What’s the Story?

June’s theme is speculative fiction. I’ve read that the Christian fiction industry uses the phrase speculative fiction while the general market uses science fiction and fantasy.

Whatever you call this genre, all the Monday Sparks will feature speculative fiction prompts that will allow your imagination to run wild.

What’s the story? Here’s mine:

I shifted my guitar to my back, and the sparks of magic I’d strummed into flying settled to the ground and winked away.
Molith City, lit beneath my feet, shone almost as bright under a blanket of heat that had rolled in the first week of August.
Molith City. I’d heard a lot of things about the mega city back home. None of them good. But if that’s where Zare was, I had to go down the hillside and go in.
Taking a deep breath, I started down the steep slope. I swung my guitar in front of me and strummed up some sparks for the light and company.

June 1, 2020 0

Monday Sparks — Writing Prompts: What’s the Christmas Story?

What Christmas story in the speculative fiction genre can you write from this photo? Is the knocked-over tree a sign of an alien abduction? The only proof of a battle between good and evil? Or maybe the animals who called this tree home just want it back. Share your inspiration below?

December 23, 2019 2

Monday Sparks — Writing Prompts: On a dark, rainy night, someone is digging in a cemetery.

This prompt is based on a real life incident a friend of mine told me about. Late on a summer night, in the pouring rain, my friend, her husband, and her sons drove home from a restaurant. She lives across from a cemetery. As they passed it, they noticed that someone had parked his car so the beams of the headlights fell on a grave. The person was digging.

There’s more to the story, but I don’t want to ruin your inspiration. You could use this first line for crime fiction, family drama, or speculative fiction. You could even use it for a humorous story. Let me hear where your imagination takes you!

On a dark, rainy night, a man digs in a cemetery and …

October 22, 2018 0

Writing Tip — Genres of Science Fiction & Fantasy

Since I just returned from vacation, my post today is short. If reading about speculative fiction this month has inspired you to give it a try, I recommend reading this article on genres and sub-genres from Inspired Prompt via Science Fiction & Fantasy.

What I like about this post is that the author list novels written in each style. That is so helpful in understanding what readers expect in each sub-genre,

But even if you haven’t read much in the area you want to write about, get writing! You can always revise your work as you learn about the rules of your chose sub-genre.

Since the name “speculative fiction” is an umbrella for so many different kinds of storytelling, the author of the post couldn’t cover them all. I noticed “steampunk” is missing. For examples of this, try Michelle Levigne’s series Guardians of the Time Stream.

What other sub-genres are missing?

July 31, 2018 0

Monday Sparks — Writing Prompts for Speculative Fiction

For my last prompt of the month, I chose this picture. I like the contrast between the girl who is dressed in clothes from our time and the setting, which looks futuristic. I also like the hazy sunset. It seems appropriate for a story set in July or August. How would you write this scene from the girl’s POV? Here’s mine:

“A whisper of a breeze signaled the coming of night. As the police jets patrolled the city, the broiling sun slid to the horizon. In fifteen minutes, I’d be free. At least for a few hours, sneaking into the cracks and crevices in this city where the patrols either didn’t know about or didn’t go and no cameras watched. I checked my phone. Time to go. I got up and walked over to the street lamp. I wrenched aside a loose metal panel and set my phone inside. Now I was invisible in the city. I went to the door and ran down the steps.”

July 30, 2018 0