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539 Best Short Story Ideas for Authors in 2026
Showing 539 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.
You were waiting at a crosswalk when someone you didn't recognize started waving from across the street.
It's the beginning of a new term at your university. As usual, you scramble to your first class and get there just in time. No one is there but you and the professor.
You woke up and all seemed normal. Little did you know that before you'd even had a chance to get out of bed, you would become the subject of a prank.
"BOO!" you yell, grabbing the shoulders of a person you think is your friend from behind. They turn around and it's a total stranger.
It's the year 2099, and everyone has a smartwatch that can tell them what age they die.
Write about a place the sky meets the sea.
Your date finds an engagement ring inside a slice of cake they ordered for dessert. You weren't planning to propose.
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 that ends by jumping forward several years.
Write a story from the perspective of a snowman who has just come to life. Plot twist: he's missing eyes.
Write a story in which a Christmas song plays an important role in the plot.
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