Best Short Story Writing Prompts of 2026

Showing 290 prompts reset

This week's contest:

Win $250

What Keeps You Up at Night

129 contest entries /

67 stories

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Closes at 23:59 - Sep 18 EST

Write a story about hope.

– 77 stories

Write a story in the form of a letter, or multiple letters back and forth.

– 142 stories

Start your story in the middle of the action.

– 68 stories

Write a story that experiments with tone — perhaps a difficult subject dealt with in a playful way, or an ostensibly happy scene that hints at darkness lurking beneath.

– 61 stories

Start your story with two people planting a tree together.

– 49 stories

Fly by the seat of your pants and write a story without a plan.

– 66 stories

Halfway through a fierce competition, your character is given the opportunity to cheat their way to victory: do they take it?

– 52 stories

Write about a character who smells something familiar and is instantly taken back to the first moment they smelled it.

– 217 stories

Write a story about someone experiencing a lightbulb moment of writing inspiration.

– 139 stories

Write a story that ends by circling back to the beginning.

– 211 stories

Write a story about someone who finds a secret passageway in their house.

– 147 stories

Write a story about a character struggling to decide how to handle a problem that is morally gray.

– 41 stories

Write a short story about someone in the self-help aisle of a bookstore. What book do they pick up?

– 88 stories

Write about a character’s secret area of expertise, something most of their acquaintances would be surprised to learn they know tons about.

– 37 stories

It kicks off on a yacht with the delivery of an important letter.

– 35 stories

Write a story about a family road trip.

– 22 stories

Write a story about someone trying to find the perfect birthday gift.

– 19 stories

Write a story about a sweet sixteen.

– 13 stories

Best Short Story Writing Prompts