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539 Best Short Story Ideas for Authors in 2026
Showing 539 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.
If a fire broke out in your home, what are the first three things that you would grab? Why?
As a joke, you use your cell phone to dial your own number. Someone picks up.
Two elderly people in a retirement home are a secret pair of detectives that have solved some of the biggest crimes and mysteries through anonymous tips.
This was the moment you'd been waiting for. Gleefully, you raised your camera to take a picture and then... the battery died.
Someone told you a secret that you shouldn't know about a friend. What do you do with this information? Write a story about it.
An office worker's favorite coffee mug has gone missing, and the obsessive search for the mug throughout the workplace turns into a dire and ridiculous odyssey.
A story that takes place in the Wild West, but the world is frigid, covered with snow and ice instead of sand.
Write about a time that you found out something surprising about yourself.
Write about the most epic Easter egg hunt ever.
You participated in your office's Secret Santa, but no one will admit to buying your gift. Write a story about the search for the mysterious gifter.
Write a story about a world in which spirit animals exist. What kind of animal is your spirit animal? Why?
A former party animal lives in a retirement home. They've decided it's time for one last bash.
In a series of letters to Santa, write a story about growing up.
Write a story about a young character who wants to learn magic.
Only one swordsman emerges alive from a bloody battle. And without a single wound. How does he explain his survival?
Write a story about a character learning a new sport.
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