Genres
Every shelf in the house
A genre here is more than a label. It fixes the light, the tempo and the register of the dialogue. A trope adds the shape: three beats the drafter follows and the render engine is told about. Start from any of the forty below.
The last honest cop
An officer learns the precinct is dirty and has one night to decide.
The double-cross
The handoff was supposed to be simple. One partner changed the plan.
The debt comes due
A quiet life, a knock at the door, and an old favour being called in.
The interrogation
Two people, one table, and the truth sitting between them.
Medical
Seconds on the clock, a chart nobody read, and a decision with a name on it.
Medical drama guideThe impossible call
Two patients, one bed, and a surgeon who has to choose out loud.
The missed diagnosis
The symptom was in the notes all along. Someone has to say it.
The waiting room
A doctor walks the longest corridor in the building to deliver news.
The resident breaks
Thirty hours in, one mistake, and a mentor who remembers their own.
The reluctant heir
The crown passes tonight to the one person who never wanted it.
The forbidden spell
A healer knows the one working that could save a life, and what it takes from the caster.
The broken oath
A sworn protector is ordered to do the one thing the oath forbids.
The crossroads bargain
A traveller meets something old at a crossroads and is offered a trade.
The secret gets out
One screenshot, one group chat, and a friendship on the line before lunch.
The tryout
A kid who has never been chosen gets one shot in front of everyone.
The new kid
First day, wrong cafeteria table, and someone who decides to sit down anyway.
The parent finds out
The lie worked for months. Tonight it stops working at the kitchen table.
The reading of the will
Three siblings, one house, and a last wish that favours the one who left.
The return home
Ten years away, a suitcase on the porch, and a mother who has set an extra place every night.
The news at dinner
A parent has something to tell the family. They have practised it in the car.
The blended family
Two households, one holiday, and a seating plan that is secretly a treaty.
The cross-examination
A witness who has rehearsed every answer meets the one question nobody prepared.
The plea deal
A defence lawyer must convince an innocent client to say they are guilty.
The closing argument
Everything comes down to two minutes in front of twelve strangers.
The conflict of interest
The firm's biggest client is on the other side of a case the associate cannot drop.
The unsuitable match
A proposal that would ruin a family and save a heart, made in a garden.
The intercepted letter
A sealed letter in the wrong hands, read by candlelight.
The ball
One dance card, two rivals and a mother counting every step.
The servants' hall
Downstairs knows everything upstairs is pretending not to.
The last transmission
A crew member records a message home while the station counts down.
The protocol override
The computer is right. The captain overrides it anyway.
The first contact
A scientist is given one hour alone with a visitor who may be listening.
The one who came back
Someone who died on the mission walks back through the airlock.
The almost-confession
Two friends on a doorstep at 1 a.m. and a sentence one of them nearly says.
The second chance
Years later, the same café, and two people pretending this is a coincidence.
The wrong wedding
A guest at the ceremony realises they should be the one standing up front.
The long-distance call
Two time zones, one bad connection, and a question that cannot wait for morning.
The wrong number
A late-night call meant for someone else reveals a plan already in motion.
The houseguest
The friend of a friend who was only staying a week has been here a month.
The witness
They saw it from the window. Now the car is parked outside their building.
The missing hour
The clock says it is later than it should be and the room is not how they left it.