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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 2604 prompts

Write a story about a character who returns home changed by someone they met on a trip.

– 40 stories

Write a story about someone who finds someone’s diary, and tries to reunite it with its owner. It’s up to you whether they read it or not!

– 51 stories

Your protagonist walks past an intriguing stranger, then turns around to take another look at them. The stranger turns around, too. Write about what happens next.

– 59 stories

Write about a character having a spiritual experience at a concert or a nightclub.

– 27 stories

Set your story on a warm summer evening with a full moon, when everything feels magnetic and your character’s about to meet someone important.

– 74 stories

Write a story that contains the phrase “Okay class! Pop quiz.”

– 24 stories

Write a short story about a teacher or mentor figure who recognizes hidden (or magical!) potential in someone and helps them cultivate it.

– 46 stories

Write about a school trip that takes a turn for the unexpected.

– 15 stories

Start your story with somebody getting called to the principal’s office.

– 39 stories

Write a story about an unconventional teacher.

– 55 stories

Set your story in a world where everyone’s decisions are made for them. One morning, your character wakes up, and chooses not to go to work. Wait…chooses?!

– 18 stories

Write about somebody who wholeheartedly believes in fate, and views every little thing through the lens of predestiny.

– 22 stories

Write a story that includes the phrase “I’m free!”

– 59 stories

Write about a god desperately trying to get their chosen hero to follow the path they set out for them.

– 61 stories

Write a story about someone successfully — or unsuccessfully — escaping their fate.

– 105 stories

Set your story in a world where time travel has been perfected, and people can use it to hop between alternate timelines — but at a cost.

– 49 stories

Write a story involving a portal into a parallel universe.

– 61 stories

You’re walking down the street, when you spot a familiar figure. It’s another you. And they’ve come from an alternate reality to warn you about something.

– 32 stories

Write a story that includes the phrase “Maybe in another life.”

– 73 stories

Write about a character unknowingly experiencing a “sliding doors” moment. Write your story in two halves; what could have been, and what actually happened.

– 61 stories

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