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539 Best Short Story Ideas for Authors in 2026
Showing 539 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.
Doctor Seuss has grown weary of writing children's books and finds new work as a reporter covering violent crime for a newspaper. Despite his new line of work, he keeps his classic Seussian style.
You are a server at a restaurant, having the busiest shift of your life.
You're in charge of creating the new school lunch menu. What kind of menu would you make?
An office worker's favorite coffee mug has gone missing, and the obsessive search for the mug throughout the workplace turns into a dire and ridiculous odyssey.
A character doesn't know how to break up with their partner, and keeps putting it off until the very moment that the partner bends down on one knee and proposes.
Two people share an oddly bittersweet moment as they stop to watch a beautiful sunset... at noon.
It's the first day of summer camp, and one of this year's new campers is the child of a major celebrity. Write a story about the first week from the head camp counselor's perspective.
A long-standing feud erupts during a funeral or wedding.
Write a story about moving to an entirely new city where everything is new and unfamiliar.
If a fire broke out in your home, what are the first three things that you would grab? Why?
Write about someone discovering something important from their childhood hidden in the back of a closet.
You open a door, but before you can go through, someone sneaks in front of you without saying "thank you." You've had an awful day and this is the last straw.
One person has been on the waiting list to check out a library book for months. The other person has the long-overdue book. The two coincidentally meet one day at the library.
Write a story about the all-out war among the PTA moms to snatch up the last Spider-Man costume in the costume shop.
Write a story based on an experience from your childhood... but set it in a different time period. (Yes, the future counts!)
Amazon has invented time travel and introduced pre-emptive shipping. Today, you receive something completely unexpected from your future self.
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