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539 Best Short Story Ideas for Authors in 2026
Showing 539 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.
You got on the wrong bus and ended up in a remote town where things seemed a little odd.
Write a book with anthromorpohized characters.
The pumpkin flickered while you carved it… but there was no candle in it.
Sweet Sixteenth? More like Salty Sixteenth!
A superhero comes and rescues your class from certain doom. Which superhero just swooped in to save the day? Write a story about how you set out to make friends with them next.
You're in an airport, watching people say goodbye before heading through security.
Write a story that begin and ends around an awkward Christmas dinner table.
The Tooth Fairy finds something unexpected sitting beside the expected tooth under a child's pillow.
A group of villains go on a team-building retreat.
Your parents named you Holly after your grandmother, and you just accepted an invite for a group called The Jolly Hollies thinking that it was a club for people with your name. Turns out that it's actually an annual caroling group, and you can't sing.
You're in charge of creating the new school lunch menu. What kind of menu would you make?
It's Christmas, and you somehow need to manuever your parents into buying you the gift that you want.
You find your grandparent's old chessboard in the attic. Absentmindedly, you move a piece. The next day, an opposing piece has been moved.
Write about the first time you learned to do something.
Write a story about a good witch and a bad witch who try to outdo each other on Halloween.
"Today is the last day," you decide, staring up at the 67-story building that has owned your life for the last 10 years.
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