I’ve written short stories using writing prompts before and found it a useful exercise just to get started writing something. Prompts tend to be all about how a story starts, it’s a brief setup to push you into a story. I’ve written about writing prompts in more detail in “ Random Plots & Writing Prompts ,” which I followed up a couple weeks later with the short story “ Lala in the Basement ” based on the random online writing prompt:
At midnight, a strange woman, a biologist, and a young witch explore an asylum haunted by the spirit of a serial killer while searching for a disturbing teddy bear.
I liked how that little story turned out, but since then I’ve also run across the idea of the ending prompt—something I haven’t yet played with. The idea of an ending prompt is to inspire you to end a story in some way, rather than start one. This is where your story will end up, or what our friend Lester Dent would call “ the snapper, the punch line to end it .”
What appeals to me about the idea of an ending prompt is the number of times I’ve written something after first having an idea for an ending. Of course, the difference between an idea for an ending and a prompt for an ending is the former originates with you while the latter originates from some other source. I’ve often written stories—even whole novels—based on what I’m heading toward rather than where I’m starting from, and so why not reach out for something to write toward ?
Worth a try? If you think so, here are twelve last lines I’m throwing up for grabs…
The bullet pushed him back against the wall and his body shuddered when his heart stopped, but he smiled knowing she had gotten away.
When the Earth finally disappeared into the fast-expanding sun, everyone there to watch it cheered and cried at the same time.
And as the last king’s body was lowered into his grave, I knew the world would finally, and forever, be at peace.
The dog made a sound that could be mistaken for a sigh then turned and wandered off.
She didn’t start to cry until he kissed her on the forehead.
I was the only one who didn’t look away when the black things dragged him to Hell, where he belonged.
“Huh,” he said, “so that’s what it does.”
Thankfully, she smiled when she said, “Okay, I guess now I have to marry you.”
For a long time she sat there with her hand on the switch, trying to resist the temptation to turn the robot back on.
When the last of the invaders finally died at the tip of his sword, the last human on Earth sat down and wept.
The captain turned her attention from the still smoldering wreckage of the bridge to the endless field of stars in front of her and said, “Take us home.”
“And honestly,” he finally said, “the worse thing is I wasn’t even invited to this.”
Okay, then… how would you get here?
—Philip Athans
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Absolutely not one word of this post was in any way generated by any version of an “AI” or Large Language Model.
In Writing Monsters , best-selling author Philip Athans uses classic examples from books, films, and the world around us to explore what makes monsters memorable—and terrifying.
You’ll learn what monsters can (and should) represent in your story and how to create monsters from the ground up.
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