The Write Practice

Top 100 Short Story Ideas

by Joe Bunting | 128 comments

Do you want to write but just need a great story idea? Or perhaps you have too many ideas and can’t choose the best one? Well, good news. We’ve got you covered.

Below are one hundred short story ideas for all your favorite genres. You can use them as a book idea, as writing prompts for writing contests , for stories to publish in literary magazines , or just for fun!

Use these 100 story ideas to get your creative writing started now.

Editor’s note: This is a recurring guide, regularly updated with ideas and information.

100 Top Short Story Ideas

If you're in a hurry, here's my 10 best story ideas in brief, or scroll down for the full version.

Top 10 Story Ideas

  • Tell the story of a scar.
  • A group of children discover a dead body.
  • A young prodigy becomes orphaned.
  • A middle-aged woman discovers a ghost.
  • A woman who is deeply in love is crushed when her fiancé breaks up with her.
  • A talented young man's deepest fear is holding his life back. 
  • A poor young boy or girl comes into an unexpected fortune.
  • A shy, young woman unexpectedly bumps into her soulmate.
  • A long journey is interrupted by a disaster.
  • A young couple run into the path of a psychopath.

The Write Structure

Why Creative Writing Prompts Are Helpful

Below, you'll find our best creative writing prompts and plot ideas for every genre, but first, why do we use prompts? Is it just a waste of time, or can they actually help you? Here are three reasons we  love writing prompts at The Write Practice:

1. Practice the Language!

Even for those of us who are native English speakers, we're all on a language journey to go from beginners to skilled writers. To make progress on this language journey, you have to practice, and at The Write Practice, believe it or not, we're really into practice! Creative writing prompts are easy, fun ways to practice.

Use the prompts below to practice your storytelling and use of language. The more you practice, the better of a writer you'll become.

2. When you have no ideas and are stuck.

Sometimes, you want to write, but you can't think up any ideas. You could either just sit there, staring at a blank page, or you could find a few ideas to help you get started. Even better if the list of ideas is curated from our best plot ideas over the last decade that we've been publishing lessons, writing exercises, and prompts.

Use the story ideas below to get your writing started. Then when your creativity is warmed up, you'll start to come up with your own ideas!

3. To develop your own ideas.

Maybe you do have an idea already, but you're not sure it's good. Or maybe you feel like it's just missing some small piece to make it better. By reading other ideas, and incorporating your favorites into your   story, you can fill your plot holes and generate creative ideas of your own.

Use the story ideas below to develop your own ideas.

4. They're fun!

Thousands of writers use the prompts below every month, some at home, some in classrooms, and even a few pros at their writing “office.” Why? Because writing prompts can be fun. They get your creativity started, help you come up with new ideas of your own, and often take your writing in new, unexpected directions.

Use the plot ideas to have more fun with writing!

How to Write a Story

One last thing before we get to the 100 story ideas, let’s talk about how to write a great short story . (Already know how to write a great story? No problem. Just skip down to the ideas below.)

  • First, read stories. If you’ve never read a story, you’re going to have a hard time writing one. Where do you find great stories? There are a lot of places, but check out our list of  46 Literary Magazines  we’ve curated over here .
  • Write your story in a single sitting. Write the first draft of your story in as short a time as possible, and if you’re writing a short story , try to write it in one sitting. Trust me, this works. Everyone hates being interrupted when they’re telling compelling stories. Use that to your advantage and don’t stop writing until you’ve finished telling yours.
  • Read your draft. Read your story through once, without changing anything. This will give you a sense of what work it needs going forward.
  • Write a premise. After reading your first draft, get your head around the main idea behind your story by summarizing your story in a one sentence premise. Your premise should contain four things: a character, a goal, a situation, and a special sauce. Not sure what that means or how to actually do that? Here’s a full premise writing guide .
  • Write, edit, write, and edit. Good writing is rewriting. Use your second draft to fill in the plot holes and cut out the extraneous scenes and characters you discovered when you read the first draft in step #2. Then, polish up your final draft on the next round of edits.
  • Submit! Real writers don’t keep their writing all to themselves. They share it. Submit your story to a literary magazine , an anthology series , enter it into a writing contest , or even share it with a small group of friends. And if it gets rejected, don’t feel bad. You’ll be in good company.

Want to know more? Learn more about how to write a great short story here .

Our 100 Best Short Story Ideas, Plot Ideas, and Creative Writing Prompts

Ready to get writing? Here are our 100 best short story ideas to kickstart your writing. Enjoy!

10 Best General Short Story Ideas

Our first batch of plot ideas are for any kind of story, whether a spy thriller or a memoir of your personal life story. Here are the best story ideas:

  • Tell the story of a scar, whether a physical scar or emotional one. To be a writer, said Stephen King, “The only requirement is the ability to  remember every scar .”
  • A group of children discover a dead body. Good writers don’t turn away from death, which is, after all, the  universal human experience. Instead, they look it directly into its dark face and describe what they see on the page.
  • A young prodigy becomes orphaned. Orphans are uniquely vulnerable, and as such, they have the most potential for growth.
  • A middle-aged woman discovers a ghost. What do Edgar Allen Poe, Ron Weasley, King Saul from the Bible, Odysseus, and Ebenezer Scrooge have in common? They all encountered ghosts!
  • A woman who is deeply in love is crushed when her fiancé breaks up with her. “In life every ending is just a new beginning,” says Dakota Fanning’s character in Uptown Girls.
  • A talented young man’s deepest fear is holding his life back. Your character’s biggest fear is your story’s secret weapon. Don’t run from it, write about it.
  • A poor young boy or girl comes into an unexpected fortune. Not all fortunes are good. Sometimes discovering a fortune will destroy your life.
  • A shy, young woman unexpectedly bumps into her soulmate (literally bumps into him). In film, this is called the “meet cute,” when the hero bumps into the heroine in the coffee shop or the department store or the hallway, knocking her books to the floor, and forcing them into conversation.
  • A long journey is interrupted by a disaster. Who hasn’t been longing to get to a destination only to be delayed by something unexpected? This is the plot of  Gravity ,  The Odyssey , and even  Lord of the Rings .
  • A young couple run into the path of a psychopath. Monsters, whether people who do monstrous things or scaly beasts or a monster of a natural disaster, reveal what’s really inside a person. Let your character fall into the path of a monster and see how they handle themselves.

Now that you have an idea, learn exactly what to do with it.  Check out my new book The Write Structure which helps writers take their ideas and write books readers love. Click to check out  The Write Structure  here.

More Short Story Ideas Based on Genre

Need more ideas? Here are ideas based on whichever literary genre you write. Use them as character inspiration, to start your own story, or borrow pieces to generate your own ideas. The only rule is, have fun writing!

By the way,  for more story writing tips for each these plot types, check out our full guide to the 10 types of stories here .

10 Thriller Story Ideas

A thriller is any story that “thrills” the reader—i.e., gets adrenaline pumping, the heart racing, and the emotions piqued.

Thrillers come in all shapes and forms, dipping freely into other genres. In other words, expect the unexpected!

Here are a few of my favorite thriller story ideas :

Rosa Rivera-Ortiz is an up-and-coming lawyer in a San Diego firm. Held back by her ethnicity and her gender, she works twice as hard as her colleagues, and she’s as surprised as anyone when she’s requested specifically for a high-profile case. Bron Welty, an A-list actor and action star, has been arrested for the murder of his live-in housekeeper. The cop heading the case is older, ex-military, a veteran of more than one war, and an occasional sufferer of PTSD. Rosa’s hired to defend the movie star; and it seems like an easy win until she uncovers some secrets that not only make her believe her client is guilty, but may be one of the worst serial killers in the past two decades… and he knows she found out .

It’s the Cold War. Sergei, a double-agent for the CIA working in Berlin, is about to retire when he’s given one final mission: he’s been asked to “defect” to the USSR to help find and assassinate a suspected double-agent for the Kremlin. Sergei is highly trusted, and he’s given to understand that this mission is need-to-know only between him and very few superior officers. But as he falls deeper into the folds of the Iron Curtain, he begins to suspect that his superior officer might just be the mole, and the mark Sergei’s been sent to kill is on the cusp of exposing the leak.

It is 1800. A lighthouse on a barren cliff in Canada. Two lighthouse keepers, German immigrants, are alone for the winter and effectively cut off from the rest of the world until the ice thaws. Both Wilhelm and Matthias are settled in for the long haul with warm clothes, canned goods, and matches a-plenty. Then Wilhelm starts hearing voices. His personal belongings disappear from where he’d placed them, only to reappear in strange spots—like the catwalk, or dangling beneath the spiral stair knotted in brown twine. Matthias begs innocence. Little by little, Wilhelm grows convinced that Matthias is trying to convince him (Wilhelm) to kill himself. Is the insanity real, or is this really Matthias’ doing? And if it is real, what will he do to defend himself? There are so many months until the thaw. 

thriller story ideas

20 Mystery Story Ideas

Enjoy a good whodunit? Then you’ll love these mystery story ideas .

Here are a few of my favorites:

Ever hear the phrase, “It is not who fired the shot but who paid for the bullet?” This is a philosophy Tomoe Gozen lives by. Brave and clever, Tomoe follows clues until she learns who ordered the murder: Emperor Antoku himself. But why would the emperor of Japan want to kill a lowly soldier?

Mystery writer Dan Rodriguez takes the subway every day. Every day, nothing happens. He wears earbuds and a hoodie; he’s ignored, and he ignores. Then one evening, on his way home from a stressful meeting with his publisher, Dan is startled out of his funk when a frantic Middle-Eastern man knocks him over at a dead run, then races up the stairs—pursued by several other thugs. The Middle-Eastern man is shot; and Dan discovers a mysterious package in the front pocket of his hoodie. What’s inside, and what does he need to do to survive the answer?

A headless corpse is found in a freshly-dug grave in Arkansas. The local police chief, Arley Socket, has never had to deal with more than missing gas cans and treed cats. His exploration of this weird murder digs up a mystery older than the 100-year-old town of Jericho that harkens all the way back to a European blood-feud.

story ideas

20 Romance Story Ideas

Ready to write a love story? Or perhaps you want to create a subplot with a secondary character? We've got ideas for you!

Hint: When it comes to romance, a sense of humor is always a good idea. Have fun! Here are a few of my favorite love story ideas :

She’s a cop. He’s the owner of a jewelry store. A sudden rash of break-ins brings her to his store over and over and over again, until it becomes obvious that he might be tripping the alarm on purpose—just to see her. That’s illegal—but she’s kind of falling for him, too. Write the moment she realizes she has to do something about this crazy illicit courtship.

Colorado Animal Rescue has never been more challenging than after that zoo caught on fire. Sally Cougar (no jokes on the name, or she’ll kill you) tracks down three missing tiger cubs, only to find they’ve been adopted by millionaire Bryce Champion. Thanks to an antiquated law on the books, he legally has the right to keep them. It’s going to take everything Sally has to get those tiger cubs back.

He’s a museum curator with a fetish for perfection. No one’s ever gotten close to him; how could they? They’re never as perfect as the portraits, the sculptures, the art that never changes. Then one day, an intern is hired on—a young, messy, disorganized intern, whose hair and desk are in a constant state of disarray. The curator is going half-mad with this walking embodiment of chaos; so why can’t the he stand the thought of the intern leaving at the end of their assistantship?

20 romance story ideas

20 Sci-Fi Story Ideas

From the minimum-wage-earning, ancient-artifact-hunting time traveller to the space-exploring, sentient dinosaurs, these sci-fi writing prompts will get you set loose your inner nerd.

Here are a few of my favorite sci-fi ideas :

In a future society, neural implants translate music into physical pleasure, and earphones (“jacking in”) are now the drug of choice. Write either from the perspective of a music addict, OR the Sonforce agent (sonance + enforcer) who has the job of cracking down.

It’s the year 5000. Our planet was wrecked in the great Crisis of 3500, and remaining human civilization survives only in a half dozen giant domed cities. There are two unbreakable rules: strict adherence to Life Quality (recycling doesn’t even begin to cover these laws), and a complete ban on reproduction (only the “worthy” are permitted to create new humans). Write from the perspective of a young woman who just discovered she’s been chosen to reproduce—but she has no interest in being a mother.

So yeah, ancient Egypt really was “all that” after all, and the pyramids turn out to be fully functional spaceships (the limestone was to preserve the electronics hidden inside). Write from the perspective of the tourist exploring the ancient society who accidentally turns one on.

sci-fi story ideas

20 Fantasy Story Ideas

Need a dose of sword-in-the-stone, hero and/or heroine packed coming-of-age glory?  We love fantasy stories!

Here are a few of my favorite fantasy story ideas:

Bored teenaged wizards throwing a graduation celebration.

Uncomfortable wedding preparation between a magic wielding family tree and those more on the Muggle side of things.

A fairy prince who decides to abandon his responsibilities to become a street musician.

Just try to not have fun writing (or even just reading!) these fantasy writing prompts.

fantasy story ideas

The Secret to Choosing the Best Story Idea

Stories, more than any other artistic expression, have the power to make people care. Stories have the ability to change people’s lives.

But to write a great story, a life-changing story, don’t just write about what your characters did, said, and saw. Ask yourself, “Where do I fit in to this story? What is my personal connection to this story?”

Robert Frost said this:

If you can connect your personal story to the story you’re writing, you will not only be more motivated to finish your story, you might just be able to change the lives of your readers.

Next Step: Write Your Best Story

No matter how good your idea, writing a story or a book can be a long difficult process. How do you create an outline, come up with a great plot, and then actually  finish  it?

My new book  The Write Structure  will help. You'll learn how to take your idea and structure a strong plot around it. Then you'll be guided through the exact process I've used to write dozens of short stories and over fifteen books.

You can learn more about   The Write Structure  and get your copy here.

Get The Write Structure here »

Have a great short story idea?  We'd love to hear it. Share it in the comments !

Choose one of these ideas and write a short story in one sitting (aim for 1,000 words or less!). When you're finished, share your story in the practice box below (or our latest writing contest ) for feedback from the community. And if you share, please be sure to comment on a few stories by other writers.

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Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

Want best-seller coaching? Book Joe here.

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104 Of The Best Short Story Ideas And Prompts To Grab Your Readers

So, you want to write a short story — and not just a mildly entertaining short story but one your readers can’t put down until they’ve finished it.

You want a story that gets reactions like “Wow!” and “How did you do that?” and “Do you have more like this?”

What writer doesn’t want that kind of reaction, right?

And since short stories are short, you have less time to wait for your readers’ reactions — but you also have less time to grab their attention.

That’s why a great topic is worth its weight in gold when it comes to writing these little gems.

Even with the challenges inherent to short story writing, you’ll most likely finish a short story in far less time than you would a novel.

So, you’ll get to explore more story topics in less time than if you were writing longer works.

But how do you generate short story ideas that are worth the time you’ll invest in crafting a short story your readers will love?

If you’ve been writing for long enough, you already know good story ideas are everywhere, and you might even have some in mind as you read this.

But which of those ideas should be on your shortlist for story writing projects?

And if you don’t have any great ideas at the moment, where do you get some?

Short Story Idea Generator (how to generate story ideas)

Short story writing exercises, generating story ideas with the short story formula, timeless themes and emotional impact, 35 short story ideas, 69 short story writing prompts.

When it comes to generating new story ideas, you can take more than one approach. You might try these three:

man typing on laptop short story ideas

  • Writing exercises
  • Writing prompts
  • The Short Story Formula

Think of your school days when your English teacher assigned an essay or invited you to write a paragraph in answer to a question.

Maybe all you had to do was write one complete sentence. Or maybe your teacher wanted a haiku — or a rhyming couplet.

School isn’t the only place for writing exercises , though. If you’ve ever joined a creative writing group, your leader may have encouraged you to spend some time each day freewriting or writing a character sketch .

The purpose of writing exercises is to practice writing — or to practice a specific kind of writing (voice journaling, essays, persuasive ad copy, song lyrics, etc.).

So, whether it’s NaNoWriMo, Twitter’s #VSS (Very Short Story) challenge, or writing sprints, the more time you invest in these exercises, and the more you open yourself up to constructive criticism, the more quickly your writing will improve.

The most effective writing prompts and writing exercises make use of themes with a history of captivating and inspiring others. Because of this, either one might lead you to a story idea that you can hardly wait to explore.

Take one (or more) of those popular themes and combine them with a context that is both unique and relatable, and you have the formula for a compelling story idea.

Story writing ideas are generally more fully developed than writing prompts. It’s not unusual, for example, to begin with a writing prompt , develop it into a story idea, and then write the actual story.

And don’t beat yourself up if the first idea that comes to mind is a cliché. You’re human, and familiar ideas are the easiest to think of. Nothing wrong with that. The first idea is like a first draft , in that it gives you something to start with.

And don’t be afraid to mix it up — literally. Take one idea, mix it up with another, and play with it for a while. Who knows how you might juice up your story idea without even trying?

The best fiction story ideas make use of timeless themes. You’ll find one or more of the ten themes that follow in most stories that have been written, read, and shared over the centuries.

  • The End of a Relationship
  • Rags to Riches
  • Scars / Wounds
  • Ghosts / the Paranormal
  • Deepest Fears
  • A Soulmate Encounter
  • A Journey Interrupted
  • Monsters (human or otherwise)

The story idea itself — in its simplest form — doesn’t have to be original, and in fact, it shouldn’t be. But the way you embody and develop that idea should surprise your readers and evoke an emotional response in them.

It’s that emotional impact that makes your story not only worth finishing but memorable.

Short story ideas will look different from novel ideas, though — mainly because short stories have to make a big impact with fewer words. And because of this, the most powerful short stories have what James Scott Bell describes as the “one shattering moment.”

In his book, How to Write Short Stories and Use Them to Further Your Writing Career, Bell describes that moment as “something that happens to a character, an emotional blast which they cannot ignore. It changes them, in a large or a subtle way — in a way that cannot be ignored.”

Any one of the popular themes listed above could you give your main character a shattering moment that would change that character’s life or perspective.

woman typing on laptop short story ideas

Take a look at the following creative story ideas, many of which combine two or more of the popular themes listed, and feel free to modify any of them to create your next unputdownable short story.

1. Your character’s loved one has died , and he learns while going through that loved one’s belongings that the latter had a terrible secret that unnervingly correlates to your character’s deepest fear.

The rest of the story explores your character’s reaction to this discovery and how it affects his/her relationships and decision-making.

2. Your character has married the man she saw as her “soulmate.” During their honeymoon, he shows her his list of goals for their first five years together, and they have their first real argument over one of those goals — which requires something of her that she never agreed to.

She has a sudden memory of their first date and of the moment when she first decided he was the one, but she sees it now from his perspective, and it changes everything.

3. Your orphaned character inherits a house and moves in to find that it’s already occupied — by the spirits of the character’s long-deceased parents, who aren’t at all like the people other relatives have described.

4. Your character is having trouble getting past his anger over the wounds inflicted by those who raised him and by those with whom he had one failed relationship after the next.

woman at laptop looking out window Short Story Ideas

After losing his job, he goes on a journey to change the direction of his life, but that journey is interrupted by the death of one of his parents — the one who hurt him the most.

5. Your character is widely regarded as a monster and doesn’t deny or hide from that designation.

When his closest confidante gets fed up with him, tells him off, and leaves the company they founded together, your character finds himself disoriented by grief and does something different.

6. Your character is content with her life but suddenly inherits a large sum of money and a palatial estate on the east coast.

She sees the inheritance as proof that the Law of Attraction works, and she invites family and a few close friends to move with her and share the wealth. On the first night of their stay, someone dies.

7. Your character’s snake-loving neighbor has just been found in the belly of her pet boa constrictor (who she swore was a better “snuggler” than her ex).

The ex shows up and is angry when he finds out that your neighbor left the house and everything in it to your character. He threatens to ruin her life if she doesn’t turn the house over to him.

8. Your character meets his/her soulmate on a flight that almost doesn’t make it to its destination; both of them respond to emergencies on the plane (one as a cop and the other as a doctor).

Once at the airport, your character learns that this soulmate is already in a relationship with a well-known philanthropist. But your character notices something odd and calls the philanthropist out.

9. Your character’s best friend just announced the end of a relationship, and your character is surprised to find this friend in a celebratory state of mind (rather than heartbroken).

Your character then finds out the disturbing reason for the friend’s manic behavior.

10. One of your character’s siblings is getting married, and during wedding preparations, your character learns something she was never meant to know. This discovery changes her relationships with everyone.

11. The happy couple living next door to your character has died in a horrific accident, and when the parents show up for the funeral, you find out why the couple always changed the subject whenever you asked them about their families.

12. Your character starts receiving messages from someone who knows his/her deepest fears and intends to exploit them. At the same time, your character is discovering a latent ability that relates to those fears but might also help him overcome them. Or they might change him into something the messenger never saw coming.

13. Your character meets a soulmate at a community grief counseling group meeting and learns that this soulmate also attends AA meetings (like your mc) — though with a different group and with a friend who doesn’t particularly like your main character.

The surprising reason comes out when your character goes on a first date with this soulmate. The soulmate’s friend swears he/she knows your mc from a different reality — which he/she visits in dreams.

14. Your character breaks free of a painful relationship and embarks on a journey to discover what she’s capable of. After volunteering at a nursing home — reading to vision-impaired residents and writing letters for them — she agrees to personally deliver one of those letters to the resident’s estranged son.

15. After avoiding close relationships because of deep scars from his childhood, your main character learns something about one of his parents that changes everything for him. He then has an opportunity to take a step off his accustomed path.

16. Your character has been married for 19 years before her spouse — after a weekend that reminds her of when they met and why she married him — hands her divorce papers.

17. Your character is making a list of reasons to break up with her boyfriend of two years when the latter comes home early and tells her he’s won the lottery jackpot.

18. Your character is a locally famous writer whose hero story ideas come from his freewheeling lifestyle and insatiable curiosity about others.

One day, out of boredom, he offers a homeless man $100 to propose to the first woman he takes a fancy to, while he watches from a safe distance. The proposal goes terrifyingly wrong.

19. Your character has just lost a child by miscarriage , and when she comes home, her married life has changed. Her husband, who was always the more talkative of the two, spends their time together quietly grieving in his own way.

Your character, on the other hand, becomes more outgoing and starts spending more time (and money) on her appearance.

20. Your young adult character finds himself suddenly orphaned when his parents die in a plane crash. The funeral is the beginning of a dramatic shift in his perspective and in the choices he makes.

He breaks off a relationship with a woman his parents adored, he quits the lucrative job that he hates, and he leaves the country.

21. Your character has just learned that his spouse has been cheating on him, and he confronts her when she gets home that night.

She reveals that what he saw as proof of her infidelity was something completely innocent — but that she’s already decided to make a permanent and dramatic end to their marriage.

22. The only child of your character is diagnosed with a fatal illness, and your character doesn’t know how to deal with the worry and dread that now consumes her.

Her doctor suggests one anti-anxiety med after another, and her husband and his family urge her to try one — for her husband’s and her son’s sakes. She goes into a fugue state with the experimental drug she tries, and she wakes up to the consequences.

23. Your character’s new glasses — created as a free gift from an old friend with unusual connections — reveal more than the physical objects in his field of vision.

After looking at a coworker and seeing the latter’s death just hours before it happens, he goes to replace the glasses with a plain pair from a local chain. Then he catches his full-length reflection in a window.

24. Your character wakes up alone in an unfamiliar place and is told by everyone he encounters that the life he thought he’d lived for the past six years — with a wife and three kids and with the job that barely paid the bills — must have been a dream.

He’s actually stunningly wealthy, treated with respect by everyone he meets, and desired by more than one woman. So, why is there a picture of him with his nonexistent family on his desk?

25. A year ago, your character met someone who offered her the power to transform the interior of her home to anything she wants — in exchange for a DNA sample from her only child, who is a gifted storyteller.

During the year after she accepted the offer, her home becomes everything she wants it to be, but her son stops telling stories, and one day she finds out why.

26. Your character makes drastic changes to his diet and adopts new habits that alienate him from his usual circle of friends but lead him to a new one.

He then wins a large sum of money from a scratch ticket that an estranged friend (a compulsive gambler) slipped under his door.

27. Your character has returned from a successful quest to find his home empty, with no sign of his loved ones other than a note left on the refrigerator.

Not only does he now have no one with whom to share his victory, but what he learns calls that very victory into question.

28. Your character has spent eleven years living with the consequences of a vow she has taken. When she forges a new friendship with a counselor, she learns something about herself that scares her and makes her avoid the counselor, for his own sake.

Keenly aware of her own vulnerability, she brands herself to ward off unwelcome attention.

29. Your character, after 15 years of living in a house chosen mainly to fit her spouse’s preferences, sees an ad for an apartment in town that represents the life she gave up to make her husband happy.

After hearing him complain about his life and their house for one too many times, she goes to look at this apartment and finds it has almost everything she wants. The apartment manager, a well-dressed woman close to her own age, hears your character’s last name and appears shaken by it.

30. Your character splurges on a new rug for her living room floor — the kind of rug she’s coveted for years — and her S.O. criticizes it and later “accidentally” spills his drink on it.

The final straw is his suggestion that she wait ‘til it dries and return it to the store for a refund or exchange it for something more practical.

31. Your character has recently broken free from a cult that had drawn him in when he was vulnerable from a family tragedy. His new support system — a group of other cult survivors — is having varying degrees of difficulty re-entering society and repairing damaged relationships.

Your character meets with them one evening at their accustomed café table and confronts a server whose off-handed comment provokes him. What begins as a calm request for respectful treatment escalates as other members of the group chime in and the server’s manager gets involved.

32. Your character has joined a church and finds herself under the tutelage of a church member who leans toward the traditionalist end of the spectrum and who regards her as the daughter he never had.

When he decides to renounce the church’s leadership and join an extreme traditionalist group, she backs away from him — after explaining to him why she won’t do the same. His behavior toward her changes and she makes a change of her own.

33. Your character is so desperate for money that he does something he never would have done otherwise. He doesn’t get caught, but he doesn’t get away with it, either. Consumed by guilt, he undergoes a penance of his choosing, which spirals out of control.

34. Your character walks into a tourist shop and buys a homemade “tonic” freshly mixed by the owner, after tasting and enjoying an innocuous sample in the same flavor. The tonic changes him in a way he can’t ignore or undo.

35. Your character inherits an old music shop with a secret back room where his uncle kept a few instruments that can make even someone like him — who has never played an instrument — a virtuoso in seconds. He takes the piano to his apartment and learns why his uncle (in a letter he’d written before his death) had warned him not to — and why his uncle kept the door to that secret room locked.

With writing prompts , you get a launching pad of sorts: a question, an idea, a provocative quote, or something that inspires a reaction — specifically a written one. Maybe that reaction is an argument, or maybe it’s an impassioned defense of an idea.

Whatever it is, the purpose here is to take that prompt and use it to generate a written response in one form or another. The aim of writing prompts for short stories is to get you started on a new short story .

The prompt could be as simple as a word or as detailed as a character sketch or an elevator pitch. It could even be a picture or a song. It could be an observation you make while (discreetly) people-watching.

We’ve create 69 short story writing prompts that flesh out an idea more thoroughly, giving you a good headstart for your story.

1. You get a new job, and your new boss approaches you on the first day with an invitation to the “After Hours Club.” He tells you it’s no big deal if you decline, but you get a strong impression that it would be.

2. One day, on the way home from work, your new car takes over and drives you to a remote area, stopping beside other cars in a clearing underneath a new moon. You wake up underneath a full moon and drive yourself home. But much has changed in your absence — and so have you.

3. You bake pies for a local bakery, and when a celebrity comes to town and tastes your locally famous turtle pie, he invites you to go on tour with him — to a movie set somewhere in Europe — to be his personal pie maker. You say yes.

4. You buy a single rose from a street vendor, and it lasts a week, then two weeks, then three, and then a full month. Only then does someone point out to you that previously healthy people in the neighborhood have been falling ill and dying at an abnormal rate.

5. It’s time for your 10-year-old daughter to make her First Confession, but when her turn comes to go into the confessional, she panics and won’t be persuaded to go in.

6. You’re stranded in a small village down a winding road from Burgos (Spain) on a Sunday. A stranger comes by on a motorcycle and goes to fetch a taxi for you. You’re waiting at the bus station when he tells you he knows you’re meant to replace his recently deceased wife.

7. The bartender brings you your first Irish coffee in what looks like a candy dish. Halfway through, you notice the whole cafe seems to be floating, and since you can’t put the rest into a to-go cup (alas), you pay your tab and head out. You think you’re doing fine until your key doesn’t work in the front door of your apartment building. Someone else kindly lets you in, and you recognize him as the bartender from that cafe.

8. You’re exploring an old Spanish town, and you realize someone is following you. You turn and find an old woman who asks if you’ll help her find her hotel. You help her, and she invites you in, telling you she has a son who shares your interest in all things Tolkien. You’re not in a hurry to get back to your hotel room, so you go up with her.

9. Your fingers don’t respond to you the way they used to, and you’ve been having other difficulties. You go see your doctor, and they run some tests to check for neurological diseases but don’t find anything. They think it’s probably stress-related. Your life has been stressful lately, and it doesn’t help that your new roommate has been acting strangely toward you.

10. You wake up with your heart racing, but you don’t remember why. You almost never remember your dreams but often wake up covered in sweat with your heart pounding. You’re tired of having to shower every morning and feeling sick for the rest of the day, so you decide to undergo hypnosis, hoping to find out what’s going on.

11. Your neighbors have been up to some strange shenanigans lately, and their lights are on well into the wee hours of the morning. You’d like to know why, but every neighbor you’ve talked to who have gone over there to ask about it has, later on, told you that nothing suspicious is going on and that those neighbors are “very spiritual, and so, so nice!”

12. The street lamps that light up your cul de sac have gone dark, and you’re outside waiting for your spouse to get home when something large and dark brushes past you, almost knocking you off balance. Then a man appears and asks, “Have you seen my cat?”

13. Someone has broken into your house while you were away and has taken all the religious articles out of it — every statue, every picture, and every holy water bottle. The thief left everything else alone.

14. You move into an apartment that used to be a hoarder’s paradise, and your manager gives you permission to paint the walls a different color and add some new flooring. You get to work removing the kitchen’s linoleum floor and find something you never expected.

15. You joined a wine delivery service, and the delivery person is every bit as charming as the labels on the posh wine he brings to you each week. When you lose your job and cancel the service, the wine keeps coming.

16. You buy a pound of gourmet coffee beans at a local food festival, and as you’re sipping the first cup from the first pot you’ve brewed, you have a vision, which feels as real as though it were actually happening to you. When the vision ends, you’re still in your kitchen, holding your cup. You take another sip.

17. You’re about ready to gather up all the ceramic village pieces that have been cluttering up your living room and toss them in the trash bin, but your spouse, who knows you hate them, insists you should try selling them on eBay, instead. That’s when the fight starts.

18. You buy a new pair of Bluetooth earbuds that are supposed to enhance your listening experience. You plug them in and use them while watching a movie, and suddenly, you’re there on the scene, about to get flattened (or eaten) by a dinosaur.

19. You need a new toilet, and someone shows up at the door (as though sent by heaven) to sell you a toilet that will flush down ANYTHING. Oddly enough, it doesn’t even need to be hooked up to your septic system. “All you have to do is remove and empty the dust tray at the base every evening, reinsert it for the next day’s flushes, and voila!”

20. You buy a new keyboard , and after typing a few sentences of a new story, it starts typing on its own, and you watch in surprise as it types out a new short story. You submit it to a contest you’ve never won and win first prize. You start thinking you’ll never have trouble paying the rent again! Then you accidentally spill wine on the keyboard, and even stranger things start happening.

Related:  55 Funny Writing Prompts To Inspire Your Inner Comedian

21. Your famous stew recipe has won an award. You go to collect it (a cash prize), and meet the next runner-up, who believes she should have won the first prize instead with her three-bean salad. She warns you not to spend the money, because she will prove you won unfairly. You go home and find a bowl of three-bean salad and a note.

22. You suggest at the breakfast table one morning that you might actually have too many books, and your SO seizes upon this and offers to help you thin out your collection. After breaking up with him, you cull a few volumes for donation and run into the author of one of them.

23. Your first issue of Real Simple magazine has finally arrived, but something has come with it — something you can’t see but that makes your life anything but simpler.

24. A girl scout comes to the door selling cookies, and you tell her you already bought some from her at the table outside your grocery store, and you’ve spent enough for the year. Suddenly, all the food in your house (including the canned food) becomes moldy or rotten. And every bit of food that passes your threshold becomes inedible.

25. You buy a new whiteboard to help you keep track of your writing assignments, but you wake up one morning, and new items have somehow been added to your list. And the new titles have a sinister edge to them. You live alone.

26. You buy a new poster that looks exactly like the TARDIS door, and you put it up on your bedroom wall. One night, right at midnight (you’re up working at your computer), the door opens and you walk through it.

27. You buy a CD with music that’s supposed to help you write more creatively and also lose weight more easily. You start playing it during your writing time, and sure enough, the words flow without effort, and you love what you’ve written. You also start losing ten pounds a week, and soon you can’t afford to lose another ten, but you’ve come to depend on that music CD.

28. You’re a carpenter who has joined a construction team to build a new development of 3,000+ square foot houses. All is going well until someone on the team discovers something buried in the lot for the third house. The foreman removes it and tells everyone to get back to work, but you have a bad feeling. And you’re right to have it.

29. Your boss announces they’re having a potluck and you’re all expected to show up and bring something. He also tells you it has to be homemade. You tell him you can’t cook, but he tells you, “Well, learn, then!” Strangely enough, you do, and you create an entree that has everyone’s mouth-watering when you open the lid at the potluck. But your boss is conspicuously absent.

30. You wake up in the middle of the night and rush to the bathroom, where you empty your stomach of everything you ate that day. Something else comes out, and it’s moving.

31. You stop at a coffee shop while making stops to apply for a new job, and the barista tells you the new bed and breakfast is looking for someone to handle their advertising. You apply, are accepted, and agree to start immediately. But the owner, who openly admires your bicycle, offers you a room at the B&B, so you’ll be more accessible.

32. You have way too much time on your hands since your latest project has earned you enough to more than double your previous year’s salary, and you’re taking a sabbatical. You see an ad for an opportunity to spend a month at a castle in Wales, with full room and board and a bicycle for exploring the countryside. You call the agent and book a flight.

33. One night, as you’re coming back from the bathroom, you see a bright light and follow it to see that your front window is wide open and bugs are swarming in and out. You rush to close it but then you see the view from it — which is not your usual view of the front yard. You see something you want to investigate.

34. Sometimes, people stare when you pull out an index card and start scribbling furiously onto it, but you don’t care. Then someone accuses you of writing something about him and, pulling out a gun, demands you hand the card over to him.

35. You’re starting a new job, and one of your co-workers tells you it’s up to the new guy to keep the coffee pot full for his first week. While you’re brewing the latest refill, muttering to yourself about how little you’re getting done that day, one of your co-workers starts choking and accuses you of trying to poison her.

36. Your home-brewed ale is the talk of the neighborhood, but your next-door neighbor frequently buys up your newest batch. You start imposing limits. He then starts telling other neighbors that your secret is adding pee from your pet guinea pigs, “But it’s cool, because urine is sterile. And that guinea pig pee really adds something!”

37. You inherit a lighthouse from your deceased uncle — along with the small living quarters attached to it. You move right in, looking forward to the solitude. But whenever you’re up at the top scanning the surface of the ocean, you see things that can’t possibly be there. And one of them sees you — and comes to visit.

38. You stop at the local nursery and pick up a new houseplant — a tiny, adorable succulent. The cashier looks nervous as she rings you up. “That plant isn’t normal. If you want to pick another one, I would totally understand.” She’s nodding with wide eyes as she says this, clearly hoping you’ll agree.

39. You live in a studio apartment. Your boss comes to bring you soup when you call in sick and sees the quilt on your bed, which you won at a raffle. “That’s the quilt my mom made!” she says. “She told me someone stole it.”

40. You take your kids trick-or-treating, and you go to your boss’s neighborhood (your boss suggested it). Most houses gave out full-sized candy bars, but one gave out treasure maps, and your kids want to find their treasures before you leave the neighborhood.

41. Someone offers you a chance to win a million dollars just by visiting his website and typing in your address. “I don’t need your checking account info. It’s not safe to give that to just anyone. I’ll just mail the check to you,”he writes.

42. You wonder what it would be like to be a famous actor, and someone, out of the blue, invites you to perform in his movie as an extra — “and, who knows, maybe something more… prominent.”

43. You get a call from the principal’s office that your daughter has been involved in a bullying incident. Someone was bullying her, and she punched him. There were witnesses, and the principal reminds you of their zero-tolerance policy for physical violence…

44. You get a call from the principal’s office that your son has been acting out toward his classmates (who, according to what he’s told you, have been behaving aggressively toward him) and had brought a weapon to school to protect himself. They’ve confiscated the weapon (a paring knife) and have called the police.

45. Your kid has an IEP, and the Special Ed staff at the school always sound so caring and professional at the meetings you attend with them. But your son tells you they behave very differently toward him. The principal assures you that she knows the staff would never do what your son has accused them of doing. She suggests your son may be lying.

46. Your young daughter notices that one of your trees is “sick,” and she goes to visit the tree, talks to it, leans against it, and tells it to please get better. It responds by growing stronger and larger, spreading its branches out and downward to create a sort of cave for your daughter to rest in when she wants to be alone. It becomes her haven.

47. You wake up one morning and start loading your excess possessions into boxes and bags and hauling it off to Goodwill to donate it. That’s when you find the tiny cameras hidden in the bathroom, and bugs hidden in every room.

48. Your favorite coffee mug has broken, and you’re in mourning. The mug you just bought as your “second” just doesn’t feel the same in your hand, but it surprises you by magically refilling your drink with every sip — and keeping it hot for you.

49. The moth on your ceiling doesn’t bother you — much. But every time you look, it’s there. And you wonder why it never leaves. When you finally get a step ladder to get a closer look at it, you can hardly believe what you’re seeing.

50. Your neighbors on the home office side of your house have never been friendly, but one day, the wife comes over with a pie and tells you she made it herself and that she’s tired of being cooped up in the house with no one but her husband to talk to. You look over and see the outline of her husband in an upstairs window.

51. Tired of getting hair in your face, you take an electric hair-trimmer and run it all over your head with the one-inch attachment. You look at the results with satisfaction.

52. Your spouse, who has never done or said a romantic thing since your honeymoon, suddenly comes home with an expensive bouquet and a travel brochure for a place you’ve always wanted to visit. Later on, someone delivers the car you’ve always wanted, and your husband unconvincingly feigns surprise. You ask him if he won the lottery, but he shakes his head and says, “This is way better. You’ll see.”

53. You’re out in your backyard and stumble over something, which turns out to be a small brick half-buried in the grass. You see initials etched into the brick, along with a crudely-shaped heart. You wonder what — or whom — might be buried beneath. Soon, you find other markers like it, and you wonder how you failed to notice them before.

54. Your neighbor invites you over to her house, and you see that every wall has a cross painted on it with crude, hurried strokes. You ask why, and she nervously clears her throat and says, “This place needs them.”

55. You watch an infomercial and order a new face cream, hoping it will restore a youthful look to your face. It does more than that.

56. Your teenage son gets a job and, on his first day, he encounters a rude customer. Unaccustomed to responding with calmness and diplomacy, he lashes out at the customer and gets himself fired. Instead of calling home for a ride, though, he takes a walk through town and runs into the same customer holding up a cardboard sign.

57. You put your headphones on when you start on your writing project, and, at some point, an unfamiliar voice interrupts your playlist to tell you he likes what you’ve written so far. And he thinks you’d get along great.

58. Your spouse starts trying different paint samples on walls all over the house, and you don’t like any of the colors; they’re either too bright or too dark. One day, you paint patches of a pale green-gray that you like next to his acid-bright or dark color patches, and he tells you it’s boring, and that he’s painting the house his way.

59. Someone keeps writing fortune-cookie phrases on your new whiteboard at work, and it’s irritating you. You ask around, and no one knows who keeps writing the messages. Then, one of the predictions comes true.

60. You look out the window while you’re working and you see one neighbor attacking his spouse, knocking her down and then kicking her. You call 9-1-1, but later on, the wife comes over and says, “I know it was you who called. And you’ve made everything worse!”

61. Every time you look outside and see the wind in the trees, you take a deep breath and feel calmer. When the air is still, you feel as though the whole world is holding its breath and that something bad is about to happen. So, when it’s calm outside, you picture wind in the trees and take a deep breath.

62. You see movement in the corner of your eye and whenever you look, you see a huge, black dog in the neighbor’s yard, running back and forth. This time, though, he runs into your yard and starts barking at your front door.

63. Your eight-year-old son gets up and immediately goes for his Kindle Fire to play Minecraft. You’ve found some educational apps you want him to try, so you’ve installed them on his Kindle. He comes to you a few minutes later and says, “This app is telling me to do things I’m not supposed to do.”

64. You try a new recipe for a potluck, hoping it will wow your boss and coworkers, but it turns out terrible, and you end up rushing to a restaurant for something to bring before arriving (late) to find out everyone has already eaten the entree you were most looking forward to trying. When the cops show up later to ask why everyone is violently ill except you, you tell them everything you know.

65. You take your teenage son to his orientation for a new job, and when you come back to pick him up an hour later, you find out no one has seen him — though you saw him walk in the door before you drove off.

66. You’re living in a world where everyone is born with a birthmark that matches that of their soulmate. But you are born without one.

67. You and your best friend are in a terrible car accident, and you both die. Your friend, however, has a very different account of what he saw on the other side.

68. You’re born with the ability to mentally manipulate DNA. You started with plants and moved on to your pets, who now have unique abilities. For the past few years, you’ve been hacking your own DNA.

69. You were raised in the deep South where manners and feigned politeness were a thin veneer covering your family’s questionable history and lingering dysfunction.

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Did you find these short story ideas and prompts useful?

I hope your mind is buzzing with an idea you can’t wait to start playing with. Keep this article handy, so you can return to it when you’re looking for a new short story idea. You don’t have to follow any of them verbatim; take one and change the details however you like to make the idea your own.

Just don’t forget the “one shattering moment” for your character — and the importance of making an emotional impact on your reader. You make this impact as much with dialogue as with description and the structure of your story. Make it all count.

And when it comes time to edit, cut everything that dampens the impact of your story. Your readers will love you for it!

If you found value from this list of short story prompts, please share it and encourage others to pass it on to support and inspire as many fellow writers out there as possible. Why not even invite them to share their new short stories with you after they’ve written them?

And may your creative energy and goodwill infuse everything else you do today.

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500 Writing Prompts to Help Beat Writer’s Block

Looking to get your story started with a writing prompt? You’ve come to the right place. In this post we detail everything you need to know about writing prompts and give you 500 writing prompts broken down by genre. Enjoy!

I want to be a writer… but what if I have nothing to write about?

Ever feel like you’d love to write but you’re fresh out of ideas? Like there’s nothing else that you could possibly write about, or you have no idea where to even get started? We get it. One of the hardest steps in writing a book is often knowing where to get started. Coming up with content, getting your pen (or pencil) to paper, and letting your creativity flow is a challenge that many writers struggle with. As we know, facing writer’s block and fighting personal writing doubt is common. An overwhelming number of professional authors admit to getting stuck well before they get to the point of selling books on Amazon . Thankfully, there’s an answer to the question of where to turn when you feel like you’ve hit that proverbial wall: the writing prompt.

What is a writing prompt?

How often do writers use writing prompts?

There’s no right answer to this question because using writing prompts can often be a personal choice. Some authors find it greatly benefits their ability to turn out creative results. Some authors know that they already have the right ideas for a book in their heads. With using writing prompts, you need to decide on what’s best for you . Whatever method helps you generate ideas is what’s best for your writing!

Is there a writing prompt that’s best for me?

You might be wondering if there’s one type of writing prompt that’s best for you. It’s easy to find selections of prompts that are filtered by specific genres (romance, mystery, and so on). However, we recommend sticking to genre-specific prompts if you want your writing to be more focused. With that being said, you never know when inspiration will strike. If your writing needs are less genre-restricted, reading as many prompts as possible may be the best option for you! Whenever I write for fun, I love to read as many prompts as I can across all genres. Hey, you can get some pretty fun ideas for a thriller story from sci-fi writing prompts.

Where can I find writing prompts?

Easy – the Internet! And books, too. We recommend checking out our collection of prompts first, but there are numerous great sources throughout the web (blogs, social media, and even AI tools like ChatGPT ). Through combing the Internet for great websites and blogs like Reedsy , Screencraft , The Write Practice , Bryn Donovan’s resources , and the @writing.prompt.s Instagram page, we’ve written and gathered 500 writing prompts to help you kickstart your brain into writing mode. Categorized into ten popular genres, we encourage you to grab your mug of coffee or tea, read through our prompts, and get ready to catch the writing bug.

Have any particular writing prompts that help you get focused? Want to tell us about a great website for writing prompts? Feel free to share those in the comments below. Happy writing!

  • Mystery / Thriller
  • Science Fiction
  • Fantasy / Paranormal
  • General Fiction
  • Religion / Spirituality
  • Travel / Adventure
  • Young Adult

What are some mystery and thriller writing prompts?

  • You find strange, muddy footprints leading up to your front door.
  • A stranger sits down next to you on a train and gets up, leaving a package behind. Do you investigate the package?
  • You hear news of your next-door neighbor vanishing without a trace.
  • One day the national news channel shuts off. And the next day after that, too.
  • One day at work, you look across the street to see a hooded figure in a black coat pointing directly at you. What do they want?
  • You stumble upon a strange house you’ve never seen before on your morning run.
  • You get a text message from an unknown number saying, “Meet me outside. Now.”
  • Your parents tell you that they actually don’t know whose child you are.
  • Someone puts a large black box on your doorstep. A note on the front reads, “Caution: may bite.”
  • You wake up to discover a completely different, unknown face staring back at you from the mirror.
  • The protagonist of your story discovers that there is a person who looks exactly like him.
  • An international spy group recruits you to be their latest member.
  • You begin to realize that your reflection is no longer appearing in mirrors.
  • You aunt passes away, leaving you $500,000 in her will under the condition that you resume care for your hundred-year-old home.
  • Your best friend tells you that she feels like someone’s been watching her. The next day she goes missing.
  • Three words: Long lost brother.
  • The day of your wedding, you wake up to find every person in your wedding party has been brutally murdered.
  • The FBI begs you to come back to work on a special case. Your former partner has turned and is now wanted for the murders of three co-workers.
  • Local gravestones begin disappearing.
  • You can solve murders simply by stepping foot at the crime scene. Problem is, no one believes you.
  • Write a short story where the protagonist has a doppelganger. (Reedsy)
  • Your fingers tensed around the object in your pocket, ready to pull it out at a moment’s notice. (Reedsy)
  • You’re sitting by a window watching the flakes slowly and silently fall. Suddenly, you see something outside that snaps you out of your reverie. (Reedsy)
  • You’re at a huge store scouting out Black Friday deals. You start to notice that all the security cameras in the store seem to be following your each and every move. (Reedsy)
  • You work for the CIA who send you undercover in the FBI, who send you undercover in M16, who send you undercover in the CIA, who are very confused that you are back after only two weeks. (Reedsy)
  • A terrorist group has been infiltrated by so many agencies that it is now run by spies, unbeknownst to the spies themselves. This fact becomes apparent to an actual extremist who joins their ranks. (Reedsy)
  • Ever since childhood, a dark figure no one else can see has been following you around, whispering in your ear. Today you see it lying a few feet away, screaming and asking you to run. (Reedsy)
  • You’ve lived an average life up until today, your 20th birthday. You just found out that your dad is the runaway son of a doting criminal warlord, and your mom is the daughter of an equally doting secret agent. Both family businesses are looking to make you the next heir. (Reedsy)
  • She has been walking for hours. Her feet are starting to bleed. But she can’t stop moving… she can’t let him find her again. (Reedsy)
  • The morning after a blizzard you make your way outside and slowly start to realize everyone has disappeared. (Reedsy)
  • You find a hand-written note on your windshield that says, “Drive west for 100 miles.” (Reedsy)
  • You wake up in a jail cell, crusted blood covering your hands. You have no idea how you got there. The cell door clangs open, and an officer walks you to interrogation room where two detectives wait to question you. (Reedsy)
  • You walk into your job and find a secret, coded note pinned to your desk. What do you do next? (Reedsy)
  • Guard this with your life. (Reedsy)
  • A loved one confides in you, but the secret could damage someone else you care about. What do you do? (Reedsy)
  • As you’re browsing through a rack of sweaters, someone approaches you and says, “I need you to listen to me very carefully.” (Reedsy)
  • Write a short dark comedy in which a long-unsolved mystery is finally cracked. (Reedsy)
  • They say a picture is worth a thousand words but you knew the one you’d just taken was worth a million. (Reedsy)
  • You were the oldest person still living in the town and you remembered things no one else did. (Reedsy)
  • Looking through old family photos, multiple generations back, you notice there is a cat in almost every group photo. The same cat – color, pattern, one docked ear – that is currently purring on your lap. (Reedsy)
  • “… and that’s why dividing by three is illegal.” (Reedsy)
  • You’re a serial killer who murders anyone you see hitchhiking up your mountain. One day, you pick up a hitchhiker who kills anyone who picks them up.
  • You are legally allowed to commit murder once, but you must fill out the proper paperwork and your proposed victim will be notified of your intentions. (Reedsy)
  • You hire two private investigators to investigate each other. One month later both come to you to present their findings. (Reedsy)
  • 20 years after your daughter was abducted, a detective finds you to reopen the case. The detective turns out to be your daughter. (Reedsy)
  • You’re shaking hands with a stranger at a networking event when you ask for their name. “I have no name,” they reply. (Reedsy)
  • As you’re paying for your groceries, you mention to the clerk, “There’s a mess in aisle 16.” They give you a puzzled look and reply, “There is no aisle 16.” (Reedsy)
  • The detective didn’t realize they were being foiled by a competing detective. (Reedsy)
  • The first day you opened your own office as a private investigator, you didn’t expect it to be busy. You were wrong. (Reedsy)
  • You are the world’s greatest detective. With your near superhuman intellect, you have never failed to solve a case before. One day, you finally meet your match: a criminal so unbelievably stupid that you cannot possibly comprehend and predict what he’s going to do next. (Reedsy)

What are some romance writing prompts?

  • Left at the altar, you decide to seek revenge on your ex.
  • You got ditched at the last minute before prom – who will your date be?
  • A stranger texts the wrong number, and accidentally sends you a declaration of love. The message is so sweet and heartfelt that you know you can’t let it go.
  • A divorced former couple find each other on the same flight to Paris… Sitting next to each other.
  • After joining an adult swim league, you realize that your coach is irresistibly cute.
  • Your husband accidentally sends you a text meant for his mistress.
  • You and a hot stranger get trapped in an elevator.
  • Write a love story set at the zoo.
  • A college professor and their teaching assistant hit it off a little too well.
  • You get to make one wish to create your dream romantic partner. What is it?
  • Two strangers on an online chat room hit it off. Turns out they’re childhood sweethearts.
  • A parole officer falls in love with his parolee.
  • After their catamaran crashes, a husband and wife on their anniversary trip are left marooned on an island in the tropics.
  • She’s a burgeoning lingerie model who needs her cute neighbor to take portfolio shots of her.
  • An alien falls in love with a forbidden human.
  • Desperate for cash, a med student signs up to be a nude model for a retired women’s art club.
  • A cutthroat business woman swore she’d never find love until her best friend sets her up on a blind date.
  • Two widowed people meet at a community garden.
  • A chef decides to embark on an international culinary tour for inspiration and falls in love with their tour guide.
  • A daughter tries to set her widowed father up on an online dating app – without him knowing.
  • A Republican presidential candidate and Democratic presidential candidate fall in love.
  • You are a popular book heroine’s love interest. You now have 60 seconds to convince them that saving the city is more important than saving you. (@writing.prompt.s)
  • The love of your life is your brother’s nemesis.
  • You fall in love with every person you make eye contact with.
  • You’re a mail order bride arriving at her new home for the first time.
  • After you move to a new city, you fall in love with your realtor while buying a new house.
  • You realize that you’ve fallen out of love with your new wife while you’re on your honeymoon.
  • You and your best friends decide to try a new dating app for the first time.
  • At your friend’s urging, you begrudgingly attend a Valentine’s Day speed dating event. (Reedsy)
  • Every day, you return to your apartment and say, “Honey, I’m home. Oh wait, that’s right… I live alone.” But then one day, a voice replies, “I picked up some pizza.” (Reedsy)
  • Cupid offers to shoot an arrow into the person you love. He warns you that if the person already has a pre-existing affection towards you, it will disappear when the arrow strikes. (Reedsy)
  • You meet your doppelganger of the opposite sex and find you are strangely attracted to each other. (Reedsy)
  • Write a romantic comedy. Difficulty: both lovers are emotionally mature and have excellent communication skills. (Reedsy)
  • In the future, romantic attraction is literal: each person is fitted with an electromagnetic bracelet which, they claim, will pull you to your soulmate. It’s the day they turn the magnets on, and you’re waiting. (Reedsy)
  • A fortune teller falls in love with their client who has their palm read every month. (Reedsy)
  • It wasn’t love at first sight. But now you were starting to see them in a new light… (Reedsy)
  • Someone with anxiety falls in love with someone extremely adventurous. (Reedsy)
  • The lives of two people are changed forever when they coincidentally meet and engage in a weekend-long affair. (Reedsy)
  • They lived in a world where PDA is forbidden. One day, they slipped up and held hands on the street. (Reedsy)
  • Two characters who are perfect for one another are foiled by bad timing. (Reedsy)
  • Two mortal enemies fall in love when they’re trapped in an elevator together and begin to see the other person’s perspective. (Reedsy)
  • Valentine’s Day at a retirement home. (Reedsy)
  • Well, that was a New Year’s Eve kiss you won’t forget any time soon. (Reedsy)
  • You have the ability to make anyone fall in love with you. You’ve just fallen in love for the first time. Do you use your power? (Reedsy)
  • You and your partner finally have the most romantic vacation planned. Problem is, your in-laws decided to tag along at the last minute.
  • You never would have guessed that in 48 hours you’d be married. (Reedsy)
  • A dog lover and cat lover fall in love… and must find a way to get their animals to fall in love, too.
  • You’ve been bumping into the same stranger for months. Finally, you decide to say hello. (Reedsy)
  • They might have aged 50 years, but when they held you, those hands felt exactly like they did the first time. (Reedsy)
  • An avalanche strands two mortal enemies together… and they start to fall in love.

What are some science fiction writing prompts?

  • You wake up one morning to find out that you get to move to any planet of your choosing.
  • Your wife is a droid.
  • Every day, you get one hour to revisit any moment from your life. What do you pick?
  • Gravity no longer exists.
  • You are chosen to go on the first ever recreational space journey.
  • After people die, their spirits can be brought back from death but at the cost of one random human life. Is it worth it?
  • Everyone in the world has the ability to read thoughts. Except for one person.
  • You have to power to build one separate planet. How do you build it? Who gets to live there?
  • What team do you gather to fight the largest alien and terrorist threat on Earth?
  • The world is dying. In order to save it, you’ve been commanded to sacrifice yourself to an invading alien group.
  • You are the first person able to breathe in outer space.
  • A rare form of cancer is the newest superbug. With a team of scientists, you all must find a cure before the population is wiped out.
  • Human beings begin to find themselves growing extra limbs as global warming amps up.
  • It turns out humans have been the aliens all along.
  • You are in charge of a secretive government agency that aligns people’s fates. Their livelihood is entirely up to you and what you want to do with it.
  • Technology becomes illegal.
  • All plant life on the planet is wiped out, except for in Florida.
  • You are one of the mechanics on the first ever self-flying airplane.
  • Walking through the woods one day, you come across a small animal that has the ability to instantaneously clone itself.
  • Your whole family has fought in the space military, but you’ve decided to no longer take part in it.
  • In an alternate universe where global warming has ruined the planet, you’ve spent your entire life living in an airplane on autopilot.
  • You’re a 15-year-old in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. However, a cure has been found that not only rids the infected person of the virus before they turn but prevents it altogether. Only one problem… Your parents are anti-vaxxers. (@writing.prompt.s)
  • Nasa engineers monitor the curiosity rover’s actions. All seems normal until the robot suddenly changes its course. The scientists attempt to correct it over and over until they suddenly receive a transmission from the rover: “Will Save Oppy” (@writing.prompt.s)
  • What if a nuclear submarine was ordered to launch their nuclear arsenal onto the world? (Screencraft)
  • What if the world we live in is actually a computer simulation? (Screencraft)
  • What if the past and present timelines began to merge? (Screencraft)
  • What if your stepfather or stepmother is actually your future self? (Screencraft)
  • What if the sun began to die? (Screencraft)
  • What if the universe as we know it is actually someone’s imagination? (Screencraft)
  • Everyone on earth begins to experience universal amnesia.
  • The year is 2200. What does the world look like to you?
  • In the future, we no longer require water, air, or food. We are a super efficient team of robots.
  • What do you think happens when the grid goes down?
  • Describe your perfect utopian world.
  • Your penpal lives on the opposite side of the universe.
  • Aliens who only communicate with sign language invade. To avoid war, our governments must engage a vastly marginalized portion of the human population: the hearing-impaired. (The Write Practice)
  • A rogue planet with strange properties collides with our sun, and after it’s all over, worldwide temperature falls forty degrees. Write from the perspective of a someone trying to keep his tropical fruit trees alive. (The Write Practice)
  • Ever read about the world’s loneliest whale? Write a story in which he’s actually the survivor of an aquatic alien species which crashed here eons ago, and he’s trying very hard to learn the “local” whale language so he can fit in. Write from his perspective the first time he makes contact. (The Write Practice)
  • An alien planet starts receiving bizarre audio transmissions from another world (spoiler: they’re from Earth). What does it mean? Are they under attack? Some think so…until classic rock ‘n’ roll hits the airwaves, and these aliens discover dancing. Write from the perspective of the teenaged alien who first figures it out. (The Write Practice)
  • Take anything we find normal today (shopping malls, infomercials, products to remove facial hair, etc.) and write a story from the perspective of an archeologist five thousand years in the future who just unearthed this stuff, has NO idea what any of it was for, and has to give a speech in an hour explaining the historical/religious/sociological significance. (The Write Practice)
  • House cats are aliens who have succeeded in their plan to rule the world. Discuss.
  • A high schooler from fifteen hundred years in our future is assigned a one-page writing project on a twenty-first century person’s life based entirely on TV commercials. Write the beginning of the essay. (The Write Practice)
  • Time travel works, but only once in a person’s life. Write from the perspective of someone who chooses to go back in time, knowing they can never return. Where do they go and why? (The Write Practice)
  • So yeah, ancient Egypt really was “all that” after all, and the pyramids turn out to be fully functional spaceships (the limestone was to preserve the electronics hidden inside). Write from the perspective of the tourist who accidentally turns one on. (The Write Practice)
  • Ten years from now, scientists figure out how to stop human aging and extend life indefinitely—but every time someone qualifies for that boost, someone else has to die to keep the surplus population in check. Oh, it’s all very humane; one’s descendants get a huge paycheck. Write from the perspective of someone who just got a letter in the mail saying they’re the one who has to die. (The Write Practice)
  • In the future, neural implants translate music into physical pleasure, and earphones (“jacking in”) are now the drug of choice. Write either from the perspective of a music addict, OR the Sonforce agent (sonance + enforcer) who has the job of cracking down. (The Write Practice)
  • It’s the year 5000. Our planet was wrecked in the great Crisis of 3500, and remaining human civilization survives only in a half dozen giant domed cities. There are two unbreakable rules: strict adherence to Life Quality (recycling doesn’t even begin to cover these laws), and a complete ban on reproduction (only the “worthy” are permitted to create new humans). Write from the perspective of a young woman who just discovered she’s been chosen to reproduce—but she has no interest in being a mother. (The Write Practice)
  • In the nineteenth century, there’s a thriving trade in stolen archeological artifacts. Write a story from the perspective of an annoyed, minimum-wage employee whose job is traveling back in time to obtain otherwise unobtainable artifacts, then has to bring them back to the present (the 1800s, that is) and artificially age them before they will sell. (The Write Practice)
  • Steampunk! Write a story from the perspective of a hot air balloon operator who caters to folks who like a little thrill… which means she spends half her time in the air shooting down pterodactyls before the paying customers get TOO scared. (The Write Practice)
  • Creation myth! Write from the perspective of a crazy scientist in the year 28,000 who, determined to discover how the universe began, rigs up a malfunctioning time machine, goes to the “beginning” of the universe, and ends up being the reason for the Big Bang. (Logic? Causal effect? Pfft. Hush, it’s time-travel, and that was never logical.) (The Write Practice)

What are some fantasy and paranormal writing prompts?

  • A mysterious creature speaks to you in your dreams and tells you that when you awake, you will have the ability to see into another realm.
  • Your pet dragon transforms into a person.
  • You are gifted with the strongest, most elusive sword in the kingdom, but if you use it you will never be able to speak again.
  • A magical world exists underground. To get there, you’ll need to start digging.
  • You wake up and find out that you’re the only living person left on the planet.
  • On her deathbed, your grandmother tells you that there’s a hidden treasure buried in her backyard. The family has been trying to locate it for decades. It’s up to you to finally find it.
  • The ocean becomes the sky.
  • You must save your kingdom from ruin by learning how to breathe fire.
  • You have the power to read the lost language, making you the only person to decipher the scroll.
  • Fairies are tired of being used for free labor.
  • Your favorite fairy tale is now set in 2019.
  • You are kidnapped by a knight who demands your assistance in sleighing the city’s most dangerous dragon.
  • A man and his wife own the largest potion store in town. Little do the townspeople know, but they’re all being slowly poisoned by the potions.
  • A magical toad begins talking to you, but you’re the only person who can hear him.
  • You come into possession of a ring that can change the weather to whatever you decide.
  • You’re selected to take part in a secretive, underground magic university… but you have to kill someone to go.
  • You wake up to find yourself a member of King Arthur’s Round Table.
  • An underwater society decides to overtake the world.
  • Regular person by day, a shape shifter by night.
  • Satan puts you in charge of Hell.
  • You are the king. After your daughter was kidnapped by a dragon, you offered the standard reward to whoever rescued her. You weren’t expecting a different dragon to rescue her. (@writing.prompt.s)
  • A woman has been dating guy after guy, but it never seems to work out. She’s unaware that she’s actually been dating the same guy over and over; a shapeshifter who’s fallen for her and is certain he’s going to get it right this time.  (@writing.prompt.s)
  • The cocky main character of a popular book is sent to the real world. He is shocked to find that the fans of his book not only like the villain more but favor his side kick over him. (@writing.prompt.s)
  • You’re an immortal who lives at a beach resort. You have many summer flings with mortals on getaways. One day you see someone you had a hot romantic night with 50 years ago. They look exactly the same. (@writing.prompt.s)
  • The stars have been watching you your whole life, as you laughed and cried, loved and suffered. Today, you’re finally going to do something that none of them can bear to watch. They blink out, the whole night sky turning dark, just as you’re about to do it. (@writing.prompt.s)
  • A lord takes a fancy to a peasant girl and kidnaps her for his own. Little does he know that she’s a trained assassin who has been preparing to take his life for years. (@writing.prompt.s)
  • You are the last person on Earth, and you are able to make one wish. What do you wish for?
  • You and your family are on a hike when you stumble upon a group of witches in the forest, in the midst of casting spells.
  • You have the power to transform into whatever mystical creature you choose.
  • You and your ghost best friend are an infamous crime-solving team.
  • No, there’s absolutely no way that ghosts are real. Sure, you just saw a mysterious fuzzy figure you appear before you in your house, but that had to be your imagination… right?
  • You’re the one human who is capable of seeing ghosts. It’s up to you to save them from being removed from the human world for good.
  • You were born to be a villain, but you find yourself leaning more and more towards the good as you get older.
  • Spend some time working on world building. How can you create a believable fantasy world that readers can picture clearly? What types of characters does your world include?
  • Dream up your own, one-of-a-kind mythical race.
  • You and your adventurous crew on a quest for the old King’s hidden gold. Just one problem – so is the rest of your village.
  • 10 cm of snow had fallen overnight, just as the weatherman predicted. The only thing is… the snow isn’t white. (Reedsy)
  • You start realizing that at least one aspect of every dream you have comes true the next day. (Reedsy)
  • You can buy a pill that lets you decide exactly what you will dream about while you sleep. (Reedsy)
  • You find a polaroid camera that seems to predict the future: its pictures show what will happen exactly 5 minutes from the moment you take them. (Reedsy)
  • You were on your way to see a doctor who promised to know the secret to making yourself fall out of love with someone. (Reedsy)
  • Write a story that includes a character hearing their fate by a fortune teller. (Reedsy)
  • As a joke, you put on a tinfoil hat. Suddenly your mind goes completely silent. (Reedsy)
  • Silence is now literally golden. For every day of total silence a person completes, they receive a piece of gold. (Reedsy)
  • A new candy had been invented that allowed the person who ate it to relive any memory they wanted. There was a lineup outside the shop. (Reedsy)
  • It’s 1AM at night. But the sun is out. (Reedsy)
  • You wake up 10 years younger. What do you do? (Reedsy)
  • I wish I could skip next week, you think as you get into bed that night. In the morning, you wake up 100 years in the future. (Reesy)
  • They found out about us. They’re coming. They were the words the kingdom had feared hearing for thousands of years. (Reedsy)
  • A group of scientists on a submarine are alarmed when they spot what looks like a functioning lighthouse at the bottom of the ocean. (Reedsy)

What are some general fiction writing prompts?

  • You’re chasing your dream of being the first person to fly.
  • Coffee is illegal and you have to single handedly smuggle it into the country.
  • You have to get to the bottom of your family’s deepest secret.
  • What was the strangest thing you’ve ever seen in public?
  • Detail the life of the person who inspires you the most.
  • Imagine what would happen if you woke up one morning unable to see, speak, or hear.
  • Think about what you are most proud of. Follow the story of how you got to that point.
  • By way of a lottery system, the king chooses you to be his queen.
  • Use five points of view to describe one situation.
  • Describe the life of a struggling author attempting to make it “big.”
  • Tell the story of one woman on the mission to find her lost biological daughter.
  • Your dream is to open a restaurant and be a top chef, but how can you do that when you were born without taste buds?
  • You’ve just returned home from war only to find your family missing without a trace.
  • A famous shoe designer asks you to quit your job and be his latest model.
  • You have the power to create, and star in, your own reality show. What does it look like?
  • The dark family secret that’s always been hidden comes to light.
  • As an 80-year-old, you decide to finally learn how to swim so you can participate in a triathlon.
  • Write a scene detailing your greatest fear. Now imagine that has come true for your character.
  • What’s the greatest advice you’ve ever been given? What if you lived solely according to it?
  • You live in a world with no stress and fear.
  • Death has been flirting with you for a long time, but they’ve become a bit annoying. After another attempting to hang out with you again, you jokingly tell them, “If I was the last person on Earth, I’d maybe give you a chance.” Death believes you and will double their efforts.
  • When people are born, they are assigned a soulmate. They have a song in their head that only them and their soulmate know. How do you find your soulmate? (@writing.prompt.s)
  • Write a story about a character waking up to something absurd. (Reedsy)
  • Write a story about a character waking up to the best news of their life. (Reedsy)
  • Write a short story with an unreliable narrator that readers can never quite trust. (Reedsy)
  • Write a short story in which the main “character” is the setting: for example, a house. (Reedsy)
  • Write a story about someone who would be described, above all else, as honest. Or kind. Or intelligent. (Reedsy)
  • Using only dialogue, write a short story about a first date, a reunion between old friends, an argument that gets heated, an adult explaining something to a child, or the reveal of a long-hidden secret. (Reedsy)
  • Imagine telling the story of a professional hypnotizer. (Reedsy)
  • Tell a story through text messages.
  • Tell the story of what you would do if you won the lottery.
  • Write your own obituary.
  • Tell a story from your favorite era.
  • Imagine how you would help solve the greatest challenges that the world faces. What would your plan be?
  • What would a world be like with no poverty? What would change? What would stay the same?
  • Tell the story of the first time that you learned to do something really well.
  • Imagine what it would be like to be a pop star.
  • Tell a story through song.
  • Write from the perspective of your worst enemy.
  • Tell a story using only one sense – seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, or touching.
  • After years on the job search, you’ve finally gotten your dream job – but it changes you for the worst.
  • You own a tiny mom and pops-type store that you run with your family.
  • The worst thing that you could imagine happening happens.
  • You’re the judge of the annual pie contest in your hometown but, unbeknownst to you, one of the pies is poisoned.
  • You go on a road trip to visit your late father’s grave.
  • Tell the story of seeing the ocean for the first time. Or the last.
  • You’re allergic to oxygen.
  • Imagine what would happen if every person in the world woke up in a good mood every day.
  • You’re put in charge of taking care of your elderly grandmother towards the end of her life.
  • You get one chance to talk to any person in the world. Who do you choose?

What are some religion and spirituality writing prompts?

  • What makes you believe in God?
  • God speaks directly to you – what does He say?
  • What do you find to be most beautiful in the world?
  • You get to build a religion of your own. What do you make it into?
  • You must live every single day according to a holy text of your choice. What happens?
  • Explore what it means to be religious versus spiritual.
  • What helps you meditate?
  • What is the greatest wisdom that you would like to impart on the world?
  • Who is one religious figure you would like to have dinner with? What do you talk to them about?
  • Describe your idea of heaven.
  • Detail your favorite story in the holy text of your choosing.
  • You live in a world where no Gods exist.
  • What does karma mean to you?
  • What would your ideal world look like?
  • You have the power to make every single person in the world ether religious or nonreligious. What do you do? What changes about the world?
  • What makes you a religious or spiritual person?
  • Describe what a church means to you. Have you had positive or negative experiences in a church?
  • Write a poem about your religious path in life.
  • Write a religious comedy.
  • What happens when a priest decides he doesn’t want to be a priest anymore?
  • Think about what morality means to you.
  • What is the difference in good versus evil? How do you know?
  • How does one know what is innately good?
  • What makes you religious?
  • What makes you non religious?
  • Put yourself in the shoes of someone who has completely opposite spiritual or religious views from you. Why do they think a certain way?
  • Describe what your childhood views in spirituality or religion were.
  • What do you hope your religious or spirituality path to look like as you age?
  • How would you advise someone to strengthen their faith?
  • If you could talk to God, what would you want to say?
  • The Southern Baptist Convention elects its first woman president, though she is subsequently removed from the position due to an obscure rule. In protest, every woman leaves the Southern Baptist denomination to form an independent, women-only sect of Baptists.
  • God needs a vacation from heaven, so he comes to earth to experience life as a dog. He is captured by animal control and is impounded, and you adopt god-the-dog after a tragedy that makes you question your faith.
  • An opiate addict going through severe withdrawal symptoms has a conversation with the Buddha – what did they talk about, and was it the result of a fever dream, or a spiritual awakening?
  • You record a video that seemingly shows a woman walking on water at a small rural pond. The video goes viral as proof that Jesus has returned, and Christians begin to wonder if Christ was the Daughter, not the Son, of God.
  • A secular Jew and a devout Muslim debate food and faith on a train from Quebec to Montreal.
  • What are your personal ten commandments?
  • When was a specific moment where you felt a “divine presence” in your life?
  • Have you ever felt like you’ve experienced a glimpse into the afterlife?
  • What form do you think the afterlife will take, if you believe that it exists?
  • Have you ever had an out of body experience?
  • William Blake, famous British poet, thought that to love was to be in tune with the divine. Do you think this is true? How have you experienced divine love?
  • How have you experienced the divine through love?
  • Emanuel Swedenborg believed that there was a soulmate for every person, and that you couldn’t get into heaven until your soul mate had also passed away. Do you believe in the concept of soul mates?
  • Do you believe in reincarnation?
  • What would reincarnation look like to you?
  • Some religions believe that animals and plants have souls. Do you agree with this? Why or why not?
  • Describe a particularly spiritual moment in your life. What were you doing? Were you by yourself or with someone else?
  • What is your most taboo religious belief?
  • Some religions believe that human beings could never truly represent a higher power in art. Do you agree with this? What is an example of art or words that you feel represent the higher power?
  • What are your thoughts on love languages?

What are some travel and adventure writing prompts?

  • Write about your favorite vacation.
  • What culture interests you the most?
  • You get lost in a foreign city with no cell phone and no money. What do you do?
  • Your favorite chef asks you to join them on a culinary tour of the world.
  • What country have you always dreamt of traveling to?
  • What’s your dream vacation?
  • Tell the story of the worst traveling experience of your life.
  • A country of your choosing fuses with North America.
  • You and your best friends go on a road trip across America, with no budget and for however long you want.
  • You are asked to review a luxury hotel on the beach.
  • You are forced to leave your home and move to a remote foreign country. What do you pack with you?
  • What about traveling excites you?
  • Go back in time to the era of your choosing and describe how you live.
  • Rate your top five favorite places in the world. What do you like about each place? What do you dislike?
  • If you could have any travel-related job in the world, what would it be?
  • You and your partner are kidnapped on your honeymoon.
  • Describe a 100-day walking journey around your state.
  • Imagine if you had never left your home in your entire life and then were forced to go outside and never come back to your house.
  • What do you say to your family in a postcard from a new location?
  • Describe what it’s like to sit in rush hour traffic in one of the busiest cities in the world.
  • A journey to a new location is disrupted by natural disaster.
  • Describe what it’s like to travel with a crippling fear of airplanes.
  • What is it that you love about traveling? Explore that feeling.
  • What is frightening about traveling? Explore that feeling.
  • What stories would you most like to share about the town that you’re from?
  • You have the opportunity to move anywhere in the world. Where do you choose?
  • Explore what your travels in Asia have been like.
  • Explore what your travels in Europe have been like.
  • Explore what your travels in South America have been like.
  • Explore what your travels in North America have been like.
  • Explore what your travels in Africa have been like.
  • What is the most unusual place you’d like to travel?
  • What do you think is most misunderstood about the culture of your home country?
  • What cultural norms are you most interested in exploring from foreign countries?
  • Describe the foreign foods that you most want to try.
  • Imagine that you are a successful chef in a foreign city.
  • Describe a time when you have been excited to explore a new place.
  • What is the most beautiful image that you have ever seen while traveling?
  • You get to go to any museum in the world. Which one do you choose?
  • What is your greatest horror story from traveling?
  • What is your happiest story from traveling?
  • Picture yourself on a foreign vacation with a person of your choosing. What do you do?
  • If you had to move to a foreign country tomorrow, what five items would you pack with you?
  • Set the scene for a beautiful beach that you have never traveled to.
  • Set the scene for a gorgeous castle that you have never traveled to.
  • A three day visit to Budapest becomes a maritime adventure down the Danube River to the Black Sea.
  • You are a sales representative for a roulette table manufacturer. While visiting the Harrah’s Cherokee Casino for work, you decide to discard all your possessions, cash out your minimal savings, and hike the Mountains-to-Sea trail from Clingmans Dome to the Ocracoke Lighthouse.
  • While en route to visit your college roommate in Kyoto, Japan you meet a stranger at Tan Son Nhat International Airport who needs your help finding a prophetic monk hiding from persecution in Saigon.
  • You have to make it from Cairo to Alexandria (Egypt). You have no money. Your only mode of transport is a temperamental camel.
  • In a high-stakes game of poker in the French Quarter, you wagered your soul to a voodoo doctor on a pretty bad hand. The only way to null the bet is to find a woman in Port-au-Prince, Haiti who has an item – the only  item – the man is willing to trade for.

What are some horror writing prompts?

  • You wake up to a world in which all prisons are shut down, releasing dangerous prisoners into your neighborhood.
  • A masked stranger appears at your front door with a knife.
  • A random number texts you saying, “Don’t forget, you’re next.”
  • Someone knocks at your door. You open it to find your deceased grandfather who has come back from the dead to pay you a visit. What does he want?
  • Animals take over the world.
  • Strange murmuring sounds being to come from the door that leads to your basement.
  • While watching the evening news, the anchor looks directly at the camera and begins screaming before the camera cuts to black.
  • A polar vortex freezes the entire planet.
  • Whatever building you enter, you can see all of the people who died there.
  • You wake up in a strange room, tied to a chair, with a single knife on the floor pointed at you.
  • A chilling voice appears in your head. It won’t go away. One day, it tells you that you have to run.
  • The old cuckoo clock at your grandmother’s home is haunted.
  • You’re driving at night when you can’t help but shake the feeling that there’s a person in your back seat.
  • One day, while you’re in the shower, you hear your front door open and close. “Hey, roomie, I’m home!” Someone shouts. You don’t have a roommate.
  • A strange man living down the street begins leaving presents at your doorstep.
  • The cruise ship is haunted.
  • While working at a clothing store, you’re closing up the shop for the night when you see five men walk in through the front door and lock it behind them.
  • You’re in the middle of a bank robbery – hiding in the bathroom.
  • Your dog won’t stop barking at a sunken spot in your living room floor.
  • For the last few days, you’ve been getting ominous messages written in blood on your bathroom mirror. Turns out, they’re from an awkward ghost with a serious crush on you. (@writing.prompt.s)
  • The reason no one has ever seen the real Santa Claus is because everyone who sees him dies. You just saw him and now you need to survive. (@writing.prompt.s)
  • You wake up bound to an electric chair, moments before your imminent death.
  • A woman afraid of clowns is forced to work in a travelling circus. (Screencraft)
  • A treasure hunter finds a tomb buried beneath the dirt. (Screencraft)
  • A bartender serves last call to the only remaining patron who is the Devil himself. (Screencraft)
  • A boy’s stepfather is actually a murderous werewolf. (Screencraft)
  • A man wakes up with no mouth. (Screencraft)
  • Deceased soldiers return to their Civil War-era homes. (Screencraft)
  • Suburbia is actually purgatory. (Screencraft)
  • A man suffers from sleep paralysis at the worst possible time. (Screencraft)
  • A man murders his wife while sleepwalking.
  • What appears to be a ghost approaches your car while you’re waiting at a stoplight.
  • It’s late at night, and you hear footsteps in the cellar—but you’re definitely home alone… or so you thought. (The Write Practice)
  • You’ve put that doll in the cabinet, in the closet, in the attic, but no matter where you tuck it, it always shows back up on the sofa. On Halloween night, you come out to find it watching you… (The Write Practice)
  • A bad-tempered businessman is driving home after a long day of work. He thinks he sees his kids trick-or-treating and stops to pick them up—but those aren’t costumes. (The Write Practice)
  • A young woman goes to her grandmother’s house for tea on Halloween night. They have a wonderful time together, sharing stories, joy, and the best times of family. The next day, the woman learns her grandmother has been dead for a week and no one could get ahold of her to tell her. (The Write Practice)
  • Aliens have just landed on Earth—and boy, did they pick a weird day to come. How do they respond to Halloween, supernatural or otherwise? Do they decide this place is just too bizarre and get the heck out . . . or do they stick around and join in the fun? (The Write Practice)
  • On Halloween night, lovers get to come back and spend the evening together one more time. One couple from the Roaring Twenties decides to come back from the grave to help their extreme nerd great-grandchild or the kid will never get married. (The Practice)
  • A little boy’s lost in the woods, but at least his faithful dog is with him. As they look for the way out, the dog defends his master against terrifying monsters and animals. Finally, the boy arrives safely on the other side, beautiful green field, no more fog or night. Then the dog goes home . . . where his owner, the little boy, has died. The good doggy guarded him all the way to his final rest. (The Write Practice)
  • You wake up in the middle of the night to see a dark figure crawling across your floor.
  • Moments after taking off for a flight, the entire plane begins to shake dramatically. The pilot comes on the speaker and says, “This is very bad.”
  • You awake in a dark, small box and can hear strange noises outside.
  • Several weeks after buying your dream house, you start getting strange letters delivered in the mail warning you to move out.
  • Your dog has been acting very strangely recently. Some would say… almost human.
  • You stumble across a website that contains clues to some very disturbing crimes.
  • As you’re settling in to bed for the night, you hear an unusual scratching sound at your bedroom window.
  • You’re on vacation in a new city for the first time. As you walk down a busy boulevard, you suddenly look up to realize you have no idea where you are or how you got there. Come to think of it, you don’t even know who you are.
  • On your way to work, you notice that no one is driving on roads. The busy rush hour traffic is nonexistent, and there are no people walking around, either. It’s just you. What’s going on?
  • You discover, much too late, that your downstairs neighbor is a cannibal.
  • During a renovation of your home, you and your spouse find human remains underneath your back porch – a crime that you are now being charged with.

What are some children’s writing prompts?

  • Your dog begins speaking in a human voice one morning.
  • The sky turns purple.
  • Your best friend’s head turns into a mushroom.
  • Dinosaurs come back to earth.
  • You and your family rescue a turtle who was hit by a car and nurse him back to health.
  • You turn into a goldfish.
  • What would happen if you could turn any food into cotton candy?
  • Rain turns into soda.
  • Your family adopts a pet monkey.
  • The new kid at school wants to be your friend, but you’re very shy.
  • You and your boy scout troop get lost in the middle of the forest.
  • Your parents tell you they’ll give you $20 if you eat your vegetables with every dinner. Do you do it?
  • Write about a special memory from your childhood.
  • What parent were you closest do? What are some of your favorite memories of spending time with them?
  • Write about yourself at age five.
  • Write about yourself at age ten.
  • What was your greatest dream when you were a child?
  • Write about your favorite childhood pet.
  • Get inspiration for your writing by thinking about a vacation you took as a child.
  • What would happen if you woke up one day and kids ruled the world?
  • Tell the story of a child who has just transferred to a new school.
  • Tell the story of a platypus.
  • Imagine running away with a group of your childhood best friends – where would you go?
  • Dream up your own imaginary world.
  • Children’s books are known for their fun and creativity. What’s the craziest, kookiest new breed of animal you can imagine?
  • Give advice to new parents.
  • Give advice to your younger self.
  • Imagine what it would be like to live in a world where instead of taking the school bus, you ride a dragon to classes!
  • Write about your favorite childhood game.
  • Tell the story of a family who decides to hire a new babysitter or nanny.
  • Your parents tell you one day that you’re going to be a big sister – but you really like being the only child!
  • If the world could be any color, what would you want it to be?
  • If you could taste a specific flavor any time you ate something, what would you want it to be?
  • Describe a trip to the zoo with your class.
  • You and your best friends get to leave school to have lunch anywhere in town. Pizza, candy – anything! Tell the story of where you go.
  • Tell the story of your first time at summer camp.
  • Tell the story of your first time away from home.
  • What if we lived in a world where kids were treated like adults? And adults were treated like kids?
  • Take a spin at your very own Dr. Suess-esque book and use rhymes to tell a kooky, crazy story!
  • You’re in charge of babysitting your little sibling for the first time.
  • You decide to run away from home – what are some of the challenges that you face?
  • Picture a world where everything is upside down! What’s life like for you?
  • Write a book advising children on how to overcome adversity.
  • Write a book advising children on how to be a good friend.
  • Write a book advising children on how to be a kind sibling.
  • Bobby the Bunny wants to make friends with a fox pup who recently lost its family.
  • A giraffe and an ostrich live together in a zoo, where they bond over similar neck characteristics and learn how to play one another’s games.
  • A dragon wants to be loved and befriended, but every time he farts, fire erupts from his rear end.
  • Bruce the German Shepherd loves to run through the woods with his human. When he and his human get separated from one another, Bruce has to learn from his forest friends how to get back home.
  • Tell the story of the tooth fairy… Imagine that she just started her job and has to be trained.

What are some young adult writing prompts?

  • It’s your first day of middle school. But when you’re half human, half dragon, that makes things a little tough.
  • What happens when you begin working at the same yogurt shop as your crush?
  • Both of your parents die in a car accident, leaving you an orphan who gets shipped off to your mysterious aunt’s house in Europe.
  • One day you find out that you never have to return to high school. What do you decide to do instead?
  • You’re chosen to go on a school trip to Africa where you’ll be helping to build wells. You’ve never been out of the country, though, and are worried.
  • Your mom disappears one day, and you never see her again.
  • Tell the story of the best high school summer of your life.
  • Your boyfriend gets in a horrible car accident and ends up in the ICU. Another girl is found in the car with him, too – but she died. Who is she?
  • You find out that your brother is adopted.
  • During her freshman year of college, she found out that people in her dorm started to disappear. Almost from thin air.
  • A group of high school freshmen learn that the teachers and administrators at their boarding school are actually human like AI working towards the Singularity and human enslavement. If they don’t act fast, the robots win.
  • A group of at-risk teenagers are on an overnight camping trip with a wilderness counseling group in Badlands National Park when an arctic blast forces them out of a blizzard and into a cave. On day three, their counselors go out in search for help – and never return.
  • Your high school sweetheart dumps you suddenly because of something you posted on social media. But you didn’t post it, and you have to figure out just how different – and difficult – your life is now that you’ve been hacked.
  • Imagine that the world is run amok with vampires. Or zombies. Or authoritarian dictatorships in a dystopian future.
  • In the near future, climate change has led to the extinction of butterfly and bee pollinators. A small group of teen geniuses band together to develop autonomous, robotic insects to replicate the functions of insect pollination before the global food shortage turns from disastrous to extinction-level.
  • You find out that your best friend’s dad is responsible for the growing number of missing people in your hometown. How do you get everyone to believe you?
  • You did it – after years of hard work and try outs, you finally won the coveted spot on the football team. But here’s the thing – you’re the first girl to ever play.
  • One night you wake up to find yourself levitating over your bed. The next morning, strange wings start to grow from your shoulders. Are you turning into some sort of mystical bird?
  • It was pretty freaky to wake up for school one morning, only to see that my parents were literally frozen into blocks of ice in the kitchen. Even freakier? Every adult in town is frozen solid, too.
  • A boy pursues his list of wildly ambitious New Year’s resolutions, with hilarious and touching results. (Bryn Donovan)
  • A girl on the swim team transforms into a part-time mermaid. (Bryn Donovan)
  • A group of “outsiders” become a clique that eventually excludes others. (Bryn Donovan)
  • A girl’s favorite author plagiarizes her fanfiction. (Bryn Donovan)
  • A boy learns who believed his sister died finds out she’s very much alive. (Bryn Donovan)
  • A teenager’s best friend goes missing—and is widely believed to be the murderer of a family member. (Bryn Donovan)
  • Two teens begin to write a fantasy novel together and then cross over into the world they’ve created. (Bryn Donovan)
  • In a dystopian future, college admissions boards have access to video footage of students’ entire lives. (Bryn Donovan)
  • A girl always hangs out at a particular little nook at the library. Then the same boy starts taking the space every day. (Bryn Donovan)
  • A boy learns something terrible about his parents.(Bryn Donovan)
  • In a modern-day Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, three girls ditch class for a day filled with adventures. (Bryn Donovan)
  • 35. A girl who wants to be a virgin until she gets married faces social pressure about her decision. (Bryn Donovan)
  • A teen gains the ability to take the form of any other person she chooses. (Bryn Donovan)
  • A girl’s science fair project yields results that attract the government’s attention. (Bryn Donovan)
  • A teen’s suspicions about a teacher lead him to conduct a private investigation. (Bryn Donovan)
  • A girl struggles with the decision to tell authorities about what the star quarterback did. (Bryn Donovan)
  • Soon after a boy was born, his father went missing. Now, a skeleton has been discovered in the basement of their former home. (Bryn Donovan)
  • You check out a book from the library and discover that it’s telling the story of your life. Do you decide to read ahead and find out what happens, or let it be a surprise?
  • Your beloved dog goes missing, resulting in a cross-country chase to reunite her with your family.
  • Put yourself in your favorite anime or manga series. What type of character would you play?
  • You and your best friends have been playing in a band in your mom’s garage for years. Now you’ve gotten discovered by a major Hollywood scout, but they only want you to go on to fame.
  • Some friends go to an escape room only to discover it’s being run by one of the most elusive serial killers in history.
  • After going to see the circus with your parents, you decide to run away to join the troupe. What act do you take on?
  • What would you tell your younger self as a teenager? What do you wish you had done differently, or not done at all?
  • What would your younger self tell you now? What would they think about your life?
  • Tell the story of someone who switches places with themself as a 14-year-old.
  • Think Princess Diaries – you’ve just found out you’re part royal with a massive inheritance to look forward to. What changes about your life?
  • A small spaceship crash lands in your backyard with nothing inside but an instruction manual on how to rebuild the aircraft. Do you take it back into space?
  • You have the power to shift into whatever creature you want – bear, wolf, etc. When do you choose to utilize your powers?
  • What would happen if you changed places with a rockstar?
  • Your big brother has always been the more successful, studious one of the family. You’ve finally got a chance to prove yourself and one up him – how do you do it?

There you have it, we hope these 500 writing prompts help you on your way to publishing your next book . For more resources on self-publishing, book marketing, and general indie author trends, make sure you check out these resources . You can also sign up for our free author newsletter to stay up to date on the latest news.

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47 comments on “ 500 writing prompts to help beat writer’s block ”.

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Thanks for sharing the prompt ideas! I am thinking to start writing a book since a long time. But I wasn’t getting any good heads. Your article has helped to understand my area of interest, especially in which I can write a book successfully.

very nice story I like it

Writer’s doubts never end here is a way to solve this issue with 500 writing prompts. It is such a research based and praiseworthy blog, it is a must read. Thank you for this article! This is really very informative for us.

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With all 500 of these, I should have no trouble finding something to write about. Thanks so much for these prompts.

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My friends and I are doing a competition to see who is the best FANTASY writer. Here’s the catch, you need to include twins, homeless people and abused animals in your story. Plz help???

Hi Ebony! Maybe try a slightly post-apocalyptic slant? I know that subgenre can veer on Science Fiction (instead of Fantasy) but you could definitely apply those required themes to a post-apoc story.

Urban fantasy set in a modern day. The protagonist is a homeless person who has a pet dove-griffin (also called winged rats). One day, he is assaulted and they take his companion, leaving him for dead. He survives, and uses his background as a hunter to track down the people who wronged him, stumbling in the process upon a ring of fantasy animal traffickers called the Chain of Cerberus, which is ruled by three brothers, triplets. He has to fight against all odds using his skills and save his only friend and companion.

The secret motivation for the protagonist is atonement for his past as a hunter, since he helped rich people (like the Triplets) to capture the fantastic animals they were after.

I call it ‘Fantasy John Wick’

Thank you for sharing such a wealth of prompts! These are fantastic. What a tough job to choose 500! If you’re interested in more open-ended prompts (just to switch it up), check out my instagram for (almost) daily writing prompts as well: @sharp.writer .

This is the complete list of writing prompts over the internet. Thanks for sharing.

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SoI made like a short script bit of a prompt like the one bout you looking in a mirror to see something that does not look like you.

Its 5 o’clock in the morning. As I came out of my cream sheets with speckles of generally grey all around, I fixed my bed. From patting down pillows to rearranging my duvet for the most part placing my silk pretty black blanket to definitely finish it off. I basically was heading for the fridge to get the creamer for coffee when I stared into the actually metal fridge looking for my reflection but instead kind of found that something looking back at me and it was not my reflection, which really is quite weird. Its kind of looked nothing like me, or so I thought. I really tried to really come up with excuses; I am in a daze, I am still half-asleep, I for the most part am asleep. IT CAN’T BE. I said, until I saw that it can. But that thing in the mirror particularly was scaring me because it stared back at me and it was waving now in a kind of like I AM WATCHING YOU kind of way. but before I could do anything it….

I found your blog very helpful in my writing project someday. Thank you for sharing your wonderful article.

I’m so glad this was helpful to you, Monique. You’re very welcome!

I have been reading posts regarding this topic and this post is one of the most interesting and informative one I have read. Thank you for this!

You’re very welcome, Patricia!

i need to do a story in which the main character is a demigod (as in percy jackson yknow) and i don’t know what to write.

Here’s one you might enjoy , Anika! Found on the #demigod prompts Tumblr page.

This is an excellent list of prompts! For me, though, I don’t lack story ideas or character scenarios. After plotting out my story, I tend to get stalled after a few chapters or in a particular scene, even when I have a good conflict for the characters to work through. ****** I found this great little book on Amazon called “What Would Your Character Do?” It really helped me because the prompts are designed to get you brainstorming about your character’s next actions when you’re stuck in a scene. I can always find a prompt in the book to get me unstuck! I’ll definitely share this particular list with my writer friends though!

Great recommendation, Jackie! Thanks for sharing

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thank you for these prompts. they really helped with my writer’s block

these are so helpful! I’ve been trying to figure out how to continue my dystopian story for weeks then I found this website! I can’t wait to continue working!

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Thank you so much for compiling such an array of prompts. Reading through these and of course changing them up in my head has me scrambling to write again. Have a Blessed Day!

Was looking for some takes regarding this topic and I found your article quite informative. It has given me a fresh perspective on the topic tackled. Thanks!

What a great list of writing prompts. I have saved this page to share with my writing partner. I am sure we will use some of these.

Hello! I wanted to ask you, if I am allowed to use some of you prompts. (of course I will give credits to you and add a link to this site). I am leader for a community on an app called Amino, it’s quite similar to Instagram, where the member can post some stuff. I wanted to post some writing prompts, since everyone there likes to write. So I wantet do aks, if i can use some of your prompts. (And sorry for my bad english, I have a german community there, since I speak german…)

Absolutely, please feel free to share and we would appreciate linking back!

Of course I do, thank you!

This was so helpful! Every prompt in this article was amazing You’ve really outdone yourself Kelsey!!!!!<3

This is extremely helpful. I am in 2nd year of high school and struggle with writers-block. I decided to do number three in the ‘horror’ section, and the options written in this article are extremely ‘flexible’ — there is a prompt for everyone. Thank you.

These writing prompts are fun! Thanks for putting it all together.

I’ve started several books. None completed, Although a few stories were published in a small town newspaper. A couple of years ago I began a book when the work came to an abrupt end. My husband fell off the roof. Now, after 2 years, I find myself wanting to write, but stymied as how to pick up where I left off. I’ve read your prompts. Some of the fiction, thriller, mystery and prompts in other areas have been true life experiences for me. Now, as I stand in the aftermath of the train that hit me, in need of a battery jump to restart, I have hopefully found a way forward.

I absolutely loved these! Thanks so much! Writing prompts really help me keep the wheels turning.

Thanks so much for these amazing prompts! I had nailed down a genre and topic but needed some help getting down to the nitty gritty specifics. You saved the day (and my essay). Thank you!

I am impressed with your sharing. Helpful for new writers. Thanks for your share.

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Unbeatable listing. A lot of quality and tremendous compilation.

I love these prompts! They help me get started when I’m feeling stuck.

I have all the actual writing material I need, but I am using writing prompts to get myself in the zone for writing. This list is outstanding. It’s a bit of a struggle to stop perusing because there are so many that entice me. I’m pretty sure that many of these will little warm-ups will end up in my Ideas file. Thanks so much for this.

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BEST SHORT STORY WRITING PROMPTS

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Showing 30 prompts reset

Aposiopesis, write a story about hope., write a story in the form of a letter, or multiple letters back and forth., start your story in the middle of the action., write a story that experiments with tone — perhaps a difficult subject dealt with in a playful way, or an ostensibly happy scene that hints at darkness lurking beneath., start your story with two people planting a tree together..

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Fly by the seat of your pants and write a story without a plan.

Halfway through a fierce competition, your character is given the opportunity to cheat their way to victory: do they take it, write about a character who smells something familiar and is instantly taken back to the first moment they smelled it., write a story about someone experiencing a lightbulb moment of writing inspiration., write a story that ends by circling back to the beginning., subscribe to our prompts newsletter.

Never miss a prompt! Get curated writing inspiration delivered to your inbox each week.

Write a story about someone who finds a secret passageway in their house.

Write a story about a character struggling to decide how to handle a problem that is morally gray..

  • Write a short story about someone in the self-help aisle of a bookstore. What book do they pick up?

Write about a character’s secret area of expertise, something most of their acquaintances would be surprised to learn they know tons about.

It kicks off on a yacht with the delivery of an important letter., write a story about a family road trip., write a story about someone trying to find the perfect birthday gift., write a story about a sweet sixteen..

  • Write a story inspired by the last sentence of any book you own.

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  • Write a story that starts someone announcing big news.

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The best short story writing prompts

Short stories are deceptive. They're only supposed to be 2,000 words — but if you're a short story writer staring at a blank page, even that length seems too intimidating.

Don't worry: we get it. That's why we created this directory of creative writing prompts for short stories, designed to give you ideas so that you can concentrate on what you do best: writing them. Our prompts span genres, from romance to general fiction to mystery, so make sure to use the filters to narrow them down to what you need in order to get over your writer's block! Above all, remember to have fun with the inspiration. Use these short story prompts as another way to interact with the world around us.

If you're looking to cut to the chase, here's a top ten list of our favorite story writing prompts:

  • Write a short story where the main "character" is the setting: a house.
  • Write a story based on a cartoon trope (an anvil or piano falls on someone's head, someone's eyes turn to hearts when they fall in love, etc.).
  • Write a story based on your favorite song.
  • Write a story told from second person point of view (uses "you" language).
  • Write a story with seven characters — one for each of the seven sins.
  • Write about a character's secret area of expertise, something most acquaintances would be surprised to learn they know tons about.
  • Your protagonist opens a purse or a desk drawer and finds three objects. By the end of your story, there's only one item left. What happens to the other two?

If you're interested in learning how to write short stories, check out our free resources on the topic:

How to Write a Short Story That Gets Published (free course) — Laura Mae Isaacman, a full-time editor who runs a book editing company in Brooklyn, teaches this comprehensive 10-day course that’s all about short stories. She’ll cover the entire process, from writing the story to actually getting it published.

Character Profile Template (free resource) — Your characters will make or break your short story. This is especially true since short stories are so, well, short that you need to make every word count. That’s why we recommend downloading this free character profile template, so that you can make sure that you understand your character from inside-out before you start writing your short story.

Ready to start writing? Check out Reedsy’s weekly short story contest for the chance of winning $250! You can also check out our list of writing contests or our directory of literary magazines for more opportunities to submit your story.

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Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

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Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

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Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

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Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

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Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

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Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

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Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

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Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

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Winter Writing Prompts ⭢

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COMMENTS

  1. Writing Prompts To Inspire You Right Now - Reedsy">1800+ Creative Writing Prompts To Inspire You Right Now - Reedsy

    Here's how our contest works: every Friday, we send out a newsletter containing five creative writing prompts. Each week, the story ideas center around a different theme. Authors then have one week — until the following Friday — to submit a short story based on one of our prompts. A winner is picked each week to win $250 and is highlighted ...

  2. 40 Short Story Prompts You Can Write in a Day - TCK Publishing">40 Short Story Prompts You Can Write in a Day - TCK Publishing

    From this list of short story prompts, choose two of your favorite genres, and pick one story prompt from each genre that appeals to you. You can also check out our list of creative writing prompts for some added inspiration, so you can keep those ideas (and your ink) flowing!

  3. Writing Prompts: Endless Inspiration for Your Writing">400+ Writing Prompts: Endless Inspiration for Your Writing

    Here are a few guidelines when creating your science fiction world from these writing prompts: Decide if the story will take place in this world or a completely unique one; Create realistic advanced technology that your characters would actually use; Avoid modern-day slang unless the story takes place here;

  4. Story Ideas - The Write Practice">Top 100 Short Story Ideas - The Write Practice

    Use these 100 story ideas to get your creative writing started now. Editor’s note: This is a recurring guide, regularly updated with ideas and information. If you're in a hurry, here's my 10 best story ideas in brief, or scroll down for the full version. Top 10 Story Ideas.

  5. Creative Writing Prompts for Writers - Writer's Digest">100 Creative Writing Prompts for Writers - Writer's Digest

    Write a story or scene describing where they went and how their trip panned out. 3. Misheard Lyrics. Think of some of the song lyrics you have misheard throughout the years. Pick your favorite, and use these misheard lyrics as the title of a new creative writing piece. Write a story, scene, or poem based on this title. 4. I'm Glad You Called ...

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    69 Short Story Writing Prompts. With writing prompts, you get a launching pad of sorts: a question, an idea, a provocative quote, or something that inspires a reaction — specifically a written one. Maybe that reaction is an argument, or maybe it’s an impassioned defense of an idea.

  7. 500 Writing Prompts to Help Beat Writer’s Block">500 Writing Prompts to Help Beat Writer’s Block

    Through combing the Internet for great websites and blogs like Reedsy, Screencraft, The Write Practice, Bryn Donovan’s resources, and the @writing.prompt.s Instagram page, we’ve written and gathered 500 writing prompts to help you kickstart your brain into writing mode. Categorized into ten popular genres, we encourage you to grab your mug ...

  8. Story Ideas… And How to Brainstorm Your Own! - Reedsy">200+ Short Story Ideas… And How to Brainstorm Your Own! - Reedsy

    New prompts are added each week, and you can search by genre. But don’t let our categories stop you from putting your own spin on a writing prompt: if you find a short story idea tagged as sci-fi, but you think it would make a great romance plot, run with it! For tips on how to come up with your own story ideas, scroll to the bottom of the page.

  9. Creative Writing Prompts - Writer's Digest">Creative Writing Prompts - Writer's Digest

    Need an idea to help you get started writing? You’ll find hundreds of fun writing prompts here – perfect for beginning a new novel or short story, or simply giving your writing muscle a workout.

  10. Story Writing Prompts of 2023 - Reedsy">Best Short Story Writing Prompts of 2023 - Reedsy

    The best short story writing prompts. Short stories are deceptive. They're only supposed to be 2,000 words — but if you're a short story writer staring at a blank page, even that length seems too intimidating. Don't worry: we get it.