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Best Short Story Writing Prompts

Join our ongoing contests and win up to $1,500. Flex those creative muscles with these writing prompts.

Showing 282 prompts reset

This week's contest:
Win $250

Two Sides to Every Story with Emily Martin

25 contest entries /
15 stories

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View contest
Closes at 23:59 - Jul 31 EST

Write a story in which something intangible (e.g., memory, grief, time, love, or joy) becomes a real object.

– 101 stories

Write a story from the POV of a child, teenager, or senior citizen.

– 53 stories

Start your story with the line: “Today is April 31.”

– 72 stories

Write a story in which a character receives a message from somewhere (or someone) beyond their understanding.

– 46 stories

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

– 71 stories

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

– 26 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.

– 56 stories

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

– 57 stories

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

– 54 stories

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

– 46 stories

Write a story that includes change or transformation.

Set your story over the course of just a few seconds or minutes.

– 95 stories

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

– 79 stories

Leave your story’s ending unresolved or open to interpretation.

– 82 stories

Write a story with the aim of making your reader smile and/or cry.

– 70 stories

Include a café, bakery, bookshop, or kitchen in your story.

– 61 stories

Start or end your story with a character making a cup of tea or coffee (for themself or someone else).

– 135 stories

Your character finds or receives a book that changes their life forever.

– 61 stories

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