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 Contest
Monthly Contest
Reedsy Literary Prize
Magazine
FAQ

Writing Prompts

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

Showing 2,786 prompts

Write about a character who struggles to do the right thing.

– 32 stories

Start your story with a character being followed.

– 98 stories

Your protagonist is a voracious reader. Lately, they’ve been noticing odd synchronicities in the books he or she is reading. What does the protagonist discover is happening?

– 30 stories

Dream up a secret library. Write a story about an adventurer who discovers it. What’s in the library? Why was it kept secret?

– 93 stories

Write a story about a future academic (or another influential person) “rediscovering” a book that, in its time, was dismissed. The book can be fictitious or real.

– 10 stories

Your protagonist is a writer who discovers a new favorite author. How does their writing, or even their own personality, change as the protagonist falls under the writer’s influence?

– 27 stories

Write a story about discovering a lost manuscript. It can be from a famous (or infamous) author, or an unknown one.

– 62 stories

Your teacher tasks you with writing a story based on an eavesdropped conversation. When the story is published, your subject isn’t happy.

– 15 stories

A character overhears something at a black-tie event that puts the night in jeopardy.

– 43 stories

Write a story in which someone can only hear one side of a conversation and must piece together the meaning of what they’ve heard.

– 37 stories

Write a story about a child overhearing something they don’t understand.

– 59 stories

Write a story in which someone is afraid of being overheard.

– 61 stories

Write a story about a character driving and getting lost.

– 94 stories

Write a story about a tennis match between two rivals.

– 15 stories

Write a story that begins with someone dancing in a bar.

– 63 stories

Write a story around someone (literally) bumping into someone else.

– 52 stories

Write a story about a character running late for a job interview.

– 72 stories

Write a story titled 'Persuasion'.

– 39 stories

Write a story titled 'The Wind in the Willows'.

– 47 stories

Write a story titled 'Desperate Remedies'.

– 61 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

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢

Reedsy | Default — Editors with Marker | 2024-05

Bring your publishing dreams to life

The world's best editors, designers, and marketers are on Reedsy. Come meet them.