Adrienne M. Clark - Sci-Fi Writing Prompts

Sci-fi Writing Prompts 1: What If Series Published: Dec. 21, 2015 ISBN: Publisher: Drakko Elements Publishing www.drakkoelements.wix.com/drakkoelements All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format.

The writer claims no bearing on work you have written using the provided prompts and questions.

T his book is dedicated to everyone who ever asked What if, who wanted to know what or why, who asked questions, challenged the status quo and wanted to know what could be. This is for the dreamers and creators. Dont ever stop. G rowing up my brother's favourite line was 'What if'. It got so bad my parents set up the equivalent of a swear jar, except it was the 'What if' jar (I had a 'Whatever' jar).

Every time he was caught saying those two words, he had to pay the jar. Lucky for him, it was a really good incentive to stop. Now in memory of him I have created the What If Series. The entire writing prompt series is presented in what if format. I will present a base question with follow up points to consider as additional aspects to grow your story.

T his book is full of what if questions. T his book is full of what if questions.

You can use them in any format you would like. Examples:

• brainstorming
• rant
• essay
• short story
• novel

Or whatever else you can think of. When I say 'you' in the prompt, it can be changed into your character or a generalization. It is easiest to present the questions using 'you'. W hat if you are in an accident and then you are able to hear someone else thoughts as if they were your own? (husband, wife, parent, sibling, neighbour, cat, dog, squirrel, bus driver, teacher, enemy, boss, cashier, etc.) Is it all the time? Is it only when you are thinking about them? See them? Are around them? Touch them? Is it only the main thoughts or do you hear the background thoughts as well? W hat if there is a war between man and machine where machine is the innocent? Are the machines humanoid? Why do the humans turn on them/it? Is it prejudice, fear, jealousy? How is the war going? How long is the war going to last? Who is affected by this war? W hat if aliens come to Earth with the intention of helping us save our planet but we are too distrustful? How do we react? What do we do? Do we capture them and dissect them, test them in other ways, interrogate them? Do we harm them and if so do they retaliate? Does the human race split, from some wanting their help and support and others wanting to attack them? W hat if time travel existed as a reality program? Does it affect the rest of reality? Does it take you to an alternate reality (and could you return to your own) where it wouldnt affect your timeline? Where could you be sent? What would make it interesting enough for people to want to pay to watch it like a sports game? W hat if video games became reality? Do the creatures jump out of the screen? Do people turn into the characters they are playing? Is it VR simulations that attach to the brain and make the mind think everything is real, including death? What would be the drawbacks to this happening? Would people voluntarily play to be part of the games, forced or unknown? W hat if spiders are mini surveillance drones watching everything we do? Who are they watching us for? Why? What are they doing with the information they acquire? Can they be stopped and if so by who? Is it all spiders, some or a certain type? W hat if humans dont realize they were actually androids? Can their programming make them think that they are made from real flesh and blood, when they are hurt, versus wires and fluids? What can convince them otherwise? Who created them? How do they procreate? Can they actually give birth but still be an android? W hat if the Internet is banned? Why did it happen? Who enforces it? How do they enforce it? How does it affect everyday life? Does it create a flood of unemployment for those who relied on the Internet for their income? How does it affect the economy? W hat if it is discovered that the Vatican is actually an alien science lab that created humans and made up Christianity to side track us away from the truth? How do we react when we found out? How do devoted believers take the news? Why did they create us? Are we an energy source? Are they seeing how long it takes us to destroy the planet? Why dont they interfere more? How are they already interfering with us? W hat if humans are a runaway lab experiment gone wrong and we're an out of control parasite? Who or what created the experiment? Do they plan on correcting their mistake? Are we forgotten about? What was the original goal of the experiment? W hat if random people are ripped away from their families and uprooted to a distant planet to see how they'd survive? What do they require to breathe? What do they eat? How do they hold up mentally? What do they have to do to survive? Why are each individual taken? W hat if the technology to hijack someone's mind is available? What do you do? What could be done to you? Would you abuse the ability? Would you commit crimes? Would it be available to anyone, select people or just the inventor? W hat if learning is as easy as down loading a program, as an upgrade, into your mind? What happens if you damage your ability to absorb new info? How much information can the brain handle? Cab anyone do it? Is the info permanent, temporary or able to be accessed when needed but not remembered the rest of the time? What affect does it have on your personal memories? W hat if you have a creepy stalker and it turns out to be your clone that you didn't know you had? How do you react to meeting them? How do you have a clone? Why are they stocking you? Are they trying to infiltrate your life? Are they just curious where they came from? Can your family and friends tell the difference? Are you sure youre not a clone too? W hat if a spaceship crashed into Earth full of human refugees from the future or somewhere else (another planet)? How does it affect everyone on Earth? Dud panic break out? If the humans came from another planet, where did humans in general originate? Why did they go there, then? W hat if one day you wake up and all you have to do is touch a book to absorb its contents? Do you hide your new ability? Do you flaunt it? What do you choose to know? Does the knowledge stay or only accessible while touching the book? Are there any side effects? Is the brain able to handle all the new info or overload? If overload, how? W hat if the lost city of Atlantis is an underwater lab, located in the Bermuda Triangle, where Dolphins do experiments on humans they abduct, and that's why they laugh at us? Is there any truth to the belief that dolphins used to walk on land? What is happening in the city? Why is it lost? Was it lost intentionally, accidental or natural disaster? W hat if the moon is colonized but the additional weight causes it to veer off course? What happens to everyone and everything on Earth? What happens to the change in the tides and water patterns? How does it affect the world? Is there flooding and mass droughts? How do the remaining people on Earth survive? Does Earth need to be evacuated? What happens to the vegetation?