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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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Page 24

Emotional baggage must now be checked in at the airport.

Funny

It's the year 5000 and humanity's first expansions into space, colonization of the solar system, etc., have faded into myths, much like the journeys of Odysseus. Write about these fabled legends.

Science Fiction

Write a story using only dialogue that illustrates what a normal day at your school looks like.

High School

An entrepreneur is suffering self-doubt from a string of failures, and this is their last chance.

Conflict

Write a story about the gifts that two people buy for each other over a period of ten years, and how that shows the change in their relationship over time.

Christmas

You're on a boat that should have reached undiscovered land days ago. Your compass tells you you're on the right path but there is no land in sight.

Dramatic

Think about a moment in your life that elicited very strong emotions. Write about a character going through a different experience that leads to the same emotions.

Narrative

Write a story with an open ending.

Funny

Write a story about something that seems ordinary to your protagonist but would be perceived as extraordinary by someone else.

Narrative

Every pirate claims to be the scourge of the seven seas, but none claim the eighth.

Fantasy

You briefly go out in the snow and come back inside. When you go out again, your footprints from earlier lead in a different direction.

Mystery / Thriller

539 Best Short Story Ideas for Authors in 2026

Emotional baggage must now be checked in at the airport.

It's the year 5000 and humanity's first expansions into space, colonization of the solar system, etc., have faded into myths, much like the journeys of Odysseus. Write about these fabled legends.

Write a story using only dialogue that illustrates what a normal day at your school looks like.

An entrepreneur is suffering self-doubt from a string of failures, and this is their last chance.

Write a story about the gifts that two people buy for each other over a period of ten years, and how that shows the change in their relationship over time.

You're on a boat that should have reached undiscovered land days ago. Your compass tells you you're on the right path but there is no land in sight.

Think about a moment in your life that elicited very strong emotions. Write about a character going through a different experience that leads to the same emotions.

Write a story with an open ending.

Write a story about something that seems ordinary to your protagonist but would be perceived as extraordinary by someone else.

Every pirate claims to be the scourge of the seven seas, but none claim the eighth.

You briefly go out in the snow and come back inside. When you go out again, your footprints from earlier lead in a different direction.

The world's most important chess game is about to start.

A group of villains go on a team-building retreat.

You're the world's best photographer. Your secret? You can freeze time.

Re-write Romeo and Juliet as a short story... but make it horror.

Re-tell Jane Eyre as a short story... but set it in the far future.

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