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?