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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 273 prompts reset

This week's contest:
Win $250

Two's a Crowd with Kirsiah Depp

213 contest entries /
92 stories

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View contest
Closes at 23:59 - Jun 05 EST

Center your story around someone who’s secretly running the show.

– 35 stories

Write a story where a background character steals the spotlight.

– 38 stories

Center your story around someone who’s tired of always being second best (or second choice).

– 60 stories

Start or end your story with a character preparing for someone else’s big moment.

– 30 stories

Write a story with the line “Don’t you remember me?” or “You haven’t changed…”

– 88 stories

Tell a story in the form of a police report, news article, or journal entry about an incredible (or impossible) event.

– 43 stories

Center your story around someone who has (or is given) the ability to time travel.

– 103 stories

Write a story that includes the line "Can you keep a secret?" or “My lips are sealed."

– 50 stories

Include the word “hero,” “mask,” or “truth" in your story’s title.

– 61 stories

Write about a second chance or a fresh start.

– 62 stories

Set your story before dawn or after midnight. Your character is awake for a specific reason.

– 70 stories

Write a story with an age or date in the title.

– 35 stories

Your character meets someone who changes their life forever.

– 46 stories

Write a story that includes the word “birthday,” “birth,” or “party.”

– 66 stories

Write a story that includes the line “I can’t sleep.”

– 86 stories

Center your story around one of the following: stargazing, lethargy, or a myth/legend.

– 53 stories

Write a story from the point of view of a canine character or a mythological creature.

– 99 stories

Begin your story with “It was the hottest day of the year...”

– 65 stories

Write a story set during a heatwave.

– 66 stories

Begin your story with someone saying, “Are you there, God? It’s me...”

– 67 stories

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