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539 Best Short Story Ideas for Authors in 2026
Showing 539 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.
Write about a time you broke a promise. What did it feel like? Why did you break it?
For a week or so you've noticed a stray animal hanging around your home. One day you let it in.
You are the only person who has to go into work on a public holiday.
A young boy working up the courage to ask his long-time crush to dance with him at the school dance.
Write about Christmas from the perspective of the local cat.
You've been asked to watch the class pet over a long weekend. It gets loose on its first night at your house.
You were sitting on a park bench, enjoying the sun, when a stranger sat next to you and started typing on an old fashioned typewriter.
Write a story about the local scarecrow coming to life and going on a revenge mission against all of those people who had dressed it badly in previous years.
You accidentally break something at a dinner party and go to ever-increasing lengths to cover it up.
Write a story where your character is acting differently on the outside than they feel on the inside.
Two colleagues with poor communication skills have to collaborate for the first time on a project.
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.
"Whatever you do, DO NOT touch this. Or else."
Write a story about friendship that uses holiday traditions from different cultures.
Write a story about a search for a Santa suit.
Someone just knocked on the door late at night, but you weren't expecting anyone. When you open the door... no one's there.
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