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539 Best Short Story Ideas for Authors in 2026

Showing 539 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.

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Write about what you want to be in the future, whether that's in terms of personality, goals, or career.

Narrative

You are an astronaut spending your last few hours on Earth before a journey into space.

Dramatic

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.

Fantasy

"See you later!" you called, not realizing it wasn't true.

Dramatic

You visited a psychic for romantic advice. Instead, they tell you that your spouse has a secret.

Conflict

Describe a character and their life using only the apps on their phone.

Middle School

Write about Christmas from the perspective of the local cat.

Christmas

Someone has been stealing from other kids' pools of candy on Halloween. This means war.

Halloween

You just found a key in your pocket that wasn't there when you last checked.

Kids

A legendary dragon is on its way to capture a princess. Plot twist: the princess kidnaps it, and temporarily locks it away in her tower to teach it a lesson.

Fantasy

You've just lost something important. Write a story about finding it — or learning to cope with its loss.

Children's Book

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.

High School

Your mother sits you and your brother down, and says, "Kids, I'm gonna tell you an incredible story the story of how I met your father."

Dramatic

539 Best Short Story Ideas for Authors in 2026

Write about what you want to be in the future, whether that's in terms of personality, goals, or career.

You are an astronaut spending your last few hours on Earth before a journey into space.

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.

"See you later!" you called, not realizing it wasn't true.

You visited a psychic for romantic advice. Instead, they tell you that your spouse has a secret.

Describe a character and their life using only the apps on their phone.

Write about Christmas from the perspective of the local cat.

Someone has been stealing from other kids' pools of candy on Halloween. This means war.

You just found a key in your pocket that wasn't there when you last checked.

A legendary dragon is on its way to capture a princess. Plot twist: the princess kidnaps it, and temporarily locks it away in her tower to teach it a lesson.

You've just lost something important. Write a story about finding it — or learning to cope with its loss.

Write a story about a world in which Mondays don't exist.

An anxious and unsure person becomes extremely decisive.

Write about the origin of the saying "April showers bring May flowers."

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.

Your mother sits you and your brother down, and says, "Kids, I'm gonna tell you an incredible story  the story of how I met your father."

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Your mother sits you and your brother down, and says, "Kids, I'm gonna tell you an incredible story the story of how I met your father."