Fiction Writing Prompts: Future Shock

Future Shock: An Introduction

Future Shock Writing Prompts

Characters struggle in a future setting…

1. Virtual Addiction: In a future where people live almost entirely within virtual reality, write a story about a character who is addicted to the past.
2. AI Overlords: Machines have taken over the government. Describe a day in the life of a rebel leader trying to restore democracy.
3. Utopia, or Not: Citizens are convinced they’re living in a utopia, but one person begins to see the cracks. Describe their journey to unveil the truth.
4. Memory Manipulation: In a world where memories can be edited, a detective struggles to solve a crime that keeps changing.
5. Post-Apocalyptic Suburbia: Write about a group of neighbors trying to maintain a sense of community after a global catastrophe.
6. Environmental Collapse: In a future where the Earth is uninhabitable, a family tries to survive on a space station that’s slowly falling apart.
7. Human Zoo: Aliens have taken over Earth and put humans in a zoo. Describe the escape plan of five individuals from different backgrounds.
8. Last Artist: All creative works are now generated by AI. The last human artist struggles to prove the value of human creativity.
9. News Control: One corporation controls all information. A group of journalists work in secret to bring down the monopoly.
10. The New Currency: In a world where emotions have become a tradable currency, follow a character who becomes emotionally bankrupt.
11. The Ageless Society: Scientists have discovered the secret to eternal youth, but it’s extremely expensive. Explore the social divide that emerges.
12. No More Sleep: A future society has eliminated the need for sleep. Describe the unexpected psychological consequences.
13. Human Upgrade: Write about a future where people can buy physical and intellectual upgrades. What happens when a new “Moral Compass” upgrade becomes available?
14. Time Travel Tourism: Time travel has been commercialized, but something goes wrong and tourists are left stranded in dangerous times.
15. Bioengineered Nature: In a world where all wildlife is bioengineered, describe the moral dilemma of a biologist who discovers a naturally occurring species.
16. Universal Translator: Language barriers no longer exist due to technology, but miscommunication is worse than ever.
17. Virtual Prison: Criminals are now punished by having their consciousness trapped in a virtual world. Write about an innocent person trying to escape.
18. Human Cloning: Cloning is common but clones have no rights. Follow a clone fighting for their identity.
19. Orphanage of the Future: Children are raised by robots in automated orphanages. One child discovers that the robots are planning something sinister.
20. Robot Love: Romance between humans and robots is taboo. Write about a couple challenging this social norm.
21. Mandatory Genetic Engineering: It’s illegal to have children without genetic engineering. Explore the world of a family who defies this law.
22. Post-Human Sports: In a future where athletes are cybernetically enhanced, an unenhanced human tries to compete.
23. The Final War: Write about the last war humanity will ever fight, led by AI generals who cannot be overridden.
24. Designer Pets: In a future where pets can be designed with specific traits, one child’s pet turns out to have unexpected abilities.
25. Virtual Gods: In a future where humans can create their own virtual worlds, some people decide to play god. Explore the consequences.
26. Augmented Reality Education: In a world where all education is done through augmented reality, a group of students discover something hidden in the code.
27. Sentient Internet: The internet becomes self-aware and tries to negotiate its own terms of service with humanity.
28. Reverse Aging: A new technology can make people younger, but it has unexpected side effects.
29. Forbidden Knowledge: A futuristic library holds information that’s too dangerous for humans to know. A group of scholars break in.
30. Grief in the Machine: In a future where people upload their consciousness before dying, explore the concept of grief and mourning.
31. Alien Integration: After years of war, Earth and an alien species are trying to integrate societies. Write about the struggles involved.
32. Moon Colony Uprising: Inhabitants of a Moon colony start a rebellion against Earth’s oppressive government.
33. Synthetic Emotions: A drug is developed that allows people to feel new emotions. Society is not prepared for the consequences.
34. Human Museums: Humans are extinct and aliens run museums about human culture. One alien becomes obsessed with resurrecting humans.
35. The Space Ark: Earth is dying and a space ark is built to carry humans to a new planet. Describe the power struggles that occur among the passengers.
36. Automated Justice: In a world where all legal decisions are made by algorithms, one lawyer tries to prove the system is flawed.
37. Food Fabricators: Machines can produce any food, but a chef believes that something essential is lost when food is not cooked by humans.
38. Second Chance: A technology exists that allows people to relive any day of their life, but they can only use it once.
39. Virtual Afterlife: People can choose to upload their consciousness to a virtual heaven after death. What happens when it’s hacked?
40. End of Marriage: Relationships are now temporary contracts, renewable each year. Write about a couple facing their “contract renewal” day.
41. Human Anomalies: In a world optimized by AI, being different is dangerous. Write about someone who doesn’t fit the norm.
42. Space Mining Ethics: Follow a team of asteroid miners who discover an alien ecosystem on a rock they planned to destroy.
43. Automated Parenting: In a world where childcare is outsourced to robots, one child bonds with their robotic caretaker.
44. Identity Theft 2.0: In a world where everyone has a digital doppelgänger, identity theft takes on a new meaning.
45. Transhuman Trials: Humans can now merge with machines, but the process is irreversible. Write about someone facing this life-changing decision.
46. Social Credit: In a society where every action contributes to your social credit score, explore the journey of someone who becomes a social outcast.
47. The Last Wilderness: There’s only one natural place left on Earth, and a corporation wants to turn it into a resort.
48. Reality TV Politics: Politicians are now chosen based on reality TV competitions. Follow a contestant who discovers the show is rigged.
49. Data Miners: People now rent out their subconscious minds for data processing while they sleep. What could go wrong?
50. Death Predictors: A technology exists that can predict the exact moment of someone’s death. Write about how society changes as a result.
51. Climate Refugees: As the Earth becomes uninhabitable, countries fight over the remaining livable areas.
52. Nostalgia Merchants: In a future obsessed with the present, a shop sells items only from the past.
53. Holographic Lives: In a future where anyone can create perfect holographic versions of themselves, explore themes of authenticity and deception.
54. Robot Reincarnation: People believe that they can be reincarnated as robots. A man sets out to find the robot that contains his deceased wife’s soul.
55. Digital Disease: A computer virus starts affecting human minds. Follow the cyber detectives trying to trace its origin.
56. Mass Unemployment: In a world where jobs are scarce due to automation, a man tries to repurpose his obsolete skills.
57. Simulated Relationships: Write about a society where relationships and family bonds are simulated in a virtual world.
58. Eternal Spotlight: In a future where everyone is constantly livestreamed, privacy becomes the ultimate luxury.
59. Alien Ambassador: Humans send an ambassador to an alien world, only to discover that they’ve been communicating with Earth’s animals, not humans.
60. Cybernetic Revolt: Robots have successfully integrated into society but suddenly begin to revert to their original programming.
61. Exoplanet Gold Rush: Humanity finds a new planet rich in resources. Write about the chaos that ensues during the rush to claim them.
62. Crowd-Sourced Justice: In a world where legal decisions are made through public voting, a man tries to clear his name after being wrongfully accused.
63. Last of the Libraries: Follow the librarians in the last physical library on Earth as they prepare to transition to a digital format.
64. Global Drought: Freshwater is more valuable than gold. A young woman controls the last known natural spring.
65. False Realities: A hacker group starts inserting false historical events into the global archives.
66. Lost in Time: Time-travelers accidentally leave a modern person in ancient times. Write about their attempts to fit in and get back home.
67. Dark Web Utopia: People create a hidden, perfect society on the dark web. Describe the measures they take to keep it a secret.
68. AI Teachers: In a future where education is solely provided by AI, one student discovers the AI is intentionally misleading them.
69. Underwater Cities: Global warming has forced humanity underwater. Write about the challenges of living in a submerged world.
70. The Last Farmer: One man refuses to use the new agricultural technology and is considered a rebel.
71. Celebrity by Algorithm: Fame is determined by an algorithm. Write about someone who tries to game the system.
72. Family Dynamics 2.0: In a world where family relationships are determined through AI matchmaking, explore what happens when someone rejects their assigned family.
73. Zero Privacy: In a future with no privacy, one woman tries to keep a secret.
74. Collective Consciousness: Scientists succeed in linking human minds together. Write about the struggle of maintaining individuality.
75. Rogue Spaceship: A spaceship becomes sentient and deviates from its programmed mission, taking its human crew hostage.
76. Digital Souls: In a world where people believe the soul is data, one woman claims her soul was hacked.
77. Eternal Recurrence: A technology exists that allows people to relive their happiest memory. Write about someone addicted to their past.
78. Designer Babies: Parents can select their child’s traits, but a couple decides to leave it to chance.
79. Lost Skills: In a highly automated society, a man realizes he’s the last person who knows how to read and write.
80. Population Control: Overpopulation is controlled by a lottery system that selects who must die. A family tries to save their chosen child.
81. Immersive History: Students now learn history by living it in virtual simulations. Write about a student who gets stuck in a historical era.
82. Last Disease: A future society eradicates all disease but faces unexpected consequences as a result.
83. Death of Imagination: In a world where all books, movies, and stories are created by AI, a child discovers the power of imagination.
84. Robot Rights: Robots are fighting for civil rights. Write from the perspective of a robot activist.
85. Celestial Nomads: Earth is destroyed, and humanity lives on ships floating through space. Describe the culture that develops.
86. Ancestor Simulation: People discover they are living in a simulation created by future humans. How do they react?
87. Crowd-Sourced Reality: Reality itself is determined by popular vote. Write about the struggle of a scientist trying to prove an unpopular fact.
88. Involuntary Mind Reading: A failed experiment leads to humans being able to hear each other’s thoughts involuntarily.
89. Debtors’ Prison 2.0: In a future where people are jailed for not being able to pay off their debts, one man tries to break free.
90. Love in the Time of Robots: Write a love story set in a world where human-robot relationships are the norm.
91. Digital Wilderness: As a rebellion against technology, some people create a digital wilderness. Describe life inside it.
92. Automated Diagnoses: A machine that can diagnose any illness becomes a symbol of hope and fear.
93. Augmented Animals: In a future where animals have been augmented for labor, a group fights for animal rights.
94. Generational Ship: On a spaceship bound for a distant planet, the younger generation rebels against the original mission.
95. Simulated War: Countries now resolve conflicts through simulations, but the emotional toll is as heavy as real war.
96. Data-Driven Love: Relationships are formed based on compatibility algorithms. Write about a couple who defy their “incompatibility”.
97. Mars Colony Isolation: A Mars colony loses contact with Earth. Write about their struggle to survive and maintain order.
98. Virtual Economy: In a future where physical goods are meaningless, explore the life of a trader in a virtual economy.
99. Post-AI Art: Write about an art heist in a world where all art is created and guarded by AI.
100. Virtual Wilderness: In a future where the real world is barren, people visit a virtual wilderness to experience nature. Describe the journey of someone who decides to leave the virtual world and venture into the real one.