Project Athena | Challenges

Ever wanted to try out writing romance as a genre? This month's set of prompts is for you.

We're challenging you to write a short story with a minimum word count of 1000 and a maximum of 5000.

Your story has to be primarily Romance, but it can be any sub-genre you like. You have until midnight on 29th February(EST) to submit your entry.

Once you've completed your story and published it here on 抖阴社区, please post the link to your completed entry in the comments at the bottom so we know you've entered. If you don't post your link, or if you post the link later than the mentioned deadline, you won't be considered entered.

The interpretation of each prompt is entirely left to the writer, so we highly encourage you to unleash your curiosity and creativity with these prompts.

Co-writing is allowed, and it has to be a new story, not one that you've previously posted on 抖阴社区. English is the only story language we can accept as of now.

You can publish the story as a chapter of a short story collection if you have one of those.

Prompts

✎In a world where people can only see in black and white until they meet their soulmate, the main character has been faking it for years. But when a new coworker enters their life, they suddenly see the world in full colour-except their coworker insists they see nothing new.

✎"You broke up, remember?" their best friend reminds them. "I know," they reply. "So why are they waiting outside your apartment in the rain with flowers?"

✎Every year on the same day, two strangers cross paths in different locations. A subway station, a bookstore, a foreign city. They don't know each other-until one of them finally speaks up.

✎A love potion gone wrong leads two sworn enemies to fall for each other-except one of them wasn't affected at all. Now they must pretend to be in love while one harbours a very real, very inconvenient crush.

✎In a reality where memories of past lives carry over, the protagonist remembers every love story they've ever had-except for the one that keeps leaving them notes, claiming they were always meant to be together.

✎Trapped in an elevator during a power outage, two people are forced to confront their history-one is ready to rekindle their old romance, while the other isn't sure if they can trust them again.

✎A popular romance author finds themselves in a creative slump-until they start receiving anonymous love letters that seem to be written just for them.

✎Two rival musicians are forced to collaborate on a song. They can't stand each other-until late-night songwriting sessions reveal a different tune.

✎In a world where people are assigned a perfect match at birth, one person's soulmate dies before they ever meet. Years later, they fall for someone unexpected-someone who should have been destined for someone else.

✎After winning a once-in-a-lifetime trip to their dream destination, the protagonist arrives to discover a booking error-they'll have to share the experience with a total stranger.

Feel free to adapt these prompts to suit your writing style and preferences. Happy writing!

Good luck!