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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 2599 prompts

Just before Valentine's Day, a long-lost relative you've never heard of enters your life.

– 53 stories

You live in a neighborhood where lots of people go out of town for the holidays. But lately, this has been resulting in an increased number of break-ins.

– 23 stories

Write a story about a character experiencing independence for the first time.

– 59 stories

Write a story about a day in the life of a mother.

– 54 stories

Write a story about a character who would be described above all else as "logical."

– 30 stories

Write a story about a character experiencing anxiety.

– 82 stories

Write a story about a character who starts out as a pessimist and ends as an optimist. (Or vice versa.)

– 46 stories

Write a short story about someone based on their shopping list.

– 49 stories

Write a short story about a shop that takes place over a span of years.

– 41 stories

Write a short story about someone watching a convincing infomercial. 

– 19 stories

Write a short story about someone searching for the perfect gift for their partner.

– 59 stories

Write a short story about someone in the middle of a very long and busy retail shift.

– 40 stories

Write a story about a very skilled pickpocket. 

– 63 stories

"It was just here!" you shout, frantically searching your pockets for the missing thing.

– 31 stories

Write a story about someone cleaning out their attic. They find an old piece of clothing, and inside of its pocket is an old keepsake.

– 52 stories

Your fingers tensed around the object in your pocket, ready to pull it out at a moment's notice.

– 44 stories

Write a story about a character who buys a secondhand coat and then discovers something in the pocket.

– 99 stories

Write a story about a family dinner that involves some kind of reconciliation.

– 30 stories

Write a story about a family dinner that takes place in any time period other than the present.

– 30 stories

Write a story about a "chosen family" dinner, where no one is related by blood, but they still feel like family.

– 39 stories

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