INKsters Virtual Literary Salon Competitive Writing Daily Prompts
April 2009 We have two prompts per day. Please read the FAQ page. Need a daily reminder? Check out our blog.
DATE	Topic Inspired by New Yorker Cartoonists	Topics Inspired by Second Life
1st	Accidents What accidents do you need to own? What would your dog tell a therapist?	INKsters Happy birthday INKsters. Second anniversary. Boo to Real Life.
2nd	Mummy What is the most interesting quirk a person has ever had in your bedroom?	Winging It She used her new wings to ...
3rd	Massacre Tell your favorite "made a mess of things" story.	Seaside Chat They sat together at the table on the beach and they ...
4th	Good For You You're trying to be more healthy. How? What do you do that surprises people?	Under Water From under the water, she could see ...
5th	Mailroom What do you love to order via the mail? Have you ever assembled something from a kit?	Cornfield Incident The scarecrow ...
6th	Overtime What is taking up way too much of your time? Describe your co-workers as they appear when they're not at work.	Carnival of Doom The tickets were inexpensive, but ...
7th	Off Topic What are you passionate about that people think is crazy? If you were going to carry a sign, what would it say?	At The Entrance Standing at the entrance, next to the giant statues, he ...
8th	In the News Write a news story about yourself with a shocking twist.	Scary Greeter The greeter couldn't have been less accommodating, but ...
9th	Escaping Tell a "sneaking off," "getting lost," or "breaking out" tale.	Boar-ed The statue of the boar in Florence ...
10th	Mis-shot Describe a time when a deed you committed went horribly awry.	Outside the Cathedral He waited outside the church alone and ...
11th	Big Pawn You know somebody in life who is powerful in ways you admire. What makes them powerful and what would you do if you were like them?	Naked Man We wished he wouldn't have gone out nude, but ...
12th	Holiday Catalogues How are salesmen ruining your life?	Sunset and Scars The sun was setting and his wounds began stinging, but ...
13th	Lazy Create a list of things you'd like to experience and create a character who goes out and does them for you.	Farmyard She watched the cows over the fence for awhile until ...
14th	Benefits What benefits do you want from your friends?	Biplane It was his only choice, and ...
15th	New Guy Describe a "new guy" in your life. Describe a time when you were the new guy. Discuss the ups and downs of being a novice.	America He stood on the giant map of the United States thinking ...
16th	High-Def Booze You've developed high-def booze by accident in your basement. What makes it better than traditional booze?	Directions He stared at the confusing set of directions hoping ...
17th	Sisyphus's Accountant You've been assigned a task and somebody is keeping track of you. What is the task, who is keeping track, what can they report?	Instruction Manual Obviously somebody messed up at the home office and now they had little choice but to consult the operations manual and ...
18th	Easy Time You're having a fun time and want your friends to be insanely jealous. Where do you begin and what will you do?	Pondering Resting against the tree deep in thought he decided ...
19th	Insomnia Jeopardy What's keeping you up at night?	Queen of Green Being so small and yet so powerful meant ...
20th	Just Created You're Adam or Eve. What's your plans for today?	Anticipating the Dawn Dressed in her finest attire as the sun rose, she prepared to ...
21st	Twinkies You love a few things that aren't fancy. What and why?.	Personal Space Alone there, she felt her own power growing and ...
22nd	Hired Help Take credit for the work of somebody else and don't be shy about it.	After the Floods The water began receding and she could see the results of the flood, and ...
23rd	Finding Luggage What would it take to get you to leave and where would you rather be?	Spaced Out The planets, the asteroids, the stars whirled around her head, and ...
24th	Jamaica Give us your thoughts on Jamaica, reggae, dreadlocks, marijuana, poverty, Caribbean Islands, and tin drums.	Waiting for a Breeze Sitting next to the windmill, he ...
25th	Blame What do you blame?	Shipwrecked The boat might be unusable now, but at least ...
26th	Chicken Farming What is the really good idea, or the really bad idea, you had before the economic downturn and how has it turned out?	A Good Swing She didn't have the right shoes, she didn't have the proper attire, but she wasn't about to let that stop her from ...
27th	Sliderule What simple task do you approach in a complicated way?	Through the Tunnel As she emerged on the other side of the tunnel, she could see ...
28th	Pharmacy Would you mind telling me again the story about a rabbi, priest and minister when they went into a pharmacy?	Main Entrance The main entrance was for the wealthy and powerful, but ...
29th	Last Call It's time to end the party. What do you do? How do your guests react?	Warming Up They knew they'd be adversaries once the game began, but for now ...
30th	Julliard Your story today should include electronic music, a video game, or a prestigious college lowering its standards. Go!	To Enter or Flee The light shafts  angling into the gloom caused him to ...