her
cabin and speaks to no one.
The ship is attacked by a large sea
monster on the third day at sea. Write
from the captains POV.

***78***

Write Prompt #77 from a scientists

POV.

***79***

Write Prompt #77 from the widows

POV.

***80***

Your character is riding on the

shoulders of a steam-powered robot.
Focus your writing on sights and
sounds.

***81***

Write about a conflict between a devil

and an angel, but in your story, the
devil is the hero.

***82***

Many fantasy novels feature games

invented by the author for the
characters to play. Write a scene in
which your characters are playing a
game. Dont try to decide what the
rules are before you start writing;
invent the rules as you go.

***83***

Write Prompt #82 in a science fiction

setting.

***84***

Write about a warrior queen heading

into battle. Give her a weapon and a
battle animal.

***85***

Write about a president who is so

crazy he doesnt even know hes
president. Surround him with
handlers who keep things running. Set
the story 150 years in the future.

***86***

Ancient cultures used makeup for

more than just beauty. They wore eye
shadow to ward off blindness,
eyeliner to ward off evil, and lipstick
to protect against poison.
In a fantasy setting, describe your
character applying makeup that gives
him/her special abilities: protective,
strengthening, clairvoyant, etc.

***87***

Take the history from Prompt #86 and

apply it to a science fiction setting.
Describe your character applying
makeup that is scientifically designed
to serve a purpose: protective,
offensive, recreational, etc.

***88***

lares and penates, n. pl. : household

gods.

***89***

lapwing, n : from Old English leap

and wink, a crested Old World
plover noted for slow, irregular
flapping wings and a shrill, wailing cry.

***90***

falconet, n : a very small cannon used

in the 16th and 17th Centuries; a very
small Asiatic falcon.
Your character has trained a falcon to
carry and fire a tiny cannon.

***91***

In the magical universe there are no

coincidences and there are no
accidents. Nothing happens unless
someone wills it to happen.
~William S. Burroughs

***92***

In France, it was once against the law

to say violet out loud.
Create a world where saying violet
out loud has extreme consequences.
Then have your character say it.

***93***

Imagine a world where the bird flu is a

pervasive and destructive disease, and
humans have taken matters into their
own hands. Your character mans a
machine that pulls flocks of birds from
the sky. Be sure to describe the
machines and how they work.
Things to think about: a world
without birds, the reactions of
environmentalists, ornithologists,
birdwatchers and hunters, the species
that were prey to birds that no longer

have a predator threat.

***94***

Some historians believe that the

centaur myth came about when tribes
who did not have horses (and had
probably never seen horses) met up
with tribes that rode on horseback.
Your character is out hunting for his
village (on horseback) when he/she
spies what looks like a man on
horseback. As your character gets
closer, it slowly dawns on him/her
that there is something unusual about
the way the rider is sitting on the

horse.

***95***

More than 700 people world-wide

have a hookworm in their bodies.
Imagine a world where these worms
are all in communication with one
another, and that they possess
(currently dormant) mind-control
abilities. They await only a critical
mass of infestation to begin
conquering the world, and one final
human is about to become infected

***96***

He grabbed a fistful of salt and turned

to face the beast behind him.

***97***

Describe a world where humans shed

their skin like a snake. Do they do it in
private, like other bathroom
functions? Is it more public, like
coughing or sneezing? Are some
people ashamed? Are there contests
for the most-intact skin?

***98***

I find the medicine worse than the

malady.
~John Fletcher

***99***
Scholars believe that throwing
pennies into a well for good luck goes
back to the Mayans, who used to
throw maidens into wells and springs
to appease the spirits who lived there.
Write from the POV of a spirit in a
spring. You can set the story in the
past or in modern times, or (because
spirits are timeless) describe
thousands of years in the life of your
spirit. Are these gifts welcome? What
does the spirit think of them?

***100***

They invited her in because it was

raining and she looked cold. They
offered her supper because it was late
and she looked hungry. They asked
her to say the blessing because they
were friendly and she wore a cross.
But when she opened her mouth, no
one recognized the strange, terrible
words she said.

***101***

Parthenogenesis is when an
unfertilized egg spontaneously splits
and develops into a pregnancy,
without the necessity of male input.
A German woman, who claimed to be
a virgin, experience parthenogenesis
during World War II. When doctors
tested her child, they found it to be
genetically a twin to the woman, and
they suggested that it was the shock
of the bombing that caused the egg to
split.

Imagine a world where women can

experience parthenogenesis under a
much lighter amount of shock.

Thank You!
Yup, you! The first volume got such a great
response, I had to write this second one, and
here you are with me at the end of the book. I
hope youve found some great stories in these
pages, and that you will do what youre meant
to do: write.
Speaking of which, Id love to read what you
came up with. Feel free at any time to email
me at LKeenerGrant@gmail.com. You can also
see a complete list of my books and catch up
on what Im doing at
www.LauraTheNinja.com, or find the book at
www.facebook.com/deskandchair.
If you havent picked up Volume 1 yet, find it
here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0087W

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