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539 Best Short Story Ideas for Authors in 2026
Showing 539 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.
Describe your definition of a good life.
You work at an airport and notice the same person waiting in "arrivals" every week. Each time, they leave alone. One day you muster the courage to ask who they are waiting for.
Write a story about acceptance that involves a new exchange student.
You wake up one day and find that you can suddenly talk to animals.
You have to let go of something you treasure.
Write a story about a character whose reflection no longer appears in the mirror. (It's up to you whether or not they're also a vampire.)
Everyday you are delivered a newspaper at your front door that accurately predicts what will happen in the next 24 hours.
The theme for this year's prom is "Great Gatsby," and you're the head of the prom committee that's in charge of putting it together.
It's dodgeball day in P.E., and in a desperate attempt not to be picked last again for the teams, you...
You've been put in charge of pulling off the most daring, the most spectacular senior prank that the school's ever seen.
Write a story where your character is acting differently on the outside than they feel on the inside.
In the closet of your new home is a portal through space and time. You accidentally travel to Mars.
"Do you have a minute?" asks the stranger who was reading beside you on a park bench.
Write about a time that you felt like an outsider.
You are in a bar when an elderly woman takes the stool next to you and says to the bartender, "Hey, Francine, make it a double. It happened again." You can't resist and ask her, "What happened again?"
Write a story about a character who can only tell lies.
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