: Re: Example of a fictional story without any characters (the story being 1000+ words) Guessing that there is no such example, but if there is, I'm very interested in knowing about it. Just as a

@Bryan361

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All you need, in place of your characters, is a strong dose of anthropomorphize-ing. By implying human characteristics and emotions within inanimate and insensate objects, you bypass the need for actual intelligent actors.

I have a stand-alone chapter in one of my unpublished works, which describes the battle between an old wooden dock and the relentless ocean waves. When I wrote it, I was attempting a deliberate hommage to the Ray Bradbury piece which is mentioned in another answer. That characterless chapter turned out to be one of the prettiest, most poetic things, I've ever written.

Your submerged volcano story has the same potential. Imagine a world of endless sea, with primitive life hidden beneath the waves, ready to crawl out on dry land, but trapped by the totally aquatic nature of their planet. Enter the hero, a mound of growing lava, bubbling up from a fissure in the ocean floor. Follow its adventures as it reaches up hopelessly for the distant surface. Share in its sorrows as structural flaws and air pockets collapse, causing a loss of precious height. Celebrate its triumph when unfiltered sunshine finally falls upon its finally dry shore. It is the Rocky story!... told with real rocks!

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