I have always been intrigued by literature that weaves elements of traditional fantasy – magic, monsters, and apparitions – through what seem on the surface to be entirely realistic narratives. More subtle than frankengenre-ism, this style of writing leaves the reader unsure of what is pure imagination, embellishment, or merely unlikely truth. Beginning with folklore and progressing through the “magical realism” of the works of some South American authors in the mid-20th century (Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “One Hundred Years of Solitude” is one example), this genre invokes a child-like joy of finding the remarkable in the mundane. Following this theme, today’s prompts are designed to help you integrate your every-day experiences as an author with your wildest fictional creations.

• Think about any event in your life. It can be something significant, a once-in-a-millennia type of experience, or an example of a routine that you follow almost every day. Write a short story about this event that incorporates elements of fantasy to emphasize its most important aspects. For example, instead of missing the bus and getting rained on, you could describe missing the bus and being chased by hungry shadow-creatures to your school.

• Write a description of the town or city where you live. Begin with obvious, incontrovertible statements (“City X is in state Y”) and progress to complete fabrications (“the grass in city X eats pets and small children; dogs barking at night are alarmed victims of man-eating vegetation”). If you want to make this a little more elaborate, you can write it from the point of view of a new resident of the city or an FBI agent who is investigating strange claims.

• Have you ever threatened to do something that you would never actually do because it is illegal/immoral/defies the laws of physics (“I’d like to kill that person” is one obvious example)? Imagine that you actually followed through on your threat. What would have happened?

Have fun writing!