Writing Prompt: Writer's Digest Your Story #57

For the next Writer's Digest Your Story competition, the following prompt is offered:

Prompt: Write the opening sentence (25 words or fewer) to a story based on the photo to the left.

Use the submission form OR email your submission directly to yourstorycontest@fwmedia.com.

It's a pretty straight-forward exercise.  The real trick is to try and convey something unique, funny, exciting, or all-around promising, in only 25 words.  Exercises like this could be useful for visualizing story openings, because starting a story is one of the hardest parts of story writing.

If you wish to submit to this competition, simply go to the web page for this exercise, and submit through Writer's Digest.   If you win, you could be published in their magazine.  No cash or prizes, but it is a fun thing to try, and it's a good exercise for the brain.  The deadline for this exercise is April 14th.

The first responses that come to my mind:

Scrambling along the floor of the prison cell, Jacques desperately tried to find the lock pick that Serj had dropped.

After stepping through the mysterious vortex, Robinson Crusoe was surprised to find himself no longer on a desert island.

Despite his exhaustion, Dennis struggled to do one more push-up for his robotic overlords.

With his legs bound in tie-wraps, Don had no choice but to roll off of the gurney, fall on the floor, and crawl away from his captors.

  

Waking up face-down on the hard white floor, Arnold realized to his terror that he had been drugged and abducted by organ harvesters.

Knowing that the aliens would be back to probe him, Ernest struggled against the drugs and tried to pull his numb body toward the hatch.

Examining the floor carefully, Roger affirmed with his keen senses that there were traces of gasoline leading to the next room.

Having been knocked to the floor by his opponent, Earl started to wonder if this martial arts school was for real…

Sprawled on the floor, James thought to himself, "This is the worst job interview ever."

Joe immediately lunged to the floor, looking for the gold coin that Mendes had dropped.

After all he had been through, Matthew suddenly wished he was in Disneyland.