Organizations
Bartleby, the Scrivener · Herman MelvilleThe clerk says no. His boss finds someone else to do it.
A quiet refusal leaves the boss with an awkward choice: punish a useful worker, do the task himself, or make a colleague take it on.
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Dilemmas & costs
Bartleby, the Scrivener · Herman MelvilleHe can leave the office. Can he leave the problem?
A character escapes an exhausting situation, but the people left with it still know whom to call.
Ongoing story
Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) · Jerome K. JeromeA small favor becomes everyone else's problem
Make a running joke develop: each attempt to get rid of a nuisance should inconvenience a different person in a different way.
Choose a starting point
ExplorePOWERS & WORLD RULES
One strange rule. A hundred stories.
Specific powers, inconvenient limits and prices that keep the plot moving. Read the rule, then make something new.
Character & identity
Lord of Mysteries · Cuttlefish That Loves DivingBorrow a face. Inherit the questions.
Changing appearance gets you through a door. It does not give you the life behind it.
Dilemmas & costs
CueShelf original · CueShelfSave a stranger. Lose someone you love.
An invented miracle transfers its price to a living relative who never consented.
Powers & systems
Lord of Mysteries · Cuttlefish That Loves DivingYou can copy a power. You still have to pack.
A limited collection of recorded abilities makes preparation a choice about what to leave behind.
World rules
Mysterious Revival · Fo Qian Xian HuaYou stopped the ghost. The painting makes another.
Defeating an apparition is not the same task as ending the haunting.
Powers & systems
Lord of Mysteries · Cuttlefish That Loves DivingThe puppet is not yours yet.
Control builds in stages, giving an apparently helpless target a shrinking window to act.
Powers & systems
Lord of Mysteries · Cuttlefish That Loves DivingYou can escape through fire. Someone can put it out.
An escape power needs somewhere to arrive. Give the reader a clear map, then let an opponent remove a route.
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Pride and Prejudice: Plot, Relationships & Writing Lessons
Pride and Prejudice · Jane Austen
See how it worksAn invitation that challenges his expertise
Mention the rival, and he insists on following
The Cask of Amontillado · Edgar Allan Poe
See how it worksTwo private plans meet on Christmas Eve
She sells her hair to buy his watch chain
The Gift of the Magi · O. Henry
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