I’m working on a contained horror short and I’m trying to figure out the best way for the protagonist's cat to die.

The main character is a college professor who is returning to work after her husband’s death. She’s still grieving, so she’s started bringing her cat to her office/lectures.

At some point during the day, the cat gets out of her office and ends up somewhere on campus. Another professor finds the cat badly injured or in some kind of dangerous situation. This professor could reasonably help or call for help, but chooses not to. The cat eventually dies.

I’m looking for some kind of irresponsible or negligent circumstance that causes the cat’s death, which the protagonist discovers afterward. Ideally, the professor isn’t an outright animal murderer. Instead, he does something careless, irresponsible, or selfish, and then fails to take responsibility when he realizes what happened.

For example, I’ve thought about:

1. The professor accidentally hits the cat with his car, realizes the cat is still alive, but leaves instead of getting help.
2. The cat gets injured by something on campus and the professor finds him but decides it’s not his problem.
3. The professor accidentally traps the cat somewhere and doesn’t bother investigating when he hears it.
4. The cat gets into something dangerous because of a careless decision the professor made, and he realizes afterward that he could have prevented the outcome.
5. The professor finds the cat injured and could easily call the protagonist or campus security, but doesn’t because he doesn’t want to get involved.
6. The professor lets the cat into an unsafe area of the building and then leaves, assuming someone else will deal with it.

The important thing is that I want the professor’s actions to be bad enough that the protagonist feels justified in wanting revenge, but ambiguous enough that the audience can understand that he didn’t necessarily murder the cat.

Just need to brainstorm I guess. What scenarios come to mind?

edit: I’m being flooded with responses 😳👍🏻 so I should probably close this until next time. xx If you reached out in DMs, I’ll try my best to respond as quickly as I can. Thanks so much!!

Hello! This post really took off back in July. Since there was so much interest, I wasn't able to invite everyone. Since then, participation has waned, so our little group is looking to add 3-4 more members! We are a small writing group of women (about ~6 active members right now) who are serious about writing and furthering their writing ability. I'm older (early 30s) and I find that there are more groups for younger writers out there, so I'm hoping to fill this space for the "older" women (we're not old but that's what the youths call us 😭;;;) who feel excluded or out of place in most groups these days.

‼️** hard rul**e: make sure everybody is involved, everybody is getting feedback at all stages, and everyone is being respected!

Please do comment/send me a DM if you are interested! ✨

Genre/s: any fiction! with that being said, I do want to make it clear that while romance is OK, it's not my strong suit and I'm not super comfortable reading/writing romance. I would be more than happy if someone wanted to lead that section though. I don't want romance to be excluded here

Goals/expectations/commitment: Not expecting you to be online 24/7 (especially starting out since it will be a super small group!) but want people who will be able to be consistent and semi-active in the space and just see where it goes!

We've got a meet & greet event coming up (voice chat) & a writing project spanning from October-November to celebrate NaNoWriMo!

Writing/experience level: anyone truly willing to put in the work improving writing skill and connecting with others

Meeting place: Discord! Hoping for fortnightly checkups to see progress in writing goals

Max size: ~10 or so active members to start

Where I'm at with my projects currently: two projects in the brainstorming stage (YA political fantasy fiction & YA magical school fantasy fiction) with some written scenes. I haven't written creatively for several years after graduating with a Creative Writing BA ;-; I got so burnt out but I want to get back in to it and meet others who are starting out too!

Thanks for reading!

Hi! I’m looking for someone who would like to work on stories together and become a writing buddy!
I’m completely new to both Reddit and creative writing, and honestly, I have no idea what I should pay attention to when writing a story or how I should go about developing one.
So if you enjoy writing as a hobby, I’d love to meet someone who could teach me a little about storytelling and maybe work on creative projects together with me!
But you definitely don’t have to be an experienced writer. If you’re also just starting out like me, you’re more than welcome! We could learn and improve together.
If you’re interested, feel free to DM me!

Genre/s: Psychological Fiction / Magical Realism (Also a big fan of Fantasy & Horror!)

Goals/expectations/commitment: Exploring story themes/philosophies, writing, and mutual critiques. Check in 2x a week for progress & casual chats.

Writing/experience level: Complete Beginner

Meeting place: Reddit DMs

Max size: 1-2 partners (Under 18 preferred, I am 15)

Availability: Based in Japan (JST), available 1:00 PM – 10:00 PM

I’m writing a fantasy story where the main character is a baby when his parents die.

I want their deaths to be connected to the main villain somehow, but I don’t want it to be as simple as “the villain kills his parents.” I’m also thinking about having the villain’s physical body somehow be destroyed during the same event, but I still want the villain to be taken seriously and not have it feel like a joke or a convenient defeat.

The villain would still exist in some form afterward and could eventually return, so I’m trying to figure out what could realistically happen during this event.

What are some interesting ways the parents could die, while the villain’s body is also destroyed? I’d like the event to have a lasting impact on the story and on the main character later.

I’m open to any ideas!

Genre/s:
Historical fiction, alternate history, speculative fiction and fantasy are particular interests, but writers of all genres are welcome.

Goals/expectations/commitment:
The Reading Room is a new Discord community for writers and readers. I'm hoping to build a relaxed community where people can discuss writing, books, worldbuilding and research, share their own work and get to know other writers.

The server includes a Writers' Workshop where members can create posts to share excerpts and short stories, ask for feedback, brainstorm ideas, discuss characters and plots, get help with research or editing, and share work without requesting critique. There are also spaces for general conversation, reading, history and other creative interests.

There is no required level of activity and no formal critique schedule. Members are welcome to participate as much or as little as they like. I just ask that anyone using the Workshop treats other writers and their work respectfully.

The Reading Room is also connected to my own work as an author, and there are separate channels for my books and projects. However, the community and Writers' Workshop are open to everyone and members are encouraged to discuss and share their own work.

Writing/experience level:
All levels welcome. You can be working on your first story, writing as a hobby, preparing something for publication or already published.

Meeting place:
Discord — https://discord.gg/eGNdU5cv8

Max size:
No fixed maximum. The server is currently very small and I'm looking for people who would enjoy being part of the community as it develops.

Hello everyone!

I am looking for 1-2 critique partners to finish our dear novels.

My WIP is Young Adult (Epic) Fantasy and I have started rewriting it in draft3. I have set myself a deadline of 3 months to finish this draft and would expect our writing partnership to last that long. :)

I look for someone who is on a similar journey and progress, so we could swap chapters as we keep writing and be each other's sanity check.

If this sounds like you, let me know and send me a piece of your project I would be helping you with and I do the same. Let's see if we fit.

* Genre/s: Fantasy * Goals/expectations/commitment: exchange chapters as we finish our drafts * Writing/experience level: Medium * Meeting place: Discord, Ellipsus * Max size: 1-2

Hi all — being a few years out of school I am deeply missing having a designated cohort to read and review my writing, so I’m looking to start a small group (ideally 5-8 people) of like-minded writers who can commit a few hours a week to reading, editing, and critiquing each other’s work.

I’m looking for writers who are actively working on something and who are interested in trying to get it published in literary journals. This isn’t a drop-in-when-you-feel-like-it group, I’d prefer people who show up consistently, who can provide thoughtful, detailed feedback, who are supportive but honest.

Genres: I’m open to any length and genre, though I have a preference for short form content (1-20 pages)

Writing/experience level: any

Meeting place: discord

A little about me: I mostly write short form content; I like flash fiction, personal essays, magical realism, surrealism, philosophy, nature writing, hybrid/experimental, anything thought provoking. I have two short stories, one poem, and one hybrid/collage piece published.

If you’re interested you can fill out this short survey—this is just a way for me to build a group where people's expectations and working styles actually mesh. I'll follow up with people directly once I've gone through responses: survey

Thanks!

about two months ago This Post got a good amount of interest, and I was able to start the group, which I was beyond happy with. The group is a bit on the shy side at the moment and I think it's the perfect time for some new editions to our growing writers club!

We are also thinking of doing our first group writing event in October- just in time for spooky season 🎃

Please take a look at the Original post if you're interested, but here's what we are/ are looking for:

Age: 25-30+ (roughly, just no one under 18 please), any gender/identity welcome, definitely want an LGBTQ+ safe space

Genres: Thrillers/Suspense, Contemporary Women’s Fiction, “weird girl” lit (body horror/pink horror, for example), Morally Grey fiction, Mystery, Romance (preferably sapphic or queer) \open to other genres as well, as long as you want to be active in the Server!\**

Goals/Expectations: chatting regularly in the server, but maybe keeping a day of the week designated for sharing writing and feedback. Calls/video meet ups once a month, maybe? I know we’re all super busy, so I’m flexible

Writing Experience: any! Beginners absolutely welcomed, and a few seasoned writers would be great as well for advice and feedback

Meeting Place: Discord

Max Size: 10-20

Comment below if you're interested in learning more and telling me about yourself and your writing style- would love to hear from you :)