Writing a short story...

[Arkhangelsk]

Okay, I know The Escapist generally doesn't like help threads, but I'm seriously drawing a blank here.

So as a huge assignment for school, I have to write a short story (around 2-4 pages long). I can write about whatever I want, although I got a paper with rules on how it should be constructed. Usually I can write pretty good stories, but I have zero inspiration here. I have no idea what to write, how to write it, anything. I can't think of anything for a plot. So in a feeble attempt, I come here, hoping you could fling some ideas. I'm getting desperate here.

 

[Kollega]

Lemme think... space marines? Just do some research on combat and on space travel, and...

Okay, that's stupid. Quick! Someone, think of something else!

 

[AkJay]

Write about people living in a dark, dense jungle. They work in Copper and Nickel mines to support themselves, and everyday they have to face giant, horrifying bugs. As it turns out, they all live in a carpet, mining pennies and nickels. The bugs are actual size, they are just small. Done.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

Some of the many exercises I got given in university:

Sit on a bus, watch for someone to come in, make up their story, particular emphasis on the reason why they are riding the bus. Here's a very short (200 word) flash fiction I did using this concept.

Spoiler

She?s taking the bus today. From the city centre to her house, it?s a thirty minute bus ride, much too far to walk, and costs her two pounds ten pence. She sits at the front, her spine ramrod straight, hands clasped on her lap like she? a Victorian schoolgirl. She doesn?t have many clothes, but today she?s in her Sunday best, a big black hat, black blazer jacket and neat skirt. White blouse with the collar buttoned right up to the neck.
On the bus she seems like a relic, but she?s really not. She loves modern music, she loves to watch TV, and every other Saturday she goes to watch the number one film from the Sun?s listings. She has a music player that she buys a new album for every month, and only new artists.
When she gets off the bus she?s not going to go to her house, instead she?s going to walk forty paces to the small cemetery, where she can put the flowers she has on the grave of her son. It?s been five years since the crash, and she still hasn?t got back into her car.

People like Joyce Carol Oates took that concept and wrote thousand word pieces.

Another idea would be to take the old saying of 'a picture tells a thousand words.' Using 1000 words exactly, write a story about a picture, either a real one you have in your house or a fake one to go with the story.

I have other ideas if these aren't helpful.

 

[Trivun]

Some of the many exercises I got given in university:

Sit on a bus, watch for someone to come in, make up their story, particular emphasis on the reason why they are riding the bus. Here's a very short (200 word) flash fiction I did using this concept.

Spoiler

She?s taking the bus today. From the city centre to her house, it?s a thirty minute bus ride, much too far to walk, and costs her two pounds ten pence. She sits at the front, her spine ramrod straight, hands clasped on her lap like she? a Victorian schoolgirl. She doesn?t have many clothes, but today she?s in her Sunday best, a big black hat, black blazer jacket and neat skirt. White blouse with the collar buttoned right up to the neck.
On the bus she seems like a relic, but she?s really not. She loves modern music, she loves to watch TV, and every other Saturday she goes to watch the number one film from the Sun?s listings. She has a music player that she buys a new album for every month, and only new artists.
When she gets off the bus she?s not going to go to her house, instead she?s going to walk forty paces to the small cemetery, where she can put the flowers she has on the grave of her son. It?s been five years since the crash, and she still hasn?t got back into her car.

People like Joyce Carol Oates took that concept and wrote thousand word pieces.

Another idea would be to take the old saying of 'a picture tells a thousand words.' Using 1000 words exactly, write a story about a picture, either a real one you have in your house or a fake one to go with the story.

I have other ideas if these aren't helpful.

I loved that story . Nice little twist at the end, really makes you think. Well written too, which is more than I can say for a lot of other stories that get posted on threads like this.

Good advice too, I fully agree with that. Better to take inspiration from things around you. Also, I would like to draw the OP's attention to a quote from Phillip Pullman:

Read like a butterfly, write like a bee. If this story contains any honey it is entirely due to the quality of the nectar found in better stories.

Not sure if I have the quote exactly right, but I can't be bothered to check. That was what he wrote in the 'Acknowledgments' section of The Amber Spyglass, conclusion to the His Dark Materials trilogy. Obviously don't just steal ideas from other stuff, that would be plagiarism, but take inspiration from other things you've read and so on.

 

[Arkhangelsk]

ZOMBIE ROBOTS VS COWBOY NINJAS!

I think that's more deserving of a whole novel.

Write about people living in a dark, dense jungle. They work in Copper and Nickel mines to support themselves, and everyday they have to face giant, horrifying bugs. As it turns out, they all live in a carpet, mining pennies and nickels. The bugs are actual size, they are just small. Done.

Wow, that's... something.

Some of the many exercises I got given in university:

Sit on a bus, watch for someone to come in, make up their story, particular emphasis on the reason why they are riding the bus. Here's a very short (200 word) flash fiction I did using this concept.

Spoiler

She?s taking the bus today. From the city centre to her house, it?s a thirty minute bus ride, much too far to walk, and costs her two pounds ten pence. She sits at the front, her spine ramrod straight, hands clasped on her lap like she? a Victorian schoolgirl. She doesn?t have many clothes, but today she?s in her Sunday best, a big black hat, black blazer jacket and neat skirt. White blouse with the collar buttoned right up to the neck.
On the bus she seems like a relic, but she?s really not. She loves modern music, she loves to watch TV, and every other Saturday she goes to watch the number one film from the Sun?s listings. She has a music player that she buys a new album for every month, and only new artists.
When she gets off the bus she?s not going to go to her house, instead she?s going to walk forty paces to the small cemetery, where she can put the flowers she has on the grave of her son. It?s been five years since the crash, and she still hasn?t got back into her car.

People like Joyce Carol Oates took that concept and wrote thousand word pieces.

Another idea would be to take the old saying of 'a picture tells a thousand words.' Using 1000 words exactly, write a story about a picture, either a real one you have in your house or a fake one to go with the story.

I have other ideas if these aren't helpful.

The thing is, I'm usually good at writing if somebody gives me a head-start (like when we get the assignment to make a story out of a sentence), but I'm bad at drawing my own inspiration.

 

[Hollywood Knights]

Some of the many exercises I got given in university:

Sit on a bus, watch for someone to come in, make up their story, particular emphasis on the reason why they are riding the bus. Here's a very short (200 word) flash fiction I did using this concept.

Spoiler

She?s taking the bus today. From the city centre to her house, it?s a thirty minute bus ride, much too far to walk, and costs her two pounds ten pence. She sits at the front, her spine ramrod straight, hands clasped on her lap like she? a Victorian schoolgirl. She doesn?t have many clothes, but today she?s in her Sunday best, a big black hat, black blazer jacket and neat skirt. White blouse with the collar buttoned right up to the neck.
On the bus she seems like a relic, but she?s really not. She loves modern music, she loves to watch TV, and every other Saturday she goes to watch the number one film from the Sun?s listings. She has a music player that she buys a new album for every month, and only new artists.
When she gets off the bus she?s not going to go to her house, instead she?s going to walk forty paces to the small cemetery, where she can put the flowers she has on the grave of her son. It?s been five years since the crash, and she still hasn?t got back into her car.

People like Joyce Carol Oates took that concept and wrote thousand word pieces.

Another idea would be to take the old saying of 'a picture tells a thousand words.' Using 1000 words exactly, write a story about a picture, either a real one you have in your house or a fake one to go with the story.

I have other ideas if these aren't helpful.

Very nice! I had a similar excercise in my creative writing classes in university, including one similar to the second one that you described there. We were all given an old photo out of a box, and had to write something about it. I remember that mine was a religious painting of some kind, but I can't remember what I wrote.

OP: It's obviously important to keep the concept quite tight if it's only 2-4 pages, so a massive fantasy epic is not an option. Off the top of my head, how about imagining what a utopian society might be like, but one built specifically with you in mind - maybe you're the dictator or something, even. Now examine one aspect of the life of one completely ordinary person living in that society, and why they might not find it to be the utopia that you do, and write about it.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

.

Snip and stuff

The thing is, I'm usually good at writing if somebody gives me a head-start (like when we get the assignment to make a story out of a sentence), but I'm bad at drawing my own inspiration.

How about writing a short story based entirely around Chandler's Law?

For those not in the know, Raymond Chandler was a pulp novelist, who once said, 'When I don't know where to take a story, I have a man walk through the door with a gun.'

The reasons for this are multiple. It raises several questions: who is he? why is he there? how is he there? is the gun loaded? is he going to shoot someone? is he just there to threaten?

Open a story with a man walking through a door with a gun in his hand, and expand it from there.

 

[Arkhangelsk]

.

Snip and stuff

The thing is, I'm usually good at writing if somebody gives me a head-start (like when we get the assignment to make a story out of a sentence), but I'm bad at drawing my own inspiration.

How about writing a short story based entirely around Chandler's Law?

For those not in the know, Raymond Chandler was a pulp novelist, who once said, 'When I don't know where to take a story, I have a man walk through the door with a gun.'

The reasons for this are multiple. It raises several questions: who is he? why is he there? how is he there? is the gun loaded? is he going to shoot someone? is he just there to threaten?

Open a story with a man walking through a door with a gun in his hand, and expand it from there.

Hm, that's actually not a bad idea. Thanks for the tip, I'll think about it. The only problem is, do I dare be darey? It's a 9th grade assignment, so I don't know how mature I'm allowed to go.

 

[j0z]

I have written several, and most of them have been horror themes, at least in the same vein as HP Lovecraft.
If you are feeling up to it, write a story about set to one of these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aLjup934Rk
Or Mass Murder Refrain

 

[j0frenzy]

Do you do any tabletop roleplaying? If so, just write about one of your characters.
If not, then I don't have much advice. The last creative writing piece I did came to me after about a week of brainstorming.

 

[Arkhangelsk]

Do you do any tabletop roleplaying? If so, just write about one of your characters.
If not, then I don't have much advice. The last creative writing piece I did came to me after about a week of brainstorming.

I don't. Although I do some forum RP's.

 

[Riobux]

Personally, I write a few short stories myself. I think it may help to take a small part of your life, an exaggerate it. What if someone shot up your college? Why would they do it? How did they plan it? What if you were diagnosed with AIDS/HIV due to someone spitting into your coke at Mcdonalds? How would you feel? So on.

If you want to bat ideas around, feel free to throw me a message.

 

[Darth Caelum]

Ahh.....I remember posting something like this. I, made a bit of a monster/god story.
So inspirations? All i have is a DOW sub-story. Focusing on one of the Primarchs maybe?

 

[Kollega]

What if you were diagnosed with AIDS/HIV due to someone spitting into your coke at Mcdonalds?

HIV infection does not work that way. Goodnight!

 

[Riobux]

What if you were diagnosed with AIDS/HIV due to someone spitting into your coke at Mcdonalds?

HIV infection does not work that way. Goodnight!

Good thing I never claimed to be a medical expert or I'd be screwed!

 

[NeutralMunchHotel]

Whenever I get told to write a short story, I go minimalist. Not necessarily in terms of story, but in title or theme. It's a short story, don't try to write 'Lord of the Rings'.. or so I tell myself!

For example, a couple of years ago I got told to write a short horror story. I just thought of a one word title, and ran with it.

Spoiler

Listen

Stuart was strolling through the darkened village. It was, of course, deserted. He had told them as much, but no, there was something strange about the village, and it was dangerous to venture into, because you would never leave? but Stuart hadn?t listened. A twig snapped and Stuart became aware he was walking into the Outpost Road, where an empty post office and deserted grocers sat, cloudy windows showing nothing. But, maybe what his friends had said wasn?t all rubbish. This was where those murders occurred, and it was evacuated because of so-called ?unexplained occurrences? - 8 DEAD IN SUSSEX VILLAGE, the newspapers had announced the next morning. And when the newspapers announced something like that, everyone listened. Everyone listened, except for Stuart. Only, he wished he had listened now, and with every hurrying footstep he began to wish even more, because now he wanted nothing more than to leave the Outpost Road, leave this empty village and return home, return to the ridicule of his friends but return to something greater ? safety. He stopped. Why did he have to return to safety, when he was perfectly safe right here? Perfectly safe? safe under the caring light of the streetlamps? he froze. Something had been disturbing him for a while now, and he finally realised what it was? caring light of the streetlamps? what had been annoying him every since he had left the Outpost Road? the village was deserted? so why would a deserted village need electricity? Adrenalin surged through his body; even the clip of his feet hitting the ground began to terrify him. More fear. I?m standing perfectly still, have been for the last five minutes. The footsteps began to get louder; shadows from the darkness began to emerge into the pools of light cast by the streetlamps; streetlamps themselves began to turn out; but most importantly Stuart began to listen. He began to listen to the trees whispering; he began to listen to the rustling now coming out of everywhere around him, and finally he began to listen to his screams, as the village, the trees, the rustling, and the shadows slowly faded away.

Not great, but after a long time of not being sure what to write it sure helped!

 

[Oomii]

Had any interesting dreams lately, thats how I always come up with ideas, it doesn't really need to have a story, but it needs to be a good premise. For example I had a dream where it was a post-apocalyptic waste land ruled be giant robots, a made a quick plot about how humans left Earth and left the robots there to protect the people they left behind, but then they turn on humans because they are harming them selves, and a slap on a hero's journey and then he saves the day.