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It’s Flash Fiction Friday! Welcome back after a long and dark offseason. I am very happy to bring the beloved weekly writing prompts back to help you write and, maybe, get into a habit of writing.
How To Use The Prompts
A few people asked how to use the prompts, and while FFF has no rules and is meant to inspire more than constrain, I realized some guardrails might help lower the barrier to entry. You can, of course, still use these prompts any way you’d like! But if you need some ideas, I offer the four challenges below to provide a nudge:
EFFFCON FOUR: 🌫NEBULA CHALLENGE
Read all four prompts and see if any ideas come to mind, but ignore the prompts when it’s time to write
Write 250 words or less, of anything, in one sitting
Publish the story to your newsletter and share the link in the Gibberish Subscriber Chat!
EFFFCON THREE: 🌟NORTH STAR CHALLENGE
Read all four prompts, and pick your favorite one. This will be the seed of your new story.
Write 500 words or less based on this one prompt. Try to do it in one sitting!
Publish the story and share a link in the Gibberish Subscriber Chat!
EFFFCON TWO: 🤺ORION CHALLENGE
Read all four prompts, and pick any two favorites. These will be the seed of your new story.
Write 800 words or less based on these prompts. Try to do it in one sitting.
Set the story aside for a day or two, and come back to it to give it some edit and polish. Try to make them the best 800 words they can be!
Publish the story and share a link in the Gibberish Subscriber Chat!
EFFFCON ONE: 💥 SUPERNOVA CHALLENGE
Read all four prompts, and try to find a way to connect them all. Use all four in your new story.
Write 1,000 words or less based on these prompts. Take your time—you have a week!
When you’ve finished writing, put it aside for a day or two, and come back to it when you’re ready to give it some edit and polish. Try to make them the best 1,000 words they can be!
Publish the story and share a link in the Gibberish Subscriber Chat!
Once you’ve posted your story, sit back and relax! You’ve done it! Check out the other stories in the Gibberish Subscriber Chat and show your comrades at arms some love for their stories too!
Happy writing, Fictioneers!
Prompts for 20 February 2026
Write about an heirloom
unseemly glory
“don’t cry”
A character who wants to run
Flash Fiction Highlights
Every week I will choose some (or all!) of the stories shared in the Chat to highlight in the subsequent weeks issue of Flash Fiction Friday. Here’s this week’s Flash Fictioneers! First timers are marked with a ✨
Stephanie Loomis - Dexter
Gerard DiLeo - Bodies in Motion
✨ Janzen Lee Taylor - The Worn Blade’s Reckoning
Jaime Buckley 💎 - Not the One She Sees
Heather Dickinson - It’s Unlikely, These Days
✨ E.B. Howard - New Here
Thank you all for sharing your wonderful fiction!
Want to be featured? Make sure you share your stories in the Flash Fiction Friday chat!
Thank you for checking out these prompts! Come back next week for another round of prompts!
Interested in seeing my own writing? Check out Sandbox Earth for my sci-fi universe, The Blackpage for my fantasy universe, or The Exo-Canon for everything else!
Thank you and God bless!