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Writing Prompts

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

Showing 2605 prompts

Write about an encounter with someone new to you who changed your life forever.

– 97 stories

Write a story that includes the line “Better late than never.”

– 38 stories

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

– 97 stories

Write a story about someone who’s running out of time.

– 44 stories

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

– 64 stories

Write a story from the point of view of a witch, spirit, or corpse.

– 121 stories

Center your story around a childhood fear that – as much as you try to shake it – still resonates in adulthood.

– 88 stories

Write a story where a creature turns up in an unexpected way.

– 85 stories

Use a personal memory to craft a ghost story.

– 69 stories

Write a story that includes the line “Fate is resourceful.”

– 74 stories

Center your story on a character filled with love and fear in equal measure.

– 65 stories

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

– 105 stories

Your character is invited to a secret meeting. Who invited them, and what do they encounter?

– 38 stories

Write a story with the line “Don’t tell anyone.”

– 75 stories

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

– 50 stories

Write a story in the form of diary/journal entries about a secret or confession.

– 67 stories

Write a story in which the narrator or a character says "Did you hear that?"

– 77 stories

Center your story around someone trying to resist their darker impulses — and they’ll either succeed or fail.

– 62 stories

Write a story from the point of view of a ghost, vampire, or werewolf.

– 134 stories

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

– 79 stories

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