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: Percussion
Outside of the human voice, percussion is the oldest form of musical expression and therefore holds a fundamental place in the development of human communication.
The natural capacity of percussive instruments to mirror the physiological rhythms of the human body – such as the heartbeat, breath, or hand claps – underscores their deep resonance with the human experience and their accessible powers via communal interaction.
When we define percussion as simply the successive striking of any object or body with, or against, another, then nearly anything could be played as a percussive instrument – rocks in a bucket, a can of beer, silverware, your own body, or even a 1950s Dutch glass factory.
But of course, they have also been intentionally crafted over generations into a range of folk instruments, such as the feathery asalato shakers of the West Indies to the heavyweight taiko drums of Japan to name a couple of personal favorites, which ultimately mesmerize well beyond their own cultures.
For storytellers and poets then, percussion serves both a practical and symbolic role in the transmission of cultural identity and collective memory.
What would be your percussive instrument of choice?
– Ken
S••L Editor
Prompt 1
Established in 1623, Zildjian is one of the oldest companies in the world as a maker of cymbals since the Ottoman Empire. Present the dramatic migration path of a single brass cymbal with each chapter set in a distinct place and time. (⭐ Bonus: Write with someone who loves history.)
by Switch-Lit
Prompt 2
Other than updating her Youtube channel, Benedetta only cared about being the best goddamn percussionist in the history of her high school band. (⭐ Bonus: Write with a former band or orchestra member)
by Switch-Lit
Prompt 3
Last night on the subway platform, a bucket drummer saved my life. (⭐ Bonus: Write with someone who loves psychological thrillers.)
by Switch-Lit
Prompt 4
Your city is an instrument. In each chapter or stanza, describe a single scene that creates any form of percussion – the striking of one solid object or body with or against another – to arrive at an unpredictable and rhythmic portrait of place. (⭐ Bonus: Write with someone who lives in your city or neighborhood)
by Switch-Lit
Prompt 5
Write the origin story of a Tibetan damaru – a double-sided drum made of two human skulls – leading up to its use for a ritual. (⭐ Bonus: Write with someone who loves the mystical, mythical, or horror)
by Switch-Lit
🌹Inspired by one of our monthly prompts, but don’t have a writing partner? Join our monthly prompts-based Subrosa round to write with a stranger.
🔥Writers will be paired on a weekly basis (Fridays at 12pmPST).
Deadline for writer pairing: June 30, 2025
Don’t forget…
Check out our other Subrosa rounds for individual writers in need of partners:
