With the holiday upon us, I’ve made a list of six creative Thanksgiving writing prompts for short stories. The one thing I kept in mind while creating the list is that the idea has to be something a writer can explore in 1,000 to 10,000 words.
- Thanksgiving road trip: This idea works for both drama and comedy, novel or short story. The key for a short story is to limit the scenes. For example, a comic novel about all the trouble a family gets into while driving a long distance for Thanksgiving dinner could cover a few days and a lot of humorous mishaps and catastrophes. For a short story, you should make the drive shorter and choose fewer comic conflicts but those conflicts can still be as outrageous or ridiculous as you want them to be.
- Passing the torch: This short story can be a humorous or poignant or both as the younger generation takes over Thanksgiving preparations.
- Family conflict: Again, this can work for both comedy or drama. For a short story, choose only one conflict. You don’t have room for subplots.
- Kitchen disasters: The dinner that, somehow, goes horribly wrong.
- The unexpected guest: The guest who was not invited or one that comes out of nowhere poses a lot of potential for a short story. You might even turn it into a Thanksgiving thriller (That sounds weird, but I may have just invented a new subgenre of crime fiction.)
- Thanksgiving from a kid’s POV: Take a trip down memory lane to find inspiration in how you viewed Thanksgiving as a kid. My family had to eat two Thanksgiving dinners in one day. For lunch, we’d go to my mom’s parents. For supper, we’d go to my dad’s. Passing out from overeating was a real possibility.
Here are more ideas for using November in your stories.
What creative Thanksgiving writing prompts for short stories do you suggest?
Great ideas! My favorite idea is the unexpected guest!
Somebody once wrote that there are only two stories in the world: someone goes home or a stranger comes to town. The unexpected guest fits both of those stories.