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539 Best Short Story Ideas for Authors in 2026
Showing 539 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.
Write a story about a rival studio that is desperately trying to create a song to outsell Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You."
"Breaking news: a mirror Earth has just been confirmed..." was not what you expected to hear on the news when you turned on your radio that morning.
Santa Claus is backed up with orders recently, and you're in charge of writing the official letter of apology to all of the children around the world informing them that their presents may arrive a week late this year.
You pass by a person sitting with their face to the sun, the most content smile you've ever seen on their face.
In a quiet little coffee shop in a quiet little town, famous people from history stop by every so often for a drink.
You volunteer to be the first human to test time travel, only going an hour forward in time. But when you leave the travel pod, all other humans are gone.
Write a story using the Halloween colors somewhere in the piece: orange, black, purple, and green.
Write a story about a search for a Santa suit.
Write a story that inverts the trope of the Chosen One.
From a dog's perspective, humans seem to be either immortal or at least live extremely long lives. Write from the perspective of a dog contemplating this.
An introvert sits down next to an extrovert in the classroom. What happens?
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.
You come across an ATM that gives you the exact amount of money you need to survive for the day, how you spend it is your choice. Today you are given $10 million.
You left cookies on the table on the day before Christmas. When you wake up the next day, the cookies are gone, and in their place is a note. What does it say?
Write a story where your character is acting differently on the outside than they feel on the inside.
You thought you were the last person left on Earth. Today you found out that might not be true.
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