Menu
Write your book in Reedsy Studio. Try the beloved writing app for free today.
Win up to $250 in our weekly writing contest
Submit your short story on Reedsy Prompts.
DIRECTORY
539 Best Short Story Ideas for Authors in 2026
Showing 539 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.
You are a secret agent. Your mission? To steal the cookie jar back from your older sister.
It's your first spring… and you have allergies!
Write a story about a search for a Santa suit.
A reindeer is loose! What can you, a mere elf on the lowest rung of Santa's helpers, do?
A cell phone is found inside a sealed Egyptian tomb.
Write a story that inverts the trope of the Chosen One.
Set your story on a hayride. Bonus points if a headless horseman makes an appearance.
A group of villains go on a team-building retreat.
A drama club is horrified upon reading a review of their performance in their high school newspaper.
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.
Write a story from the perspective of your middle school self.
You thought you were the last person left on Earth. Today you found out that might not be true.
You're a food critic eating the best meal of your life. You're at McDonalds.
You left cookies on the table on the day before Christmas. When you wake up the next day, the cookies are gone, and in their place is a note. What does it say?
While transferring between international flights at an airport, you befriend a strange person while passing through security.
You hear music emanating from aisle 3 of your local grocery store. No one else hears it.
Find the perfect editor for your next book
Over 1 million authors trust the professionals on Reedsy. Come meet them.
Save your shortlist
Enter your email address to save your shortlist so that you don't lose it!
By continuing, you will also receive Reedsy's weekly publishing tips and access to our free webinars.
Check your email
We've sent over your shortlist. Thank you for using Reedsy's Short Story Ideas Directory 🙌
