December 2020 Fiction Writing Prompt from Write Club

Greetings from the Write Club writing workshop, comprised of fiction writers from around the world. We share our work with one another on Discord and get the feedback we need to improve our stories.

In this post you can learn a little about Write Club and decide if you have an interest in participating. If not, you are still welcome to write a story for the prompt. If you would like to share it with us, simply post your short story on Hive or Medium, and share your link in the comments to this post.

What Is Write Club?

We are a small group of serious fiction writers with origins on the Hive blockchain (formerly Steem). Our common ground is that we are committed to writing and polishing stories for publication in mainstream publishing outlets. We develop and workshop one short story every month, with the goal of preparing it for submission to the publisher of our choice. (And we have resources to help you find one.)

Our writers have a range of fiction writing experience, from workshoppers to MFAs and published writers, who are mastering the craft of fiction writing and want the accountability of a group and deadlines to keep us on track.

Our Monthly Schedule

It goes like this:

We issue a writing prompt at the beginning of the month.
In 10 days we write the first draft. Then we read one another's work and provide feedback.
We have another week to refine our stories. Then we review again.
By the end of the month, we complete a third draft.

Those in the group enjoy the commitment to goals, deadlines and the editing process because it pushes us to write and polish our work on a regular cadence, which prevents us from making excuses!

Invitation to Short Story Writers

You are welcome to check us out. You are also welcome to use our prompts for stories you want to publish on Hive, Medium, Narrative or other self-publishing venue.

You can find more information about how to join Write Club in this article on Medium, or pop in as a visitor to our Discord channel and let us know if you are looking to participate. We will ask you a few questions and see if it seems like we're a good fit for your writing journey!

This month's writing prompt

That brings us to the prompt! For the month of December 2020, Write Club members must write a story based on this prompt: shadows.

Now, this prompt leaves things wide open, but hopefully it launches your creative process. What comes to mind when you think of shadows? Perhaps for you it is a film noir vibe. It can be the shadow of a man who was once great but has fallen on hard times. Or a child whose future is forever altered by some life changing event. Or perhaps the shadow of a zombie at the very moment when the apocalypse commences.

Get your engines running

Start thinking about your story's conflict, who is experiencing it, and how they might seek to overcome what they are facing. The more your conscious and sub-conscious brain are working on developing your MC (main character), and defining the scenario that has brought us to the time and place of this story, the sooner your story will take shape.

You could write out some loglines - one-sentence story plots - and then choose the one that resonates the most with you. Or join our discussion on Discord and get input on which idea seems like the most promising one to move forward.

Looking for Writing Resources?

I love to share tips and ideas about creative writing! Here are two treasure troves for you:

You can find many of my tips here on my website, in the Writing Tips section.
I also share weekly writing tips from The Ink Well on Hive. See the latest tip for the complete list.

Have fun!