Don't Rock the Boat

The boat rocked back and forth, on and on, side to side, like some old lady's rocking chair or the pendulum of a grandfather clock.
       At least the humming had finally died down.
       "Think it's safe?" he dared to whisper.
        Not two seconds after the words left his mouth when pale, white arms shot out of the water, wrapped around his body, and dragged him back under the waves.
        Blood rose to the inky surface.

Gunpoint

Evan stared at the gun in front of him, the long sleek barrel reflecting the sunlight in arcing glints. The hole was pointed at his face, a mere inch away from his nose but aimed between his eyes. He could smell the gunpowder. It had recently been fired, he noted bluntly.
   "Aren't you afraid?" Troy asked him.
    Evan's eyes lifted from the gun to look at its wielder. "Not really. I have a feeling you're not really going to shoot-"
    "Shut up Evan! Just shut up!" Troy said, suddenly out of control. The dam that had been holding back his emotions had finally broken apart, rage and pain as clear on his face as night and day, and his eyes burned with an inextinguishable fire.
    Evan closed his mouth. His calm was only a reaction of his shock. Soon the fear would overtake him. He had to stay calm or things could end badly, for him.
    "I want you to kneel Evan," Troy said, "Kneel and beg me for your life! Just like you made my brother beg for his life!"
     "Troy-"
     "Don't deny it Evan! You killed him! I saw you kill him!"
     "Yes, I killed him," Evan said, "I put a gun to his head, pulled the trigger, and blew his brains out the back of his skull."
      "Now watch me do the same to you!" Troy shouted. Without another hesitation, he pulled back the hammer and fired the gun.
      In that split millisecond before the bullet hit him, Evan's final thought was, If only you knew why.

What's that Sound?

"What's that sound?" Matt asked and spun around, the light from his flashlight casting long shadows on the tunnel walls.
   "I... I don't know," Quinn replied, also shining his flashlight up and down the passages. There wasn't anything in sight, but there was a series of squeaks coming from down both sides.
   "Rats?" Matt asked, then more affirmatively he said, "They must be rats."
   Suddenly they heard a scream from down one of the tunnels. It lasted for a minute, then was abruptly cut off, replaced by shrill, squeaking sounds.
   "That must have been Dana," Matt said.
   Quinn was about to call for her, but didn't have to. From around the corner, floating on the water, was a body. It was wriggling though, and when Quinn shone his flashlight, he saw rats, covering it.
   They all froze and turned their heads simultaneously to look at him. Then as one they began to hiss, the noise sounding like a group of demonic cats. Their eyes burned red in the darkness.
    "This can't be. They're just rats."
    "Just rats..." Matt echoed
     Then the things that were rats but weren't just rats, slowly slipped off the body and surged towards them like a wave.

Be Careful of the Eggs

He didn't quite know what to make of it. It looked to him like an egg of some sort, a large, opaque egg shaped thing with small black veins, slightly jutting out from the shell, and tainting the smooth, pale surface. It didn't look ominous or disgusting, no, rather his overall opinion of it was leaning towards the side of weird and inexplainable.

He had a feeling from this... egg. A feeling of life yet a feeling of darkness, not evil, just darkness. And this mixture of feelings made him angry. He didn't know why, but that's how he felt. Such life mixed with darkness, it felt wrong and cruel. If it truly was an egg, then why should an innocent life be tainted.

The egg shuddered violently, then it cracked.

3 of a Whisper

Try writing a story, short or long, and be sure to include these three elements!

giant
corner
whisper


Remember, you can take the elements anyway you like. Maybe instead of having an actual peacock appear in the story, maybe a character is described as being as vain as a peacock. Instead of actually writing the word knife, maybe it is implied, such as she was cutting the vegetables to put in the pot. Be creative!

Concepts are Fun

Sometimes taking an idea from a book/movie/video game/etc. can channel new ideas that will fuel new novels. Try some of these concepts out for size. Pick one and think on it for a good fifteen minutes. Muse over it while you wash dishes, take a shower, or fold laundry. When some ideas come to mind, jot down some quick notes. When a burst of inspiration hits you, write like you've never written before, and see what happens!

1. Always winter, never Christmas. (Chronicles of Narnia; C.S. Lewis)
2. Up is down. (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End)
3. Nothing is true, everything is permitted. (Assassin's Creed)
4. There can be no shadows. (Ninja Assassin)
5. The trees like torches, blazed with light. (The Hobbit; J. R. Tolkein)
6. A red sun rises. Blood has been spilled this night. (The Twin Towers; J.R. Tolkein)

Three of a Spider

Try writing a story, short or long, and be sure to include these three elements!

fang

spider

boots

Remember, you can take the elements anyway you like. Maybe instead of having an actual peacock appear in the story, maybe a character is described as being as vain as a peacock. Instead of actually writing the word knife, maybe it is implied, such as she was cutting the vegetables to put in the pot. Be creative!

3 of a Kind

Try writing a story, short or long, and be sure to include these three elements!

peacock
castle
festival


Remember, you can take the elements anyway you like. Maybe instead of having an actual peacock appear in the story, maybe a character is described as being as vain as a peacock. Instead of actually writing the word knife, maybe it is implied, such as she was cutting the vegetables to put in the pot. Be creative!

An Excerpt

        It wasn't like he really cared, he had no time to worry about such trivial matters; like her impending death for example. The thought of her dying was more or less a reason to celebrate than worry.
       "You're so cruel it's sickening!" she growled at him from the other side of the caged door, gripping the iron bars till her knuckles turned white.
       "Oh please," he scoffed, "I have no time for such flattery." He merely turned and walked back down the hall.
       "Surely you're joking!" she shouted after him, "You wouldn't really leave me here would you?"
       He turned back once to look at her, his dark eyes turning from indifference and amusement to hard edged cruelty, "Think of this as repayment for everything you've done to me."

First Lines

It was a dark and stormy night.

Titles

A bunch of random titles you can use for your story, wether fiction, non fiction, syfy, thriller, horror, fanfic, flash comic, manga, or even a song or poem.



Into the Inferno
Redemption
Consumed
Severed
Falling To Blackness
An Abyss Awaits You
In the End
Cut Down
Just Breathe
Heart On My Sleeve
Remember How To Forget
Wake Me When It's Over
Dancing With Demons
Painted Faces
Mirror, Mirror On the Wall
Unloved
Wicked Twisted
Web of Lies
Entrapped
Into the Abyss
Inside My Mind
Voices In My Head
Ice Daggers
White Against Black
The Greatest Show Unearthed
Raven Rising
Confessions of a Dragon Slayer
Confessions of a Vampire Hunter
Interview With a Werewolf
Interview With a Ninja
Murder By Nightfall
Scratching On the Walls
Ace of Spades (or another number and suit)
To Hope Is A Crime Punishable By Death
Untied
How I Ended The World And Why It Was Necessary
The Hour of Evil
Oh Heavens No
The One Who Did It
Speaking Names
Everything's A Lie
Broken Promises
Shattered Memories
Like Falling Stars
Whisper My Name
Writing On the Walls
Blood and Ink
Black Tears
Born From Fire
The Truth of My Lies
Weight of the World
Swallow Darkness
Through Darkened Eyes
Skytoucher
Collapsing
The Word Without Letters
Screaming Silence
Sound of a Heartbeat
Gunshots
Down With the Sickness
Children of the Plague
Children of War
And the Angels Will Rise
Revenge of Me
The Account of the Doings and Undoings of Name
This Book Has No Name
Untitled
All the World's A Stage
Welcome To Wherever You Are
The Prayer
Moonlight Kiss
Footsteps In the Dark
Down the Stairs
Introducing the Phenomenon Known As Me
With A Shadow Of A Doubt
Silver Trees
Raw
Forever Is Over
Night of the Watchmen
The Tower On the Edge of the World
The World Sentry
The Border of Good and Evil
Hot Fudge
We've Only Just Begun
She Fell Through A Black Hole
When Life Gives You Death
This Is Meaningless
Ignorance Is Bliss
Curse the Cursed
Bullets of Thunder
Thunder On the Horizon
The Quiet Before the Storm

..

Concepts

Sometimes inspiration can come to us from books already written.

Here are some first lines from some already written books.


I was halfway down the drainpipe, hanging on for dear life. - from Fight Game by K. Wild


A surging, seething, murmuring crowd of beings that are human only in name, for to the eye and ear they seem naught but savage creatures, animated by vile passions and by the lust of vengeance and of hate. - from The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy

Nothing is so easy as falling in love on a long sea voyage, except falling out of love. - from Dead Men Tell No Tales by E. W. Hornung






Take a book off your shelf. Look at the first sentence of the first chapter. Write it down. Now write a story using that first sentence. Change names, locations, and dates if necessary. (names will most likely be necessary).

Excerpt

    They were dancing around the circle like deranged barbarians seeking attention from some pagan god. No matter how long they watched them, the dancers never stopped or paused, nor did anyone leave the circle at any time.
    "They've been doing this for hours," Ryan said as he watched them through his binoculars.
    "So what are they doing it for exactly?" William asked, "I've heard of Indians doing their rain dances and stuff, but this dancing doesn't seem to have any pattern of any kind, not any kind that could be copied that is."
     It was then that Harrison, who had been silent this whole time, spoke in that deep drawl of his, "They're not dancing for rain.  It's a war dance. They're dancing for blood."

Excerpt

"It's going to find us isn't it?," she asked, holding the backpack tightly to her chest.
"I don't know," Sam replied, looking as scared as she did, "I just don't know."
"We can't let it get this," she said, "If it does, then it's all over, for everyone."
The two of them were startled when they heard the sound of footsteps, but when the maker of the noise turned out to just be Carter, they breathed sighs of relief.
"We have to get out of here," Carter said, "Now. They're coming."
"They?" Sam asked.
Carter nodded, "Didn't you know? There's more than one."

First Lines

She knew she was being followed by the strange, dark man, she just knew it.