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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 221 prompts reset

This week's contest:
Win $250

The Tools of Creation with Angela Yuriko Smith

92 contest entries /
61 stories

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Closes at 23:59 - Apr 24 EST

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

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

– 62 stories

Write a story about a tragic hero.

– 55 stories

Center your story around a character bargaining for something that's important to them.

– 42 stories

Make a character’s obsession or addiction an important element of your story.

– 127 stories

Start your story with a character being followed.

– 98 stories

Write a story about a character driving and getting lost.

– 94 stories

Write about a character who sees a photo they shouldn’t have seen.

– 62 stories

Write about someone who is convinced they’re going to be betrayed.

– 52 stories

Set your story in a lighthouse surrounded by powerful gale-force winds.

– 37 stories

Set your story during a month of drought — whether literal, or metaphorical.

– 35 stories

Include in your story a scene about a family's last meal before a significant change.

– 58 stories

Start your story with someone saying “I can’t sleep.”

– 86 stories

Write a story about a character who finds guidance in an unlikely place.

– 80 stories

Write from the POV of a security guard on the night shift, sitting in front of a wall of CCTV feeds.

– 46 stories

Start or end your story with a character receiving a hug or words of comfort.

– 100 stories

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