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DIRECTORY
539 Best Short Story Ideas for Authors in 2026
Showing 539 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.
You are an expert spy for the British government, trained to perfection. Your only weakness is that your background music alerts enemies to your presence.
Instead of trying to get a man on the moon, every nation raced to be the first at the very bottom of the ocean.
You just discovered that you can teleport into one Hallmark Christmas rom-com of your choosing. Which movie do you choose, and what happens differently in the movie because of your arrival?
Write a story from the perspective of a snowman who has just come to life. Plot twist: he's missing eyes.
You're a food critic eating the best meal of your life. You're at McDonalds.
Where do you see the future of technology heading? Write an essay explaining why.
Write a story about a character whose reflection no longer appears in the mirror. (It's up to you whether or not they're also a vampire.)
You know how when you see a bear, you should stay calm and make loud noises? For this… creature… you have to do the opposite. You have to run.
You're in charge of creating the new school lunch menu. What kind of menu would you make?
You're scrolling through the pictures on your phone. You notice a new one: it's of you sleeping.
You are a professional hoax-buster.
Pick a genre and then write about a long walk home after school.
You're donating blood as normal in October when you notice that the nurse taking care of you is... strangely... pale? And seems to have oddly-shaped teeth... that almost look like fangs...?
A character who loves reading finds out that their library has just been forbidden from carrying banned books.
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.
A love story that starts and ends in 24 hours.
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