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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 248 prompts reset

This week's contest:
Win $250

Love is in the Air

183 contest entries /
75 stories

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View contest
Closes at 23:59 - Feb 20 EST

Write a story where the only character with a name is an artificial being.

– 45 stories

Center your story around someone who uses technology (AI, hardware, etc.) to write their next work and slowly descends into madness.

– 45 stories

Write a story that includes the words “they would be back…”

– 37 stories

A character finds out they have a special power or ability. What happens next?

– 54 stories

Write a story with someone saying “I regret…” or “I remember…”

– 106 stories

Center your story around a character who’s trying to make amends.

– 47 stories

Write a story about an unlikely criminal or accidental lawbreaker.

– 88 stories

Write about someone who self-publishes a story that was never meant to be read.

– 45 stories

An indie bookshop owner realizes that a customer has stolen a book connected to an unsolved local mystery. What happens next?

– 34 stories

Write a story with a person’s name in the title.

– 63 stories

Start or end your story with a character making food or a drink for themself or someone else.

– 71 stories

Write a story inspired by the phrase "It was all just a dream."

– 54 stories

Write a story about someone reminiscing on something that happened many summers ago.

– 76 stories

Set your story at a party, festival, or local celebration.

– 43 stories

Write a story in which the natural and the mystical intertwine.

– 84 stories

Start or end your story with somebody stepping out into the sunshine.

– 82 stories

Write a story about a secret group or society.

– 87 stories

Write a story about a test or exam with a dangerous or unexpected twist.

– 47 stories

Write a story about someone who discovers a mysterious object in a seemingly ordinary place.

– 74 stories

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

– 89 stories

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