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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 astronaut spending your last few hours on Earth before a journey into space.
It's your first winter… and it's just started snowing!
Your new cell phone number used to be the number of a very popular personal therapist.
Every pirate claims to be the scourge of the seven seas, but none claim the eighth.
The Tooth Fairy finds something unexpected sitting beside the expected tooth under a child's pillow.
There's someone standing on the corner of the street you live on. It's the fifth time they've been there this week.
A habitually fearful person turns brave.
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 are born with the ability to stop time. One day, you see something else moving when you have already stopped time.
A group of high school students go on an educational field trip to a graveyard to learn about the history of the area. But when a storm starts up and they get trapped, they have to figure out how to survive the night.
"Pick a card, any card. But take care — which card you pull out will determine your fate."
Write a story about a young girl with a passion for science who invents a time machine and travels to the future, where she must save the world from an imminent catastrophe that only she knows about.
"See you later!" you called, not realizing it wasn't true.
You have a writer's block breakthrough at the worst possible time.
Write a story about your dream vacation.
Write about a wish that you once made.
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