Ironically, this post on prompted stories was prompted by a discussion with a friend of mine. See, I like to write long tales, with each character’s story drawn out in my head to get the depths of the motivations and the personality. It helps me allow my characters to jump out at me, noting that most of these never get written, so it’s really a matter of thoughts. By having those characters, certain events and emotions trigger a familiarity reaction that draws me back to them, and so their story continues or is rewritten as I need it to be to express the given moment. From this writing perspective, it means that I like reading or watching series where the characters have time to develop and really connect to the audience.
My friend had the flip perspective: short stories. As she explained, there was something undeniably ingenious about the way they left you hanging at the end, wondering how they got there and what happened next. Like the cliffhanger of a chapter or the hook before the title credits roll, except that in these stories, you don’t get an answer. It’s open for your interpretation and speculation. My initial reaction was to consider the writing style I spoke of above: the drawn out works of everything, so that no question remains unanswered. Of course I didn’t write these shorter stories!
But then I looked back at some of my old Google Docs. The one that caught my eye was titled “Story Prompts.” And this was when I remembered; I did use that writing style. I had started with some writing contest (long lost in the depths of my computer) that I wasn’t allowed to enter in because I was too young. It had a ridiculously small word limit and a one word prompt. I used their prompt, “Stone,” and, hungry for more, pulled up a word generator. The result were prompted mini stories, that, on my rereading, seem more like story prompts themselves, or maybe teasers for something longer.
Two of my own examples next week!
Do you ever get so far as to publish? Have you ever read any of Julie Moffett?
I self-published a novel at age 9 (it’s on Amazon here) and was published in the Stratford Literary Festival compilation For All Time as an honorable mention to a short story contest. That short story was about three pages and can be found in three parts on this website (links: 1, 2, 3).
As to Julie Moffett, I cannot say I recognize the name, nor any of the titles on her website. I take it you’d like to recommend her work?