Writing Prompt: 36 Minute Short Story

I'm back with another writing prompt idea for anyone stuck, anyone with writer's block, or anyone just looking for a new idea! This is something I heard about from the folks in my writing group. We randomly pulled cards from a few different decks (one deck was "setting", another "character") then from our four cards, wrote a short story in 36 minutes. 

Now, I'm not 100% sure how to do this random thing, so here's what we're going to do for the blog setup.

For your CHARACTER ADJECTIVE, choose a number from 1 to 5. 

For your CHARACTER NOUN, choose a number from 6 to 10. 

For your SETTING, choose a number from 11 to 15.

For your PROP, choose a number from 16 to 20. 

For your ACTION, choose a number from 21 to 25. 

I know it's kind of weird, but bear with me! And choose the numbers before you go on and see the lists. 

CHARACTER ADJECTIVE:

1. Grumpy

2. Embarrassed

3. Rich

4. Clever

5. Malicious

CHARACTER NOUN:

6. Uncle

7. President of the United States

8. Cowboy

9. 10-year-old

10. Police Officer

SETTING:

11. Garage Sale

12. DMV

13. Waterfall

14. Campsite

15. Swimming Pool

PROP:

16. Barbie Doll

17. Jellyfish

18. Smoke

19. Microphone

20. Wheel

ACTION:

21. Kissing

22. Saving money

23. Firing someone

24. Brainstorming

25. Entertaining friends

So, with your words, write a short story in 36 minutes incorporating each thing you chose! 

Tips for success: 

1. Think about what to write beforehand. 

2. Set a timer. 

3. Just write, don't worry about editing until after the time's up!

This is a great exercise to get a self-contained short story in a short amount of time. Let me know how it goes!