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Writer's pictureAmanda Meuwissen

AU (Alternate Universe) a Day Challenge


I stumbled up this original post a few weeks ago and decided almost immediately that I would take the challenge up myself and do it for the month of July (since there are 31 prompts and July has 31 days).

For those of you who might not be familiar with alternate universe prompts or AUs, they are a fandom term for those of us involved in fanfiction and fanart to dabble in a universe we like (say Harry Potter) and write something where those characters or part of the concept is set in a reality different from canon (such as a No Power High School AU).

In this example then, the writer or artist would be creating content that depicts characters from the Harry Potter universe as normal high school students and teachers.

I love AUs because they allow writers to stretch their legs on new ideas while working with comfortable characters. Yet, at the same time, those characters become entirely different people simply by being placed in unique worlds.

AUs are a great way to test out new novel ideas because if your fandom of choice really loves an AU you share, why not alter the names and necessary details to make that story truly and completely your own?

And thus, I am embarking on 31 straight days of AU drabble writing.

  1. Historical

  2. Spy

  3. Soulmate

  4. Fairytale

  5. Space

  6. Pirate

  7. Horror

  8. Mystery

  9. Supernatural

  10. High School/College

  11. Superhero

  12. Fake Dating

  13. Royal

  14. Steampunk

  15. Zombie

  16. Bar (or strip club ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°))

  17. Coffeeshop/Flower shop

  18. Business

  19. Apartment

  20. Hanahaki (coughing up flowers due to unrequited love)

  21. Cheating/Secret relationship

  22. Pop star

  23. Enemies

  24. Body switching

  25. Place your characters in your favorite tv show or movie!

  26. Dystopian/end of the world

  27. Gods

  28. Dream

  29. Heaven or Hell

  30. Mob

  31. Mash up any two!

My goal is to not look or plan, but wait until the morning of before I peek at what my next day will be to see where the muse takes me.

For those who know me well, my current obsessive fandom is The Flash (as well as Legends of Tomorrow and Arrow) on The CW, and I am especially devoted to pairing nemeses character The Flash himself and Captain Cold. That’s not to say that every day will feature them (though it might), but I’m excited to get started and see where these prompts take me, and what future novel ideas they will spark.

I’d encourage my fellow writers out there to do the same, whether over a summer month or later this year. Writing a little every day truly makes a difference.

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