They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but it is up to the author to write those thousand words. (Richard Petracca)
I’m sure that by now you are aware of the rumor that the world will end on December 21, 2012. Do you believe everything will really end on that date? I don’t, but this is an opportunity for you, as a writer, to create stories that depict the end of life as we know it. Scam artists try to take scare people and make a fast buck. Take advantage of this situation and do something much more honest – write a story.
Do you believe the sky would appear as it does in the above picture if the end of the world was imminent? Do you believe it would also be filled with lightning? What about wind? I believe the wind would be tremendous. Maybe there would be thunderstorms, earthquakes, and tsunamis, as well as volcanic explosions. Would the entire world be ended by a catastrophic flood? In the picture above, there was a volcanic explosion that has caused the sky to appear like that.
Or do you believe that the end of the world would be a quiet and mundane event? Do you believe that people would be going about their life as usual, then everyone would just cease to exist? What about other forms of life besides humans? Do you also believe that all plant and animal life would cease to exist as well?
What if there were survivors? How did they survive? Was it just luck? Or were those who survived protected from the ravages of nature by an ark? Or maybe it was an underground bunker. No matter what place they were while everything was being decimated, did they have it stocked with supplies just in case they made it through alive? Or will their survival now depend on whether or not they will be able to find enough food and water to keep them alive? What if your character is the only person left alive? Will he lose his mind because he has no one else to interact with? Will he be taken in by a pack of wild animals, perhaps a pack of wild wolves, that has also surprisingly survived the onslaught of nature?
What if there was a lottery that would select winners to board an ark that would lift off into space to escape the end of the world? Would the winners feel guilty about leaving those they know and love behind? Parents would be separated from children, husbands would leave behind wives, lovers would be pulled apart, and friends would no longer be able to talk. But the world survives and the ark runs into problems. What happens? Do those aboard the ark survive?
Hopefully something I've said above will get you started on a great story. Do you have any more writing prompts or ideas for stories about the end of the world? Please share them with us in the forum if you do.
