Menu

More apps built by Reedsy

Assemble a team of professionals

The writing app for authors

Writing courses, events and memberships

Get your book reviewed

Weekly writing prompts and contests

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Weekly Prompts Contest
Reedsy Literary Prize
Magazine
FAQ

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

--

days

--

hours

--

mins

--

secs

View contest
Closes at 23:59 - Feb 20 EST

Write an open-ended story in which your character’s fate is uncertain.

– 88 stories

Start your story with the lines: “The room is unfamiliar. I don’t know how I got here.”

– 105 stories

Set your story in a place where the weather never changes.

– 44 stories

Start or end your story with a breeze brushing against someone’s skin.

– 67 stories

Start or end your story with someone being soothed by a hug or words of comfort.

– 46 stories

Set your story in a café, garden, or restaurant.

– 64 stories

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

– 179 stories

Write a story about a cherished heirloom that has journeyed through multiple generations.

– 47 stories

Write a story about someone who must fit their entire life in a single suitcase.

– 109 stories

Write a story in which someone time-travels 25 years or more into the past.

– 72 stories

Write a story from the POV of a now-defunct piece of technology.

– 79 stories

Center your story around an unexpected guest who changes a traditional get-together.

– 38 stories

Center your story around a character spending their first holiday alone.

– 65 stories

It’s the most wonderful time of the year — except your character can’t shake the feeling that something’s off.

– 36 stories

Write a story about someone’s first Christmas after a major life change.

– 51 stories

Write a story about two characters who surprisingly end up spending a holiday or event together.

– 50 stories

Write a story that starts and ends in the same place.

– 73 stories

Write a story set in a world of darkness where light is suddenly discovered.

– 40 stories

Write a story where a character relives the same event over and over again.

– 31 stories

Set your story during the coldest day of the year.

– 50 stories

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

How to Write a Novel

We made a writing app for you

Yes, you! Write. Format. Export for ebook and print. All for free.