With Gratitude: 15 Prompts to get us through the rest of this tired old year

Dec 17, 2024

A mostly happy, well-fed child, 1962.

Hi my friends,

The Art of Flash Fiction was launched four years ago, on New Year’s Eve. Since then, I’ve written and published 140 newsletters on the art and craft of my favorite literary form, and as of this writing, there are 8,498 of you subscribing! Thank you so much for your ongoing enthusiasm and support for what I do.

As a way of thanking you all, I’m providing below a prompt for every day until the end of the year.

I know this is a hugely busy time for all of us! I mean for you to spend ONLY fifteen minutes a day on these (and if you have more time on your hands, so much the better!) The idea is to wake up on January 1st with fifteen fresh drafts or “glimmers” at the very least. Spend January polishing and revising and sending them out. So, let’s get started!

DAY ONE: DECEMBER 17TH

Your character wakes up and doesn’t recognize his/her/themself in the mirror. Play with the idea of “losing face.”

DAY TWO: DECEMBER 18TH

Write a letter of apology to one of your body parts.

DAY THREE: DECEMBER 19TH

Challenge yourself to write a flash consisting of ONLY one-syllable words (example: my story, “Cracks” in Matchbook Lit).

DAY FOUR: DECEMBER 20TH

Sketch a scene where three people are “lost” in some way. Play with various interpretations of lostness.

DAY FIVE: DECEMBER 21ST

Look around your home or on the internet for some “found” poetry. Use that found poetry to free write from and expand upon. There’s a WEALTH of strange and strangely beautiful texts available in the public domain at Project Gutenberg. Or simply read the back of your shampoo bottle or an instruction manual that’s been translated from other language. Play with capturing a weirdly distinctive voice.

DAY SIX: DECEMBER 22ND

Write a travelogue for a totally made up destination. Maybe a planet in a distant galaxy. Or a universe in miniature that’s located on the tip of a rose petal. Be specific. Make recommendations. What should we pack?

DAY SEVEN: DECEMBER 23RD

Write one, long breathless paragraph. Begin with: “Before we knew about…” Just riff, Allow whatever comes to you. Let things unfold organically from your pen or keyboard. Maybe play with anaphora, beginning several sentences with “before we knew about…” Include an insect or a swarm of insects.

DAY EIGHT: DECEMBER 24TH

Sketch a scene involving a couple who are waiting for something. A meal, a bus, another couple, whatever. Maybe they are waiting for something less concrete. Give one person some nagging physical issue like hunger or a headache or hiccups that won’t go away. Make it FUNNY if you can. Include the sentence: “I told you so.”

DAY NINE: DECEMBER 25TH

Write a flash about a snowman who comes to life. Or animate any other inanimate object you like. Subvert expectations all the way through. If you want to write a horror story on Christmas day, I’m not going to stop you!

DAY TEN: DECEMBER 26TH

Write ten sentences. Your first sentence is just one word. The following sentences are two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine words long until your final sentence is ten words. A constraint like this makes the writing feel more like a puzzle, silencing the internal editor at least temporarily!

DAY ELEVEN: DECEMBER 27TH

The entire population of the a small town is suddenly afflicted with “word deafness.” (akin to Saramago’s novel, “Blindness” but you’re writing a flash). Now the written word is more important than ever.

DAY TWELVE: DECEMBER 28TH

Write a series of very brief snippets involving two lifelong friends. Infuse your snippets with strong images and specific details. Create an arc by having something change from the first to the last snippet. Create echoes from piece to piece to lend a sense of cohesion. Sprinkle in tension, humor, love, and loss. You know. The stuff of life.

DAY THIRTEEN: DECEMBER 29TH

Write a story in reverse chronological order, a la Stephen Dixon’s “Wife in Reverse” published in Matchbook Lit. Maybe your character is two years old by the end of the story. Include some or all of the following: a candle, something broken, leftovers, snow.

DAY FOURTEEN: DECEMBER 30TH

Write a piece that could be described as “domestic surrealism.” Infuse the everyday with the strange. This has the effect of demonstrating how truly bizarre our concept of “normal” can be. Think of the films Pleasantville or The Truman Show. Read “A Visit” by Steven Millhauser for inspiration maybe. Set a family around a kitchen table. There’s a tap on the window. Just let things be slightly askew at first. Let the weirdness creep up on us.

DAY FIFTEEN: DECEMBER 31ST

Write a character who is writing out their New Year’s resolutions. Play with humor and irony. Maybe your character is someone famous who wishes to mend their ways in 2025, but their resolve begins to wane even as they’re writing.