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Each week, we issue a writing prompt to our own staff, guest contributors, and readers like you. We welcome guest submissions, so if you’re interested in being featured or regularly contributing to the site, email your responses to kelaine.conochan [at] thepromptmag.com.


You spent hours or days working from the corners to the perimeter of this 500 or 1,000 piece puzzle. Then, you forged onward, deep into the middle sections, trying your hardest to find the pockets of color and texture that would help you make your way through this panoramic view of hot air balloons, or a wide angle shot of a puppy, or illustrated map of your alma mater.

You fight and fight, completing sections, searching for the right pieces. And you’re so nearly there. The process of elimination becomes easier and easier. The countdown begins. You can see the promised land!

Oh no. No. This can’t be happening. But sure enough, the nightmare is your reality. There are no other pieces. You’ve placed them all. And yet, there is a hole… an empty cavity, waiting to be filled. But alas, the puzzle is one piece short.

This Week’s Writing Prompt: “THE PUZZLE WAS ONE PIECE SHORT.”

This week, our writing prompt is to start your piece with the sentence THE PUZZLE WAS ONE PIECE SHORT.

If you’ve got an inspired ideas about how to respond to this week’s prompt, send us your submission of 400-700 words. Write us anything that comes to mind when you think of THE PUZZLE WAS ONE PIECE SHORT. It can be a personal essay, a poem, short story, script, or anything else original and fresh. Ironic or sincere, real or imagined—just make it worth our while and we’ll publish it, include it in our newsletter, and give you the chance to join the creative, talented staff writers here at The Prompt.

Email your responses to kelaine.conochan@thepromptmag.com by Saturday August 29th at midnight EDT.

The Prompt Staff

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