NFFD 2026 Prompt #18: Busy

Prompt #18: Busy

Welcome to The Write-In!  This year, we're celebrating the 2026 National Flash Fiction Day Anthology theme of Bridges. Throughout National Flash Fiction Day, we'll be posting one prompt every hours from 00:00 until midnight (BST), for a total of 25 prompts in all.  You have until 23:59 BST on Sunday to submit your responses for possible publication here at the Write-In over the course of the next week.

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Look at Joanna Campbell's painting, 'Busy'. This piece is filled with warm, chaotic energy, stark angles, and scattered silhouettes all moving in different directions. 

Write a flash fiction piece where at least three different characters cross paths in a bustling environment, but their internal goals are completely different. 

To make this extra challenging, we ask you to avoid crime, accidents, or tragedy. 

Bonus points if you can write a story where the intersecting chaos results in something serendipitous, humorous, or surprisingly joyful.

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If you’re submitting this to us, make sure to note that this is a response to Prompt 18: Busy

You can submit responses until 23:59 BST on Sunday, 14 June 2026 for a chance to be published here at The Write-In.

You can claim the badge for this prompt by visiting our badges page.

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Artwork by Joanna Campbell.

NFFD 2026 Prompt #17: Flooding

 

Prompt #17: Flooding

Welcome to The Write-In!  This year, we're celebrating the 2026 National Flash Fiction Day Anthology theme of Bridges. Throughout National Flash Fiction Day, we'll be posting one prompt every hours from 00:00 until midnight (BST), for a total of 25 prompts in all.  You have until 23:59 BST on Sunday to submit your responses for possible publication here at the Write-In over the course of the next week.

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Today, NFFD's sister project FlashFlood is publishing one story every five to ten minutes. Find a story you admire and choose five interesting words from it: strong nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.  (Articles, conjunctions, and common verbs don't count, so avoid things like 'an', 'the', 'with', 'and', 'is', 'said' and lean into things that are super specific or evocative.)

Write a flash of no more than 150 words using all five words on a subject that is different from the source story.

The title does not count toward the word count. Please note in your submission which FlashFlood story you drew from (and a link would be greatly appreciated), as well as your list of words.  You may use a story from this year's Flood or previous years.

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If you’re submitting this to us, make sure to note that this is a response to Prompt 17: Flooding.

You can submit responses until 23:59 BST on Sunday, 14 June 2026 for a chance to be published here at The Write-In.

You can claim the badge for this prompt by visiting our badges page.

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Photograph by Owen.outdoors via pexels.

NFFD 2026 Prompt #16: Bridge Closed

 

Prompt #16: Bridge Closed

Welcome to The Write-In!  This year, we're celebrating the 2026 National Flash Fiction Day Anthology theme of Bridges. Throughout National Flash Fiction Day, we'll be posting one prompt every hours from 00:00 until midnight (BST), for a total of 25 prompts in all.  You have until 23:59 BST on Sunday to submit your responses for possible publication here at the Write-In over the course of the next week.

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Write a story in the form of signs, warnings, notices, announcements, or instructions. The reader should be able to work out what happened from what is being forbidden, redirected, repaired, or apologised for.  

Aim to make the 'what happened' something unusual and specific.  

Bonus points if you can insert some levity and/or humour.  

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If you’re submitting this to us, make sure to note that this is a response to Prompt 16: Bridge Closed.

You can submit responses until 23:59 BST on Sunday, 14 June 2026 for a chance to be published here at The Write-In.

You can claim the badge for this prompt by visiting our badges page.

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Photograph of Chambers Bridge (Woolwich Township, Ontario) by C Hensley via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0).

NFFD 2026 Prompt #15: Fifteen

 

Prompt #15: Fifteen

Welcome to The Write-In!  This year, we're celebrating the 2026 National Flash Fiction Day Anthology theme of Bridges. Throughout National Flash Fiction Day, we'll be posting one prompt every hours from 00:00 until midnight (BST), for a total of 25 prompts in all.  You have until 23:59 BST on Sunday to submit your responses for possible publication here at the Write-In over the course of the next week.

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It's the fifteenth hour of the fifteenth National Flash Fiction Day, so to mark the occasion, we challenge you to write a story in exactly 15 words. 

Add a title.  Your title does not count towards the 15 words. 

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If you’re submitting this to us, make sure to note that this is a response to Prompt 15: Fifteen

You can submit responses until 23:59 BST on Sunday, 14 June 2026 for a chance to be published here at The Write-In.

You can claim the badge for this prompt by visiting our badges page.

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Photograph by Waldemar Brandt via Unsplash.

NFFD 2026 Prompt #14: The Long Haul

 

Prompt #14: The Long Haul

Welcome to The Write-In!  This year, we're celebrating the 2026 National Flash Fiction Day Anthology theme of Bridges. Throughout National Flash Fiction Day, we'll be posting one prompt every hours from 00:00 until midnight (BST), for a total of 25 prompts in all.  You have until 23:59 BST on Sunday to submit your responses for possible publication here at the Write-In over the course of the next week.

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Write a flash that spans a significant length of time — at least a century — in no more than 250 words.

You choose how to move through time. Jump cuts, fragments, a single image per decade, a list...whatever works for the story.

To make this prompt extra challenging, we ask you to avoid: a single person's life cycle and any ending that involves a death, funeral, or cognitive decline.  

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If you’re submitting this to us, make sure to note that this is a response to Prompt 14: The Long Haul.

You can submit responses until 23:59 BST on Sunday, 14 June 2026 for a chance to be published here at The Write-In.

You can claim the badge for this prompt by visiting our badges page.

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Image by Michael Kretzschmar from Pixabay.

NFFD 2026 Prompt #13: River's Edge

 

Prompt #13: River's Edge

Welcome to The Write-In!  This year, we're celebrating the 2026 National Flash Fiction Day Anthology theme of Bridges. Throughout National Flash Fiction Day, we'll be posting one prompt every hours from 00:00 until midnight (BST), for a total of 25 prompts in all.  You have until 23:59 BST on Sunday to submit your responses for possible publication here at the Write-In over the course of the next week.

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Write a story set entirely on the banks of a river. Include two or more characters who interact in some way, but avoid using any dialogue, direct or reported.  Focus heavily on the sensory details of the environment: the smell of the silt, the sound of the tide, the texture of the mud.  Use this sensory detail to help with the storytelling....

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If you’re submitting this to us, make sure to note that this is a response to Prompt 13: River's Edge.

You can submit responses until 23:59 BST on Sunday, 14 June 2026 for a chance to be published here at The Write-In.

You can claim the badge for this prompt by visiting our badges page.

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Photograph by Mikhail Nilov via pexels.

NFFD 2026 Prompt #12: Heron

 

 Prompt #12: Heron

Welcome to The Write-In!  This year, we're celebrating the 2026 National Flash Fiction Day Anthology theme of Bridges. Throughout National Flash Fiction Day, we'll be posting one prompt every hours from 00:00 until midnight (BST), for a total of 25 prompts in all.  You have until 23:59 BST on Sunday to submit your responses for possible publication here at the Write-In over the course of the next week.

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Take a close look at Joanna Campbell's painting, 'Heron'. The painting features cool, watery teals and a lone bird standing amidst textured, shifting tides. Write a story centred on a moment of profound stillness, patience, or solitary observation. 

To make this extra challenging, we ask you to avoid the following topics entirely: grief, mourning, illness, or dementia. Instead, lean into themes of discovery, anticipation, or quiet contentment.

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If you’re submitting this to us, make sure to note that this is a response to Prompt 12: Heron

You can submit responses until 23:59 BST on Sunday, 14 June 2026 for a chance to be published here at The Write-In.

You can claim the badge for this prompt by visiting our badges page.

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Artwork by Joanna Campbell.

NFFD 2026 Prompt #11: Fragments

 

Prompt #11: Fragments 

Welcome to The Write-In!  This year, we're celebrating the 2026 National Flash Fiction Day Anthology theme of Bridges. Throughout National Flash Fiction Day, we'll be posting one prompt every hours from 00:00 until midnight (BST), for a total of 25 prompts in all.  You have until 23:59 BST on Sunday to submit your responses for possible publication here at the Write-In over the course of the next week.

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Mudlarkers often find broken things, things like shards of pottery, stems of clay pipes, and rusted keys. 

Write a story told entirely in fragmented, disconnected vignettes that, when read alongside each other, piece together a larger narrative. 

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If you’re submitting this to us, make sure to note that this is a response to Prompt 11: Fragments. 

You can submit responses until 23:59 BST on Sunday, 14 June 2026 for a chance to be published here at The Write-In.

You can claim the badge for this prompt by visiting our badges page.

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Photograph by Beth Macdonald via Unsplash.

NFFD 2026 Prompt #10: Finders Keepers?

 

Prompt #10: Finders Keepers?

Welcome to The Write-In!  This year, we're celebrating the 2026 National Flash Fiction Day Anthology theme of Bridges. Throughout National Flash Fiction Day, we'll be posting one prompt every hours from 00:00 until midnight (BST), for a total of 25 prompts in all.  You have until 23:59 BST on Sunday to submit your responses for possible publication here at the Write-In over the course of the next week.

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To start us off, write a flash in which a character finds something unexpected.  Make it a physical object, not a person, an emotion, or a memory. Where is the person? Where was the object before it was discovered? What does the person do with what they find?

To make this prompt extra challenging, the following are not allowed: the object cannot be a letter, a key, a photograph, a ring, or a body. Optional bonus points if you make us smile.

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If you’re submitting this to us, make sure to note that this is a response to Prompt #10: Finders Keepers?

You can submit responses until 23:59 BST on Sunday, 14 June 2026 for a chance to be published here at The Write-In.

You can claim the badge for this prompt by visiting our badges page.

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Photograph by Nicole Almendrada via Unsplash.

NFFD 2026 Prompt #9: Single Crossing

 

Prompt #9: Single Crossing

Welcome to The Write-In!  This year, we're celebrating the 2026 National Flash Fiction Day Anthology theme of Bridges. Throughout National Flash Fiction Day, we'll be posting one prompt every hours from 00:00 until midnight (BST), for a total of 25 prompts in all.  You have until 23:59 BST on Sunday to submit your responses for possible publication here at the Write-In over the course of the next week.

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Write a flash using no word more than once, and yes, this includes small words like the, and, I, and is. The minimum word count is 75 words.  Bonus points for longer stories.

This is fiendish. We recommend drafting freely first and then editing ruthlessly.

You may wish to use a tool like https://www.online-utility.org/text/analyzer.jsp to check that you've not unintentionally duplicated a word. 

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If you’re submitting this to us, make sure to note that this is a response to Prompt 9: Single Crossing.

You can submit responses until 23:59 BST on Sunday, 14 June 2026 for a chance to be published here at The Write-In.

You can claim the badge for this prompt by visiting our badges page.

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Photograph by Wuhazet via Wikimedia Commons.