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539 Best Short Story Ideas for Authors in 2026
Showing 539 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.
Write a story that's a retelling of your favorite book, from the perspective of a minor character.
You've just lost something important. Write a story about finding it — or learning to cope with its loss.
Two super competitive colleagues meet at the office's monthly Bingo night.
As the sun set, the desert wasteland glowed an eerie red.
It's the first day of school, and you're finding it hard to make friends when someone unexpected steps up.
The money is good. But the lies have built up. This empire of yours has been built on a secret, a stolen technology, and the guilt has reached its peak. You have to come out with the truth
Money really does grow on trees and is heavily regulated by governments.
You thought you were the last person left on Earth. Today you found out that might not be true.
Write a story about Christmas from the perspective of someone who hates Christmas.
A character doesn't know how to ask their parent to stop calling them 2+ times a day.
A long-standing feud erupts during a funeral or wedding.
Write about someone discovering something important from their childhood hidden in the back of a closet.
You're home alone for the first time ever. Write a story about how the day unfolds.
The world's wealthiest person has recently been put in prison for life. They offer half their fortune to any person, organization, or country that will free them.
It's Wednesday evening and you're off to the weekly meeting of your writer's block support group.
You're the director at a marketing agency. Your next project: to come up with an irresistibly catchy Christmas jingle. The only problem is that you hate Christmas.
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