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39 Best Fiction Short Story Ideas

Showing 39 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.

Pick a genre and then write about a long walk home after school.

For a week or so you've noticed a stray animal hanging around your home. One day you let it in.

The last person on earth celebrates their own birthday.

Mars is the new wild west, complete with gunslingers.

Write a story that takes place where poets and writers are the biggest celebrities.

You wake up the day after an epic party. You're not where you expected to be.

You witness a total solar eclipse.

You got on the wrong bus and ended up in a remote town where things seemed a little odd.

"Say cheese!" You push the camera button, hear the click, and... that's when all hell broke loose.

An elderly person finally takes the last picture on a film camera they've had for decades. Today they're going to print it.

A story that takes place in the Wild West, but the world is frigid, covered with snow and ice instead of sand.

A habitually fearful person turns brave.

You're sitting in a coffee shop watching someone type on their computer. They type the words, "It begins raining outside", and it instantly starts raining.

You're moments late to everything. You watch busses pull away as you run behind them, you miss the first 5 minutes of every movie, and you have never caught a green light. One day, you arrive on time.

You were reading a book quietly at a cafe when someone passed you a note.

Write about the origin of the saying "April showers bring May flowers."

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