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41 Best Narrative Short Story Ideas
Showing 41 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.
Someone just knocked on the door late at night, but you weren't expecting anyone. When you open the door... no one's there.
Write a story based on an experience from your childhood... but have that experience happen to a person or group of people who are nothing like you or your family.
Write about a time that you felt like an outsider.
Write about what you want to be in the future, whether that's in terms of personality, goals, or career.
Describe a change that you think you've gone through.
Write about a time that you taught something to somebody.
Write about your goals at ages 5, 10, 15, and 20.
Turn one of your grandparent's old stories into fiction.
Write about the first time you learned to do something.
Write about a time that you encountered an obstacle, and how you overcame it.
Write a story based on an experience from your childhood... but set it in a different time period. (Yes, the future counts!)
Write a story that draws from a moment in your life where you wish you'd made a different choice. Have your protagonist make that choice, and then see what happens.
Write about a time you broke a promise. What did it feel like? Why did you break it?
Do you believe in ghosts? Why or why not?
Write a story about something that seems ordinary to your protagonist but would be perceived as extraordinary by someone else.
What is the memory that you remember the most? Why?
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