Fandom Weekly

The leaves are falling, the days are getting shorter, and the weather’s turning cooler. Maybe it’s starting to rain more, or maybe it’s clear blue skies followed by freezing nights; maybe it’s time for corn mazes, or apple or pumpkin harvests. For some people, maybe it’s the best time of year to stay indoors with hot chocolate and a good book; other people might prefer a brisk hike followed by a bonfire. Depending where you live, maybe it’s the time of year for costumes and candy!

How do your characters spend their autumn nights? Do they enjoy autumn, or would they prefer any other season?

Write a story about autumn nights.

BONUS GOAL: Trick or Treat!

If your submission features Halloween (or a local equivalent), it will earn an extra point to be tallied in voting!

n. disagreeable physical effects following heavy consumption of alcohol or the use of drugs; a letdown following great excitement or excess

A fun night out drinking with long-lost friends, an all-nighter with endless cups of coffee, the biggest concert of your life or the most exciting six hours you can remember. Everything went great, you slept for hours, and now…

…now you’re feeling absolutely miserable.

Most of us have had a hangover from something – too much coffee, too much alcohol, or the post-excitement crash. But how would your characters handle it? Do they power through? Curl up in a ball and plead with someone to bring them tea and painkillers? Maybe they don’t get hangovers at all, and wonder what all of the fuss is about.

Write a story about a hangover.

BONUS GOAL: “I’m fine! I’m…not fine.”

If your submission features this line, it will earn an extra point to be tallied in voting!

Is it real, or just a magician’s trick? Something to play with at parties, or a powerful force you shouldn’t mess with? Something anyone can learn, or a secret known only to a few? Whatever it is, it’s magic! Whether it’s a feature of everyday life or something reserved for secret quests and world-saving, a magician’s sleight-of-hand or something far more real, things are always just a little more interesting with some magic.

Write a story about magic.

BONUS GOAL: A Magician’s Best Friend

If your submission features rabbits, it will earn an extra point to be tallied in voting!

prayer or invocation for harm or injury; a profane or obscene oath or word; a cause of great harm or misfortune; torment

Plenty of protagonists have a good reason to think they’ve been cursed somehow – no matter what they do, things keep going wrong for them (in, of course, story-worthy ways). Sometimes the curse is literal – a spell cast by some magical being they’ve offended, or something passed down their family line. Other times there’s no magical force acting on them, but it sure feels like there is! Can they do anything about it? Can they break the curse, literal or metaphorical? Or is it something they’ll just have to live with?

Write a story about a curse.

BONUS GOAL: “Tell him I said ‘hi’, okay? Oh, and ‘screw you’.”

If your submission features this line, it will earn an extra point to be tallied in voting!

A murder? A theft? A lost artifact, a missing pet, a strange map? Maybe it’s a dark and stormy night, or a sunny afternoon after school, or a blizzard so intense everyone is trapped in the house together; whatever the situation, your characters have a mystery on their hands.

Do they band together to solve the case, or start suspecting each other? Maybe they go it alone, or call a trusted friend. Maybe they swore off mystery-solving last week, but it found them anyway. Maybe they have another goal entirely, and just found the mystery along the way.

Write a story about a mystery.

BONUS GOAL: Lightning Strike

If your submission features this line, it will earn an extra point to be tallied in voting!

Maybe the sun will come out tomorrow!

Some people are just upbeat. No matter how bad things get, they’ll always see the bright side and expect the best. Pouring rain? Well, the plants need it. Car breakdown? That’s okay, there’s a mechanic’s right down the road, they can probably fix it. Alien invasion? Come on, team, we’ve got this!

Sometimes, a little bit of optimism is just what everyone needs. When our heroes are in their darkest moment, maybe they need a friend to tell them that it’s not over, they can still win this fight if they just keep going. Other characters, though, might find it frustrating; they don’t want to hear about what might go right, when it seems like everything is going wrong.

Where do your characters fall? Are they optimists, or not so much? How do they feel about it?

Write a story about optimism.

BONUS GOAL: Sunny Day

If your submission features sunshine, it will earn an extra point to be tallied in voting!

What does it mean to be a god?

There’s a lot of different ways for characters to relate to gods, or the concept thereof. Maybe they’ve followed the same faith their whole life, or maybe they don’t believe in gods at all; maybe they’ve actually met their gods, or maybe by some definitions they are gods.

How do they feel about that? Are they comfortable with what they believe? Do they like their gods? Hate them? Hang out with them?

Write a story about a deity.

BONUS GOAL: “Don’t believe everything you read.”

If your submission features this line, it will earn an extra point to be tallied in voting!

Everyone’s got a few things they don’t want anyone else to know.

Maybe it’s something relatively small – they’re afraid of moths, they haven’t vacuumed their apartment in six months, they don’t actually like strawberries. Or maybe it’s something far more important – a secret identity, a fake name, a crime they’ve spent years trying to cover up. Whatever it is, it’s important enough to hide it from everyone else.

What secrets do your characters have? What lengths would they go to to keep them? Does someone else have a secret they’re trying to find out?

Write a story about a secret.

BONUS GOAL: “That’s a lot of effort for something so small.”

If your submission features this line, it will earn an extra point to be tallied in voting!

Every night comes to an end eventually.

Maybe it’s a gentle sunrise after a classic dark and stormy night, a sign of hope for tired travelers who’ve been anxiously waiting for the dawn. Maybe it’s too bright, harsh light forcing anyone who doesn’t want to be seen into hiding. Or maybe it’s just a regular morning, with the alarm clock going off way too early and the cat demanding food because hey, look, you’re up!

Do your characters look forward to the sunrise? Enjoy watching it? Or do they dread it, because of the light or because that’s just too early to be awake?

Write a story about sunrise.

BONUS GOAL: Early Birds

If your submission features birds, it will earn an extra point to be tallied in voting!