Hot Ink Summer 7/13/25
Speculative Ideas
Welcome to the July 13th installment of our weekly Hot Ink Summer writing prompt series! Each Sunday morning we will send you a writing prompt to help you set your intention for the busy week ahead. Check out our introduction post for more information and writing process tips!
Does anyone feel like we’re living in a dystopia? With climate change and the rise of fascism, it sure does feel like it. Yet the world goes on, and there are people out there who we need to continue to care about. In fact, that’s why there is speculative fiction. It’s a revolutionary form of literature that envisions different worlds and futures. And it can be exceptionally useful in these moments.
Writers like Octavia Butler and Ursula K. Le Guin were exceptional at world-building in their works. Butler’s work often felt very close to home and our reality (looking specifically at Parable of the Sower) and Le Guin explores worlds that help us think about different ways of living. Both look at what is or what could be possible.
With inspiration from Butler and Le Guin, let’s speculate on the future. Even if you’re a non-fiction writer, this is an important exercise to think about what is possible. With that, let’s do some speculative writing.
While the direction it takes is up to you, focus on hope. If you want to take the prompt in your own direction, start by answering this question: What do you think the world will be like in ten years? Write from that near-future standpoint.
For those who need a bit more prompting, start with the good you see in the world right now amidst all the chaos. Like Mr. Rogers said, “Look for the helpers.” Who is helping and what kind of world are they building? What could the world look like if we saw more of that? How can you be more of that?
And post your thoughts in the captions or in our chat thread.
See you next week!