NYC

These prompts go together. Thanks to WUTI member and former host Cici Betsill!!

1. Set a timer for five minutes, and write a scene in which your protagonist makes a single discovery that challenges what they believe about the world. Perhaps a historian might stumble across a scroll, in their own distinctive handwriting, dated a hundred years before they were born. Or maybe an astronaut finds out the strange signal they’ve been tracking is coming from a planet long believed to be devoid of life.

2. Once you’ve established the discovery, set another five minute timer. This time, focus on exploring your protagonist’s reaction to this discovery. What do they feel? What do they begin to doubt? And what are they now desperate to understand? Make sure to leave at least one key detail unexplained. This will give your reader just enough information to spark their curiosity – and maybe leave them feeling a little uneasy, too! Try to resist the urge to explain everything right away. Remember, sometimes the unanswered questions are what keeps readers turning the pages.