Category: Monday Sparks

What’s the Mystery Behind the Fire?

Mystery writing prompts

I’m reposting this photo prompt because the inspiration it gave me for the beginning of a story is one of my favorites. What’s the mystery behind the fire? Here’s what I wrote six years ago:

*****

Even though me and Jace stood like a football field away, we could still feel the heat of the fire that ate up the caretaker’s building in the Union Cemetery.

Lots of people had come into the cemetery to watch: Father Mihalic, Mrs. Hudson, who worked as a janitor at our school, mean, old Mr. Olsen, Mayor Coleman, some other kids on their way to the middle school.

Jace elbowed me. “Did you see the mayor?”

“I ain’t blind. Nobody can miss him.”

He was closer than anybody to the fire, except the firefighters, walking fast, back and forth, shouting if they were sure Mr. Delaney hadn’t been in the building.

“Mayor Coleman’s acting real upset,” said Jace. “Do you think he’s scared he killed Mr. Delaney when he set fire to the place?”

I tried to remember what we’d seen in the early dawn when we’d left the house because Dad had finally come home. 

I shook my head. “I think he’s scared he didn’t.”

*****

What mystery does the photo inspire for you?

Here are more mystery writing prompts.

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What Mystery Can Happen in This Neighborhood?

Mystery writing prompt

I like mysteries that take place in unusual settings. I chose this street for today’s writing prompt because it looks so ordinary. It’s not in a wealthy neighborhood where wealth, privilege, and keeping up with the Joneses can fuel a mystery. It’s not a poor neighborhood where poverty can lead to crime. It’s an ordinary middle-class street, an older neighborhood in a typical American town. So what mystery can happen in this neighborhood??

One of the most common ways to kickstart a mystery is for a character to break a pattern of behavior. So if old Mrs. Lafferty, who always had kids stop in for cookies after school, says she can’t do that any more, that’s a break in her pattern of behavior. Or Mr. Jesky always worked second shift at a warehouse. Now he rarely leaves his house and has a new car in the drive.

So let me know. What mystery can happen in this neighborhood?

Here are more writing prompts for mysteries.

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What Clue is Hidden in this Antique Typewriter?

Writing prompt for mysteries

It’s mystery month here at JPC Allen Writes, so my Monday Spark writing prompts are chosen to inspire not only your writing side, but your inner sleuth. What clue is hidden in this antique typewriter that can be plot points in a mystery?

Here’s my inspiration: A stay-at-home mom with three kids buys the typewriter at a garage sale for almost nothing. Her hobby, when she can find the time, is restoring antique machines. While working on the typewriter, she finds a scarp of paper jammed in a corner. It’s very brittle, As she unrolls it, the paper breaks, but she can still piece it together and the faded typed words are still legible. The note reads: “Anson Mayhew killed me.”

Your turn. What clue is hidden in this antique typewriter?

Here are more writing prompts for mysteries.

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What Genre Would You Place This Scene In?

What genre would you place this scene in

What genre would you place this scene in? The young woman in the black coat looks afraid, and the backpack on the ground makes me think of a clandestine exchange taking place, so thriller or crime drama is the genre that leaps to my mind. But I’m encouraging you to think outside the box.

When I take a closer look, the man is carrying a backpack that looks feminine. The one on the ground looks more like one a man would carry. And during this confrontation, the woman in the white coat decides to light up. I think there’s possibilities for comedy here.

Let me know what genre you would place this scene in?

Here are more photo prompts for writing scenes.

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Write the Next Line of this Scene

Writing prompts for scenes of novels

Since I’m focusing on writing scenes this month on JPC Allen, my prompt today is to ask you to write the next line of this scenes. I love photos that suggest stories, and this one suggested one as soon as I saw it. Here’s the beginning.

*****

“Sophie?” I stared at the girl hunched over the table in my favorite coffee shop. I should say young woman, if it was Sophie. We’d graduated high school six years ago.

She whipped her head up from using her phone. “Alex,” she said in a kind of yip. “What are you doing here?”

“I moved here about seven months ago.” I gestured at the empty chair in front of her.

She stared at it, like she hadn’t noticed it before, and then jerked a nod.

Taking the seat, I said, “I majored in international finance at OSU and got my first job with here with a software company, What have you been doing? Getting music gigs?”

She gave me a feeble smile. “Band was always my favorite class.” She looked past me, as if peering through the huge wall of windows behind me. Her dark eyes bolted wide open.

“Sophie, is something wrong?”

She hunched back over the table and said …

*****

So let me know how you would write the next line of this scene.

Here are more prompts for writing scenes.

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