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539 Best Short Story Ideas for Authors in 2026
Showing 539 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.
It's the first day of school, and you're finding it hard to make friends when someone unexpected steps up.
It's Valentine's Day and when you open your locker, a note falls out. What does it read?
A character must confront their fear of commitment if they want to save their failing relationship.
A couple gets in a fight after one finds out that the other has secretly wasted $50,000 on lottery tickets over the past 15 years.
There's someone standing on the corner of the street you live on. It's the fifth time they've been there this week.
You come across a cheaply printed book of magic tricks. You try one out and discover the book is truly magic, and teaches you how to break fundamental laws of physics.
A forgotten object is found in an attic during spring cleaning.
You wish upon what looks like a star but is actually a satellite. Your wish has been recorded, catalogued, and an agent is now assigned the task of granting your wish.
You meet someone who's different from you. Write a story about how you become friends.
You're haunted by a ghost. That's not the problem. The problem is that this ghost is really, really, really chatty.
Write a story that retells a famous fairy tale, but in a modern-day high school setting.
Write a story where your character gets close to obtaining their greatest desire.
Write a story about a test that your character has to overcome. The test can be metaphorical or figurative.
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.
Write a Halloween story based on your latest nightmare.
If a fire broke out in your home, what are the first three things that you would grab? Why?
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