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539 Best Short Story Ideas for Authors in 2026
Showing 539 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.
While on a leisurely stroll through the forest, you find strange footprints. Do you follow them?
Write about a time that you were challenged in a belief that you had.
You were waiting at a crosswalk when someone you didn't recognize started waving from across the street.
Write a story that retells a famous fairy tale, but in a modern-day high school setting.
You're the world's best photographer. Your secret? You can freeze time.
Write a story in which it becomes night forever. The sun has gone.
When people die, they are transported to the event that ultimately caused their death. One day, you are hit by a car and sent 12 years into the past.
Only one swordsman emerges alive from a bloody battle. And without a single wound. How does he explain his survival?
Someone just knocked on the door late at night, but you weren't expecting anyone. When you open the door... no one's there.
A child finds out by accident that Santa Claus… isn't real! Write about the fallout that occurs afterward.
Write a story that takes place over the span of the longest Monopoly game ever.
Write a story about a pair of siblings who open up a lemonade stand during summer vacation, and the rivalry that flares up when their neighbors decide to start a Kool-Aid stand at the same time.
You're the principal for the day! Write a story about what you would do with these newfound responsibilities.
You catch a falling star and put it in your pocket.
Write about the best day of your life.
A young child discovers a passion for baking. Write about the crazy kitchen adventures that they embark upon with their allergic-to-gluten family, one that culminates in a national baking competition.
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