101 Microfiction Prompts That Actually Help You Write

by Peter Chiykowski

Writing a novel is like a marathon.

Short stories are more like the 100-meter dash.

And microfiction?

Writing microfiction is like pole-vaulting.

1. It's the weird cousin in the family.
2. It uses similar skills, but applies them in a totally different direction.
3. You don't get much runway to build momentum; you've got to launch that sucker to its climax as soon as you can.

This is why I love microfiction prompts.

Microfiction prompts are the pole in the pole-vaulting metaphor. They're levers that help get your story off the ground quickly and give it a satisfying arc.

As an author who's designed three decks of writing prompts, published multiple collections of micro stories, and racked up over 4,000,000 views and 140,000 followers for my micro stories on TikTok, I thought I'd share some of my favorite microfiction prompts, along with examples of stories that use them well.

Microfiction Prompts That Attack a Trope

Tropes are the cheat code of microfiction prompts.

Why?

1. Tropes let you skip exposition. You're writing about characters, themes, and situations the reader is already familiar with. This saves you a ton of word count.
2. Tropes let you apply, explore, or disrupt topics that people already have feelings about. This lets you challenge assumptions, disrupt expectations, and hit emotional paydirt in as few words as possible.

Let's look at some examples.

Shatter a cliche that bothers you

Think of a cliche that rubs you the wrong way. Maybe it's lazy. Maybe people keep doing it wrong. How can you disrupt it as a prompt for writing microfiction? 

Here are a few easy targets I'd love to see a new take on:

1. The "chosen one"
2. The damsel in distress
3. The deal with the devil
4. The evil witch
5. The love potion

See "Bauble" from A Small Fiction by Mae Miller, which takes aim at the "chosen one" trope in a tight little story. Her story "Forget" is an excellent sendup of the love potion trope.

Remix a fairy tale

Fairy tales are rich soil for exploring tropes that are deeply embedded in readers' imaginations and challenging cultural assumptions. Plus they're public domain, which makes them perfect for writing microfiction.

1. Little Red Riding Hood
2. Sleeping Beauty
3. Snow White
4. The Little Mermaid
5. Cinderella
6. Hansel and Gretel
7. Rapunzel
8. The Frog Prince
9. Rumpelstiltskin

You can also remix other types of myths, legends and folk stories.

As an example, "Red the Woods" is a micro story retelling of Little Red Riding Hood with horror tinge.

Do your own take of an iconic scene or story

Are there scenes from your favorite books, movies, or shows that you'd like to do your own take on? Micro stories offer an excellent space to boil down what works about the source material and reinvent it!

1. The duel/game with death (Example: "A Game of Chess")
2. The final showdown between the hero and the villain
3. The first kiss
4. A survivor hides their zombie bite
5. The hero receives the call to adventure

Just make sure you do something new or interesting with the microfiction prompt.

In my first-person micro story "Bite," I took the classic zombie bite scene  (#4) and played with the tension. I started off giving the reader a false sense of security, reporting that the camp doctor said the wound was just surface and therefore not an issue. I build to a reveal: there is no camp doctor. It was a hallucination caused by the bite infection.

I cut together the micro story into a short video using licensed B-roll footage.

Challenge conventional wisdom or deconstruct a saying

I'll often get a particular aphorism or saying stuck in my head and try to explore or challenge it by writing microfiction based on it.

1. "Dead men tell no tales" (Example: "The Bunker")
2. "Be careful what you wish for"
3. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"
4. "Pearls before swine"
5. "Blood is thicker than water"
6. "Don't judge a book by its cover"

One of my most popular micro stories, "The Mice Will Play," is an example of me exploring a saying in depth. I was lucky enough to have Cecil Baldwin (voice of Welcome to Night Vale) read it for me.

Microfiction Prompts That Deep-Dive Into Interesting Characters

Approach your story by asking about a particularly interesting character POV would see the world.

Show a character with an interesting job

An interesting character can often lead you to an interesting story premise, a unique problem, or at the very least a new perspective for looking at the world.

1. A mountain climber
2. A clockmaker
3. A paleontologist
4. A lighthouse keeper
5. A clockmaker
6. A ghost hunter

If you need more examples, the Agent cards from The Story Engine Deck (my deck of writing prompts) are excellent brainstorming tools for interesting character types.

Put an ordinary character in an extraordinary scenario

1. The last member of a disastrous expedition
2. A repair crew who cleans up collateral damage from superheroes
3. A bartender in an alien bar
4. A healer in a world that's always at war (Example: "The First Healer")
   

Again, Agent cards from The Story Engine Deck make for great character prompts, and you can create an interesting scenario for them using:

• Engine cards to give them a motivation to struggle with
• Anchor cards to give them an interesting location or object to contend with
• Conflict cards to present them with a difficult choice or challenge

I wrote "The Greenhouse" to explore the experiences of the last member of a space colony grieving their dead lover, and I think it's some of my strongest voice writing.

Microfiction Prompts That Tackle a Hypothetical or Ask a Big Question

Another great starting point for microfiction is question format.

Ask a big "why" or "how" or "what if?" and see where it takes you. You don't have to answer it, as long as you explore the question earnestly.

1. What would you do if you gained the power to [insert cool power here]?
2. If you were granted a wish, what would you use it for? (Example: "The Reef of Wishes")
3. How will the future remember a specific detail about the modern world? (Example: "The When I Have Time")
4. Why do we dream?

"Edited" is a great microfiction example that asks the question: what if someone gained the power to edit their life?

Microfiction Prompts That Hook Readers With Worldbuilding

Some of my favorite microfiction doesn't just tell a story; it builds a world.

This comes with a caveat: worldbuilding in microfiction is tricky. Writing microfiction, You get so few words to work with. Thus, a couple of recommendations:

• Try "pinhole" worldbuilding. Offer your reader a very specific view of your world that doesn't explain the full picture of what's going on.
• Skip the exposition. Challenge your reader to fill in the gaps they need to understand the world and story.

One of my most popular stories, "The Crimson Singers," works because it doesn't explain the rules of the post-apocalyptic world it's set in.

Depict one highly personal moment in a larger world

By choosing a highly personal moment for one specific character, you stay focused on the sweet spot where there's a perfect overlap in the themes of the world, the motivations of the character, and the stakes of the story.

1. In a world where only some people are born with magical gifts, a young kid prepares to take the test where they'll find out
2. On a long interstellar voyage, someone is forced to leave behind something or someone they love
3. In a world of war, a soldier completes their personal "eve of battle" ritual
4. In the post-apocalypse, someone holds a private burial for something or someone

I did this in "Bark Training," a micro story focusing on a moment where a dog owner has to choose between their pet and the safe haven they've just found.

Explore a world through an unexpected POV

Write a story from the perspective of one specific character of the world and don't let them explain the rules of the world. This gives you the opportunity to do interesting work with the narrative voice and gives one unique "boots on the ground" perspective that will leave the reader wanting more.

1. The janitor of the wizard school explains the weird messes they've cleaned up
2. The alien war told through the perspective of someone who repairs the battle-damaged ships
3. A future archeologist unearths present-day artifacts and tries to understand the 21st century
4. A serial killer's activities as reported by his pet

I tried this in "Numbers Game," a story where a data scientist on an exploding reactor island counts the number of dropships and the number of evacuees and realizes they aren't going to make it. I really leaned into this character's perspective of the situation and it helped tie together the themes of capitalism and calculation that united the character, world, and story.

For help creating interesting worlds that help you grow characters organically, take a look at Deck of Worlds, my deck of worldbuilding prompts. It helps get a world on its feet quickly with a few basic details, all of which are potential fuel for plot or character.

Explore a world through its exceptions

If your world has special rules or a particular premise, pick a character or focus that is the exception to the rule or premise.

1. In a future where everyone's constantly in the virtual world, someone has to keep delivering physical packages people rely on. What's their experience?
2. In a world of magic, one character is non-magical OR refuses to cast spells. Why?
3. In a world of plague, one character is immune. What's that like?
4. In a world of hauntings, one character can't see ghosts. How do they fit in?

Create a setting you can explain in a single sentence

Boil down your setting to a single sentence explaining the premise. This saves you a lot of word count in setting up the world by letting your premise be clear and easy to established.

1. A village where every year they choose a sacrifice (Example: "Banished to the Cave")
2. A fantasy world where magic is powered by emotions
3. A near-future where people can delete unwanted memories (Example: "Oblivium")
4. A world where people know exactly how long they have to live
5. A dystopia where art is only available in secret speakeasies (Example: "Bookleggers")

I think one of my strongest worldbuilding-focused stories, "One Last Night With Our Sister" based on a simple premise: all the adults are gone.

Microfiction Prompts That Deconstruct a Genre

Writing microfiction that explores genre works particularly well because genres come with pre-established meanings that save you time setting up your world and story, and allow you disrupt your readers' expectations about what happens next.

Again, the key here is to take what's familiar about a genre and do something interesting with it. Here are a few ways to approach that.

Challenge a genre assumption

1. Post-apocalyptic: What if the zombie apocalypse ISN'T as violent as we expect?
2. Sci fi: What if our first contact with aliens was run by corporations?
3. Horror: What if demons aren't malevolent? (Example: "Newcomers")

I tackled #1 in "The Bones Beneath," which turned out to be one of my favorite stories from my third book.

Change one detail about a genre trope

Put a new spin on an only genre trip by tweaking a single detail and following it to its natural conclusion.

1. Fantasy: What if dragons hoarded something other than gold?
2. Horror: What if something other than a person became a ghost?
3. Sci fi: What if time travel required a special fuel?

My story "The Dragon's Hoard" is an example of the first premise: what if dragons hoarded board games? It led to an interesting climax that circled back to the original trope.

The Story Engine Deck has expansions specifically for exploring tropes in different genres like fantasy, science fiction, and horror, as well as boosters for digging into subgenres.

Re-examine a horror monster through new eyes

1. What's a new take on the vampire?
2. What has no one realized about werewolves?
3. What's the most boring thing about being undead?
   
4. What's the most surprising thing about the alien?
5. What would the swamp monster say if it got a monologue?
6. What does the kaiju REALLY want?
7. What are the gargoyle's thoughts on an upcoming building demolition?

For example, in "Kalmar the Bloody" I turn the doppelganger trope on its head: what if it turns out we like the doppelganger more that the person it replaced?

Make the mundane magical

Take a look at normal things that exist in the everyday world. What would they look like in a fantasy, sci fi, or horror story?

1. What if little free libraries were a faerie plot? (Example: "Little Free Libraries")
2. What if the hour you lose to daylight savings time had to be extracted from you? (Example: "Tonight the Clocks Will Change")
3. What if lighthouses are actually evil?

Make the magical mundane

Horror, fantasy, and science fiction all ask for the suspension of disbelief. What happens if you apply some selective real world logic to a genre story?

1. Fantasy: What everyday thing would people actually use magic for?
2. Sci fi: What if time travel was a commuter technology?
3. Horror: What if characters behaved rationally in a horror movie?

I tried to look at how an indestructible cursed doll could be put to good, practical use in "When Life Gives You Demons" (featuring narration by Jonathan Sims of The Magnus Archives).

Microfiction Prompts That Experiment With a Premise

Because they're so short, micro stories let you try out ideas for science fiction, fantasy, or horror stories to see if they have legs.

Invent a new technology

1. A button that changes only one aspect of reality
2. A technology that deletes memories (Example: "Oblivium")
3. An engine that runs on secrets

Concoct a new monster

1. A vampire that eats emotions (Example: "Vampath")
2. A monster that feeds on specific kinds of dreams
3. A lycanthrope who doesn't transform into a wolf
4. A lycanthrope whose default form is NOT human

I tried #3 in "After the Man-Wolf Bit Me," saving the speaker's reveal for the end of the story. I've done a lot of playing around monster tropes from The Story Engine Horror Expansion, Eldritch Horror Booster, and Gothic Horror Booster.

Create a magical or cursed item

1. A mailbox that receives letters from alternate timelines
2. A deck that contains a world on every card
3. A mirror that shows other peoples' reflections
4. Dice that grant wishes or curses depending on what you roll
5. A telephone that calls alternative lives
   

For help coming up with more "cursed item" story ideas, check out the Unique Items Expansion for The Story Engine, which helps you quickly concoct new ideas for narratively powered objects.

Microfiction Prompts That Break the Narrative Frame

Write a story as a letter, message, or unusual text format

I've always loved Dracula as an example of the epistolary novel: a story told entirely through letters (and diary entries, news articles, and other text that exists within the world of the novel).

Microfiction provides an excellent opportunity to write prose in unusual formats that wouldn't work for a novel. Try writing a story in the form of:

1. An answering machine message
2. A speech or toast
3. A letter from a parent explaining their absence
4. A grant application
5. A newspaper article
6. A user guide to a product or technology that doesn't exist
7. A training manual
8. An error message

If you're looking for more formats, check out the Lore Fragments Expansion for Deck of Worlds, which contains a bunch of different creative formats.

My most viral micro story of all time was a take on #8 and kicked off a series of related microfiction stories featuring tech support messages from the bureau in charge of keeping reality stable.

Write from a non-human POV

Another way to start a micro story that instantly feels fresh is to tell it from an unusual POV. Pick a character that isn't human and explore their perspective. If you need to, put them in an unusual situation and see how they'd navigate it.

1. A pet on a space journey
2. A ghost in love
3. An AI in charge of a dating app
4. A childhood toy during a house move
5. An experiment in a lab
6. An alien during first contact

As an example, my micro story "Octopus Facts" starts off in a strange, stilted voice, before slowly revealing the speaker is a sentient octopus escaping confinement.

Write in 2nd person ("you")

I have a soft-spot for fiction written in the second person. When it's done right, it feels immediate and visceral.

Challenge yourself to write a micro-story in the second person. Here's "Count Your Blessings," a piece of horror-adventure-fantasy that pulls the reader right in.

Take on a writing challenge

There are two specific micro story formats I love coming back to.

1. Two sentence horror: try writing a horror story in only two sentencers. (Example: "It's Been 365 Days")
2. The 6 word short story: popularized by Hemingway, this is the ultimate challenge in compact fiction.

Challenging yourself with a specific format can really push you to experiment with new things writing microfiction. Dabbling in the /r/twosentencehorror subreddit led me to an experiment that claimed the #1 most-upvoted spot for a few years, all because I was willing to try out interesting techniques.

I tried to one-up Hemingway in a 5-word short story that has one fewer word AND one more ghost than the original.

Make your own microfiction prompts

If you'd like to be able to come up with your own microfiction prompts, try out The Story Engine Deck, a modular deck of writing prompts I designed while working on multiple microfiction stories every week. You can also get a copy of The Story Engine Anthology, which contains the micro stories I was writing while developing the deck!