Menu

More apps built by Reedsy

Assemble a team of professionals

The writing app for authors

Writing courses, events and memberships

Get your book reviewed

Weekly writing prompts and contests

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Weekly Prompts Contest
Reedsy Literary Prize
Magazine
FAQ

Best Dramatic Writing Prompts

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

Showing 214 prompts reset

This week's contest:
Win $250

Tension, Twists, and Turns with WOW!

78 contest entries /
35 stories

--

days

--

hours

--

mins

--

secs

View contest
Closes at 23:59 - Feb 27 EST

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.

– 50 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).

– 61 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.

– 102 stories

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

– 37 stories

Write a story with a big twist.

– 183 stories

Start your story with someone who has lost everything but finds solace in photography.

– 63 stories

Write a story about a tragic hero.

– 55 stories

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

How to Write a Novel

We made a writing app for you

Yes, you! Write. Format. Export for ebook and print. All for free.