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: Razor
A razor is a dramatic human object, isn’t it?
There are razor blades to shave our heads for a wide range of cultural reasons.
There are “philosophical razors” that cut human logic and reason down to size.
There are also razors that cut nothing at all but simply arouse an imaginative shape for living beings and inanimate objects alike.
Explore the collection of razor-inspired prompts below and take turns cutting something out of the ordinary together.
– Ken
S••L Editor
Prompt 1
Write a story or poem resolved by an Occam's Razor, a philosophical principle that reminds us how the most simple explanation is usually the right one all along. (⭐ Bonus: Write with your spouse or life partner.)
by Switch-Lit
Prompt 2
Write a story or poem resolved by a Hanlon's Razor, a philosophical principle that reminds us how we attribute situations to malice or villainy that simply results from stupidity or ignorance. (Bonus: Write with your spouse or life partner.)
by Switch-Lit
Prompt 3
He took out his razor blade and proceeded to shave her head in an unspoken dialogue of inner thoughts and sensory observations between the two. (Bonus: Write with someone of a different gender.)
by Switch-Lit
Prompt 4
Write the abridged emotional biography of a single Razor scooter across multiple owners until its final days of use. (Bonus: Write with a friend from your youth.)
by Switch-Lit
Prompt 5
On the coast, a young razorback whale suddenly washes ashore and is approached by a herd of local razorback boars.
by Switch-Lit
Need a writing partner?
🌹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.
🔥You can now sign up for this round until the end of the month. Writer will be paired on a weekly basis (Fridays at 12pmPST).
Don’t forget…
Check out our other Subrosa rounds for individual writers in need of partners…
Any thoughts?
How would you like to see the monthly prompts, or the use of prompts in general, evolve on Switch-Lit? 🤔
Feel free to comment below on any prompt-related ideas or features you’d like to see for Switch-Lit, and we’ll be sure to consider!