This special part of Bedford High School is a space for students to share creative work and experience the pride of publishing. Be sure to check out our current issue and our archive of alumni work. If you’d like to submit work for our next issue, our submission form is almost always open! We also share creative prompts and activities from time to time.
You may choose your own prompt or you may have the website generate one for you. Whatever you do, don’t stop writing, or your work will be deleted forever!
Today we asked Chat-GPT to start a story for us with the following prompt:
Free write one to two paragraphs of an off the top of your head fictional story
Here is what it generated:
In the dimly lit alley of an ancient city, shadows danced and secrets whispered. A lone figure, clad in a tattered, hooded cloak, moved stealthily through the cobblestone streets, clutching a small, ornate box in their gloved hand. The box, rumored to hold the key to unlocking forgotten magic, had been stolen from the city’s most powerful sorcerer, Elara the Enigmatic. The thief, known only as Nyx, was on a daring mission to uncover its secrets and, perhaps, rewrite the destiny of the realm.
As Nyx navigated the treacherous labyrinth of narrow alleys and winding passages, a mysterious rune etched onto the box began to glow, casting an eerie, incandescent light in the surroundings. Little did Nyx know that this stolen artifact held a power far greater than they could fathom, and the fate of the city rested in their gloved hand. The clock was ticking, and with each passing second, the line between savior and criminal grew thinner.
How would you finish this story?
Come to The Fourth Floor during the second half of W.I.N blocks and join the creative fun in room 304/307!
In times of crisis, people have different ways of responding. Here are some prompts so you can take advantage of our unique situation in human history and express yourself. Who knows, maybe your writing will be featured in a textbook 50 years from now!
Imagine you find a time machine and you go into the future. When would you go? What would you find and what will you do about it?
Write about the situation in the world a year from now, as you imagine it.
Which attitude, optimism or pessimism, is best suited for this situation? Which one are you?
Write about the positive effects of this on nature– for example, the point of view of an animal seeing that all the roads are clear.
What do you miss most from your life before the pandemic? What did you take for granted?
Quarantine has finally been lifted and school is back. You go back to school for the first time in a long time. Write about the day and how weird, scary, or happy it is.
Imagine that a number appears on everybody’s wrist at 10 years old that tells them how many people they’re going to be responsible for killing in their life. One person gets a very high number and thinks it’s a glitch. But when the pandemic hits, they disregard social distancing and end up “killing” the number of people on their wrist by spreading the virus.
You’re a medical worker who learns of a hidden origin/purpose of the coronavirus one day when someone who is very close to dying from the virus whispers something shocking in your ear.
How has staying at home affected your relationships?
Imagine that people suddenly start developing powers after recovering from the virus.
Is humor okay as a coping mechanism in times like this? When is it taken too far? Is there a line?
Here’s a list of prompts that will get your writing gears turning. Go ahead and turn in what you write in the “submit your work for next issue” section of this website!
“I picked up the envelope, and inside was a letter that said I had won the Powerball lottery for 2 billion dollars.”
Write a story told entirely through voicemails left on someone’s phone (or multiple people’s phones.)
“Adrenaline rushed through me as I saw the thick smoke filling the library.”
A story that begins and ends with an object (i.e. a bicycle, a toaster, a piece of jewelry).
The story of how your parents met (or any couple you love, fictional or real) as if it happened in a different time period. (i.e. Victorian, ancient Greece, futuristic)
Someone returns home from college (or any journey) to find that their parent/sibling/lover knows everything detail of their life while they were gone.
A story about how someone’s obsession with something (ideas: marmalade, cats, pencils) leads to their demise/happiness.
You find out that you are the best in the world at something (ideas: writing, singing, comedy).
“How are you? I haven’t seen you in a while,” the stranger said, delighted. I froze. I’ve never seen this person in my life.
Someone who has never seen snow before tries to move to and live in New Hampshire.
Every night, you dream awful, vivid nightmares. One day, you wake up and realize that your dream world and the people/creatures from it are becoming part of the real world.
**My favorite one*** (from Pinterest) In a superhero-supervillian story, you’re the hero’s love interest, and as such, in classic “use-their-loved-ones-against-them” fashion, the villian keeps kidnapping you as leverage against the hero. However, an unfortunate complication has arisen; having spent so much time with the villain, you begin to realize that you’re falling in love with them.
