Writer's Prompts | Love Unscripted | The Tragedy of the Incels

Keep it to 600 words or less, and send it in to us - if it strikes a chord, you might just hear it on the podcast!

Prompt 1: The Slippery Slope to the Incel Abyss

Welcome to the darker corners of the human psyche! We're diving deep into a world where resentment festers and self-worth is built on a shaky foundation. The task here? Craft a man we can sympathize with, even as he edges closer and closer to the world of incels. Don’t make it easy - show us the slow creep of his disillusionment and his bitterness. Maybe he doesn’t even realize he's heading toward a dangerous place. Your scene can be anywhere - at a bar, a party, or a late-night chat. But here's the twist: bring in a woman who shows him a gentler way, whether through a subtle gesture or just the way she treats him. How does that moment impact him? Does it change anything? Or does it get lost in his building resentment?

Prompt 2: The Canned Narrative

Every character has a story they tell themselves, even if it’s not true. Sometimes, this "canned narrative" is all they have to cling to. Maybe it’s a defense mechanism. Maybe it’s how they make sense of the world, especially when things are too messy to confront. Now, here’s your challenge: create a character who hides behind that narrative. They might believe they're misunderstood, a victim of circumstance, or simply cursed by the world. The real tension lies in whether they - and the reader - can ever peel back the layers and confront the truth. How does this narrative crack open? What triggers the growth, and what does it look like when they’re faced with something they can’t rationalize away?

Rock It, Scribblers

Okay, now we know you’ve got that character in your head now, right? We can practically hear the “I’m not like other guys” speech already. Go on, write it, and send it over. And, who knows? You could get your writing read by the two biggest snarky writers in the biz- or at least by us.