Story Prompts | February 2025
by Switch-Lit
Every month, Switch-Lit releases new story prompts to help launch your next collaborative fiction journey. You can find them on the Switch-Lit “Prompts” page, or revisit our full archive of prompts here on Substack.
This month’s theme: Snakes
Snakes are some of the most varied and misunderstood creatures in the animal kingdom, beginning with the innate wonders of their biology:
There are over 4,000 species (600 are venomous) slithering in nearly every ecosystem on Earth – oceans, mountains, forests, and deserts – as masters of adaptation and survival.
They have no ears but can hear through airborne sound frequencies.
Some fully grown snakes weigh less than a paperclip and can coil up into a coin, while others can weigh over 200 pounds (90kg).
The colors of their skin can span the entire visible spectrum, including ultraviolet wavelengths. (Imagine if humans could change skin color…)
Beyond their biology, snakes also hold powerful meaning not only across all major human cultures, but even at the very origins of them. For some, the shedding of a snake's skin symbolizes rebirth or the cyclical nature of life, while in others, snakes are associated with wisdom, healing, divine knowledge, or danger.
How might your own imagination transform this lithe, winding line of an animal into the provocative shape of a collaborative story in 2025?
Explore our five (5) snake-inspired prompts below 🐍
– Ken
S••L Editor
Prompt 1
It was the Year of the Snake and I proceeded to shed every dead layer in my life, one by one.
by Switch-Lit
Prompt 2
I went to bed in my childhood home and an old friend – a mythical serpent – suddenly appeared with an urgent invitation.
by Switch-Lit
Prompt 3
“How I Got My Snake Tramp Stamp”
by Switch-Lit
Prompt 4
Write the diary entries of a modern-day Medusa who discovers that her intentional gaze creates danger for those who incite her rage.
by Switch-Lit
Prompt 5
A solitary artist befriends a venomous snake.
by Switch-Lit x ChatGPT 🤖
🌹Inspired by one of our monthly prompts, but don’t have a writing partner? You can now join our monthly prompts-based Subrosa round to write with a stranger.
Deadline for matchmaking: Feb. 8, 2025