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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 241 prompts reset

This week's contest:
Win $250

A Fright to Remember

25 contest entries /
8 stories

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View contest
Closes at 23:59 - Oct 30 EST

Write a story in which a character discovers that a truth they've believed their whole life is either false or not the whole story.

– 68 stories

Write your story as text messages or an online conversation between two characters — and at least one of them isn’t who they say they are.

– 28 stories

Start or end your story with someone standing in the rain.

– 89 stories

Write a story where the weather mirrors a character’s emotions.

– 59 stories

Set your story during — or just before — a storm.

– 134 stories

Write a story with a character pouring out their emotions.

– 42 stories

Write a story with the line “You never know a good thing until it’s gone.”

– 41 stories

Center your story around a character who’s afraid of being forgotten.

– 71 stories

Center your story around a character who’s struggling to let go.

– 79 stories

Write a story with a character or the narrator saying “I remember…”

– 155 stories

Write a story about people preparing for Y2K.

– 29 stories

Set your story in a place where everything should be familiar to your character(s), but isn’t.

– 57 stories

Write a story that includes the line “I should’ve known better.”

– 82 stories

Write about someone who receives a gift or message that changes their life forever.

– 87 stories

Write a story with the line “I wasn’t expecting that.”

– 63 stories

Write a story that ends with a huge twist.

– 79 stories

Write a story where someone who has done something wrong seeks a fresh start.

– 25 stories

Write a story that begins with an apology.

– 76 stories

Write a story that includes the line “Be careful what you wish for.”

– 36 stories

Start or end your story with someone receiving a strange — and possibly sinister — gift.

– 51 stories

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