Eight short story prompts for the winter solstice

21st December. It’s the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere and today there are  just under eight hours of daylight in London
Because most writers love a prompt to get them going here’s a list of prompts, one for each daylight hour. Maybe if you have some time today, see if you can write a rough draft inspired by one of them. Our 2022 Award ends on 11th April, so plenty of time to finish it.

photo by mikka luotio on Unsplash

  • Write a short story which begins at sunrise on the winter solstice and ends at sunset.
  • Write a happy and hopeful short story involving an incident on the shortest day.
  • Write a short story based around Stonehenge with nods to Thomas Hardy.
  • Write a short story involving an illicit solstice party.
  • Write a short story involving a solstice tradition in another country.
  • Write a story about the beginning and the end of a relationship in eight paragraphs with eight snatches of dialogue.
  • Write a wintry short story from the point of view of an eight year old child.
  • Write an historical short story with a title that includes a character’s name and the word ‘light’.

    • Write fast, don’t worry about whether it makes sense, this is just your first draft a chance for you to play.

    Happy Winter Solstice!