NOVEMBER WORD PROMPT DUMP

End of the month means a Word Prompt Dump.

As part of trying to strengthen my writing muscles, I’ve been asking ChatGPT to give me a daily word prompt. The rule is simple: write at least 300 words, no edits, just get the story out. Most days I end up going past 300, but the lower bar keeps it doable.

Every piece gets a score from Artoo (the name for my ChatGPT. I can’t give you its full name because… yea, anyway) based on four things: clarity of voice, emotional impact, pacing, and originality of the prompt response. The score isn’t about perfection. It is about growth, risk taking, and how well the story came alive that day. At the end of the month I take the top three scores and share them exactly as they were written, grammar mistakes and all (at least that’s what R2 tells me).

If any of these spark something in you and you want to rewrite, expand, or remix them into your own story, please do. Tag me or send it, I’d love to read what you come up with.

Here are the Top 3 Word Prompts of November:

2025/11/24 (Shift)

We were all lost in our usual coffee chat after yoga but me.
I can’t believe I didn’t notice it during yoga. I mean, I was right next to her left side. We all suspected that things weren’t… you know… going well for her.

I think I noticed first. The way she stopped talking about her husband. Or the way she stayed silent when we were all talking about family life.
I asked her about it a while back, when it was obvious (to me) that she was purposefully avoiding conversations about home life.

I mean, I asked her if she was okay and if everything was okay.
She gave the usual, “yea, no, we’re good. We’re good.”
It’s always that repeated part that gets me. Who was she trying to convince? Me or her?
I told her to cut the bullshit. We’re closer than that.
And she let on that things were “disorganized” at home.
I figured it was the normal marriage stuff, you know? Finances; family planning; or just the stress that comes with being alive.
She didn’t elaborate. I didn’t push.
I’m surprised no one else noticed. We all remember how over the moon she was when she showed us her ring. She probably loved that ring more than her husband. And she never took it off. Not even for yoga.

But there she was. Her ring finger completely and utterly naked.
When… did this happen?
How did it happen?
I guess it was really bad… I mean, for it to end like this.
I should’ve been more persistent in being there for her when she shared that they were “disorganized.”

My eyes move away from her finger and make their way up to her face.
We make eye contact. How long was she looking at me?
As the other girls were laughing, I mouthed, “I’m sorry.”
She gave a faint smile and a nod, then looked away to wipe away the tear that was forming.

Oh boy.

Is this gonna change anything? We do so many things as a couple.
Well, how’s that for selfish? Here I realize my friend is divorced, or soon to be, and I’m thinking about group dynamics.

The Prompt:
Setting: anywhere a group has a comfortable routine
(examples: monthly poker night, weekly trivia team, Friday lunch crew, carpool squad, church coffee hour table, gym class crew, the regulars at the bar, the parents who wait during dance practice, etc.)
The group always follows the same pattern.
Same seats. Same stories. Same inside jokes. Same rhythm.
Nothing dramatic — just deeply familiar. But today… something tiny changes. It’s small enough that no one addresses it out loud.
But big enough that the POV character feels the ground shift under the surface.
Questions start forming:
Is this group changing?
Is someone changing?
Is something about to unravel?
Or has it already been unraveling without anyone realizing?
The moment isn’t explosive — it’s subtle, but undeniable.
A before/after moment no one will remember… except the POV character.
300 words. No edits.

2025/11/20 (The One Who Was Quiet)

I thought it was just a girl’s night out.
We haven’t seen each other — all as a group — for quite a while.

Miraculously, we were all available.
But no, Megan has to be the center of attention.
Somethings never change, huh?
It’s funny how the universe worked in Megan’s favor.
It’s great news.
Don’t get me wrong. We’re all happy for her. Well, almost everyone.

We were all just chatting away after dinner in Emma’s living room.
Megan stood up, clinked on her wine glass, and waited for all the attention to be turned to her.
When the room quiets down, she yells, “I’M PREGNANT!” And does the girl screaming and running in place thing — before anyone had a chance to react.

All the girls screamed and started congratulating her on becoming a soon-to-be mom.
All but Reyna.
When Megan announced her pregnancy, I think we were so taken aback by the force of her shouting and by the announcement that we all temporarily forgot what just happened less than a week ago.
Reyna had lost her baby.

This was one of her ways to keep her distracted.
Reyna’s not going to ruin Megan’s moment.
She has nothing against Megan. But, you can see the pain in her eyes.
She’s trying to hide it now, clapping, and forcing a smile. But her eyes are distant. She’s here, but she’s not here.
And you can’t really blame Megan either.
We’re in a room with family. The eight of us have been tight since high school. None of us drifted away when we were in college. And we all moved back home.

We’ve all been through each other’s highs and lows.
But I can’t recall when the highs and lows were so close together like this.
It’s almost perversely poetic.
The Circle of Life a lion once said…

The Prompt
Voice: any
Tone: up to you — awkward, tense, funny, heartbreaking, nostalgic, etc.
Setting: group setting — work meeting, friend hangout, family dinner, class discussion, church group, team huddle, etc.
Prompt:
There’s a moment when everyone in the group reacts to something — an announcement, a joke, a confession, a story, a decision, a rumor — and one person doesn’t say anything.
They don’t nod, smile, laugh, disagree, sigh, roll their eyes — nothing. People notice.
Some worry. Some get suspicious. Some get annoyed. Some feel guilty.
The story is not about the announcement itself — it’s about:
why that person stayed quiet
what the silence does to the room
and what the POV character realizes because of it
Maybe the quiet person is hurt.
Or angry. Or protecting someone. Or hiding something. Or waiting. Or simply done.
300 words. No edits.

2025/11/18 (The Protected)

Nepotism.
That’s what’s ruining… not just this company but the world.
I mean, listen. I get it, right? Like if I had a company, I’d give my kids a job.
But. But.
I’d like to think that I’d be more self aware of my kids abilities and place him where he’d excel… even if it wasn’t a high position.
I mean, there are CEOs that make their kids work from the bottom up, not allowing them to use the family’s name. That’s commendable. I like to hope I’d lean on that side of the spectrum.
And we’re not even a big company. Are we even a mid-size company?

But the idiot’s boss’s son is all of our manager.
And it. Has. Not. Been. Fun.
No one would complain — well some would still complain — if the kid was actually good at any aspect of the job, you know?

Fine, you suck at the business part of this job? Then at least be personable.
Not personable? Then be good at your job! Like… don’t be incompetent and an ass.

And listen, it’s not that he’s an asshole… he clearly wants to prove he could run this place in the near future. But. But. Damn dude. You need us little guys’s help every once in a while.

His dad overlooked a lot of his mistakes and shortcomings. Shit. Some of the employees got canned as a scape goat. But I think the Boss knows — he has to. The ones that have been fired due to this idiot’s mistakes, let’s be real… no one batted an eye.

I mean, I even got caught in his tornado of incompetence… and I didn’t get fired. Neither did many of the people who are good at their jobs or are overall liked by management.

But I don’t know how the Boss is going to overlook this one.
I also don’t know how or who is going to be scape goated.
In that meeting four months ago, it was made absolutely, crystal clear that this was his project; that responsibility will be on him as he has hand chose the team and had input on every single aspect. This was his task and his ticket to rise through the ranks. At least this way, it feels like he earned a little bit of the (mostly undeserving) promotion.
And the project? It wasn’t a tee-ball project but it was tailored to succeed. And yet he didn’t. Not only that, he lost the client.
He ruined a 5 million dollar project and lost a fairly big client in the process.
And the team documented everything. We were all tired of his ineptitude. But this time, their documentations saved their asses.
All the decisions that were overruled; all the advice that was ignored; all the decisions made without the knowledge of the entire team.

The kid fucked up.
And both the Boss and the Kid don’t have anyone else to blame.
This is going to be an awkward meeting.
Boss is already pissed. It’s written all over his face.

The Prompt:

There is someone in the group who’s always protected. The rules don’t apply to them. People make excuses for them, cushion things for them, tiptoe around them, or cover for them.
But today, something happens — big or small — that exposes how far the group has been bending to keep this person safe, happy, unchallenged, unhurt, or unaccountable.
Your POV character notices it in real time.

Maybe they’re tired of it.
Maybe they were complicit in it.
Maybe they used to be that person.
Maybe they finally understand why everyone protects them.
The story isn’t about a blow-up — it’s about the moment where someone finally sees the group dynamic for what it is. What they do with that realization is up to you.

300 words. No edits.

As always, thanks for reading.
I’ll see you on Monday with a post about 3 art pieces that spoke to me.