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539 Best Short Story Ideas for Authors in 2026
Showing 539 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.
A sleepover goes off the rails when a group of friends accidentally summons a being from another dimension.
The old bus driver who drives you to work every day always tells you rambling stories about his friends, who all seem to have passed away. Eventually, you begin to suspect he is immortal.
Pick a genre and then write about a long walk home after school.
You find a blank book. Whatever you write in it becomes true.
You were waiting at a crosswalk when someone you didn't recognize started waving from across the street.
You're cleaning the attic when you find something terribly old, terribly fragile, and terribly powerful...
Write a story about the friendship between an introvert and an extrovert
Write a story where your character gets close to obtaining their greatest desire.
You're scrolling through the pictures on your phone. You notice a new one: it's of you sleeping.
Your friend is visiting your home for the first time. You go to the kitchen to grab coffee and when you return, your friend tells you they just met your sister. You're an only child and you live alone.
Time travel is real and time tourists show up in large numbers around major historical events. One day, thousands of time tourists are in ships above the earth, quietly waiting.
Everyday, you sit at your window to watch a neighbor play a musical instrument. You can't hear the music, but you're transfixed by the musician's expression.
During a group project, the class clown is stalling on doing their share of the work.
A woman drops her wallet on the street, and it falls open. You pick it up and are about to return it to her when you notice a strange picture inside.
One character wants a snake, but their roommate has a phobia. They adopt one anyway.
You find a well-kept, spotless leather bound book in the middle of a vast desert.
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