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 a story about a character who begins to question their own humanity.

– 78 stories

Your protagonist discovers they’ve been wrong about the most important thing in their life.

– 98 stories

Write a story in which two (or more) characters want the same thing — but for very different reasons.

– 54 stories

A character breaks a rule they swore they’d never break. What happens next?

– 55 stories

Center your story around someone who finally achieves their biggest goal — only to realize it cost them everything.

– 68 stories

Write a story about a character who believes something that isn’t true.

– 155 stories

Write a story whose first and last words are the same.

– 70 stories

Tell a story with a series of calls, emails, and/or text messages.

– 26 stories

Write about someone arriving somewhere for the first or last time.

– 70 stories

Your character is traveling a road that has no end.

– 60 stories

Write about someone who has (or is given) the ability to teleport or time-travel.

– 46 stories

Write a story that doesn’t include any dialogue at all.

– 88 stories

Include a number or time in your story’s title.

– 55 stories

Write a story in which something doesn’t go according to plan.

– 53 stories

Set your story in/on a car, plane, or train.

– 57 stories

Write about someone who must fit their whole life in one suitcase.

– 83 stories

Write a story that includes the words “déjà vu” or “that didn’t happen.”

– 52 stories

Your protagonist is doomed to repeat a historical event.

– 13 stories

Write a story where the traditional laws of time and/or space begin to dissolve.

– 53 stories

Tell a story through diary/journal entries, transcriptions, and/or newspaper clippings.

– 46 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.