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539 Best Short Story Ideas for Authors in 2026
Showing 539 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.
Write a story about a character picking a lunch table on their first day at a new school.
"He's been dead for ten years," said the little old lady, looking at you with concern.
You work the night shift at a 24 hour laundromat. The job seems normal until someone crawls out of one of the washers and tells you that after dark, every machine leads to a different world.
A young boy working up the courage to ask his long-time crush to dance with him at the school dance.
Doppelgangers exist in this world. You just met yours — and they're not friendly.
You're at your computer feeling heavy writer's block. Suddenly words start appearing on the screen.
The Earth does not rotate. One side always faces the sun and is in continual daylight. The other side is in eternal night. Cultures on both sides develop around this.
A team of scientists have successfully teleported an apple. It reappears with a bite taken out of it.
Someone you believed to be dead "comes back."
A forgotten object is found in an attic during spring cleaning.
Your Tesla has stopped in the wilderness. The last thing you remember before the panic set in was someone hacking into the car's computer, steering you far away from the safety of the city. In the darkness, a light moves towards you
Write a story about the small kindnesses that you see every day.
Write a story about a family adopting a black cat, just in time for Halloween.
You find a note in your locker: "Save yourself while you still can."
Your academic rival at school has joined the Art Club, so now you must also join the Art Club. Problem is, you're pretty sure that you're colorblind.
You find your grandparent's old chessboard in the attic. Absentmindedly, you move a piece. The next day, an opposing piece has been moved.
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