If you could have a magical ability, what would you choose?

Weekly writing prompt #16, and my response to #15

This year I have a personal goal to do more writing “play,” so I’m creating weekly prompts for myself and sharing them online, in case you’d like to join me too. I hope you will! Teachers, you’re welcome to use these with your students. I’ll be posting these every week on my website, Instagram, Blue Sky, and Substack. You can opt out of my Weekly Writing Prompt emails by visiting my Substack and clicking the link to manage your subscription.

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One of my son’s favorite questions to consider when he was younger was, “If you could have any superpower, what would you choose?” We'd imagine different possibilities and weigh the pros and cons of each. His choices tended to vary more than mine, but I remember a few frequent picks were flying, the ability to read minds, and communicating with animals. I typically leaned toward powers that would bring more convenience to everyday life, like the ability to freeze time (and I would use it to clean the house and read, read, read—my son was never impressed with that answer. Boring!) Or teleportation, so I could easily pop over to see family and friends that live far away. Communicating with animals would be cool though, I have to admit!

What’s on your mind, Gus?

If I’m brainstorming for a story, however, I’d let my imagination run wild. I like to think about conflict. How might a magical ability contrast with the character? Is there a potential scenario the magical ability could put the character in that would be interesting? What about a character who has always been the shortest person in their class, but they get the magical ability to grow or shrink themselves? A scene where they’re learning to control that power, and it’s not going well, could be pretty funny. And maybe it happens when they’re also trying to impress their crush, so it’s extra embarrassing when things get out of hand.

Or what about a character who hates animals and gets the ability to communicate with them? And maybe animals start flocking to this person for help once they realize the human understands them in a way no other human does.

Related Reading

Speaking of a character who doesn’t like animals, have you read The Man Who Didn’t Like Animals by Deborah Underwood and illustrated by LeUyen Pham? It’s such a good picture book! It’s an origin story for Old MacDonald—very clever.

Also, when I think about this prompt, Abby Cooper’s books come to mind. In her book Bubbles, 12-year-old Sophie develops the ability to see other people’s thoughts. Isn’t that an interesting dilemma? Maybe it doesn’t sound like a dilemma to you, but I’m not sure I’d want to see what people are thinking. Well, maybe if it was an ability I could turn on and off, like if I could push a button when I wanted to see what someone was thinking. But that seems like a real breach of privacy, basically the same as sneaking a peek at someone else’s diary, so I don’t think I’d be happy if that was an ability I suddenly developed. If you haven’t already, you can read Bubbles and find out how things worked out for Sophie.

Do you have a favorite book that features a character with a newfound special ability? I’d love to hear about it!

My Response to Writing Prompt #15

My personal goal with these weekly prompts is to write quickly, without overthinking my choices, and ignore any internal criticism that pops up. That’s why I handwrite instead of typing my responses. When I type, I quickly fall into a pattern of delete and rewrite, delete and rewrite, and get myself stuck in that loop. It’s easier for me to ignore the inner critic when I’m handwriting. My responses are short because I view these like a warm-up exercise before I switch to my novel in progress. But it’s surprised me how many ideas I might like to return to.

Like my response to last week’s prompt. I’m quite curious to know what happens next. If I’d been typing this, I would have gotten hung up on the part where I named the cabin. As soon as I wrote that I thought, “Well, that doesn’t make sense!” If I’d been typing, I would have stopped writing and spent a lot of time debating a better name. And once that door opens for the inner critic, well, he’s a houseguest who doesn’t want to leave.

But this time, I kept writing. Hooray! That’s the skill I’m trying to practice. I hope you’ll take these prompts and use them in whatever way serves you best!

As a reminder, here is last week’s prompt:

Here is what I wrote:

WWP #15 — Who Lives Here?

“Are we there yet?” Nico panted. “I feel like we’ve been walking for days. And my shoes are soaked.”

“It’s been less than an hour, first of all,” Cass said. “And I told you to wear hiking shoes. What did you expect?”

“A paved path—a flat paved path, more lawn and less . . .” Nico waved his hands to indicate the wilderness around them. “Nature,” he finally said.

Cass stopped walking and gave him a stern look. “Are you describing a park? Or your front yard? What part of ‘Escape the Cabin in the Woods’ made you think that?”

They started walking again, Nico’s feet slightly dragging.

“I thought ‘the woods’ would be imaginary or like, a mural or something.”

They rounded a curve in the path and there, ahead of them in a clearing, was the cabin.

“It’s a for real cabin!” Nico said.

Cass shook her head. “You really don’t listen to anything I say, do you?”

“I listen when you say, ‘Nico, I have snacks’ or ‘Nico, here’s 5 bucks just for being awesome’. ”

They approached the cabin, pine needles from the surrounding trees crunching underfoot.

“So nobody lives here?” Nico asked.

“Not anymore. I guess it belonged to this guy who was a successful businessman, but then he’d retreat from everything for long stretches and stay here. Anyway, he died and his grandkids inherited this place. Their grandad loved puzzles, and they live in another state, so they decided to turn this into a hiking destination or sorts. An escape room cabin.”

They’d been slowly circling the cabin as Cass talked and now returned to the point where they started.

“Uh, Cass?” Nico said.

“Yeah?” Cass responded.

“Did you notice something weird about this place? Like . . . there’s no door. How do we get in?”

“That’s the first puzzle we have to solve,” Cass replied. “Find the hidden door.”

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You can find previous prompts and my responses here.

If you’d like to share your response, I’d love to read it! Last week, Fleur Bradley shared hers, and I’ve been thinking about “the mother” ever since. You can share your response in the comments or a link if you posted elsewhere. Paid subscribers can share in the private chat and will receive my immense gratitude for your support!