thriller prompt

Writer’s Prompt: He’s Just So Nice—Says the Obituary

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Everyone thinks Brad’s a sweetheart. Too bad his wife’s starting to price out poison detectors.

🕵️ Starting Paragraph:

Samantha had stopped drinking the smoothies. Brad always insisted on making them—said they helped with her “mood swings.” Maybe it was just protein powder. Maybe it was arsenic lite. All she knew was that every time she sipped one, she felt woozy and suspicious… like she was in someone else’s dream. Brad never raised his voice. He brought her roses. He doted on her in front of friends. And yet, something wasn’t right. The way he stood a little too close behind her in the kitchen. The way he stared just a second too long when she took her meds. She told her best friend Lisa. Lisa laughed. “Brad? Kill you? He makes his own sourdough starter!” Samantha smiled back, nodding. And quietly, she started hiding knives under the mattress.

🤔 3 Questions to Dive Deeper:

  1. Can intuition be trusted when it’s the only warning signal you have?
  2. What would it take for a friend to believe the unbelievable?
  3. How do you write tension when nothing technically has happened… yet?

Writing Prompt: Your Character’s Perfect Day Just Got Murdered (You’re Welcome)

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One minute it’s coffee and calm, the next it’s blood on the welcome mat and a neighbor who’s suddenly too helpful. If your plot’s been on life support, this mystery-thriller prompt is the adrenaline shot your writing needs. Warning: may cause binge-writing and obsessive character creation.

🔍 Mystery Writing Prompt:

Your protagonist wakes up to find their car missing, their front door wide open, and a stranger’s phone on the kitchen counter—unlocked and full of photos of them sleeping.

Yep, it’s going to be that kind of day.

✍️ Opening Example (2–3 Sentences):

The smell of burnt toast was the first clue that something was wrong. The second was the phone on the kitchen island—definitely not hers, and definitely open to a photo album titled Sleeping Beauty. Outside, the street was quiet. Too quiet.

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