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539 Best Short Story Ideas for Authors in 2026
Showing 539 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.
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.
The objects in the Chemistry classroom come to life when students and teachers are not around.
Five competitive students are invited to board game night. Only one can win.
You're a food critic eating the best meal of your life. You're at McDonalds.
Write a story about time passing from the perspective of a young child who tends to plants every day.
You're beginning to believe the person writing the daily crossword puzzle in your newspaper is trying to send you an encoded message.
Every day, you visit the same moment from your past.
Write a story based on the last text you received.
Write a story that takes place over the span of the longest Monopoly game ever.
You were mowing your lawn when someone walked by your yard and burst into tears.
Someone who has lived a thousand years takes up a job teaching high school history.
Write a story about the all-out war among the PTA moms to snatch up the last Spider-Man costume in the costume shop.
You caught the girl in classroom 3B stealing your favorite eraser, which means war.
In a series of letters to Santa, write a story about growing up.
Ten years later, you see the person who bullied you in middle school in the middle of 7-11.
A character starts remembering things that never happened.
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