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539 Best Short Story Ideas for Authors in 2026
Showing 539 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.
Two people are playing chess. One person can read minds, the other person can see the future.
You just found a key in your pocket that wasn't there when you last checked.
As the floor trembles and the walls shake, you know there is only one way to survive.
You accidentally break something at a dinner party and go to ever-increasing lengths to cover it up.
Write about a time when you were hurt by someone unexpected.
You hear a commotion on the playground — and from the commotion, you can pick out a familiar voice. What happened?
Turn one of your grandparent's old stories into fiction.
It's Christmas, and you somehow need to manuever your parents into buying you the gift that you want.
You are a professional hoax-buster.
Write a story that evokes the feeling of nails on a chalkboard!
Write a dual perspective story, with each alternating perspective based on one of these two words: "bitter" and "sweet."
A person dictates who he or she will date based on quantitative measures, such as horoscopes, how they perform on a test, etc.
You're sitting in a coffee shop watching someone type on their computer. They type the words, "It begins raining outside", and it instantly starts raining.
Set your story at a noisy school assembly, where two characters are trying to hold an important and private conversation.
Two people share an oddly bittersweet moment as they stop to watch a beautiful sunset... at noon.
You hear a scream and it's coming from inside your own home.
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