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Best Dramatic Writing Prompts

Join our ongoing contests and win up to $1,500. Flex those creative muscles with these writing prompts.

Showing 216 prompts reset

This week's contest:
Win $250

Final Destination

179 contest entries /
98 stories

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View contest
Closes at 23:59 - Mar 20 EST

An apologetic letter or email from an old flame suddenly arrives — many years too late.

– 68 stories

A character gets caught red-handed breaking the rules, but they refuse to admit any wrongdoing. What happens next?

– 44 stories

Center your story around a character who longs for something they’ve lost.

– 85 stories

Start or end your story with two friends who become enemies/rivals, or vice versa.

– 21 stories

Center your story around someone who’s being haunted — by what or whom is up to you.

– 97 stories

Start your story with a character being led somewhere by a black cat.

– 64 stories

Use a personal memory to craft a ghost story.

– 69 stories

Write a story that hides something from the reader until the end.

– 105 stories

Begin your story with someone either being followed or following someone else.

– 48 stories

Start or end your story with someone running away from something, literally or metaphorically.

– 79 stories

Write a story that includes the line “Have we met before?”

– 140 stories

A character crosses paths with a stranger who looks eerily familiar.

– 65 stories

Write a story about someone searching for a missing ingredient, literally or metaphorically.

– 48 stories

Start or end your story with two people discussing an important matter over a meal.

– 57 stories

Show how an object’s meaning can change as a character changes.

– 58 stories

Write a story about an ordinary object that becomes magical (either literally or figuratively).

– 60 stories

Write a story about an object that changed everything for a character.

– 81 stories

Write a story set against the backdrop of a storm.

– 101 stories

Set your story in an airport where all flights have been canceled and all the passengers and crew members are stranded.

– 36 stories

Write a story with a big twist.

– 183 stories

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