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539 Best Short Story Ideas for Authors in 2026
Showing 539 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.
Write a story about a group of friends who volunteer at a soup kitchen on the weekends.
A magician, a troll, and a college student walk into a bar.
Write a story that ends by coming full circle.
Write a story with an open ending.
Write a story based on an experience from your childhood... but set it in a different time period. (Yes, the future counts!)
You wake up with no memory of the previous night. On your nightstand, your cell phone is lighting up with texts.
You could only watch in disbelief as the work-place prank you had planned turned to chaos.
Amazon has invented time travel and introduced pre-emptive shipping. Today, you receive something completely unexpected from your future self.
After searching for your lost cat for months, it saunters into your house one day. It looks rather plump.
During a group project, the class clown is stalling on doing their share of the work.
A writer becomes trapped inside their own book.
"Worst. Spring. Break. EVER."
As the sun set, the desert wasteland glowed an eerie red.
You saw something that you weren't supposed to see. Telling the truth could fix a horrible situation for one of the colleagues involved — but it would get you fired.
Write a story about a series of unfortunate events that takes place over the span of a field trip.
For years, four characters have met for a monthly card game. Write a story in which one character realizes that another is cheating.
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