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539 Best Short Story Ideas for Authors in 2026
Showing 539 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.
You're moments late to everything. You watch busses pull away as you run behind them, you miss the first 5 minutes of every movie, and you have never caught a green light. One day, you arrive on time.
Write a story about a good witch and a bad witch who try to outdo each other on Halloween.
A trusting person turns into a skeptic.
Write about a character who is confused about what a White Elephant gift exchange is, and ends up going on a search for an actual white elephant.
Your family's run out of coal to heat your home in December. To procure coal for your family, you have to figure out how to get onto Santa's naughty list... quickly.
Write a story about trust. Include a pair of siblings in it.
An introvert sits down next to an extrovert in the classroom. What happens?
Write a story about a test that your character has to overcome. The test can be metaphorical or figurative.
Write a love poem inspired by a recently received text message.
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.
Write a story about acceptance that involves a new exchange student.
After the crash, he vanished. Some say he moved to a compound in Africa, some say he went off the grid. But the Silicon Valley genius who engineered the greatest stockmarket disaster in history is hiding in plain sight
You are on a solo camping trip in the woods. After a deep night's sleep, you awake to the voice of someone saying, "Rise and shine!"
A group of villains go on a team-building retreat.
Write a story about a group of five friends who set out at night for trick or treating… and when they return, they're only four.
The pumpkin flickered while you carved it… but there was no candle in it.
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