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 Prompts 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 2610 prompts

Write about a character who meticulously catalogs everything in their life, until something disrupts their system.

– 59 stories

Start your story with a stern librarian scolding two characters for making noise in the library.

– 113 stories

Write about someone going to extreme lengths to return an overdue library book.

– 130 stories

Start your story with someone sitting on a crowded train and end it with them looking out over beautiful natural scenery.

– 255 stories

Write about a community that worships Mother Nature.

– 82 stories

Set your story in a world living with the consequences of a climate apocalypse.

– 131 stories

Write a story in which an endangered species (of plant or animal) plays a central role.

– 93 stories

Write a story that weaves together multiple lives through their connection to a particular tree.

– 246 stories

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

– 201 stories

Write about someone who is always looking toward the future.

– 77 stories

Write a story where one person is trying to say goodbye but keeps getting interrupted.

– 152 stories

Start your story with a character taking a leap of faith.

– 151 stories

Write a story that spans a month during which everything changes.

– 131 stories

Write about an author famous for their fairy tale retellings.

– 72 stories

Write a fairy tale about an outsider trying to fit in.

– 171 stories

Write about a prince or princess who is asked to give up something valuable as part of a deal to escape the world they come from.

– 189 stories

Write a story about an ordinary person speaking truth to power.

– 67 stories

Write a cautionary fable about someone who always lies.

– 116 stories

Write about someone who goes to great lengths to avoid being pranked on April 1st, only to realize they had the date wrong and it’s already April 2nd.

– 60 stories

Start your story with a big company pulling an April Fools’ prank that ends up going horribly wrong.

– 82 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.