Four Word Writing Prompt: Moonlight and what?

If you've ever seen the cooking show, Chopped, it's always they ingredients that pose a challenge.  For this four word prompt, let's set the stage for romance and then introduce something completely different.

flowers

wine

moonlight

rhinocerus

Writing Prompt: Envision Your Overlords

The future may well belong to robots.  They are contributing in every sphere of life.  We have robot cars.  We have robots on Mars.  We have robots in factories.  We have robots making coffee.  Even when there isn't a mechanical being on the scene, there are artificially intelligent software systems analyzing data or answering phones.  The growth seems endless.

As writers, we can visualize the many future uses of robots for good or bad purposes.  For today's writing prompt, create a short story where one of the primary characters is a --

robot

NASA Genghis Robot Prototype - photo by NASA / Public domain

Writing Prompt: Robbery on the Railroad

It's a western Wednesday and that's a good enough excuse to bring the Old West to the printed page.  The treasures of the old west were once guarded by railroad agents and Pinkerton detectives.  For today's writing prompt, lets bring wild western folks like these back into our worlds.  Today, let's spin a fictional tale of a -

Railroad Heist

Writing Prompt: Utopian Dreams

We've all seen dystopian visions of the future.  They seem to come true with disturbing regularity.  But, what of the positive visions?  What of the perfect societies?  They always seem to fly in the face of human nature and market forces or they get co-opted by authoritarian governments.  But, is that just negative self-talk?  Perhaps, we need to think about the positive and the outcomes we want to see.  When you close your eyes and envision a perfect society in the future, what do you see?  What is it like?  How do they solve some of today's major problems?

For today's writing prompt, put on your futurist hat, charge up your positivity, and envision a -

future utopia

Write a short piece of fiction that provides a snippet of life in a future utopia or illustrates how a current day problem is solved in a future utopia.

PAL-V Flying Car - photo by Eslivb / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

Writiing Prompt: A Fantastic Journey

We're in an amazing age for astronomy.  Amazing telescope technologies have brought distant stars under closer scrutiny than ever, rovers are traveling Mars, and unmanned probes have visited every corner of our solar system.  One of the most intriguing things in astronomy has been the discovery of exoplanets.  These are planets that orbit stars other than our own.  It's not surprising that they are out there.  But, now that we can see them, we want to visit them.

For today's Science Fiction Saturday writing prompt, write a short story about the amazing voyage that takes mankind to an -

exoplanet

An Artist's Conception of an Exoplanet by Trent Schindler, National Science Foundation / Public domain

Writing Prompt: Art Theft

The success of movies like the Thomas Crown Affair and Ocean's Eleven show the popularity of movies involving thefts.  A well-planned heist never fails to capture the imagination.  Everyone wants to see if the plan can be executed and whether the thieves will get away.  For today's writing prompt, write a piece of short fiction that involves the theft of a -

priceless painting

This art from TJ Maxx was a steal!

Four Word Writing Prompt: The Scene

Sometimes all you need are a few words to get started.  Today, you'll find these our words and a photo to help you set the scene.  For today's writing prompt, incorporate the following words into a short piece of fiction:

hubcap

pavement

bell

teddy bear

Photo by Ryan Hodnett / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

Writing Prompt: Far Out Space Travelers

Few things capture the imagination more than the idea of a warship in space.  We have the U.S.S. Enterprise, Battlestar Galactica, and Imperial Star Destroyers deeply rooted in our collective psyches.  If we know anything about humanity, it's that we'll likely fight anywhere we go.  Look at Twitter.  But, for this writing exercise, we've got to do something a little different.  We've got to give peace a chance.

For this writing exercise, let's write a groovy short piece of fiction about -

Hippies in Space

Four Word Prompt: Fight?

We haven't tackled a four word writing prompt lately.  You can cover anything from science fiction to ecological disaster with these four words.  All you have to do is create a short piece of fiction that includes these four words:

armor

reptile

heat

combat

Writing Prompt: An Ode to the Mini Moon

Earth has a new "mini moon" for a little while.  It's between 6.2 feet and 11.4 feet in diameter and its name is 2020 CD3.  Scientists say it will stay with us through March 2020 and then return to orbiting the sun on its own as an asteroid.  If our regular, full-sized, moon has captured the hearts and imaginations of Earthlings since the dawn of humanity, it seems like our new guest moon deserves at least a little something.

I think we should, at least, write a little something for our new celestial friend.  It can be a poem, a science fiction story, or something else entirely.  For today's writing prompt, let's write about our --

Mini Moon

Photo by the international Gemini Observatory/NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory/AURA/G. Fedorets / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

Writing Prompt: Murder You Write

Every time you turn on the television in a major city, it seems like there is sad news about a murder.  Behind every murder, there is a story.  There is a story of a victim and their is a story of a murderer.  There is a story of the murderers parents and siblings.  There is a story about the victims family and friends.  There is a story of a quest for justice.  Every murder has a story.  For today's writing prompt, tell us a short fictional story that begins with the familiar line -

Police found a body.

Photo by Tony Webster / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

Writing Prompt: Shipwrecked

From Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe to Tom Hanks' role in Cast Away, the idea of being stranded on a desert island is common in literature, the movies, and real life news stories.  Being marooned makes for a great survival drama.  For today's writing prompt, write a short piece of fiction that features a group of people who are -

shipwrecked