Read “What the Doctor Ordered” in Monkeybicycle. Write your own story about a misbehaving character. Give the character a good reason for misbehaving, but don’t make the reason too obvious. 
Author: megpokrass
New Landscapes
Read “The Benefits of Krill Oil” at Notthingham Review. Write a story in which a character or characters don’t like what they see is changing all around them. 
Mixed Reliability Soup
Read “Bike Michanic” in Spelk. Write your own “soup” story out of unreliable information, creating a story that makes little logical sense but which makes perfect emotional sense. One way to approach this kind of story is to let the truth seep out in little drips. 
Grief as Seen From Below
Read “Stranded Sea Mammals” in Jellyfish Review. Then, write your ownstory about grief, but don’t write about it directly. Write about grief as seen from above or below, or from behind a camera or a safe window. 
Warped Success Story
Read “The Big Sleep” in Electric Literature. Then, write your own warped “success story”. Have a lot of fun with this one!