Pizza Prophecia

A prophecy is a glimpse of the future that challenges free will. It presents a potential outcome (a victory, a death, the fall of a kingdom). Even if the prophecy trope might be a bit overused, there’s many ways that they can play a part in your story:

• To add uncertainty to your story. Prophecies are often vague or have multiple meanings. If the villain doesn’t know their destroyer, it compels them to act blindly to stop.
• To force characters down a path (by yourself or another character). If no one knows the prophecy is fake, actions taken to fulfil it may not lead to the desired outcome.
• To reinforce the theme of your story. Characters may be following the terms of a prophecy without knowing of its existence, blurring the lines of free will.

Ultimately, a prophecy’s effect on the story comes from the interpretation your characters make once they discover it.

Whether you constantly come up with new story ideas, or have brainstorming sessions, it’s important to have a place to store all your ideas. You can use a notebook, voice notes or a dedicated Novelcrafter project.

If you feel a bit stuck, maybe these brainstorming techniques can help you out:

• Ask “What if?” questions about your surroundings. Have you recently come across a strange phenomenon or occurrence that made you go “huh?” That might be a good starting point!

• Come up with a wild genre mashup that could flip overused tropes and settings into something fresh and new. For example, West World and Cowboy Bebop are both Sci-Fi Westerns–even though they’re totally different stories.

• Get inspiration from external sources. When scrolling through Instagram or TikTok you might come across an inspiring photo/video or an interesting fact that you can go into detail about later.

In case you need more help or inspiration, our new “Developing Story Ideas” course covers even more ways to find and develop those story sparks, including how to bounce ideas back and forth with AI.

Develop your next great idea now

We’re taught “don’t judge a book by its cover.” But for authors, that’s a myth. In a digital bookstore, your cover is a split-second sales pitch, and readers are ruthless judges. Your cover’s job is to make a potential reader stop scrolling and click.

A great cover makes a promise to the reader. It signals your book’s genre and tone. Think of the gritty, high-contrast typography on a thriller versus the elegant script on a historical romance.

It can be hard to know where to start, but luckily there is a wealth of examples out there! Spend some time looking at bestsellers in your target subgenre, and take inspiration from the colours, fonts, and imagery used. Books often change covers when republished (think Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter) to keep up with reader expectations. Your story deserves to be judged, but only after the cover has convinced someone to pick it up.

Stuck on your blurb? Look back at our past Marketing Secret where we give you a handy framework for writing your story blurbs.