1001 Writing Prompts About Life and Death - Commaful Storytelling Blog

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Writing stories about life and death is not easy because the theme could make you ask questions that you are not ready to answer yet, like “What would happen to my loved1

ones when I die” or “What is the afterlife like?” But, it could also lead you to a wonderful masterpiece.

An example of a story with this theme that was written amazingly is Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie. The memoir—which is about the American author’s series of visits to his former sociology professor Morrie Schwartz, after finding out that Schwartz is gradually dying—was written so simple and straight to the point that readers could figure out the message of each chapter even before they were stated.

Another example is Lauren Oliver’s Before I Fall—a teen fiction written in the first-person perspective of a teenager who is forced to relive the day of her death every day for a week. It was a touching novel that can make you feel very emotional.

If you are interested in writing about life and death, here are some writing prompts you could find helpful:

He opened the door of the small truck and looked inside. The body was bloody and disfigured from the accident.
You’re somewhere in the afterlife. Hover around a human’s home, especially his bedroom, and notice what’s in it. Write about your own bedroom.
Do you believe in life after death? Time to change that.
Write a post-apocalyptic dungeon crawl.
Discuss death, dying, the undertaker, burial, death rituals, and funerals.
Death is never a good thing. Until you actually experience it for yourself.
Imagine a world where death never existed and you get to explore it and then you are asked to die for a cause.
When she opened her eyes, she found herself crossing a street. She was not living nor dead. Then death came casually and untimely, and it ran over her before she could cross.
Is there any way out of death?
I hope you enjoyed this post and you could use it for writing. If you’re a writer yourself, I’d love to hear from you. Perhaps we could learn from each other.
Ask a character how they would feel about their life, if they knew they would be dead in a few hours.
Write about a time where you’ve seen death, either in person or indirectly.
Write about life as you still remember it. It’s going fast, the idea of death is entering your mind, you want to say the last thing to someone you regret so much not having talked to many times, write about that.
You may be afraid of death, but the loved ones you leave behind are far more afraid than you ever were.
You are given one night in life or in death. What would you do?
Death gives random people a purpose, an existence. For some it becomes a distraction, while others learn to hate it.
Tell about what’s in the garage after death.
In your deepest thoughts, would you like to remember death?
Write about your character’s first encounter with someone who died recently.
Does death affect your writing?
Write about your character recovering from a serious illness.
If you lose your life and you will lose everything in the form of price for your life, what will you do?
There was life on that black screen.
Write a story about someone who “died” and was revived.
Life or death situation! Choose and write about it!
There is a god. What has the afterlife got in store for you?
You’ve been given a second chance to live. How do you spend it?
Your life didn’t go as planned. Write about what you wanted to be. Now you are dead and have been given a second chance, write about what you’d like to be now.
If you wanted to write about the memory you have of your life, which part should you write about after death?
Death has never been more perfect.
The hurt of death only happens to the ones left behind.
Write about life on death row.
Write about a man facing certain death… and doesn’t flinch.
His friends were raving about his exploits, so he brags to them about all the death he has caused.
The wreckage from the train is scattered in the field. A few miles down were her parents.
Write a death threat to a character.
Write about your character’s first death experience.
My presence was unknown to you. My departure will be as well, my death not looming next to you like a ghost.
Listen, your father is talking to you from beyond his grave.
Death is a journey. Where will it take you?
What makes you want to keep living rather than give up?
From her body, escapes a mean red sliver of smoke. Forever to torment the…
What happens when we die? Is there a heaven, or is it more like limbo?
Just out of the hospital, you’re one bad decision away from dying again.
Virtual Reality made your death enjoyable. You are happy about it… or not.
Our bodies are given to us in the natural cycle of life and death.
Your and your loved ones “death” in an essay.
Your soul is recollecting what it lived through during life.
Evolution and Survival of A Character
Write about a character who is a ghost following their own death.
Your character has a fear of death and decides never to return from their trip to the store.
Talk about your character’s favorite character and why he/she is the most important in his/her life.
Witness from afar death in a gruesome but natural disaster. Recount the experience in memory form to your friends after coming to terms with your past experience.
Start your day from a wake.
An old neighbor dying of cancer is fearful of the end.
With so little time left, the possibilities are endless.
From your perspective, write about the worst death’s scene you ever witnessed.
Write about the day someone in your family died.
Write about your character on the brink of death.
She was an expert at death.
Write about life at death
Write about death row.
The moment of death was not sweet.
Write a story this instant where you are forced to do something involving death.
Your partner keeps on telling you they want sex. But you’re dead. How do you respond?
Dead road blues
Write a descriptive essay about time. Time is a concept, but also a reality. It goes by in the blink of an eye, but is unbearably slow. Have fun with it!
She had always wanted to write. Now for the first time, she had an actual topic.
Get more writing prompts right here .
Write about a person who literally sees death everyday.
She doesn’t realize the severity of her condition.
As an afterlife, you have the option to return to earth for a day to try to prevent your untimely death.
If your time to death was one year, what would you do with it?
Everyone’s going to die. All you have to do is to ensure that you do not struggle.
You believe in an afterlife. You’ve died and made it to Heaven.
The truth of death. Instead of being an end to life, it’s an endless cycle of life and death.
Many considered him dead. Until one morning, he made a miraculous reappearance.
Write a story about the moment where your character is about to die. Do you go toward life, away from it, or stumble toward it? Write about the last day you get to spend with your loved ones. What will be the last thing you do for them?
What’s your living last wish?
All they could see behind their mask was death.
You know you will die and you’re terrified. Who can soothe you?
After the death of his family, Mr. Schmidt realized that his life had no meaning.
You’re willing to do anything to save your dying friend.
Your character wakes up in a room full of dead bodies. What is s/he to do?
When her mother became very ill, she wasn’t prepared to die.
A 300 year old woman could see the future. She practiced a religion revolving around 21 days around death. Write about the last 21 days of her life.
A time capsule that’s a reflection of yourself from 500 ago.
How would people turn out had you lived?
Write a 5-page story without setting, inspiration or character.
She was born with death around her.
Don’t be afraid, your death will come.
Write about the emotions you have for someone who died.
Write about a soldier who is about to die. Before he dies he reminiscences his whole life.
A secret you kept all your life is finally revealed just after you die.
You have been diagnosed with a terminal illness, but an interesting twist in the experiment has changed your situation…
Write about a character’s view of death.
Write about the last words of someone facing death.
Breathe- in. Breath- out. Reflect on what it means to breath.
The best part of dying is the resurrection. Write how you become a zombie.
Yes, death is cruel, but what if you died unjustly? What then?
For a choice between life or death, which would you choose?
There is nothing to write. You’ve died.
Write about waking up tomorrow and everyone you love is already dead.
Write about death as a blessing in disguise.
Write about someone who faced death and won.
Many people believe in ghosts. So there are things that go bump in the night.
She wasn’t really dead. It was just a cruel joke. But cruel is what we have all become.
X-ray of Cancer Victim.
She was careless with her life. She was careful with her life.
Write about the moment you walked by and saw a man sobbing.
Once you’ve accepted death, only then you can learn to live again.
Describe your death.
The strangers turned their gun to her the minute she gave birth. They steal the life giving baby out of her arms. A distraught grandmother watches helplessly to fill her heart with grief. Read more about how a Mother Got Robbed Of Her Newborn Son .
Write of a character or loved one’s final moments.
After dying in an accident or crime your character’s ghost is stuck haunting their old home, how do they cope?
Wrongly convicted of killing her two kids, a mom recalls her children in writing from death row.
A mother’s love is unconditional until death takes her away.
Discovering one day of dying with no hope of resurrection is when life finally took its meaning for her.
Write about a character forced to choose between success or afterlife?
Death is coming from behind, but he is neither human nor animal.
Write about your experiences on the day of your funeral.
Awakening from a dream, the main character realizes he was dead all along.
It’s winter. You have a wounded loved one and can’t get them to a clinic.
Someone once said that we live and learn. Then we die and forget it all. How do you feel about that?
It was your last breath. Now what?
“I don’t think death should be feared, because it’s just the next part of life.”
She knew it wasn’t an option. She always wanted to live. But life caught up.
Write a story about the 12-hour window, before and after your death. Use only 27 words. How many of the words are general enough so that the story could be applied by anyone?
You wake up and see yourself in the mirror. It is death day. You will be reunited with someone you love dearly. What will you say to them?
Write a story about a letter, found years later, that is addressed ‘To Whoever Finds Me Upon Death’.
How would you want it?
Cindy had everything in her life set. Until all of it changed.
It was just another routine save and retrieval mission. Are you sleepy yet?
You felt dying in your sleep. How would you spend your last minutes?
Someone you cared for died, write a letter.
Death comes in the darkest night. It devourers lives and takes the dead.
Write about your character before an experience that makes them – whatever they were – momentarily think of death.
She stood up and walked into the menacing darkness of the forest… death was everywhere.
Write about your character, one month after she learned of the death of a friend or family member.
Where do angels go when they die? What do angels do when they die, if they know they are to be reincarnated?
Write about a day you barely survived.
A day in the life of a body donor.
Write about her/his last action. How does he/she leave this world?
Someone you love has just died. How do you handle it?
Ever wanted to wake up from this life?
It’s gray. And it’s gloomy. It’s God’s Waiting Room. But you didn’t die. What are you doing here, and what’s next?
A story about life after death.
I am alone now.
He was a well-known British writer. His death was a great loss for English literature.
The ship hit something. The captain and crew were forced to watch as the ship sank. When it’s your last day, you’d be too focused on life rather than death.
Your life flashes before your eyes. What was the final thing you saw?
Got a thousand words? Write this story with a life or death situation ahead.
What were the last words from your character to their mother/father?
A sister is recovering in the hospital beds after trying to kill herself. Write about why she attempted suicide.
Write about the life of a famous person who is dead.
Instead of celebrating your birthday, you’re reflecting on your death.
Your 10 year old son is terminally ill. How do you raise him?
What was the last thing you said before death?
You’ve just received an inheritance. What do you think of it? Is it really what you wanted?
You’re dead and you stay dead. Forever. Your relatives have decided to move on.
During your funeral, you wake up in the coffin. How do you react and try to escape?
She was never one good at living. It now seems obvious she was never good when it came to dying either.
It was a murder. Escapable only by death.
When you first realized another person was going to die, what was the feeling?
Deltoch thinks Strathor is dead-until he sees Strathor being tortured by his cousin over and over again for all eternity.
The old garage looked like it was lifted from the set of a horror movie.
Write about what it’s like when everyone is trying to be polite and cheerful around someone who has just lost a relative.
You’re in charge of the hereafter. Given the choice, what kind of afterlife would you create?
What was the first thing you thought when you died?
Have a character shy away from death. Write about the consequences.
Death. A blaring white light. And then nothing.
You’re killing another human being. But it isn’t his first time.
Write about what your character wakes up with the second time.
Write your character’s imagined dying words.
She wasn’t blind – she had a disease that made her blind throughout her whole life.
Only she remains to notice your corpse. What happens?
You’ve just had a near death experience. Write from the point of view of someone
9 year old Wendy is afraid of death. 17 year old Alice is choosing to end her life. 63 year old Maria is trying to live again.
You have five seconds to come up with the perfect last word.
The part of you that most lent itself to self interest was the last part to fade.
What do you think about when you’re on death row?
A woman loses her husband to an accident. She is just fine with it.
Dead plants are starting to talk to each other.
Henry tried to make sense of life until the day when he died.
He watched her register his death, feeling utterly helpless.
Witness the death of a loved one and describe your feelings.
Write about a moment before death, where everything was at peace.
A story where both family members are dead, and the tears for the lost loved ones flowed.
Someone is murdered at a play rehearsal, and it’s up to you who the killer is.
It never occurred to Angela that, after life as she knew it, death would be an enormous emotional roller coaster.Suddenly, an all too familiar suffocating darkness settled all around her, but Angela somehow resisted the urge to pull the knife out which she had used on herself.
Write about his house as seen by the sister of the man who was violently murdered years before by the man living there.
Do your characters’ lives flash before your eyes in an instant just before they die? What do they see?
Write about the moment your character found out he/ she’s dying. How does death hit them?
Write a crime scene description in three points of death.
Write for a scene where Death entered a scene.
The next day you find a note from Death written in crayon.
There’s a sudden knock on the door and your life flashes before your eyes.
Write about a character who’s life flashes before her eyes as she dies.
You’ve been betrayed by people.”I’d make them pay .” -said the person in prison. “I couldn’t trust anybody now.” -said the orphan person living in a filthy shack. “Please.” -said the man who wanted to end it all. “Go meet my family.” -said the bride. Take a look and think about this list. Comment below about it. Write something too.
Write about a murder scene.
You’ve died. Now you’re facing the gates of heaven. What happens?
You and your partner are off on a romantic weekend get-away when disaster strikes…
You’re meditating, when you sense that your death is approaching.
She was a day away from death…and she smiled.
A dead body was found. Try to find that silver lining.
There is something not right about this room. A dimensional anomaly perhaps?
Having to live as a dead person, becomes the last thing your character wanted
Write about a time someone cheated death.
I won’t burn, my soul will continue on. Give me back my eyes and I’ll watch over you
Write your life as a story told by someone who loved you a lot.
Everyone remembers dying to the sound of children laughing. Can you change that?
There is nothing worse than burning to death.
Write about a life ending on bad terms.
Your character’s life is flashing before her eyes. Write about the different moments.
Write a list of 3 things you would want to do before dying.
The plot dictates a character you love must die. Describe the process of coming to terms with their death.
Death has come, but something has gone wrong. You are alive but soon die one by one.
If you were about to die, what would you make sure to fulfill?
A man died in her arms, and she had no idea how she got there.
The possibility of death, hanging by a thread.
Lost it all but still have life. He died with everything, so he got everything.
Write about a ghost.
Write about a day in the life of a paramedic.
Write your character’s death scene, and then see what you can do to change it, increasing the odds of survival.
Imagine your life was a videogame. The time has come…
Write about a death of multiple characters.
Make up a book based on a video game that takes place inside the afterlife.
Dying is meant to be ironic. But sometimes, it doesn’t end up that way.
Write about your character before the death of her/his spouse.
She had seen so much suffering in her life. But could she bear it until the hour of death.
Everyone was sure he was dead. A person’s life wasn’t that simple.
Take your character from childhood to adulthood. Don’t forget there are forks in the road. It can change the outcome.
Write about the patients or patients’ families that never came back.
You’re a children’s author. But when it comes to your relationship with certain of your fans, it might be time to quit writing.
Write about writing the death of a loved one.
Write a character whose death is revealed indirectly to a wordless mutual friend.
What is buried under the character’s house?
The death of a parent is a life-changing event. Write about it.
Writing prompts about death is a tragic theme for the characters of your scenes.
It’s a hot day, the sun is in its full glory. Death is, also.
If you were able to die again and again until you conquered the world, would you do it?
An innocent man was sentenced to death because of his brain.
She died for a great cause and when it was time for the miracle, it did not come true.
How are you related to the death? Write about it.
Death is… What is your character’s response?
“He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you.”
Write about life without your character.
Write about a character’s first meeting with death.
Escaping death only to face loneliness.
Imagine the death of a loved one.
Someone you loved has died. Write about their life in detail.
In a world where people do not die. What keeps you together?
What would you say to someone who was at the brink of death?
Write about your fear of losing those closest to you.
A writer is in the grip of writer’s block. He asks the Death to help him write an ending to his story.
Death begins on your wedding day – essay.
Write about a dream you had, and how it makes you feel.
Write about the day death came slowly.
How do people react when they find out your character has died?
You’ve just found out you’re terminally ill. How do you deal with this news? What can you do before you die?
You’ve just avoided death by a hair’s breadth. What was it like?
You and another character are informed that today is the day you both die.
We’re keeping Death on the front burner as a theme, but the prompts should be more varied in materials and content for better results.
What do you think death is?
All of sudden you died. You are in heaven. What are you doing there?
What happens when the Grim Reaper is hunted?
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a British physician, writer, soldier, sportsman, artist, and Sherlock Holmes novelist. “On April 7th, 1892, after a short illness, he was struck on the chest by a ball while playing cricket. The heart was penetrated, and he died within a few minutes.”
Write about a family being haunted by the death of a very loved one.
You’re dead, long dead. But still you meddle in the affairs of the living.
Spring is life, Fall is death. Meant to be, or fate?
The adventure was over. Life had been taken.
Write about someone coming close to death, but living to tell the tale.
He wasn’t that kind of guy to break his promise. He promised he would always love her, he promised he would always look after her but the cruel reality kills you every night.
A man desperately trying to uncover the truth behind his past can’t avoid death as an answer.
Your spouse has just died. Write from your spouse’s perspective shortly before and after death.
How do you feel about someone being able to raise your dead body from the dead?
Everybody is a ghost. Feel this sentence subtly. What do you think a ghost does?
Are “Eternal Life” or “Nirvana” a peaceful dream?
The last person on earth is famous. He, she, has run out of food and is about to die of starvation — but then something happens.
Ponder your existence as you approach death.
Have you ever had “that” dream?
I will rise again, from the ground, from ashes, from death itself to someone the world will remember me.
A horrifying scene, a deadly moment of truth, an awe-inspiring murder, a brutal atrocity.
Death is inevitable. This is a part of life.
Your life flashes before your eyes. What parts do you see?
You have one chance to change your fate. Life and death is yours to decide.
Do you believe in life after death? Write about it.
Your significant other is dying. There’s one thing he/she hasn’t lived…tell the story!
She would always remember what happened the day she died.
What is the character’s relationship with death?
Write about a child of death characters, using the person or persons of a loved one for inspiration.
Missing her family led her to death. This is what happened on her last trip.
Call a neighbor in order to help with a plan to kill someone you suspect, but you soon learn that..
Write about your character in a setting where they get lost in the woods and can’t find their way back.
In Ancient times, raising the dead was impossible. You return to life and tell us how you feel.
My dad was more dead than alive when he responded.
A man is walking from his life to death. In hopes of finding some form of comfort. The journey took him fifteen minutes down the empty streets he walked. He finally reached his destination. The journey had taken all of his life. But he never once doubted his choice.
An angel who died. Another who lived. The horrors they’ve lived through.
Write about your death.
You’re about to die. Would you really regret something?
She was waiting for the bus when she suddenly started floating towards the moon.
Where did it all go wrong? What led to your death?
Write about death as a part of everyday life. Have death as a casual conversation topic.
The battle had been over days ago. The wounded were dying. The air stank from the gas they used to kill you.
You’ve just lived. How do you feel?
Write about your character attempting suicide.
Write about a soul that is connected to someone on the brink of death.
The man who would kill Kennedy, finally dies. How does he die?
Have you ever wished to hurt someone to the death? Tell us about that.
Write about a loved one’s death, from the point of view of a bereaved person.
Write about an inner-city kid forced to become a man when he sees his father killed in a gunfight…
Deceased in the first chapter. What then?
What would you do if you had an hour to live?
Your world is ripped apart when the one you’ve loved the most dies.
Ever since Ben surfaced to life, he was constantly hovering through death.
You were dying.At the very end, what thoughts went through your head? Did…
Imagine that for a moment that death became an insanity.
Write about a ghost enjoying death.
My mother gave birth to me ten minutes ago … and then she died. What does one of the characters in your story do, when faced with a death of someone close to him?
Write about one spontaneous decision that you regretted.
A letter to my deceased grandmother
Describe the way you would like to die.
She loved him but he betrayed her. Death is her punishment.
You were served a cruel reminder of your own mortality today.
Write about a love affair between two dead people.
Your soul is restless. Switching between the living and the dead.
The ancient Middle Ages were punctuated with much ignorance. It was during this time…
A man is killed on the street by another. Write their stories.
My loved one has died, and now they’re haunting me.
What you are experiencing is the pain of death.
If you had to die today, who would you tell?
Describe the moment when you knew life was at an end.
You are a soul about to die and there is a choice to be made. What will you choose?
He’s gone, gone, never to return. Gone forever. Now what?
Death, for Jesus, was his final purpose. For you, what is your final purpose?
The world without you. Oddly, you can see it from heaven.
Write about a suicide.
He slowly taught me about life. And now he’ll teach me about death.
We all thought he was going to die any day now. That was, until we found him trying to get out the hospital window.
Write about the last moments of life of a great writer or artist.
She was such a beautiful person. They’ll surely be sad you’re dead.
Freedom. He wanted freedom. He would do anything for it.
You awaken in your coffin. How do you feel?
What kind of tribute has been given to your character in the form of an article or next of kin?
Write the obituary for a character.
By the end of the week, he was re-educated.
The world would speak of your sacrifice for the rest of time. So what are you here for? What should you do now that you’re here?
Someone dies and there’s a spark of life, life you recognize.
It was a rainy day. You opened your umbrella, but you forgot to open the other end of it, leaving it stuck on the ground.
The tree offers shelter to a lot. This city was one of them.
“After death, there is nothing,” the subject claims. He means it.
You escaped death but came face to face with grief.
Saturday 6th February, 1945. It’s the memorable death of your grandfather.
Write about your life as you prepare for death.
Having made a few enemies is probably the last thing you’ll think about when death knocks on the door.
A man dies in a car accident. Write about it from his loved one’s perspective.
Talk about surviving an attempted suicide.
She held onto him as long as she could until she couldn’t hold him no more.
He should have died years ago, but now it was his time.
You awake in a world ruled by everything. Your world creates itself around you. At first, this seems satisfactory. But soon, you begin to realize this perfect world is incomplete. You want to raise something to levels beyond its perceived, limited potential, and to share your transcendent power with that thing.
Hanging on a cliff, what would you do?
Write about death from a dream perspective.
Death happens so fast. And it has been such a cliché.
Death is a purely human concept. What if death did not exist?
He was about to die, until the phone rang and his world was turned upside down.
It didn’t feel right.
Sometimes you question how children survive in that routine of a day-to-day life. You’ve known since you were little, but still you ask yourself that all the time. The answer never lies still. Not until you realize how little matters for you will matter for others.
On your deathbed, what are you afraid of?
Write about your character that just discovered his/her death has been foreseen by a trusted source.
After death everything stops. But who decides when the end comes?
My death was only the beginning of a beautiful afterlife.
Whether alive or not, the dead have a lot to say.
Write a couple of letters between the living and the deceased.
How long do you think you will live?
She was very sick. They had to make a decision.
Build a family tree and have a few of the family members die.
We died together, but now we are apart.
Do you think it’s up to the living, to save them from death?
Death is only the beginning. It’s time to start all over again.
Your true love just died. Tell us about your emotions and how you deal with it.
What is it like, “the other side?”
Death will likely come to you as an intruder. So write about his/her entrance.
How would you dispose of a body?
You’ve been killed, but there’s a catch – you have a bag of 8 hours to solve your murder.
Death comes to all men. For some, death arrives too young.
What is death like?
Imagine you’re about to face a life or death situation.
When life gives you lemons, go make lemonade and leave the world a better place.
You knew this was going to happen. You did everything in your power to make it not happen.
Look at your life. Is it even worth living?
It wasn’t the monster that scared him. It was the crunching sounds the bones made.
Write about what you would like to say to someone you lost.
Sometimes we find death before we meet him. Embrace your fear of death by writing about it.
Write about a character receiving the worst news in his/her life with the knowledge of death breathing down their neck.
Maria was chosen to die. She didn’t want to, but had no choice.
Describe your character’s experience with death in a mystery.
Your mother and father are in this situation. How will they survive?
Dreaming isn’t what it used to be. Maybe it never was.
What was it like knowing you were going to die and then suddenly waking up? Or what was it like going to sleep knowing you would die?
What is the first thing you’ll do when you’re reunited with your loved ones in the afterlife?
Write about the first time you were in the real situation of death.
Sinking into the mud of the swamp, the only way out was a giant snake.
You got a mysterious letter from an afterlife agency called “The Human Resource Management Department.” They say they have had a hidden camera in your house and that they have evidence of your confession of evil intentions. So now they want you to work for them, saving people’s lives in heaven. But are you really dead?
You walk into a door. Your life flashes in front of your eyes.
He’s waiting for the death of his friends. He’s just as responsible for the accident as they are.
Your character is born today, but it’s their last birthday.
In those final moments, he regretted this life, what he had become. He had left a safe job, but it was too late.
You just gave $1,000 to a young girl with a golden halo. She’s fighting for her life. What’s next?
Write about what death is like for your character.
You’re the only one in the world who has the ability to change death. How do you use that to change society?
Killed in action.
It wasn’t just that my life ended that day. Several dreams died with me as well.
Your mother has just died of terminal cancer. Reflect on your relationship with her leading up to her death.
Have you ever been afraid of death?
Death is good for the business.
Write about a moment in a book your character will never forget.
Write about a character’s experience of death.
You’ve taken a concoction that will either bring death or life. Which one results?
Death is inevitable. But how does it feel when the wheel turns time after time?
Characters from your story are sitting around a Victrola, talking about death. What might they have to say about it?
Make a list of all the things you’ve done in a day. Write about one thing that has changed due to your death.
Your roommate, who you found out died the night before, has come back as a ghost and you have to decide to keep her around or find a way to send her on her way.
How is your character feeling when he/she goes to the funeral of his/her relative? Express through viewpoint.
She wasn’t an agent at first. She didn’t want to be dealt with life. Death, though, is a deal breaker
If you could share something with yourself who has just died, what would you want to share.
Write about closing your eyes to the living.
All he wanted to do was go out and have a good time, but now he’s run over by a drunken driver. A life interrupting death.
You’ve been in a coma for two weeks. Your relatives visited you every morning and prayed for your recovery, kept on hoping, kept on wishing for you not to die. They knew they’d lose you forever if you go. The truth is you never had them in your heart. You even dreaded their visits and stayed up late each night hoping they wake up early every morning to pray for you hoping in some way, you’ll go to sleep early the following night for your visit to come sooner, while they delayed the arrival of their visits until later. One day, while everyone else thought you died without the family knowing, you woke up and had a chill down your spine. You looked over to your bed and saw a red stain on your sheets wetting your mattress. You sat up in fear and disgust then realized what happened then rushed to the toilet. What did you do after that? How did you feel? Did you tell everyone the truth?
As the snow fell, he thought of all the memories he had enjoyed with his beloved. Each flake he felt as a shard of sadness whose burden threatened to pull him into a deep chasm of pain and heartache. He thought about his current situation for what could possibly be the last time. He couldn’t walk, he felt useless, dead. Death came with relief. For you see, the love of his life had died too.
Write about this life changing moment of meeting your significant other.
As a child she was afraid of death, until most of her family members died from cancer
Whenever Van used to commit suicide, he would drive his car off the highway at a very high speed.
Has death ever scared you?
Find time to spend a day at the life/death museum on your way to the next world.
Her world was cut short by mechanical failure of her heart. The day she died, another was born, no names were the same.
Your addiction finally caught up to you.
Normal, everyday life for a mortal is painful for a vampire. Write about a day in the life of a vampire.
She was about to speak…when…
I hear my mother call me. She says that she needs help.
She had always been scared of death. Until the time came.
The boy has always been mentally ill. On the day he was overcome with panic, he killed.
Understand what the writer means by these eight life and death statements.
After a full life, we see the man who ran us down every day. And the pain it still causes.
Write a scene about receiving an injection.
I am still curious, but not enough to die,’ she said to her husband, the last words she spoke on their 25th wedding anniversary.
You’re lying unconscious in bed, close to death. Fix your protagonist for a meal.
Tell your story with an optimistic and positive tone.
Life is hard. So please, hurry up and die.
Your character at the moment of his death has a changed perspective of life.
The bird left the carefree dream of happiness and flew through death.
Your death is the reason for reconciliation for all involved people. At whose point of view will this story take place.
Your friends offered you your life’s topic in a bag. What would you choose?
Death is watching over you. What would you do if you noticed that?
Write the last words you remember hearing from a person right before they died.
Roman fever is taking hold of the country. What becomes of that one person who sneezes?
What is your take on what happens after death? Are we reborn again or do we get to rest finally in Heaven? Have you ever experienced the afterlife?
Your character finally admits to themselves that they are dying from cancer.
Describe the fastest way to travel from planet to planet.
You died and were granted one last wish, what will it be?
His greatest fear was to experience death. And that’s what happened.
You meet death on a train. This is the man/woman who is going to take your life.
Death comes without warning. It leaves too.
Write about a moment that makes your character want to give up.
Will they get to the hospital in time?
What have you done all your life with full knowledge that one day you’re going to die?
The last fatal memory from her past, and how it robs her of her peace and future.
You’re on death row. Tonight is the night.
How did you cope with death?
Family members are always attending funerals. Death is such a recurring theme.
A ghost story – You’ve died and now you are haunting a particular place.
Write a story about your character receiving news that a loved one has died.
We are all dying. Remember you will die.
What’s the biggest regret your character has on their deathbed?
What lingers on long after is the death of a loved one.
Do you believe in ghosts? Write a Halloween flash fiction about your visit to someone’s house.
Tell about the survivors of the dead.
You want to end all your suffering. This is your time to strike. However, whe…
Something compelled him to choose between living and dying.
He lies on his deathbed, the needle draws blood and the buzz of the machine starts to fade.
Falling into their trap was the worst mistake of his life.
Write about a character who’s life was saved by a blind person.
The Grim Reaper told you that either you or your loved one will die.
This is the story of a ghost. How do you die and do those terrible things you want to?
Write about finding your own burial place.
Write about a dead person’s wake.
He was a man who believed in life after death.
What was his last memory?
Death comes for everyone in the end.
A ghost’s life story
Write about the life / death of a flower.
Write about what the veterinarian does with the animals that have been euthanized.
Create a short story around an unorthodox death.
Describe the moment of your character’s death.
You had a moral dilemma. What did you do?
Parents hardly talk about death with their children. Write about an example when your parents did talk about it.
Has your life been like what you expected it would be?
It’s because of the celebration that death gets exceptional amounts of power.
You had died many years back, but looked really alive, what is your life like? How did you cheat death for so long?
At the tombstone of deceased relatives or loved ones, there is something that now appears. You must write about it.
Turner’s death sentence was to be carried out later that day. He had already spent two long years in jail while he waited for his execution.
Write about an oddly specific funeral.
You have the choice to live another day, or several other days, or a long time, or never.
What do you say to someone to ease the pain of death?
He vowed to do right by everyone. This is his chance to atone.
At the funeral home he took one last look at the body of his dead father. It was as if he was saying goodbye for the last time.
It was the scratch of the chalk that alerted me that we’d dug up the graveyard. Either that or it was the slithering noises coming from far beneath the soil that made me turn around.
You have to pick a certain object and imagine using it to save the life of a loved one. What would that be?
In the book of my life, would love still have a place?
You are betrayed at your end. Who did it? What harm did they do and why?
Everybody dies one day. Why does it have to be that way? Is this just life?
A dying person has just a few hundred words left to spend on earth. Tell us what they are saying, doing, thinking.
Make a character fall in love with death.
Preaching the gospel to people for forty years. Not one person believed. Hit by a bus 40 years from now.
Painter This category of prompts revolves around painting. It can be used to create dramatic scenes, or to show the troubles of a painter. The painter can be a self-portrait, all of their paintings, someone else’s work … anything that comes to your mind!
Write about your character overcoming death in the dream world.
Discover foreign culture. Late people. Be you be surprised…
My character transforms into an inhuman bloodthirsty creature in the course of the story.
After he dies, his body gets picked up by the undertaker. Unfortunately, something was not right.
It was too quiet. There was no life.
Write about a past -life visitation.
If you knew you were going to die, how would you carry out that last day?
After a horribly indecisive death scene in a movie/tv show you’ve just watched. A character being torn apart by indecision decides to take their own life.
Write about the life or death situation of a character.
Holiday party, everyone you love is there. You’re all having a grand time. Until you start bleeding out of the eyes. How do you get away?
Describe a day starting with death in the morning until night.
You’ve been in a coma for a year. Explain your unreal surroundings.
Write about a character being dead in a graveyard.
Write about your main character in the viewpoint of another of your characters that survived in an upsetting situation.
Do animals feel a moment of regret when they die?
You can be shot at the moment you think you aren’t going to die.
Waking up in an unknown place, with an unknown person. Then years of living together. On death do us part.
Turning. Flashing wheels white against black asphalt like lightning hot enough to scorch the ground.
You have two hours left to live and you can’t think of anything that’ll make you happy. What do you do?
Your neighbor bet you that you couldn’t spend a week without death haunting your life.
It’s like taking off parachutes when you are close to the ground. You have to let go when the time comes.
You have three days until the winter solstice.
Until one day, she decided not to die anymore.
How did you and your soulmate meet?
Write about a zombie-apocalypse that you haven’t seen or written yet.
For this contest, anything goes. The only thing you need to do is link anything gothic to death and a day in your life…or a day that never happened…just something along that nature.
Describe each of your death wishes in one ending paragraph.
How far will you go to bring someone back from the dead?
A new evil/killing device is released and no one can stop it. What is it? Why did the government create it? Why can’t anyone stop it? Why is it designed this way and what are the results? How can it be deactivated?
What’s it like to be dead?
Share a joyous life changing moment.
On the run, with nowhere left to hide, a bad guy closes in. He has you now. What would you do?
Was death influenced by how you lived your life?
Fate stalks your character.
It was a clear evening without a cloud in the sky. Not a breath of wind to disturb the calm. One couldn’t hear anything in the room except for the sound of the candle’s flame. The old man, Magne, tried once again to ease back into his armchair by throwing his head backward. He lay there for a while, face lit up by the warm glow of his reading lamp. Finally he sat up again and started to give his wife Brigitta a quick summary of the novel he had been busy with the last three months.
Rod finally got what he always wanted after he died… peace and quiet.
My life is a two-sided coin. One is the ordinary life-and the other is extraordinary death.
When Doug fell from his horse…Death waited.
They say he lived an extraordinary life. But death ended it quickly and brutally.
Write a story or poem of a fetus’s birth.
Write a short poem about dying.
What is death like? How do you get there?
A man was found dead. Questioning of two suspects, and a revelation of mystery ensuing.
You are fighting for life…
Got you on the list of death. Other ten people have also been chosen to die.
Are we the design or the designers?
Your character has entered Heaven. interview him/her about it.
A child dies from a terrorist attack. He tells everyone it hurts.
Explain what life means to you.
Death comes to the killer.
How would life be without death?
My character is just sitting in heaven, waiting for her loved ones to join her.
Her co-worker at the coffee shop was wary of her as of her open view on the concept of death.
Your best friend a few days ago died, now it’s your turn.
You’ve died. What is your day like?
I walk closer to the bridge at these crossroads. A life or death decision lies before me.
What would you like to be remembered for?
A train left on time. A man boarded the train to die. Why did he decide to end his suffering?
Describe your character’s funeral as it plays out in front of you?
She was no coward. She never thought she would die in her own home.
What do you see around you after death?
You find yourself on death row and the next person to die isn’t you. What’s your reaction?
Death is not the end. It’s only the beginning.
How would you like to die?
The seasons have been unusually long this year and the last thing on your oracle’s mind is what it’ll have for supper.
Aah, to sleep, perchance to die in domestic life.
The funeral was a beautiful one. Everyone in your family admired the photo the most.
A child’s lonesome deathbed prayer
Write about the moment of your death. Write about the person who killed you maybe.
It woke up to a sudden, harsh sound. It was confronted by a…
You make a deal with the devil. You have one more opportunity to undo a mistake or save a life in your past, but you will have to die again and again and again forever.
When life handed him lemons, he decided to make champagne.
Write about one of the most painful moments in your life.
Your death doesn’t come. You settle with the fact that you’ve got to experience the worst day of your life, over and over.
Imagine your death. Would it be different from how you actually die?
Fate has it that you will replicate a life, commit a murder and have to watch your own death.
A dying man wants to impart one more thing to the one he loves.
Death can only be a temporary setback to a character’s life. Think of something that your character could do to overcome death.
An aimless man finds out that life and death are not black and white but many shades of gray.
The stench of death is all around you.
Your big sister died last night. Write about it.
Her fear of heights was overcome when she died.
A man walks into a morgue at night, he has a specific plan.
The nurse put on a gentle smile as he opened the curtain to her side.
When your ethnicity discriminates against you, only death gives life a remedy.
Share a story of someone before or after death.
It wasn’t the first time she watched someone die but it was still hard to deal with it.
Suddenly faced with the death of a loved one, my character went numb for several minutes before responding to it.
Write about how your character reacts to the death of a loved one.
How do you die peacefully?
A man who turns to crime to support the family. The chance to steal an ancient relic changes everything involving a seller and a cop.
Your character commits a terrible crime. While awaiting his execution, he transforms his mind.
Write about your character while lying in a coffin.
Describe your last moments before death.
Write about the death of a loved one from Point of View of that person.
You dream of your final day.
Speak about your life in an alternate world where dying wasn’t an option.
You’re on the verge of death in minutes, what would you do?
She thought about death all the time and she finally wanted her way.
How different would life be if…
Write about a time you overcame death.
A detective is about to die. Right before going into the light, he finds out what the bad guy had done.
Write about a character’s discovery of or falling in love with another character despite a deceased loved one from that person’s past.
This character was once afraid of sharks, but now?
Write about the struggles of a character facing depression.
She only felt one pain, not two, which was the right or wrong thing to do.
Death – the “big sleep” – is just a state of nirvana which a weary soul gladly welcomes after days and nights of gruesome misery.
Your character goes through an afterlife. Bonus points for dipping it in something esoteric and/or horrific.
“Death is the greatest loss of all.” How would you feel without death in your life, or those around you?
Your death wish.
A man wakes up to see he has died and cannot find God anywhere.
After his death, his name was always…
Write about life through the eyes of someone who knows it won’t last forever.
Love. Friendship. Death. Pick one.
Our father has just died because of his addiction. Who was he?
Write about your character’s very first life or death situation.
What would you do if you knew you only had six months to live?
All the life had been sucked out of you. You can’t be with your loved ones.
You’re not really dead. You’re just imagining what comes next.
What memory does death take from you?
I have always believed death would never come to me. One day, it did.
A coward seeks death. A hero living through it seeks life.
It’s your death bed. Cheat death. Hire someone. Who are you gonna cheat death with?
How does dying change your relations?
You remember a small moment of your life, before that force tore apart your world.
Everyone thought that she was the one who would live forever.
No, he won’t. Death doesn’t come for the young.
Everyone wants to live forever, but no one wants to die today.
Who’s going to die next in your story?
Write a story about a sick child and how his family handles his constant pain and suffering.
A story about someone facing a life-changing event that lasts a long time.
Write about your character’s reaction to someone else that killed them.
Write about life from your grandma/grandpa’s perspective when they embarked on their first date.
It takes fearlessness to die.
Your death can be beautiful.
Write in the perspective of the death, apprising what’s in store for you in the world of the living.
What did dying feel like?
You’re recruited after death. What person is your coworker from the previous life?
You’re dying of grief, which no person will speak of.
Write about death, sickness, or any fatal disease your character suffers or has suffered from.
Write about your character lying on a hospital bed. Write what’s going on there, if you yourself were there, would you feel comfortable?
Everyone else in the prison is dying. What is your character doing? How do they feel about the impending doom?
Your typical job day took a sinister turn. Death was on the menu.
Life has thrown a curve ball at your character. How does she deal?
An everyday person’s confrontation with life in death.
He confronted the biggest and scariest enemy of all – himself.
Death has come and he has a proposition.
Childhood was a time of innocent play with imaginary friends.
The great wars of the past are now depicted in war commercials.
Write about your character when faced with death.
Write about your character’s last night on Earth before dying.
You have two minutes to experience the pain of death as your body dies.
Write a scene in your story about death.
She died looking into his eyes because love kept her in this world for that one last moment.
Is there any meaning to life? If there had been a meaning to death, what would it be?
Exploring these topics allows us to discuss and to gain a recollection of ideas that still reside in the memory. Using the free writing prompts for essays that allows the writer to disclose their message. Time waits for no-one.
Write about your character’s first glimpse of death.
Valentine’s Day. Have your character write a letter of death to the person they love.
What’s the hardest thing about dying in a war?
We don’t want to cheat death. But death is cheating us.
Your character meditates on his death, another event takes precedence.
Analyze the deathbed confession discussed earlier.
Write about an encounter with your neighbour who fears death.
What happens when all paths lead to one direction?
Being dead must be great. When will your loved ones die to meet you there?
Decide who your next life will be. Write an essay supporting your decisions.
You are trapped in the shadow world, with the dead and undead.
The last death in your unit was an inmate. What did they do to deserve it?
An immortal man is sick and tired of immortality.
Trapped in a coma, you are considering likely your last moments of life. Or are you?
Write about murder. How does the victim feel as life is being taken away?
The Death of a Child
Which events in your life do you feel had the most impact on your fate?
Write about death claiming a loved one.
While lying in bed one night, death comes knocking on your bedroom door. What happens next?
The Mother Superior was dying and the family was fighting over what happened to the soul.
Write about a character killed by a knife/sword/hatchet/other sharp object.
She doesn’t know what’s coming but she doesn’t fear death.
You were given the option to live or die, which will you choose?
Where death visits, there he found, unsought, a scythe.
Write about something that you wished you would have done or didn’t.
But you wait. Something pulls you back.
Your uncle found stealing a body from a cemetery.
It was raining as her father’s corpse car drove through the car park.
The ashes of a loved one have just been spread. Do a compare and contrast piece between death and what the spread ashes have made. What kind of life did you have after the loved one has died?
Multiple death scenes, all taking place during the same incident.
Your friend just died. Write from their perspective.
Write about your road towards death.
Sell your life. Will anyone buy it?
You’re single in New York and you’ve arrived where you’re going. No one accounts for this,
The shock of his death came from nowhere.
A young woman who lost her memory. And her life.
Write about a character facing his/her biggest fear.
Death of a loved one….Write about your last moments shared.
What’s the saddest day of your character’s life?
In your sci-fi novel, describe how the newly invented mood ring changes the world.
You’ve just died, but at the other end of your destiny bridge arriving to the next life. What happens?
Everyone has a secret they’ve carried all their life.
Life will always find a way. But what if death thought the exact opposite?
Your last supper.
Write a narrative summary about the last moments of your character’s life.
What we were afraid of in death, was that we would not be remembered.
What happened the last time you were close to death?
All your friends and family are filing past your dead body. What are the first words out of your mouth?
Write about the thoughts of death just before the character goes under.
Write about the death of a loved one.
It is supposed to be the most important day in your life but you are feeling very gloomy, for a reason.
You have six months left. What do you do?
Write about the most important event in your character’s life so far.
Aware of death all her life. She chose to ignore it. But when she saw it in the face, she couldn’t bear it.
She lay sleeping in her deathbed, unaware of the time on the clock. She was sleeping and yet she wasn’t…
How do people feel when you hear your name spoken aloud?
Death is how we learn to live.
Some souls never move on, and linger in life. Tell a story about one of them.
It’s your birthday. The one you should have died. Tell me the story of how you got that gift.
The world is a beautiful place, as far as you can tell. But, it’s not your world.
Choosing death over life.
Write about a memory from before the character was born.
What is your character’s final statement to the world?
Staring at a long blackness, waiting to die. There was no life after death.
You just died in the car accident you are in. Write what you were thinking while waiting before you died.
Sometimes, death comes from places we didn’t even know were around us.
Write about death from the point of view of the person who is dying
Have a character who fears encounters with death too much but has to confront his own fear.
Did you experience the death of someone close to you? Explain.
Write about a character who witnesses a death.
Write about a near death experience.
Plane crashes and you are without your loved ones.
Lost the person you love the most in life. How do you cope?
Write about your character visiting some place. It could be the funeral of a friend. Or the cemetery. If you have visited a cemetery and feel extremely sad. Write your narrative without using the world “I” and “you.”
Your character just died. Why didn’t anyone come for you?
Write about life after death.
She was only 18 when she celebrated her last birthday.
The new toy for Christmas was a gurney.
Write about a suicidal character and the friends who care.
When ghosts have to haunt, they choose all the wrong places and meet all the wrong people.
Parents find out their daughter will die.
You croak. Your pop would like to see you. How would you say your last goodbyes?
Write about a main character being killed off.
A man sat in a plastic chair in the emergency room. Nothing was going his way.
Write about your character experiencing the trauma of attending a funeral.
Write about an afterlife.
A character dies in the story. Write the life story of that character.
How would you spend your last twenty-four hours?
You’ve got one year to live. Write about your life.
He awoke from a death of a thousand horrors to see his mother standing by him.
Write your own death scene
Your death isn’t just the end. It is a doorway to something much more. Choose two items that tell us about one aspect of you.
Write a news report about a life and death type of situation.
Write about a death driven tea party.
What’s it like to die from bees?
How do you see death?
What are your feelings right after learning you have a deadly illness?
Cemetery of mixed emotions for all life forms.
You’ve been injected with sleeping poison. Write what happens, as well as what you feel as you fall asleep.
A dream came true. What happens next?
The television show based on your life is set to release their first season. What would you hope people will take away?
I died, and then nothing happened. Surely that was the worst thing that could happen?
Bring a friend to life.
Have you ever quit life?
It all happened too fast. All the fighting and the yelling and then…nothing.
Escaping Death
Write about your idea of an afterlife.
You have been asked to cover your burial at home. Write a eulogy.
Invited to a funeral?
You’re having a conversation with your character about life and death. What happens?
“Do you know? Death, where is thy sting? Grave, where is thy victory?”
Your husband is arranging your funeral. But he’s a crook. How do you die?
Write about something that happened to your character in the week leading to his/her death.
Talking to the death of a loved one? How do they respond? Make it a dialogue.
What are you thinking at the very moment when you are dying?
An angel bails you out of death. Hilarity ensues.
Write about a girl with a terminal illness and no one believes her.
It seemed like it happened in an instant. Death took him in the blink of an eye. How did he manage to make his mark?
Write about the annual celebration held at your favorite cemetery or funeral home.
Your life is about to end. Are you at peace with that?
He was living life on the edge. But one day it got too close to home.
There was nothing more to live for until…
The little boy thought to himself how life was just a one way trail.
A hospital is hallmarked by visits of death.
Write about your life ending with one anecdote after another.
Write about your character getting a life changing phone call.
He always hated the color white. One day, he questioned why.
Write about your character when they have some insight on life.
Your character is forced to confront their worst fear.
Write about the vilest thing you have ever done to stay alive.
Your life flashes in front of your eyes.
Your grandfather has died. It’s just a coincidence that you meet him right now.
The character dreams of death every night and struggles with that fear every day.
The best way to spend time on this planet is to live!
She stared in awe as the world around her erupted in chaos. She wondered if this day would end up her last.
Your mind is beginning to shut down. How do you feel?
His life flashed before his eyes as he faced certain death.
Just an object. Perhaps a life saved, or the start of a journey.
Reincarnation. Have you had a past life death? How?
You have a life or death situation. Unforeseen events force you to compromise between people and survival instinct.
Write about Death of a loved one.
He was hit by a car while crossing the street. The culprit simply left the scene.
A dog, a man, and his pet.
Write a scenario about when your character lost someone he loved.
How difficult is it to accept your own death? Write about it.
Write about a main character who regrets he was not able to see his wife one last time before she died.
A Life Death Quotes
Your husband or wife dies. You deal with the effects of that for a day, then the First Death comes.
You are sitting on Death’s doorstep waiting for him to come.
The story of a fictional disease-contagious, life-threatening. What if you spread it but don’t get sick?
I had no idea I’d ever die.
Imagine yourself being euthanized, without any consequences by you or to you.
What happens when the dead can return to life?
A character dies during the climax of the story. How does this affect his companions?
Write about your character’s beliefs on life after death.
Describe a place where someone died.
An old lady realizes life might not be what it appears to be all the time.
We fear death until we have experienced death.
What is life without death?
Death row, A growing number of people have been found innocent and some have been released. What happens to them?
A man spends time on the 12th floor. One day, a man falls to his death.
A tale of death and a treasure.
What does it feel like to wake up dead?
What is the price of life? Where will you draw the line?
Write a scene where two characters discuss life and death.
A wedding day, but why?
A man contemplates dying.
You’ve got one year left to live. Exactly one year. What will you do?
Is fear the greatest element of life?
Write about the death sentence.
Write about a person you love with all your heart except for one flaw.
Write about death from someone’s point of view.
When it seemed death was so close around the corner, instead of making a last wish, she made an important change.
What would you say to your friend when he/she’s dying?
Write about your life within 24 hours of death.
Could you risk your life for her, even though you’re not sure she can do the same for you?
How do you die? How do you think it will happen? Is death, like in a video game, is there any concept of death in video games?
You have a few days to live. What are you going to do? How are you going to act? Who will you spend it with?
I don’t want to die. Oh God. Won’t someone help me?
Write about a person who is afraid of death.
About an hour to death experience.
Write about someone who is at their funeral looking back at their life.
Self-awareness, reincarnation, and the observer effect.
Describe a reason why people would commit suicide.
The death of her cat reminded him about his own death.
Your character finds out that they are nearing death now.
Has There ever been a time in your life when you contemplated the nature of death?
How did the disappearance of a loved one affect your life?
Re-live the horrors of your last life as a field slave in ancient Egypt.
There were so many regrets yet there was so little time.
Every day the ghost of her dead sister comes to tell her something on a piece of paper
What you are the day you die is most important. What did you do right?
How do you know you have died? The logical explanation.
You had just died, see how the ones around you cope with your death.
Your character is stuck in a life or death situation, you decide who escapes!
Write about a reincarnation you’ve had and the pain that followed it.
It was a day like any other day. Well, maybe not.
Write about your life, of course.
A witch asked you to do your worst. What is your worst?
After death comes torment.
List 5 ways to identify life.
Write about the first and last days of a character.
Write about a day before your character’s death. Was it his or her last day on Earth?
A mysterious letter leads your detective to the solution of the crime. What does it say?
Apologize one last time. Close your eyes and let death come.
They don’t get it. We were wrong.
She scanned the room before she died. What did she think about while looking around her?
He knew it was coming. Death or liberty.
A lead by example in the business group was driving to the company meeting in the mountains. Everything seemed normal. They didn’t know the fate that was awaiting them at the destination. They finally saw what was coming their way, but it was too late.
Aging parent is on his or her deathbed.
Oscar Stone is a young daredevil who has just left his school. Just a few steps away from the school a car approaches and there’s no time to run away. What options does he have?
My first death came ten years after it hurt me.
They all knew death was inevitable, but not now.
I’ve tried to kill for you…Why won’t you let me die for you?
You are forced to die. How do you choose to go? What made you choose that as a method/favorite method?
You are walking towards your execution. Who is there to see it happen?
Open the grave, let’s see who’s inside.
Help. My character is dead. What to do?
You’ve been one of Dream-Keepers, beholden to your responsibilities. Now you have died.
What would your character want at his or her funeral?
Write a hint prompt — John’s a janitor. Your mother is sick. Bill is lost.
Write about your concept of death.
Personality and identity of people after death were altered.
A seemingly normal person fears death.
Live or death. You choose.
Write a letter from the point of view of a character “giving up”.
You’ve just died. Where to next?
Ladies and gentlemen, we are experiencing some technical difficulties.’
This could be another original theme to write about. Life or the afterlife is the theme. Wri…
Everyone thinks suicide is easy. Here’s a list of people who gave it a shot, but for one reason or another only halfway succeeded. Write from the point of view of one character. Make them go through with it, by the way.
Romantic date of your character turns to be a life or death experience.
The heart monitor flatline. Her parents were devastated. No one could have foreseen this when she was born.
Death abused her. One man shamed her. The other was to blame. …
What’s it like to die nowadays? Is it so different from a century ago, or from a thousand years ago?
You have 3 seconds to encapsulate the meaning of life. How do you do it?
Death comes for all, it’s only a matter of when.
It’s about a boy who feels revenge for his friend’s death. He plans to kill the murderer.
All creatures are mortal. All games must come to an end.
People from the past try to prevent your death.
Write about your last night on earth.
You’ve been reincarnated into an animal. What are you?
No one cared when grandmother died. They still don’t.
A marriage is arranged for love or for reasons unrelated to love, and only death reschedules it.
Where were you when it happened?
Write about choosing between two people or two things, with one promising death.
Red is her favorite color. But the only thing she can think of when she looks at it is blood.
How would you feel if you had a final hour to live? Would you make it count?
The dying man had something to say.
Write about the fear of being immortalized with a statue.
You discovered that you can talk to the dead. How would you change your life if you knew you could speak with the dead?
Death is but the opening of a new beginning. Write about your first day.
Write about someone who stops communication to you and returns when in dire straits.
Write about your dreaded life or death illness.
Describe every creaky movement of your blue whale faced loved one.
Write about your character while you think they’re dying.
When your mind drifts into the darkness, it can suddenly pull you under.
Write about dying from old age.
Describe a dream you had where you were about death or dying.
Write about life or death, or both, through the eyes of someone stuck in an elevator.
A list of what death feels like.
You’ve been years dead. And a girl finally spoke your name.
For the following writing prompts, connect with your senses.
He drove instinctively on the highway to his fate. His fate would be as certain as death.
John decided to copy-cat the death of Bruce.
If you could come back from the dead what would you change?
Write about death.
My friend was coming back from the fight club. He appeared to be bleeding.
Death is imminent. How do you feel?
He was about to die. That, however, didn’t stop him from enjoying life.
Bringing a baby to term, only to have it stillborn.
Augusta Baker is dying.
Write about what happens to your character after their death.
Life was going by normally when the inevitable happened, Death.
You are a shade. You watch death every day but one day …
You’re on Death Row. Write about last meals, impact of crime, etc.
How would your character react if someone close to him/her died?
Death would not claim Him
Write about something you’d like to do if you die tomorrow.
What happens when death comes unexpected?
Write about the death of a child.
So powerful, the power of love, that it overcomes the power of death.
Life is going to push and shove, but death will make your character break down.
The food you ordered disgusts you, for you’ve died now.
Death walks the earth, and she’s looking for you.
Write about the feelings and actions of someone who’s lovable but their words break hearts. Upon reaching heaven, he finds that a friend lied to him about it being better there.
Design strange after-life scenarios for people in this world.
Winner takes all, the loser gets nothing. Choose life or death for your character.
You feel your heart skip and repeat beats. It starts to go out. You were too late. Death is coming!
You have died. Now go back to the life that led up to your death.
Write about your character discovering his estranged brother is best friends with the zombie apocalypse.
Suddenly very aware of his surroundings, and his nearness. How close she stood to death.
Do you know that the death sentence is the only sentence that carries the signature of the Judge and a self-signed execution date the fate of the accused, why that is. What does that say about a man?
Your friend asks for your opinion on their cause of death.
Write about a person losing control.
Write a unique obituary of today. A book obituary.
Has anyone ever written to you and told you that you will die one day? How did that make you feel?
You wake up to find yourself lying in a coffin. What do you do?
If you were put into a zombie apocalypse, where zombies are actually peaceful and not vicious or violent, how would you feel about your existence?
Write about what would happen if you killed someone accidentally during your life.
Patients say she is the best counselor ever. She is dealing with the death of her…
She died and all the boys turned their heads.
Write a heartbreaking letter from the dead to the living
It was a calm sunny day in New York. This day, seven people were going to die.
Death is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.
It feels so final, to yield one’s heart to death…
Death came quickly and attacked out of nowhere.
Death is near. Your last chance to live the happiest moment of your life.
Write about death in a contemporary setting.
The two strongest pillars holding up my life collapsed right next to me.
As a tribute to one of the greatest literary works ever, how about you portray death in a poetic form?
You awaken, but your heart has stopped beating forever.
Life after death?
Write about what we find in ghosts in creepy rooms during interviews.
She was dead but didn’t know it.
Prince Charming is exactly what you had always dreamed about. He was charming, leary, handsome, successful.
The beach was calling him back, but he would never answer.
Imagine you’re trapped in a burning building and it’s your last night on Earth.
Frank was dying, but he wanted to hold on until his daughter could come.
The undertaker laid you to rest peacefully. But you’re beginning to wonder if that was really a good idea.
When you least expect it death suddenly appears right before you.
Just die. When death hangs in the balance, you may be the first to find out whether or not you are immortal.
Let’s play Ping-Pong. The winner gets to live. To lose is to die.
An angry spirit fears death and tries to fulfill promises while alive.
Write about life in prison after having killed your victim.
A woman knocks at death’s door.
What should’ve been a simple task of doing laundry turned into a life or death situation.
Something long forgotten returned and became your worst nightmare
Write about a child on death row.
So, um… You’re the Grim Reaper?
Are there other life or death moments in your story? Do a writing exercise to explore these events further.
Quezon City is known for their long and tiring traffic. However, there are no traffic lights in some intersections. For those who are late, this can be suicidal. Long gone are the days when police officers would lead traffic. Now there are “traffic enforcers”.

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