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Best Fiction Writing Prompts

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

Showing 58 prompts reset

This week's contest:
Win $250

Gone in a Flash

183 contest entries /
104 stories

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View contest
Closes at 23:59 - Mar 13 EST

Set your story in a cat shelter.

– 24 stories

Write about a cat living in an ancient temple, like the Acropolis.

– 17 stories

Write a story that formally utilizes a mathematical sequence; e.g., the Fibonacci sequence could determine the number of words in each paragraph, or start with a number and work backwards. Make sure the formula is made clear, either within the story, or before or after it.

– 17 stories

Write a story within a story within a story within a ...

– 53 stories

Write a story of fragments. Many options here: no verbs, sentence fragments, short sections, nothing but objects, etc. The fragments should relate to one another obliquely, hesitantly, subtly, ambiguously, preposterously, marvelously.

– 52 stories

Write a story in which each paragraph begins or ends (or both!) with the same sentence.

– 76 stories

Write a story about a librarian that doesn’t fit into the common librarian stereotypes.

– 61 stories

Write about a character named after one of our contest’s judges.

– 11 stories

Write a story that involves a flashback.

– 70 stories

Set your story in a town full of cowards.

– 31 stories

Write a story where a character is exploring their religious or spiritual identity.

– 57 stories

Set your story in a drawing room.

– 29 stories

Start your story with someone trying to read a map.

– 35 stories

Start your story with someone saying “Thanks a lot” (sarcastically or sincerely).

– 36 stories

Start your story with a metaphor about human nature.

– 109 stories

Write a story in which the same line recurs three times.

– 161 stories

Start your story with an ending and work backward toward the beginning.

– 201 stories

Write about someone who still practices a skill that used to be necessary but has long since been replaced by technology.

– 133 stories

Write the 'origin story' of a person who goes on to achieve great things.

– 128 stories

Write a story about change.

– 161 stories

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