creative writing storylines

Top 150 Short Story Ideas

by Joe Bunting | 133 comments

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Do you want to write but just need a great story idea? Or perhaps you have too many ideas and can’t choose the best one? Well, good news. We’ve got you covered.

Below are 150 short story ideas for all your favorite genres. You can use them as a book idea, as writing prompts for writing contests , for stories to publish in literary magazines , or just for fun!

Editor’s note: This is a recurring guide, regularly updated with ideas, new story prompts, and information.

If you're in a hurry, here's my 10 best story ideas in brief, or scroll down for the full version.

Top 10 Story Ideas

• Tell the story of a scar.
• A group of children discover a dead body.
• A young prodigy becomes orphaned.
• A middle-aged woman discovers a ghost.
• A woman who is deeply in love is crushed when her fiancé breaks up with her.
• A talented young man's deepest fear is holding his life back. 
• A poor person comes into an unexpected fortune.
• A shy, young woman unexpectedly bumps into her soulmate.
• A long journey is interrupted by a disaster.
• A young couple stumble into the path of a psychopath.

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Table of Contents

Why Creative Writing Prompts Are Helpful How to Write a Story General Story Ideas Thriller Story Ideas Mystery Story Ideas Romance Story Prompts Sci-fi Story Ideas Fantasy Story Ideas Horror Story Prompts

Why Creative Writing Prompts Are Helpful

Below, you'll find our best creative writing prompts and plot ideas for every genre, but first, why do we use prompts? Is it just a waste of time, or can they actually help you? Here are three reasons we  love writing prompts at The Write Practice:

1. Practice the language!

Even for those of us who are native English speakers, we're all working to improve how we use our language. To make progress, you have to practice, and at The Write Practice, believe it or not, we're really into practice! Creative writing prompts are easy, fun ways to practice.

2. When you have no ideas and are stuck.

Sometimes, you want to write, but you can't think up any ideas. You could either just sit there, staring at a blank page, or you could find a few ideas to help you get started. Even better if the list of ideas is curated from our best plot ideas over the last decade that we've been publishing lessons, writing exercises, and prompts.

Use the story ideas below to get your writing started. Then when your creativity is warmed up, you'll start to come up with your own ideas!

3. To develop your own ideas.

Maybe you do have an idea already, but you're not sure it's good. Or maybe you feel like it's just missing some small piece to make it better. By reading other ideas, and incorporating your favorites into your   story, you can fill your plot holes and generate creative ideas of your own.

Use the story ideas below to develop your own ideas.

4. They're fun!

Thousands of writers use the prompts below every month, some at home, some in classrooms, and even a few pros at their writing “office.” Why? Because writing prompts can be fun. They get your creativity started, help you come up with new ideas of your own, and often take your writing in new, unexpected directions.

Use the plot ideas to have more fun with writing!

How to Write a Story

One last thing before we get to the 100 story ideas, let’s talk about how to write a great short story . (Already know how to write a great story? No problem. Just skip down to the ideas below.)

• First, read stories. If you’ve never read a story, you’re going to have a hard time writing one. Where do you find great stories? There are a lot of places, but check out our list of  46 Literary Magazines  we’ve curated over here .
• Write your story in a single sitting. Write the first draft of your story in as short a time as possible, and if you’re writing a short story , try to write it in one sitting. Trust me, this works. Everyone hates being interrupted when they’re telling compelling stories. Use that to your advantage and don’t stop writing until you’ve finished telling yours.
• Read your draft. Read your story through once, without changing anything. This will give you a sense of what work it needs going forward.
• Write a premise. After reading your first draft, get your head around the main idea behind your story by summarizing your story in a one sentence premise. Your premise should contain four things: a character, a goal, a situation, and a special sauce. Not sure what that means or how to actually do that? Here’s a full premise writing guide .
• Write, edit, write, and edit. Good writing is rewriting. Use your second draft to fill in the plot holes and cut out the extraneous scenes and characters you discovered when you read the first draft in step #2. Then, polish up your final draft on the next round of edits.
• Submit! Real writers don’t keep their writing all to themselves. They share it. Submit your story to a literary magazine , an anthology series , enter it into a writing contest , or even share it with a small group of friends. And if it gets rejected, don’t feel bad. You’ll be in good company.

Want to know more? Learn more about how to write a great short story here .

Our 150 Best Short Story Ideas, Plot Ideas, and Creative Writing Prompts

Ready to get writing? Here are our 100 best short story ideas to kickstart your writing. Enjoy!

10 Best General Short Story Ideas

Our first batch of plot ideas are for any kind of story, whether a spy thriller or a memoir of your personal life story. Here are the best story ideas:

• Tell the story of a scar, whether a physical scar or emotional one. To be a writer, said Stephen King, “The only requirement is the ability to  remember every scar .”
• A group of children discover a dead body. Good writers don’t turn away from death, which is, after all, the  universal human experience. Instead, they look it directly into its dark face and describe what they see on the page.
• A young prodigy becomes orphaned. Orphans are uniquely vulnerable, and as such, they have the most potential for growth.
• A middle-aged woman discovers a ghost. What do Edgar Allen Poe, Ron Weasley, King Saul from the Bible, Odysseus, and Ebenezer Scrooge have in common? They all encountered ghosts!
• A woman who is deeply in love is crushed when her fiancé breaks up with her. “In life every ending is just a new beginning,” says Dakota Fanning’s character in Uptown Girls.
• A talented young man’s deepest fear is holding his life back. Your character’s biggest fear is your story’s secret weapon. Don’t run from it, write about it.
• A poor young boy or girl comes into an unexpected fortune. Not all fortunes are good. Sometimes discovering a fortune will destroy your life.
• A shy, young woman unexpectedly bumps into her soulmate (literally bumps into him). In film, this is called the “meet cute,” when the hero bumps into the heroine in the coffee shop or the department store or the hallway, knocking her books to the floor, and forcing them into conversation.
• A long journey is interrupted by a disaster. Who hasn’t been longing to get to a destination only to be delayed by something unexpected? This is the plot of  Gravity ,  The Odyssey , and even  Lord of the Rings .
• A young couple run into the path of a psychopath. Monsters, whether people who do monstrous things like serial killers or scaly beasts or a monster of a natural disaster, reveal what’s really inside a person. Let your character fall into the path of a monster and see how they handle themselves.

Now that you have an idea, learn exactly what to do with it.  Check out my new book The Write Structure which helps writers take their ideas and write books readers love. Click to check out  The Write Structure  here.

More Short Story Ideas Based on Genre

Need more ideas? Here are ideas based on whichever literary genre you write. Use them as character inspiration, to start your own story, or borrow pieces to generate your own ideas. The only rule is, have fun writing!

By the way,  for more story writing tips for each these plot types, check out our full guide to the 9 types of stories here .

20 Thriller Story Ideas

A thriller is any story that “thrills” the reader—i.e., gets adrenaline pumping, the heart racing, and the emotions piqued.

Thrillers come in all shapes and forms, dipping freely into other genres. In other words, expect the unexpected!

Here are ten of my favorite thriller story ideas :

• She just started a new job when a cryptic message comes across her desk that she can't ignore.
• An undercover agent is in a race against time to find out who is behind a pate of disappearances.
• A stuntman realizes the star is a target of a conspiracy theorist on set and their life is in danger.
• A government agent arrests the wrong man and he begs his wife to find evidence before he becomes the scapegoat for a coverup.
• Murder victims keep appearing at a popular tourist destination. She must find out who's behind it in this action thriller.
• A new neighbor seems friendly enough until a series of unsettling events rattles the neighborhood.
• A thriller writer's compelling characters begin showing up in real life crime scenes, and they become the prime suspect.
• Mysterious circumstances always surrounded the sudden retirement of a megastar, until a nosy investigative journalist uncovers a clue that would unravel everything.
• Artificial intelligence took his job after he created the very code that launched the company into eye-popping profitability. And now he's out for revenge.
• A criminal mastermind has shut down essential services in the city, and only a retired recluse of a hacker can stop him. If they can convince him to take the case.

Click for ten more thriller short story ideas

25 Mystery Story Ideas

Enjoy a good whodunit? Then you’ll love these mystery story ideas .

Here are a few of my favorites, but find the rest here :

• A librarian happens across a crime scene when they clean the basement archives.
• A murder mystery party goes wrong and potential suspects point at each other to avoid arrest. (Especially effective if set in an enclosed location.
• A secret society of mystery readers realizes that there is a real killer still on the loose and the clues are hidden in a dead author's books.
• A murder scene on a movie set becomes reality when the star is found dead, and the prime suspect discovered missing.
• A new restaurant owner in a small town uncovers a long-forgotten mystery from the town's past but the mysterious circumstances unearth a real killer.

Click for the mystery story ideas

30 Romance Story Ideas

Ready to write a love story? Or perhaps you want to create a subplot with a secondary character? We've got ideas for you!

Hint: When it comes to romance, a sense of humor is always a good idea. Have fun! Here are a few of my favorite, but find twenty more love story ideas here :

• A character's high school sweetheart shows up and it turns out the school crush feelings haven't gone away.
• Two characters find an unexpected connection during a key scene that confuses one of them.
• He gets a letter from a secret admirer and goes on a quest to uncover the identity of the sender.
• They work together and a secret romance would be a terrible idea, putting both their jobs at risk, but the pull to each other is hard to resist.
• She returns home when her family's had a tough time after the death of a parent. He's been helping them sort through the mess, and while she disagrees with how he's helping, she can't stop thinking about him.
• At their large ten year high school reunion, he asks her to dance and she slowly realizes he's the brother of someone she doesn't want to ever see again, but there's an instant connection.
• A romance writer can't find her own happily ever after until she meets…
• It's conference season and he has to present all over the country. It's usually a boring string of business trips, but when he's put on a panel with a fiesty and brilliant woman who the night before had kissed him in a bar, he knows this conference season is going to be very different.
•  It's her first road trip after a bad breakup and she's determined not to depend on anyone else until…
• A pop star and an astronaut in training meet at a benefit dinner and can't avoid each other's orbits.

Click for romance story ideas

20 Sci-Fi Story Ideas

From the minimum-wage-earning, ancient-artifact-hunting time traveller to the space-exploring, sentient dinosaurs, these sci-fi writing prompts will get you set loose your inner nerd.

Here are a few of my favorite sci-fi ideas :

• In a future society, neural implants translate music into physical pleasure, and earphones (“jacking in”) are now the drug of choice. Write either from the perspective of a music addict, OR the Sonforce agent (sonance + enforcer) who has the job of cracking down.
• It’s the year 5000. Our planet was wrecked in the great Crisis of 3500, and remaining human civilization survives only in a half dozen giant domed cities. There are two unbreakable rules: strict adherence to Life Quality (recycling doesn’t even begin to cover these laws), and a complete ban on reproduction (only the “worthy” are permitted to create new humans). Write from the perspective of a young woman who just discovered she’s been chosen to reproduce—but she has no interest in being a mother.
• So yeah, ancient Egypt really was “all that” after all, and the pyramids turn out to be fully functional spaceships (the limestone was to preserve the electronics hidden inside). Write from the perspective of the tourist exploring the ancient society who accidentally turns one on.

Click for the other seventeen sci-fi story ideas

20 Fantasy Story Ideas

Need a dose of sword-in-the-stone, hero and/or heroine packed coming-of-age glory?  We love fantasy stories!

Just try to not have fun writing (or even just reading!) these fantasy writing prompts. Here are a few of my favorite fantasy story ideas:

• Bored high school wizards decide to throw a party to celebrate tomorrow's graduation. Nothing could possibly go wrong.
• Weddings are stressful. They're especially tricky when one family is magical and the other hates spells, and both mothers want to control the celebration.
• A bored housewife wakes one day to find all her dishes are singing Hey, Jude . (Alternatively, if you want to make this a darker story, have them sing  The Sound of Silence. )
• A witch living secretly in suburbia casts a spell to speed up the laundry, but it backfires—just in time for trick-or-treaters to deal with dancing underwear.
• Capitol Hill wakes one day to find thousands of fairies protesting for better media representation. Unfortunately, no one can understand what they're saying.
• A fed-up genie, sick of being over-sexualized and paid in wishes, throws a magical tantrum which turns everyone in the world into the opposite gender.
• One bright morning in May, all domestic pets start talking.
• Eating food turns one's skin the same color as one's last ingested item, which makes cheating on diets a challenge of strategy as well as taste.
• Giants are REALLY into reality TV, and one day stomp down from their hidden mountain homes to convince Hollywood to create a show about them.
• Mythological creatures, tired of being portrayed as gym rats, confront their creators on a popular combative talk show.

Click for the fantasy story ideas

20 Horror Story Prompts

• Three college students take a final road trip during spring break of their senior year, not knowing that each of them harbors a dark secret about one of their college professors who was murdered in the fall. As revelations begin to stack up, they each begin to suspect the other.
• A quiet golf community is upended after a series of grisly murders begin happening on the greens, and a golf pro's seemingly perfect life begins to unravel with each body they find. She isn't the killer, but she has a terrifying idea of who might be.
• A police officer on terminal leave before retirement finds himself in a bar where he suddenly realizes the art on the walls shifts and reveals pictures of serial killers from the last twenty years. And his best friend and former partner, who is still on active duty, is there on the wall too.
• A grieving daughter revisits the libraries and locations where her famous horror writer mother penned her most famous works. And finds out her mother's stories weren't quite the fiction everyone believes.
• A teacher returns to teach at the school where they attended to find that their entire class is made up of the children of every bully and enemy from their life. But no one claims to remember them.
• A cursed siren hunts a fishing village looking for the boat and man that killed her true love.
• A hoarder dies and the mother-daughter team hired to clean up the mess discover a dead body and the horror of how it all began might connect to a shape-shifting monster from their own family.
• A yacht party veers off course during a summer squall and lands on an island. Their relief gives way to terror as they realize they aren’t alone and worse, they’re prey.
• Radioactive scorpions escape from a lab and begin to attack a small desert town.
• An experimental romance rehab resort goes into lockdown after a therapist and a participant are found dismembered and clawed to shreds on the beach. But the threat is inside the compound.

Ten more spine-tingling horror story prompts here . 

The Secret to Choosing the Best Story Idea

Stories, more than any other artistic expression, have the power to make people care. Stories have the ability to change people’s lives.

But to write a great story, a life-changing story, don’t just write about what your characters did, said, and saw. Ask yourself, “Where do I fit in to this story? What is my personal connection to this story?”

Robert Frost said this:

If you can connect your personal story to the story you’re writing, you will not only be more motivated to finish your story, you might just be able to change the lives of your readers.

Next Step: Write Your Best Story

No matter how good your idea, writing a story or a book can be a long difficult process. How do you create an outline, come up with a great plot, and then actually  finish  it?

My new book  The Write Structure  will help. You'll learn how to take your idea and structure a strong plot around it. Then you'll be guided through the exact process I've used to write dozens of short stories and over fifteen books.

You can learn more about   The Write Structure  and get your copy here.

Have a great short story idea?  We'd love to hear it. Share it in the comments !

Choose one of these ideas and write a short story in one sitting (aim for 1,000 words or less!). When you're finished, share your story in the Pro Practice Workshop (or our latest writing contest ) for feedback from the community. And if you share, please be sure to comment on a few stories by other writers.

Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

Want best-seller coaching? Book Joe here.

Work with Joe Bunting?

WSJ Bestselling author, founder of The Write Practice, and book coach with 14+ years experience. Joe Bunting specializes in working with Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, How To, Literary Fiction, Memoir, Mystery, Nonfiction, Science Fiction, and Self Help books. Sound like a good fit for you?

133 Comments

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.” —Robert Frost

Great quote, right?

Your site is just awesome!

asome i rily like that

I love this Quote!

My latest project has been working on a TV-format screenplay. In TV writing, there are B storylines, which are plot lines that span the course of a season (or several seasons). Each episode, however, has an A storyline, which is the plot of the events in that particular episode. Each A storyline is essentially a short story, and churning them out is surprisingly difficult! Lately I’ve been outlining episodes for my own story. I’ve just completed one that I particularly like, and would love to hear what you all think!

The Vampire Cat

The episode opens with Leiko telling the rest of the crew The Dream of Akinosuke. She finishes the story and they all head off to bed. Leiko walks Shannon to her room. On the way, Shannon asks Leiko if the events of the story were the main character’s dreams or if they were real. Leiko replies that for the Japanese the line between dreams and reality is very thin. They say goodnight and part ways.

The next day, the crew touches down on planet Lorraine. Their mission is to rob an auction house of a valuable piece of art if their client is not able to purchase it. They attend the auction. The client is outbid, so that night they return to the auction house to steal the sculpture. While looking for it, Leiko uncovers a dimension hopping machine, which she assumes to be a piece of junk. The crew is surprised by the auction house’s guards. Shannon is shot in the fight. Leiko tries to help her, but is intercepted by a guard. They fight, and Leiko falls inside the dimension hopping machine. She falls against a lever. The doors to the machine close and it begins spinning very fast. Leiko is thrown to the floor and the impact knocks her unconscious.

When she awakes, Leiko is no longer in the machine or the auction house. She is in a 16th century Japanese barracks, surrounded by soldiers. Furthermore, she is dressed like them and they address her as Soda. When she catches a glimpse of her reflection, she realizes to everyone else she looks like a Japanese man. Unsure if she is dreaming or not, Leiko decides to play along. She hears from the other soldiers that the prince of the region is seriously ill, and thinks maybe with her advanced medical knowledge she can help. She sneaks into the castle to see him. On the way, she passes a group of court ladies. The most beautiful of them smiles at Leiko and her eyes flash yellow. Leiko shakes it off, assuming she must be seeing things. She reaches the prince’s room and is shocked to find Shannon lying close to death, surrounded by attendants. She is discovered and thrown out, but she begs to be told what’s happened to the prince, and is informed he has a mystery sickness no doctor can diagnose. It is feared he will die. The prince’s attendants suggest that if she is so worried about her sovereign, she should pray for his health. Before she leaves, she uses to her dagger to look at Shannon’s reflection, and sees that her reflection is in fact that of the prince. Leiko feels the whole situation is somehow strangely familiar, but unable to put her finger on why, she decides there is nothing for it but to follow the attendants’ advice.

That night she goes to the holy quarter and bathes at the well before praying to the statue of Buddha for the prince’s/Shannon’s recovery. A voice calls to her, and she looks up to see a figure in a window above her. The figure asks her to come up. Leiko goes into the building and finds a priest who introduces himself as Ruiten and tells her he has been brought to the castle to find the source of the prince’s illness and asks for her help. Leiko finally realizes why this all seems familiar to her – she is in the story of The Vampire Cat of Nabeshima, playing the part of the young soldier Ito Soda. She makes a conjecture: the dimension hopping machine really worked and has brought her to the spirit world. Shannon, after being shot, is dying, and her spirit has taken the place of the prince in the story. If Leiko saves the prince, she saves Shannon. Ruiten agrees that this may be possible. Leiko agrees to help him. Knowing how the story goes, she now has a hunch as to what is causing the prince’s sickness.

Leiko goes back to the castle, and straight to the house of the court ladies. She digs under the verandah and finds exactly what she thought she would – the body of the beautiful lady, with puncture wounds in her throat.

The next day, Ruiten obtains permission for Leiko to keep watch over the prince with his attendants. That night, all the attendants fall asleep. Leiko keeps herself awake by stabbing herself in the leg. Later in the night, the beautiful lady comes to the room. She says her name is O Toyo, and she is the prince’s favorite companion. Under Leiko’s watchful eye, she cannot harm the prince, so she leaves.

The next morning, Leiko goes to confront the false O Toyo. They fight. Before Leiko can kill her, the false O Toyo shifts to her true form – a demonic black cat – and escapes the castle. Ruiten sends soldiers after her. Just then, there’s a scream from the prince’s room. Leiko and Ruiten rush from to the room and are told the prince is dead. Leiko pushes her way to the bed and, taking Shannon in her arms, pleads with her to wake up. In course of this, Leiko realizes she’s in love with her friend. Suddenly Shannon opens her eyes and says Leiko’s name.

Leiko wakes up in the med bay of the Perseus, surrounded by the crew. Shannon is in the bed next to her, weak but alive. Leiko gets up to tend to her. Shannon asks if one of the crew was holding her, because she could have sworn she felt like she was lying in someone’s arms. Kaya jokes that she must have been having a good dream. Leiko remarks that maybe it was something more.

This is great! Seriously, I really enjoyed it. Now you have to write it! 🙂

Hey Sunny! Loving this website

Opps that was my grandma 🙂 But she right

Do you know of any Romance magazines that offer short story romances or literary magazines dedicated to just romance? Just curious.

I’m not familiar with any, but try googling “romance literary magazines” or “romance short stories” and I’m sure you’ll find some. Reply back if you find any that are particularly promising.

I just want to say, there are so many good stories on this website. This show the amount that you have helped all these people, maybe one day I will add myself to those people, thank you.

http://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/by-writing-genre/romance-by-writing-genre/romance_markets

بدأت تمطر ورأيت الناس يسرعون للإختباء من قطراته فابتسمت لذكرى جميلة عبرت خاطرى ..تذكرت امى عندما كانت ترقص تحت المطر بفستانها الوردى..الهى كم كنت أعشق هذا الفستان عليها..كان يناسب بشرتها الفاتحة ونحولة جسدها .جذبتنى من يدى يومها واخذنا ندور فى حلقات لا تبدء ولا تنتهى. شعرت ببرودة يديها تصعق يداى وبرودة المطر تبلل وجهى أحسست وبالسعادة تغمرنى لانك اخيرا بجانبى واخيرا تبتسمين اشتقتك يا اماه ..أشتقت لتفاصيلك وابتسامتك. أشتقت لمعنى وجودك جانبى ..المطر يهطل، أعلم أنك لو كنت الأن معى لجذبتينى ورسمنا بأقدامنا دوائر حتى تبتل عظامنا ..سأرقص لك فقط وسأبتسم لك فقط. بدأت عيون الناس تتجه نحوى ..تستنكر فعلتى ولكنى لا أفعل شئ.انا فقط أخبر أمى إنى بخير وأنى أشتاقها..ولكن للمطر طعم غريب يا أمى. له طعم ألم فراقك ،طعم الحياة بدونك ؛هو المطر وهى الحياة ولكن طعمهما مؤلمين يا أمى

I’m writing a “Thriller.” I’m very excited. A short story. Thank you. Right on time as usual!

Fun! Good luck LaCresha.

I’m wondering about “the sagging middle” in story structure right now. I’m happy with my beginning and ending, but the middle isn’t as dynamic as I want it to be. Does anyone have any experiences or advice about this? (It’s a 25 000 word story that’s due for a competition in about four months.)

Hey Rosie. We have a few resources on that. First check out our structure and plot cheatsheet: https://thewritepractice.com/plot-structure . Then, a great guest post on story structure with a hole in it: https://thewritepractice.com/story-hole . And I always recommend Save the Cat, which is a book for screenwriters, but is also very helpful for story structure in general: http://amzn.to/1TNpv2F . Highly recommend it.

The story grid is a good site and podcast for story structure. 🙂

I would say have an extremely unexpected twist, with a character the audience trusts.

But longer than 15 min but here it is.

I rub my fingers into the soft fuzz on the big brown chair. I can make designs if I move my fingers up or down. A dot makes one eye. Then another. A line for a smile finishes my chair picture. ‘Why would Daddy take money and blow it into the wind?’ I wonder as I draw.

A wet spot lands by the mouth, making the brown turn dark. I try to wipe it away, but the face disappears instead. I lay back in the chair, bumping my twin brother and making the dim room spin. My pink and orange stripe shirt is soft as I wipe my eyes. James’s tears fall to the chair like rain, his mouth open like one of the squishy balls we play with. His cry is loud. I join the noise.

Mommy’s hair, as dark as the wet spot on our chair, poofs around her face. Her green eyes seem small with her eyebrows close together. Teeth and gums show as Mommy screams like a roaring lion. Daddy points a finger at her nose. He looks so big. He yells, trying to be louder than her. James and I try to cry louder than them. Maybe they will hear us. Maybe they will stop.

Mommy lets out one last angry scream and tries to push Daddy away. A long red line comes on his arm. Red water comes out of it. Daddy’s eyes widen. His face turns red. He grabs Mommy by her arms, lifts her, and pushes her to the door like a rhinoceros. The wood breaks as they go through.

The noise has stopped, except for sirens in the distance. I curl into a ball in the chair, James’s knee sticking into my back, and close my eyes.

James and I get to sleep in the same bed tonight. It’s strange having Daddy read and tuck us in by himself, but he tells us Mommy will be home soon. I still don’t understand why she went to jail. I thought jail was for bad guys, but Daddy says everything will be ok.

The lights go out bringing shadow monsters. I hug my brother.

Bit longer than 15 minutes, but here it is

‘Scars’

The noise has stopped, except for sirens in the distance. I curl into a ball in the chair, James’ knee sticking into my back, and close my eyes.

This was so good! You have a really good writing style!

“The wall, he decided, will always be there”

He awoke, or at least it seemed he did, for he could not tell if he had been dreaming or if he were dreaming now. He pushed the woollen, scratchy blanket away from his body. There were no sheets, and his skin stuck to the plastic mattress that smelled of others sweat and urine. After prying his flesh from the tenacious bedding, he managed to sit up. He was more tired than he had remembered. He was still dirty and thirsty and his eyes hurt as they squinted in the dim hazy light. He drew his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. For long moments, he sat that way fearing punishment for doing anything that might be wrong.

Eventually, however, his eyes grew accustomed to the shadowy light and he began to see things. Across from him he could see a wall. He wondered how long the wall had been there. The question struck him as absurd. The wall he decided would always be there. In this confusion, he meditated on the hardness before him until a thought of beauty entered his mind and the nakedness upset him. “There are no pictures…it has no pictures hanging from it.” Lacking the courage, or cowardice, to look away he continued staring blankly until his sight improved still further and he found something within the wall that excited him. “I forgot…about…colour…I can see the colour now!” He tried to give the colour a name. “Dirty…” he thought. “Filth.” he said out loud. “It is a filthy colour.” he whispered silently to himself.

Quickly, the excitement left him and he began to grow tired of looking at the wall, even the colour began to bore him. The boredom gave him a sense of courage and he became bold. He decided to explore. Cautiously he moved his eyes to the right where he saw…a corner, Then the head began to turn to follow the lead of the eyes. They continued past the corner until they gazed upon something he recognized.

He hated what he saw, the familiar object that hid in the shadows…the thing that kept him here. He glared at it, but the closed and bolted door remained unmoved. It was then that he turned back to the wall he had grown to know and the boredom…he had grown to love.

incredible first sentence!

Incredible first sentence and incredible last sentence. Shivers up my spine. Thank you.

3 words…. copy and paste

Omg how why are people so good at writing stuff?!?!?

idek!?!?!!! i’m a freshman in high school and i can’t even write a simple short story.

Give it time…

This was a wonderful read ^_^ Short and enticingly written. Drew me in right away with that first bit, and especially the way it was all tied together by that first sentence. Lovely!

I know it’s been two years but it’s still very good and still deserves praise. I like this trippy atmosphere, you managed to convey it very nicely.

Some great story ideas here. You could even combine some of them in interesting, tenuous ways for a multi-location epic.

Thanks Bridget! Absolutely. And there’s nothing I love more than a good epic.

These are great ideas. I like the idea of prompts. Though sometimes, I get stuck when I write from a prompt. And sometimes, I’m not able to write a story in one sitting. I have to think about how I want the story to play out. I might have done it once, and they were pretty short. But most of the time, it takes a couple of sessions. That’s how I’m wired, I suppose.

Ten years of therapy, about a million different types of pills and three psychiatrists have helped me enough to write this. I was eleven when it happened, my older sister, Quinn, was almost sixteen, and my best friend was ten. I’ll never forget it… I doubt anyone ever will.

It was a warm summer day, early June, my best friend, Harper was over and we were playing in the backyard. We were laughing and singing along to a song that I couldn’t tell you the name of now. It was the middle of a normal day, but that’s what they always think just before everything goes wrong. Well, anyways,Harper and I amused ourselves doing everything and nothing for a while before we decided that we wanted to go to upstairs and bug Quinn, who we thought was doing her online drivers ed. courses. We raced up to her room, giggling like the little girls we were. When we got to her room, Harper grabbed the doorknob and tried to fling the door open, but it was locked. That should have been my first sign that something was wrong, Quinn never locked her door, we weren’t allowed to. We yelled, laughing, “Let us in! Let us in!” We giggled and knocking on her door again and again. There was no response, so I remember grabbing the key my parents always had, it opened all of the doors to me and my sibling’s bedrooms… I wish I would’ve known what I know now. I wish I wouldn’t have opened that door.

That day was the last happy day for a long time. I remember everything clearly, the breeze ruffling my short hair, the sound of Harper screaming the lyrics to our favorite song at the top of her lungs. I especially remember the thing that has haunted me for the past ten years. I remember my sister’s lifeless body lying in a pool of her own blood on her bed. I remember the look on her face being more peaceful than I’ve ever seen it. I remember screaming as I stared at the image of Quinn, her wrists bleeding and her skin pale. I remember the sound of Harper frantically dialing 911 and I remember the ambulance arriving. I remember the paramedics calling my parents and hearing my mom’s piercing scream from the phone. I remember the paramedics forcing me out of Quinn’s room, while I kicked and screamed at them, begging them to let me stay with my sister. It was the last time I saw her face. I remember collapsing in my dad’s arms. That was the first time I heard him cry, it wouldn’t be the last.

She was already dead when the ambulance got there. Suicide, they said, she killed herself. It took a long time to convince myself that it wasn’t my fault. If I had only went to see her sooner I could’ve saved her. The funeral was closed casket and everyone cried. I didn’t. I couldn’t. I was too numb. I don’t remember much of the funeral, it was just a blur of black and navy blue, with the occasional apology thrown in there. I never got why everyone apologized, it wouldn’t bring her back.

I was just a little girl and there I was with my childhood torn away from me. I was a younger sister and then I was an only child. A piece of me has been missing from me ever since that die and I doubt I’ll ever get it back again.

This was based on the boy or gets an unexpected fortune. I flushed out the typos, but its okay. Check it out! 😀 Caleb Pratt

Mistaken Divinity

My bar drinks of the wooded timberland were one of the most profound expeditions in my walk into becoming a god. I cupped the glass of cool bud light, and sipped it up at the mini bar table. I rested my hand on the wooden counter top, my fans and companions gambling each other on some high level daredevil match.

“Hey, Lexan, where you at,” I turned to see my friend Rodriguez. Fun man to have around with. He was had long grey hair, even for a guy. I pushed off the table and stood straight. I kept my hand in my pocket.

“You have a lot of realty in the new diversion your causing. Sherman hasn’t even sighted any more Divine Partakers, let alone, any Christian circumspect.”

“I know I know, but… we are, what they are… except the for the grace,” Rodriguez said.

“Right,” I narrow my eyes down towards the ground. I didn’t want to hear what he had to say about us Mormons being what the Christian Community isn’t. I mean, there almost all extinct, if not a hundred percent. We are the erected believers… who are in sure denial of the forthcoming of any later day saints.

“So where is your ceremonial magic been taking you,” Rodriguez said. “Anyhow I could help in the cemetery on Route 430?”

“Uhh… I mean… yeah unless you have a cloak and a specialized dagger. I’d have to get you one of those. You’ll be all dressed like a Celtic.”

We laughed.

Rodriguez was a good friend of mine. Much older though. I was in my teen years and he was in his fifties.

“Man, Lexan, you need to grow a beard. Your seventeen years old… yet you look like you’ve graduated college. What happened to your power to manipulate appearance? Funny… its a shame Christians don’t have this kind of power… even heathens can’t do anything we can.”

“Yeah I can tell Rodge. Tell me, why haven’t you been practicing your divinity? You seem a little out of shape to be wrestling with angles and demons….”

“Well I… yeah I mean, sure. Lets say I’m kind of in a predicament.”

“What…?”

I lay my back against the counter.

“Well, down on Armenia Rd. there was a cross fight between me and some other foe. Not sure what to suspect of him, but the “man-woman” was between two others working for her, or he… I don’t know.”

I rest my chin on my thumb and index finger. I realize and hear there are other phenomena of some other cultist group here in Sherman. Our cult is wacky on its own. Though I don’t know what to think of this “he-she man” thing….”

BZZZZZ! BZZZZZ!

‘I heard you! Shut up!’

‘Enough, you asshole!’

WHACK! Pieces of metal and plastic shattered on the wall.

“I can’t do this anymore,” she muttered softly as she fights her every being not to shed a tear. Alas, she lost once again.

It’s been days since she last saw light. The shadows on the walls seemed permanently etched. Her sanctuary once filled with love, lust, and happiness, now wreaks with despair, anguish, and palpable desperation.

‘How did I get here?’ she thought. The same desperate thought she’s been clutching onto for days. Or maybe weeks? Months? Years?

It doesn’t matter. To Emma, time no longer exists with this unrelenting pain.

Once in a while, the light would sneak through the thick, heavy curtains. And Emma would almost succumb to a hint of a smile until it haunts her again.

His resilient hands on her supple breasts. His soft lips caressing her neck and slender sternum. His sturdy chest against her trembling body. His whole palpitating manhood devouring her salacious being. Every ridges of Paul haunt her. Now, it all has to be distant memories. Unshakeable, soul crushing memories.

After what seemed like a lifetime of horizontal desolation, she finally mustered some strength to sit at the edge of her bed. She slowly opened her bulging eyes, and finally saw the mess she was in. Rotting pieces of food in cardboard boxes, sea of crumpled tissue strewn with nauseating piles of laundry, and dismantled pieces of her once chirpy alarm clock scattered all over her dingy floor.

As she moved her gazed from the floor, she noticed the dent on her pristine white wall. She couldn’t help but stare. ‘That dent will be there for a long time,’ she thought.

With a throbbing grunt, Emma slowly stood up and shuffled towards her once chirpy alarm clock. She picked up the pieces and followed the faint light peeking through her bathroom door. As she turned the door knob, more tears rolled down her cheeks. It was excruciating, but this time it was different. The door closed and the room was dark once again.

“His resilient hands on her supple breasts. His soft lips caressing her neck and slender sternum. His sturdy chest against her trembling body. His whole palpitating manhood devouring her salacious being. Every ridges of Paul haunt her. Now, it all has to be distant memories. Unshakeable, soul crushing memories.”

He had left his Gameboy behind. There was nothing to do without it, nothing to do but kick his feet and stare at the dull blank walls. Even annoying Di-Di had lost its colour. He didn’t care what Ma or Papa said. He had to get his Gameboy back.

He pushed into the room. Ah Boy, wait outside ah. Don’t come in! Papa had seemed firm, but he was old enough now to know how to get out of trouble. He would run to Ma, hide behind her legs, maybe tearfully declare that he would run away from home because Papa was so mean. Anyway, Papa seemed so busy with Ah Gong nowadays. He wouldn’t bother to cane a little boy like him.

Where had everyone gone? He couldn’t have been in the corridor for so long. The room that was once packed full of relatives was empty. It was only Ah Gong left in the hospital bed.

Immediately he noticed that the mask over Ah Gong’s nose and mouth was gone. Who had removed it? Without the strange alien-octopus-thing perched on his face, Ah Gong looked like the grandfather he remembered. He moved closer to get a better look.

As he approached the bed he realized the mask was lying on the chair. The inside was stained with a rustlike substance he did not recognize. He held up the mask to the light, and rubbed the stain with a cautious index finger. A powder came off in his hand. With a shiver of disgust he realized it was dried blood.

“Di-Di!” He didn’t know if he was terrified or excited. Where was his brother? Ma had always rushed to daub up any blood in their house – whether from Di-Di falling when learning to ride his bicycle, Di-Di scratching him during one of their many fights, Papa tripping over a wire and later needing stitches in his forehead. He couldn’t pass up this golden opportunity to share with his brother: the chance to investigate blood without an adult present.

The Gameboy lay in the room, forgotten.

Wrote on ‘a group of children discover a dead body’. In case it wasn’t obvious.

“I do like llamas very much,” said Charleston, “In fact, they even have names.” “You are one freaky man, Charleston.” stated Larry

Very well said!!

Jeremy Reynolds had a party one day. He decided it would be a special theme. Deez Nutz, he decided would be a fitting title for a beach party.

*I am only 14 so please, don’t mind me if there are any mistakes. I am still in the process of learning, but I tried really hard*

He could write. He could write and he knew it. No one else knew. He’d never show them his pieces; his collection of fantasies and mysteries. He wanted his friends to know. No, he wanted the world to know. But he was fearful. He was fearful of his stories failing, of him failing.

Abram had written many short stories and novels, all of them printed in manuscript and hidden in a black lock-box under his bed. He was unmarried, for he didn’t need any other love than that of his trusty typewriter and parchment. Writing was frowned upon, in his country. Books were burned. Even the classics. They were all burned in a pile on the streets.

He wouldn’t risk it. He didn’t want that fate for his books. He worked to hard. He spent too much time revising and perfecting the novel; there was no way he would let them die.

Sighing, Abram cracked his knuckles and stood. He yawned and walked over to his bed, where he bent down and grabbed the lock-box from beneath the bed. Abram had kept the key underneath the mattress, in case anyone were to find this box that contained all of his treasured secrets.

He opened the box he hadn’t opened in many years. Removing the pieces of parchment, he sat on floor, listening for the sounds of Nazi vehicles who somehow sensed the unpublished books. But none came. There was only silence, which, to Abram’s surprise, seemed to grow stronger as each second passed.

Before he knew it, Abram had been sitting on his hard floor for hours, thinking. Thinking about what he knew not. He just knew he was thinking.

Abram stood slowly; carefully as if he was trying not to disrupt the dust that covered the dark floor. Walking over to his desk, he left his lock-box open; something he’d never done in the years past. He sat and placed some more parchment into the typewriter and began writing, or typing, you could say. But this time, something was different. Abram wasn’t writing just for fun, he was writing for purpose. This time, he thought, this time, I will be published and my work may fuel the world. And with that, he revealed his talent to the world.

Thank you so much!!

much thanks <3

I’m sorry I’m late but I just wanted to say this story is fantastic! Soon enough this will become a book! I’m from Hawaii and all I do is write and draw all day… Keep up the work and never give up! God bless and aloha!

Yours was the best story that I read on this page…

thank you!!!

Very empowering!!! I was also around your age when I started writing on this site.

Anyways, that short story was so full of meaning. We just happened to be doing an essay on the value of literature in English class so this really fit in nicely for me with that. Lovely! 🙂

oh thank you sooo much!! I greatly appreciate it!!

I enjoyed your story. Thank you for sharing. I especially liked how Abram developed his talent, and despite the fear of having his manuscripts destroyed, he decided to publish his work. Well done and well told.

I have noticed some tiny grammatical mistakes in your Story and correct it for you as I know that this short Story has potential to go very far. Here is the corrected version: He could write. He could write, and he knew it. No one else knew. He’d never show them his pieces; his collection of fantasies and mysteries. He wanted his friends to know. No, he wanted the world to know. But he was fearful. He was fearful of his stories failing, of him failing.

Abram had written many short stories and novels, all of them printed in manuscript and hidden in a black lock-box under his bed. He was unmarried, for he didn’t need any other love than that of his trusty typewriter and parchment. Writing was frowned upon, in his country. Books were burnt. Even the classics. They were all burned in a pile on the streets.

He wouldn’t risk it. He didn’t want that fate for his books. He worked too hard. He spent too much time revising and perfecting the novel; there was no way he would let them die.

He opened the box he hadn’t opened in many years. Removing the pieces of parchment, he sat on the floor, listening for the sounds of Nazi vehicles who somehow sensed the unpublished books. But none came. There was only silence, which, to Abram’s surprise, seemed to grow stronger as each second passed.

Abram stood slowly; carefully as if he was trying not to disrupt the dust that covered the dark floor. Walking over to his desk, he left his lock-box open; something he’d never done in the years past. He sat and placed some more parchment into the typewriter and began writing, or typing, you could say. But this time, something was different. Abram wasn’t writing just for fun, he was writing for a purpose. This time, he thought, this time, I will be published, and my work may fuel the world. And with that, he revealed his talent to the world.

I hope my effort has helped!

Is it OK if I put this on a website I’m making. It will get me money I need to have. You said your only 14, 9 months ago, so you could be 15, well I’m only 12. I need to learn to save up and this will help me. Everything I said here is true, please help me. Also, this is a great story and that is why I chose your to be on my website.

dude thats like literally directly stealing someone’s work for money that only goes to you. Just write your own story instead of stealing someone else’s.

Admit it. I am probably some dude who can’t even make a website, well I am, so don’t worry.

This is the story I am working on now. I wrote it a long time ago, but I am upgrading it now. Changing all the errors, making the vocabulary more sophisticated:

In a valley close to a river where melt-water splashed and where rhododendrons and roses bloomed, where linnets flew with doves above the clustered trees, lay a cave, mostly hidden by the immense pines and the crag. In the cave, out of reach from the sunlight, was a portal. The portal’s frame was the darkest shade of gold, with glowing orange lines carved into it. Glowing flecks of bright blue glow in the darkness of the cave. The portal lay un opened, but the frame still glowed in the shadows of the sombre cave.

In a desert of torturing, immense heat, where scorching light, too blistering to be called sunlight, burns the dehydrated ground, was a tunnel, buried under the sand. In the tunnel there was an ever-growing fortress of burnt leaves and sand with over-boiled water dripping the top. This is all that remained of the desert, nothing could survive in the world above, nothing except from the portal. The fortress was built around the portal; the portal was the darkest shade of black, with red around the rims of the frame.

The sound of water hitting the cold tiles that topped the floor brought a sense of entertainment to the girl sat in the small room covered in a mixture of scars and bruises, awaiting the next blow of the hammer upon her fragile body which shivered in the night air and soft breeze which entered via the half barricaded window. Again and again, almost as if it was a cruel rhythm the metal tool came down, never missing a hit, always landing upon her chest. The storm brewing outside was bad enough without the maniac and his hammer. These are soft blows for a man of his build, she thought, she was certain he intended to make this last all night long. She wanted to struggle, to scream! But the leather bindings made it impossible, who cares anyway, she thought, no one near this basement would care.

The sticky taste of iron filled her mouth, blood. Her body started to shudder, shock. By this point the inmate hitting had dropped the hammer and injected another load of hydrocodone, such a waste of such an effective pain killer. At last she tried to struggle, but even with the drugs numbing the sharp pain shooting trough her body she still couldn’t gain the strength to fuel her ineffective hope of escaping the inmate, after all, even if she did escape, in a mass breakout like this? She could die in a more demanding way.

With my free hand I felt the imperfections, holes, scratches, patches of long since dry blood that covered thee wooden operation table I lay on. How old was it? Thirty years? Forty? Who cares, it had to be old to be in the basement of Twin Rivers Asylum. This psychiatric institution had housed many atrocities, after all, Nazis built this asylum, catered the inmates…put them to work. We are only barely off the English channel; here in Channel Island’s Twin rivers asylum we have many an inmates. Young and old, French and British, they are all welcome here, hell, we have a Swedish inmate, talks to himself all day and night, his names Toby Buchman, we call him Toby-Talkative, how very fitting being his nurse I should die by his hand…

Ouch, be gentler Toby. Even through my drugged up husk of a body I felt that one. I and the staff thought you were joking when you said you were very strong, looks like you weren’t joking…

For such a shrivelled blotch of bones you have surprisingly good and when it comes to instrument of torture, your quite strong, why wouldn’t you be? Killing young women is why your here, Toby, you are one hell of a sociopath, brilliant mind, you’re like a more sadistic Hannibal Lecter minus eating his victims after all, I’m so helpless you could take a couple of bites out of me as I lie here, in the dark basement…

Fun fact, a goldfish’s attention span is three seconds, the average lunar eclipse takes 11 minutes to pass, and a wooden hospital bed from 19th century takes an average of 63 hits to break trough, 54 if you incorporate a body which weighs approximately 130lbs, and guess how much I weigh.

Suddenly I heard the wood buckle under the next hit a glorious hit as well as my straps loosening. Come on Toby, you brilliant old sociopath, you can do it, one more well made hit could send me free. What could go wrong? Toby stood motionless on the spot for a moment later Toby took another blow. I couldn’t breathe. The pain was so intense I felt every cell in my body explode in a chain reaction. The pain was so intense that it felt like a piece of heated iron had been pressed onto my skin. Despite that, a strange sort of calm fell over me: I was dying. I wasn’t coming back from this. Part of me thought, All right. Make it count. I wobbled on one foot about to run to the door, but unfortunately Toby kicked me at the wall. He was so strong, I thought All froze the leaves on the trees didn’t clatter, Toby didn’t stink anymore, Then it was gone all the memories of life returning to me. Then it all went away, my life was It was the end, nothing could stop that now…

I awoke in a bed, in a white room with a marble floor and a silver carpet at the foot of the bed; the wall behind her was a fancy, white wallpaper, decorated to look like a real wall. The wall on the left of the bed and in front of the bed were normal and white, on the right of the bed was a window, now covered, with a beige curtain. In the bed- where the girl lay were multiple cushions, all lay side by side at the top of the bed; the blanket covering her was soft and light. On the sides of the bed were two bed-side cabinets, one with a lamp and the other one with a vase, holding tulips and rhododendrons, on books by her favourite author, many she didn’t recognise. Promptly, she got up noticing there was a small, white table- shaped as a cylinder, with a transparent glass top; also noticing the chair behind it too. The chair was a traditional, leather armchair with four small metal legs holding it up. Then she turned to the door. It was white made, smooth and made out of oak, with a metal handle, a small, square keyhole under it.

As soon as I placed my hand on the door handle, it flew open with a tall, handsome man in the way with bright blue hair shaped as a fire and red eyes. “Welcome, Kayla to Valhalla. Where are you off so fast” he shouted with glee. “I was going out,” Kyla said trembling on the spot. “I didn’t think this is where I should be.” “In this hotel we are all dedicated to make you feel like home, for you will be staying here for the rest of your life. Sorry for my wrong vocabulary, you are already dead. For the rest of the time you need to practice.” “What !?” she yelled. “Are you saying I’m dead” “Yes I am,” the man asked confused.”May I introduce you to your new home”

So the two walked through what seemed to be a endless tour, but eventually came to an end. “And this is the dining room where you have dinner… Here is your breakfast room you can freely come here and invite friends if you are feeling lonely…” “So you are saying this is the place where all people go if they are an extremex and if they died they come here and become an extraextremex” “Yes,” said he.”And also that you are our leader because you can see what specie people are also take away their powers if needed.” “Can I take away the powers of sociopaths or weaken them with my mind beams whatever things.”

“Yes, you can but if you do that you will be weakened too. Also that is a high level trick, you are not high level- no offense” “Offense taken,” said Kayla, with her head down. So they continued on their tour and went walking through all the different floors and introducing Kyla to all the different people and members of staff. On they went about the limits of people and a lot of different stuff. After time, they started her training.

“Focus on me, ” Blaze was explaining to her how to see what specie he was.”Do not think of anything else. Not the colour of my nose, not what room we are in just on me the thoughts and memories of me. Now listen to the sound of my voice. You should be in a universe of darkness; are you?” “Yes I see black in the background and there are flying things in it.” “Yes those are my thoughts.” “I can also see images swirling around” “Those are memories” “I can also feel heat and cold environment when I move around. Are those your emotions” “Yes, the heat is happiness and the cold is anxiety or sadness. Now let’s focus on the specie part. To determine if I’m an Extraextremex, a normal Extremex or even an Oigreog. If I am an Extraextremex then you will not feel motion. If I was an Extremex then you would sense tingling and if I am an Oigreog then you’ll sense shaking. Which one do you sense?” “I sense tingling and shaking so you are one of the Oigreog in the times when Extremex where starting to populate the world. This that means you are an Exremog or an Exoiig” “I am an Exoiig. I have not died yet.” “But how are you here?” “Because I was the first Exoiig alive. I made this place” “But how?” “I used my powers to do it. That is why all the walls are shades of red, orange and yellow.” “Why didn’t you make mine a different colour.” “Because I need to keep track of what specie everyone is. I used Conjuration and Mysticism to make sure that every specie got the same shade of red or whatever.” They blabbered on about what it was like when Oigreog ruled the world, what Black Magic could do and how to control Extraextremex powers…

Kayla went to bed with the thoughts of how the world was made and how it transformed into this planet, when at the start it was billions of monsters – the Oigreog – fought and then somehow transformed into normal people who never fought in their lives. She also didn’t understand how there was only one person who had the power to see what specie one was… She woke with her hair curled up covering her face.

Once she tossed the hair off her face she noticed there was a book on her bed-side cabinet beside the lamp. When she picked it up, she noticed it was a book called “The Arts of Necromancy and Enchantments”. She soon noticed it was the book Blaze used to learn Black Magic. She was filled with a mixture of joy and shock. Then the door flew open. A small brown-haired boy was standing in the way. “Hi,” he said, holding a hand out to shake, “I am Logan, someone from you floor” “Hi,” Kayla said, shaking his hand, “I’m Kayla, an Extraextremex” “Do you want to go and have breakfast” “I guess so” said Kayla.

In the hallway, my neighbours were starting to emerge. Thomas Jefferson Jr looked about my age. He had short curly hair, a lanky frame and a rifle slung over one shoulder. His blue wool coat had brass buttons and chevrons on the sleeve – a U.S. Army Civil War uniform, I guessed. He nodded and smiled. ‘How you doing?’

‘Um, dead, apparently,’ I said. He laughed. ‘Yeah. You’ll get used to it. Call me T.J.’ ‘Kayla,’ I said. ‘Come on.’ Logan pulled me along.

We passed a girl who must’ve been Mallory Keen. She had frizzy red hair, green eyes and a serrated knife, which she was shaking in the face of a six-foot-seven guy outside the door marked X.

‘Again with the pig’s head?’ Mallory Keen spoke in a faint Irish brogue. ‘X, do you think I want to see a severed pig’s head every time I step out of my front door?’

‘I could not eat any more,’ X rumbled. ‘The pig head does not fit in my refrigerator.’ Personally, I would not have antagonized the guy. He was built like a bomb-containment chamber. If you happened to have a live grenade, I was pretty sure you could safely dispose of it simply by asking X to swallow it. His skin was the colour of a shark’s belly, rippling with muscles and stippled with warts. There were so many welts on his face it was hard to tell which one was his nose. We walked past, X and Mallory too busy arguing to pay us any attention.

We entered a small elevator and the doors closed, making the elevator sound. “One question: How does everyone get here.” “People called Collectors fly around the world collecting souls of dead Extremex. I am a Collectors.”

‘And you?’ I asked. ‘How did you become a Collector? Did you die a noble death?’ She laughed. ‘Not yet. I’m still among the living.’ ‘How does that work exactly?’ ‘Well, I live a double life. Tonight, I’ll escort you to dinner. Then I have to rush home and finish my calculus homework.’ ‘You’re not joking, are you?’ ‘I never joke about calculus homework.’ The elevator doors opened. We stepped into a room the size of a concert arena. My mouth dropped. ‘Holy –’ ‘Welcome,’ Logan said, ‘to the Feast Hall of the Slain.’

Rows of long tables, like a stadium, curved downward from the nosebleed section. In the center of the room, instead of a basketball court, a tree rose taller than the Statue of Liberty. Its lowest branches were maybe a hundred feet up. Its canopy spread over the entire hall, scraping against the domed ceiling and sprouting through a massive opening at the top. Above, stars glittered in the night sky.

What’s supposed to be your point? If you are receiving money from something YOU DO NOT OWN then it is obviously theft. YOU DO NOT PUT SOMEONE ELSES WORK ON YOUR OWN WEBSITE AND USE THAT MONEY FOR YOURSELF. That is just pathetic, really. I hope you honestly realise what your doing here, because its seriously stupid.

kys nigga my bitch loves the cocaine nigga gucci gang nigga iwill fuck your bith tongiht nigga, drose out nigga fag nigga

I am very disappointed that there is not 100 of the story idea selection

I’m glad to see Joe’s book, Let’s Write a Short Story! is still availalbe and going strong! I purchased it as soon as it was published, still refer to it quite regularly to remind myself of some important but often over-looked elements of short story. Although my work has been published a number of times, we’re never too experienced to learn and to be reminded of what makes for a great story.

A short story idea: When I was very young, one of my best friends learned she had been adopted. We all know that people really can and do say some incredibly stupid things to children. Because my mother had very blond hair and blue eyes and both my hair and eyes are dark brown, strangers often said to me,”And just whose little girl are you?” I began to wonder whether I, too, was adopted and my parents simply weren’t telling me. What if, as an adult who never questioned your origins, you learned you had been adopted. Conversely, because I myself DO have an adopted child, what if you were told you were adopted but in fact, learned you were not. Write a short story!

here’s my story

Uncle joe was talking to his 5 year old nephew jane about how he’s getting old and how she’s going to have to start doing all the chores in the house joe is a little challenged in his life because he was bullied and doesn’t know how to control his anger. he gets in an argument with jane and Joe felt anger go through his mind his temper over flows and he got so mad he started hitting her. 2 years later she was still helping around as Jane’s face would turn red and she would start throwing tempers and joe would hit her. Over the years her fachel expiration started to change form because of all the hitting. Joe heard a scream of dying devastating noise outside and went to go see what it was he lifted up a bucket and under it was the phone book. Since he had anger issues he decided to call the evil scientist and ask him to fix bullying once and for all after he went to the evil scientist house something went wrong he came back as the demon he unlocked his nephew’s room there she was. she was crying.Jane slowly turned around she was mad crazy. He ordered her to clean the dishes. Since she was so mad crazy she didn’t listen to him and she smacked him across the face the Demons face turned red he felt like someone pierced him with a needle he got so mad that he trapped her in the mirror. She was screaming for help but it just circulated around in the mirror as she was she was trapped there another duplicate appeared it was a boy. He said his name was michael. He was 7 years old the evil demon erased the kids memories and put them in a microchip. Then he put him on the streets. Someone had found him and brought him home and He had been with his new parents for years.He was great at figuring anything out a after a while he found out about his uncle Joe. Since he was so good at researching things he even found directions to his uncle’s house so he decided to go on an adventure to find his uncle joe/the Demon once he found uncle Joe he wasn’t at all happy.

Joe hit Michael and he fell to the ground and fainted .when he was just slightly awake he found a microchip it said Michael’s memories michael picked it up Joe was coming towards him with a knife

Michael woke up right away and put the microchip to his chest if he dies Jane will vanish for ever Joe stabbed Michael in the chest.luckily the microchip blocked the knife from stabbing him and the microchip went into his chest it felt like a rainbow bursting through his skin the light went into his eyes and he got his memories back. He knew everything he knew that his clone was abused and everything he was ready to sacrifice himself for his clone so he ran inside the house and did bloody jane spinning around in circles and said bloody jane bloody jane bloody jane.

He trapped himself in the mirror and Bloody Jane was back Jane through her self out of the house and went to Joe in and punched him on the floor and they had a sword fight and Joe died and bloody Jane turned into the evil bloody demon.

(I like to write with comic characters (Peter Parker, ect.) so here we go… Based on the scars short story idea)

“Where did these come from?” I flinched and hurried to cover my back and arms up. “They’re old… They don’t hurt anymore…” I frowned, remembering the pain from each one of the marks that stained my skin forever. “That’s not what I asked…” I flinched as he slid the thin jacket off my shoulders to get a better look at them. I didn’t meet his eyes as he traced over them. Long and thin lines from knives. Round ones from cigars or cigarettes. Jagged ones from glass. The giant one that curled from just below my neck, all the way around my body before stopping at my right hip. I remembered the pain from each one, the cause of each one, the people who caused each and every one of them… “Pete, It’s a really long story…” We had been dating for about a month and I didn’t want to scare him away with my sob story. “I want to know.” His voice was soft as he had me sit on the bed facing him. I looked at him for a while, trying to sort my thoughts out. We had been friends since we were six, but I had hidden everything from him. He had no clue, and I wish he still wouldn’t… I took a deep breath and began to tell the story. “I’ve kept this from everyone… Please let me tell the whole story before you ask questions or leave me. I wouldn’t blame you if you did…” “Go ahead, I’ll let you finish. But I promise, I won’t leave you.” He grabbed my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “We’ll see… It began when I was six. My parents weren’t the best as you know… They weren’t home much. Mom went out drinking until she was hammered, Dad went out on “business” calls. He would leave almost every night, coming home with perfume on him. Mom didn’t want to believe it. She was in denial, believed that he still loved her as he did in the past… She would come home smashed and would start sobbing. I tried to help as much as I could, but I didn’t know much. I would let her hug me, and would do my best to comfort her. I learned fast that I needed to take care of her. She would wake up with a hangover and the best I could do was give her one of my favorite juice pouches and a cookie. She would start crying again and tell me that I was such a good girl. Remember when I missed school for a week?” “Yeah, the teacher said you were really sick.” “Dad and mom got into a fight. They were screaming at each other, I didn’t know what to do… I ran away from home, I went to my cousin’s house. I got to stay there the week even though he called mom. When I got home, Dad was gone and mom was passed out on the couch surrounded by empty cans of alcohol. Dad never came back after that, and mom got increasingly depressed. I didn’t know what was happening, Dad wouldn’t come home, mom was sad, I learned how to do things for myself quick because I had to support myself and mom. When I turned seven the nice elderly woman from next door began to teach me how to cook, and clean. I would make her little crafts to sell in her shop as a “payment” for the lessons. Mom barely noticed I was gone for an hour afterschool. She tried to be there for me, she would ask me how my day was, and would constantly give me hugs. I thought life was going good, that everything would be okay. Then when I was eight, everything went downhill…” He squeezed my hand slightly. “Dad came back to the house. He… He said nasty things to mom. I didn’t understand that well back then but as I grew older I understood what he said to her. He.. broke her… She wouldn’t talk anymore, refused to eat, refused to drink… After I came home from the sleepover at your house, I saw her… She, She was hanging from the ceiling, tears running down her face.” Pete looked horrified, pulling me into a hug as I continued. “The elderly woman heard my scream, and rushed over to see me staring at my mother screaming and sobbing. She called the cops, quickly getting her to the ground, checking her pulse. I was taken to the woman’s home, the police announced her dead and found a letter…” “I knew she passed but didn’t know what happened exactly…” Pete’s voice was quiet. “Dad got custody over me. He didn’t like the fact that I looked like mom. He… He did things. He let his ‘friends’ do things. I was nine at the time, and he sold me to his ‘friend’ for the night. Gave him 10 bucks to have his way with me. I tried to fight back but…” Pete looked livid. “I felt sick, the bad thing is that I couldn’t feel anything. I was numb, emotionally and physically. You and the others were the only ones that made me feel something… It continued until I was twelve, I had tried to fight but it was pointless. One day, Dad had enough of it. He slapped me, kicked me, cut me, burned me… He let his ‘friends’ have their way with me. The reason I began to miss more and more school was because of him. I got lucky sometimes and was able to sneak out and see you. He would add a new mark to the collection each time. Then when I was fifteen, he got drunk. He.. Had his way with me, then threatened to kill me if I said anything. Aunt May was the one to notice, the one day I came over she saw a glimpse of them… I confided in her, I didn’t want you to know because you would look at me differently. Or give up on me and that would have killed me… Dad found out when May called the cops on him. He was not happy, the longest scar was his attempt to kill me. The police did a search, and the court plead him guilty. I was in the hospital that month I missed school… My cousin got custody of me, then the accident happened, and I got my abilities. That’s pretty much it… I guess you’ll be leaving then?” I lowered my head, waiting for the rejection. “I told you. I’ll never leave you. I love you too much to do that. I’m glad you told me…” He pulled me into a tight hug, kissing the top of my head. “Really?” I teared up a bit. “Really.” He held me as I cried. I really felt loved for once in my life… All I know is that it felt good to get that off my chest. “I don’t care about the marks. Because these scars make you look even more beautiful to me.”

( I have no idea if I did this right and I’m quite sure I might have made few mistakes but it’s worth a try)

Sometimes there are instances when you can see your own life flashing before your eyes and it gets you thinking ” Is this where I want to be? Is this the place I still want to be in another 5 years?”

I had a minor problem, a fault perhaps. I was surely and indefinitely addicted to Alcohol. Don’t get me wrong it was not that type of addiction where one would kill for a bottle of beer or something far more stronger that leaves that burning sensation down your throat and a sting behind your eyelids. It was a addiction where when I didn’t know what to do-how to react- specifically, I turned to my new found companion. It didn’t shout back at me, didn’t call me names, didn’t say that I was a worthless mistake.

Infact it welcomed me with open arms and I embraced the feeling of not caring. Sure it was a great weight off my shoulders just to forget everything for a moment and just…… be. But then I’d wake up regretting every single thing I did the night before. Trust me that plus having a blasting headache ? not the best hangover tonic.

Now here I am in front of my car trying to think yet failing since I can’t even think straight to even start thinking about thinking.

That’s when I feel it. something poking at the back of my head. A shadow looming behind me.

”Leave the keys on the ground and turn away without a second glance and you won’t get hurt.” His vice was rough and he reeked of old garbage and dried up voldka.

There I see it again. All The time I’ve spent wasting away drinking without actually doing what my 21 year old self was supposed to be doing.

I took my parents money for granted and had the time of my life. A Audi sports car, expensive designer clothes, latest IPhone, all the girls I could ever imagine. And yet I felt hollow. An empty nutshell disguised as a perfect fruit.

This is the moment I change that. This is the moment the fight back. I’m not going to whole away anymore. I won’t be that worthless mistake any more. I am Rane Alexander after all and I won’t let a label define me. I’m going to get past this hazy fog and I’ll see the horizon again.

So I turned back and grabbed the man by his arm and sling him over hard sending the gun skidding across the dim lit parking lot.

” Not today” I breathed.

Nice…well done. I thought the ending was empowering…

Standing Still

I would like to tell you a story about a girl. There was nothing special about her at all-she was simply a girl. Every day she lived in pain. She lived in her shared room feeling so alone. Everything was white: the walls, the beds, the furniture. There was no creativity in the room, no evidence of the girl’s individuality-no posters, no color, nothing. Although, she did have one orange throw pillow that she didn’t want nor like. She hated the bland, bland room. Until she was forced to live in this room she saw white as a symbol of purity, harmony, and peace. Now she saw white as a toxic color, something that wasn’t even really a color at all, something that was devoid of emotion. Every day the girl took a shower in an attempt to wash away her skin that had been tainted by the room, but that simple act of cleansing soon became tiresome and it eventually stopped working. The girl felt dirty, impure, and alone. She was afraid-so afraid. She was afraid of being alone in her shared room in a shared house of seven people. She was afraid of not being heard, of not being able to speak. She didn’t know how she felt and she didn’t know how to express it. One day, the girl stepped into her shower, and stared at the white walls and the white floors and the white curtain and the whiteness of it all and she felt numb. She felt as if the blandness of her room and of her life had finally driven her emotionless. She stood there, feeling every singular drop of water sting her skin as if she was on fire and she felt nothing. Nothing-the absence of anything-shouldn’t feel as if the world was being torn apart around her, it shouldn’t feel as though everyone and everything were pitted against her, and yet this is the way the girl felt. She forgot that she was in the shower, where she was supposed to feel refreshed and cleansed, and she forgot herself. She leaned her head against the shower wall she wondered why the walls looked as if they were in so much pain. It was as if the very walls around her were feeling just as she felt. She stood and she thought. She wondered how long she would be able to stand there, with her head resting on a cold, hard surface. She stood in the shower too long, she stood there until the hot water turned cold and even past that. She stood there until she felt as though the pain building up inside her couldn’t take it any longer. And then, she moved. She placed one hand against the tile wall and she pushed, testing her strength-the wall remained still. She thought about how meaningless her life was and how she couldn’t possibly do anything important or memorable and she felt selfish. She felt selfish for wanting to be important. She felt as though all of her thoughts were not her own and that society had simply conditioned her to think them and she felt nothing. She felt trapped. She had nowhere to go, nowhere to be, no friends to run to, nothing. She felt alone. Her worst fear was unfolding as she began to panic. She thrashed in the shower as she desperately gasped for air, feeling nothing. Maybe she should stop gasping for air, maybe she should just give up. But no, she had to keep fighting. She turned and she turned the dreaded water off and it stopped. Just like that, it stopped, and she felt nothing yet again. She stood there, water dripping down her body, and she thought. She thought about how many mistakes she made and how many lies she’d told. She regretted everything. She wanted to stop feeling. She wanted to undo all of her wrongdoings and she wished she could fix the people she’d broken. She wished so desperately to fix herself. She stopped, she told herself to snap out of it and she felt nothing. She turned and she pulled back the bland, white curtain. She slowly took a step and then another. She stood right outside the shower and let herself feel the cold, rigid air on her skin because feeling something was better than nothing, right? She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself to shield her small, fragile body from the cold. She stood there outside of the shower, and she felt vulnerable. She felt neglected. She felt as if nobody cared at all. She truly thought that she had no one. She sat down on the cold tile bathroom floor and she felt defeated. She felt as if she could no longer go one. She stared at the water dripping from the faucet and she thought about how easy it would be to corrupt these white walls with her own blood just as they had tainted her with pain and sorrow and misery. She sat for what felt like hours and she thought. She realized that she couldn’t do what she so desperately wanted to do because she was just too afraid. She thought about spilling her own blood, just to leave at least a little bit of herself in that lonely room that would never truly be hers. She came so close-oh so close-to giving up, but then she remembered. She remembered a person and how that person made her feel. She remembered a smile like no other. She remembered arms that held her so tight and close that she actually felt safe. She remembered a face, a gorgeous face, that lit up the moment its eyes layed on her. She remembered feeling loved, so she stood up, turned to the door, walked into the white room, and the girl lived on to see another day, another sunrise, and another beautiful moment.

And I have a secret-that girl, that terrible terrible girl, is me.

I have a blog and have uploaded 190 articles and short stories averaging 1000-1400 words. 70% were political. My writing is purely a hobby although I did send one story to a publisher and they wrote that they liked it but being an unknown author I would be required to contribute £2,500 towards the cost of publishing this children’s picture book which was 800 words long. Is this normal?.

So far I have had 43,000 hits worldwide on my blog I am now writing fiction for girls aged between 12-17 and children’s picture books..

I have a blog and have uploaded 190 articles and short stories averaging 1000-1400 words. 70% were political. My writing is purely a hobby although I did send one story to a publisher and they wrote that they liked it but being an unknown author I would be required to contribute £2,500 towards the cost of publishing this children’s picture book which was 800 words long.

IS THIS NORMAL?.

Is this normal ?

I will get up off the chair and head for the PC, I will type two lines. At this stage they are nothing but the release of vague reflections triggered by my imagination. I may not use them but they have to escape the clutter and disarray of my thoughts and be planted like a seedling. Those two lines on a blank screen when germinated can blossom into an article, a story or a book; the blank computer screen is not unlike the painter’s blank palette waiting for the first glimmer of his/her artistry. A line of text can do the same, although it need not even be a line of text, one word can suffice.

The first line read “It was the evening of the annual Concert and Dance at……….. ” I turned the Pee Cee off and I went to bed. The next day the story took root and blossomed… ….

I will get up off the chair and head for the PC, I will type two lines. At this stage they are nothing but the release of vague reflections triggered by my imagination. I may not use them but they have to escape the clutter and disarray of my thoughts and be planted like a seedling.

Those two lines on a blank screen when germinated can blossom into an article, a story or a book; the blank computer screen is not unlike the painter’s blank palette waiting for the first glimmer of his/her artistry. A line of text can do the same, although it need not even be a line of text, one word can suffice.

The first line read “It was the evening of the annual Concert and Dance at the Denham College” I turned the Pee Cee off and I went to bed. The next day the story took root and blossomed… ….

Those two lines on a blank screen when germinated can blossom into an article, a story or a book; the blank computer screen is not unlike the painter’s blank palette waiting for the first glimmer of his/her artistry. A line of text can do the same, although it need not even be a line of text, one word can suffice. The first line read “It was the evening of the annual Concert and Dance at the Denham College.

I turned the Pee Cee off and I went to bed. The next day the story took root and blossomed… ….

Here a poem…

Roses are red Violets are blue I love you Do you love me?

Times I sit and think of you In hope as you think of me Your smile just makes me melt As I know my makes you melt.

I know you think I’m silly But you love me for it.

I hope this puts a smile on your face As it does my as I wrote it.

The sky is blue, the grass is green and the sun is warm just like my heart that beats for you. You make me smile more then the beautiful flowers that bloom under the warmth of spring and you put a sparkle in my eyes more then the stars shine in the night sky. You light my path better then a full moon in a clear night sky.

You are beautiful and I love you too.

It lights up my heart to see the words I write to you. I never thought I would ever meet someone like you. I have told you things happen for a reason and so they do. I want spend every waking moment to show you how I feel. My heart belongs to the moat amazing woman I know. Baby, that is you. I know here lately I’ve been hard to love but I promise things will get better. You are my rock and sanitary you keep me going when I think I can’t. I love u with all my heart, mind, body and soul. You’re my FOREVER. Just one more thing to say.

Don’t give up on me because I will make all your dreams come true in one way or another. I will love you until I take my last breath. Just keep on loving me for I know I am you’re Forever Love…..

That is the biggest poem I’ve ever seen

That is so nice and romantic but the poem is too long

Merp, I like this

Beware: Bad language. These are two dispicible people being told honestly.

————-

Stew bent down and grabbed the dead man’s feet. “Because they’re faggots, that’s why. Why you care?”

Phil bent over and grabbed the dead man’s shoulders. “I just don’t think we should generalize people like that. That’s all.”

“One. Two. Three. Up.” They lifted the dead man off the pavement and shuffled over to the trunk of their Volkswagen. “I don’t give a fuck what you don’t think, they’re still dick-suckers. On three again. One. Two. Three.” They tossed the man into the trunk. Stew grabbed the dead man’s legs and contorted them in such a way that his fat ass fit inside, then he tossed a sheet over the body and slammed the trunk shut. “Queers, Phil. God ain’t got no love for a man sucking off another man.”

Phil was wiping his hands with a kerchief. When he was done he stuffed it back in his back pocket. The left one. “Maybe God doesn’t care, neither? Maybe we’re the ones, as a society, making a bigger deal out of it than it really is.”

Stew licked his thumb and rubbed it on his left tail light, smearing a dot of blood and making it worse. “Gimme’ a rag, would ya’?” Phil fetched a rag out of the backseat of the VW and tossed it to Stew. He spit on the rag and then wiped the taillight raw. “It’s in the fuckin’ bible, man. God said a man and a woman, not a man and a man. Now, don’t get me wrong, I got no problem with women dating women. I mean, come on, it’s sexy as hell. But two guys wagging their weiner’s in each other’s faces? Fucking gross.”

Phil stuck a cigarette between his lips and lit it, closing his eyes and inhaling. He opened his eyes and exhaled. A kid on a bike rode by, tossing a newspaper wrapped in a blue bag on the edge of the driveway. Phil watched the boy as he pedaled away, dumping papers on every driveway down the street. “Maybe the bible does say that,” he said, turning back to Stew. “Why’s it our business, though? Long as they keep it between them, how’s it hurting you?”

“It’s the principle of the motherfuckin’ thing,” Stew said, tossing the rag to Phil.

Phil sidestepped out of the way and let the rag fall to the ground. “Fuck off, dude. I don’t want his fucking blood on my new suit.”

“Well at least put it in the trash.” Stew wiped his hands down his pants, at which Phil cringed, then walked over and opened the driver side door. “We gotta meet Don in half an hour and we’re runnin’ late. Let’s go.”

“Stop for a taco?” Phil asked, bending over and grabbing the rag between two fingers.

“Sure. I’m starving.”

I Tried This is what i have so far…:

Isra Sonnet liked the quiet. Which was why she wished she were back home with her parents back in California, her cousin Eric was snoring very loud on the top bunk of the beds. She tried to block out the noise, but he seemed to be getting louder, and louder with each snort. Having enough of this, Isra grabbed her pillow and climbed up with it.

Holding steady onto the ledge of the bed, she smacked him with it. Hard.

Waking up with a start Eric looked at Isra annoyed.

“What is wrong with you? I was trying to sleep!” He flings the pillow on by his face,to the floor.

“You’re loud enough to wake the dead. Stop snoring like an old man.”

“If you’re so mad about it go sleep somewhere else…” Eric says drifting back to sleep, too tired to argue.

Sighing Isra climbed back down to her bunk bed. She knew it wouldn’t be long before Eric would start snoring again. Gathering her pillow from the floor and the blanket from her bed, she walked out of the room closing the door behind her.

Now, it was quite dark in the house. Though, Isra knew her way around the house from memory. She was careful to go down the stairs, and not to make too much noise to wake Eric’s parents.

In the living room Isra made herself comfortable on one of the couches. Placing her pillow down and wrapping herself in the warmth of her blanket comforted her. She sighed in relief. Now she could finally sleep.

I really like it. It’s very detailed in my opinion. I’ve read a book like that called… “Wish”. I want to publish all six of my books when I get older. I’M ONLY NINE so maybe when i’m in my 20’s

dont worry about your age. you can be just as good as any other writer. i am only twelve and i am almost finished writing my book that i am hoping to publish. go for your dreams, dont let your age stop you.

I’m 16 and have published my first book, best experience of my life, I am very close to publishing my 2nd book and sooo excited! Don’t worry about your age, the younger the better I say! You go girl and good luck with your writing career. You are a very gifted young lady! Xx

If you want to publish your books, why not now? There isn’t a law against young authors. I’m not much older than you, but my book is being published this year. All you need is the money to publish–that’s the REAL hard part for a younger writer.

Hey, don’t worry, I’m eleven and I deeply enjoy writing, and I’m looking to get a book published very soon. There’s no law forbading youngsters from getting books published… In fact, becoming a young author is one of the VERY BEST things you could do to benefit you in the future.

Yea I’m 11 and I’m gonna start writing stories on an app called Wattpad

It’s a great way to get feed back and to start sharing your stories.

The temperature was searing. Tara squinted her eyes as wavy lines of heat danced in the distance. Michael shuffled out of the taxi behind her and bent to drop 30 pesos in the driver’s expectant hand. “Why did we have to come all the way to Acapulco just to get our teeth cleaned?” Tara whined like a child dreading the dentist. “We’re not just getting our teeth cleaned”, Michael explained, “I need 4 crowns, you could use some fillings, and dental work is so much cheaper in Mexico. Plus, it’ll be like a vacation as soon as we’re finished. I have 3 days of the most romantic stuff planned for us, just wait.” Tara smiled at the thought of what Michael’s idea of “romantic stuff” could be. It was 9:15 am Thursday, if all went to plan, they would be partying on the beach Friday night. The shop they had been dropped off in front of was a modest, stucco covered building with one dark window bearing a small sign that read “Dentista”. They were 45 minutes early for their appointments but hopefully that meant they would be done sooner. 30 minutes and 16 pages of paperwork later, they were ushered down a brightly lit corridor to a room containing an x-ray machine. Once finished there, they were led to adjoining rooms. Each contained nothing more than a large, green dental chair, procedure light, and metal rolling cart filled with shiny, sharp instruments. “The dentist will be right in,” said the plump assistant in a thick Mexican accent. Since the office saw so many tourists, the staff all spoke in English, and this reassured Tara that it wasn’t so bad after all. She was looking up at a poster of an aquarium filled with fish that was taped to the ceiling when the dentist strode in. He was tall, about 6 feet, with dark hair, dark eyes, and a brilliantly white smile. While peering at her x-ray films, he rattled off a list of work that she needed, and she agreed, not really understanding just wanting to get it over with. The plump assistant appeared and placed a mask over Tara’s nose and mouth as she crooned, “To make you comfortable!” The last thing she noticed before she lost consciousness was the poodle print scrubs the assistant was wearing. Tara woke up being shaken by Michael. “Come on let’s go, I’ve been finished for an hour.” She groggily sat up and placed her hand to her warm, swollen cheek. The assistant was back, handing Michael prescriptions for pain killers and giving him instructions not to eat for 2 hours. They stepped outside into the bright sun and began walking slowly towards the nearest intersection where they could hail a cab. After a short taxi ride they arrived at Hotel Catedral, a quaint, boutique inn on the outskirts of the city. The room was cramped, but clean, and after a quick shower, they both laid down and quickly fell asleep. The next 2 days were spent drinking, lounging on the beach, and making love. Tara awoke late Sunday morning and started packing. While she would miss relaxing on the beach, she couldn’t wait to get back home to her apartment. Her stomach had been bothering her on and off throughout the trip and she thought it may have been the water she was drinking. They took a taxi to the airport and the trip home was uneventful except for a few severe stomach pains Tara had on the flight. She took a few more pain pills and they eased up enough for her to take a nap. They barely had time to walk through the door when Tara felt a sudden urge and bolted to the bathroom. “Are you okay?” Michael called from the hall. “Fine, just gimme a minute!” Tara snapped, and Michael went in to the living room and laid down on the couch. When Tara had finished in the bathroom, she stood up and saw something strange in the toilet. It looked like what appeared to be several small balloons floating in the water. “What the…” Tara stared confused, and called for Michael to come into the bathroom. He popped his head in the door and looked at her questioningly. She pointed to the toilet and he shook his head as if to say, “I’m not going in there.” Tara walked to the sink and grabbed a pair of tweezers sitting near the mirror. When she reached towards the toilet, Michael yelped, “What are you doing?!” “Shush, hold on!” she said. She pulled back the tweezers and pinched in the end was one of the balloons. She carried it to the sink and quickly rinsed it off. Michael came closer and said, “That came out of you?” ‘Yeah, gimme something to cut it open.” He produced his pocket knife and she proceeded to make a small slice down the center of the balloon. A white powdery substance spilled from the cut. “Oh my god, it looks like drugs! Tara exclaimed. “How did this get inside me? It must have been the dentist! I told you we shouldn’t have went down there for dental work! What are we gonna do?” “Maybe we should go to the emergency room and get checked out? Michael suggested. “Ok but we should just say our stomachs are hurting and not say anything about the drugs. We don’t want them thinking it’s ours and taking us to jail.” After spending 4 hours in the ER, a CAT scan and bloodwork, the couple was assured that they were in perfect health and probably ate something bad. They headed home, relieved there were no more foreign objects in their bodies but worried about what to do about the dentist. “He can’t get away with this, said Tara excitedly, he probably does this to tourists all the time!” “But if we call the police and tell them our story, they might think we’re involved somehow,” said Michael. They arrived back at their small Austin apartment and decided to eat some dinner and think the matter over some more without rushing to alert the police. After all they were safe at home and had no plans on leaving the country any time soon. Maybe they could just put this whole thing behind them like a bad dream. A crazy story to tell the grandkids. Once the dishes for dinner had been washed and Tara was settling down on the sofa next to Michael, a knock sounded at the door. “Who could that be? “Michael asked. He got up, slowly walked to the door, and peeped through the eyehole. On the other side of the door were 3 well-dressed Latino men. The one standing closest to door was dressed in black pants and jacket with a tucked-in turquoise shirt. He spoke first. “We know you’re in there and you have something that belongs to our boss.”

I wrote two stories so far Murderous Twins (Mystery) and Pregnant at 18 (Drama n Romance) total words for both 27000

THANK YOU FOR THIS. I LOVE TO WRITE AND I NEEDED INSPIRATION!!!

My First Story.. I woke up late that morning, too excited to sleep at first and then I don’t remember when I dozed off to sleep early morning. Bright sunlight hit my half open eyes and I jumped off from the bed. It was 8:00 am already.

“Mama … why didn’t you wake me up? Has he left already?” Mother smiled “Its Sunday! Didn’t felt like waking you up from deep sleep you were in, besides you must have been dreaming, there was beautiful smile on your face. And don’t worry Papa won’t go without you.”

I was super relived and ran to hall, where my dad was ready, waiting for me. “We are going to City, right?” He simply nodded and smiled “Now get ready else we will miss the bus”

I ran to bathroom for shower and within seconds was out and in front of mirror combing my hairs. “Dry them properly, your hairs are wet, you’ll catch cold”

But here I was holding my dad’s hand and pulling him out of the door. We took bus from the bus stop and were on our way to City.

Finally the day had arrived when I was going to get my first Bicycle. It all started when my dad promised to get me Bicycle if I score good marks in final exam next year. All my friends had their own bicycle. Even my juniors had their own.

I patiently waited for one year to get my dream bike.

On the result day I was very nervous. When there was announcement that I stood first in 5th C, I jumped up in air and almost snatched my report card from our class Teachers hands.

I was telling everybody on my way back that I was going to get bicycle, since I stood first in class. After reaching home I told mom about the result and she was very happy. Then dad came back from work in the evening, he was very happy to hear about my results and patted on my back.

“So you are going to get me Bicycle” I said with glimmer in my eyes. “Let’s see” he simply said taking off his shoes

I was almost broken in tears to hear those words. He had not said no but neither did he say yes. I broke down “this is not fair, you promised”.

Next day, mom broke the news to me that finally I am going to get my Bike this Sunday.

Squeezing sound of halting break of bus brought me back to present. “We have reached, Lets go” said dad.

We reached the Big Bicycle store in Gol market. There were so many bikes, I just couldn’t take my eyes off. I picked the one with Marron color. Salesman explained the features to me. I looked at dad expectantly, he nodded and I hugged him.

Dad went in to meet the shop manager, I waited outside to see my bike being assembled by the worker. I saw dad having conversation with the shop owner. I don’t know what was wrong but dad came out.

“Let’s go now we will come next week, and take this Bike home” dad said with his fingers in my hairs. I couldn’t believe my ears. After waiting for almost a year I am getting my bike and now he is saying to wait for one more week.

I threw his hand away in disgust and ran away to hug my bike and started crying. Dad tried to convince me that He had assumed the Price of Bicycle to be lot less. And now he doesn’t have enough cash to buy this bike.

But I refused to budge down. I was so much carried away by anger, I couldn’t see the nervous face of my father. It must have been really awkward for him to face this situation.

“Okay. Let me see what can be done!” he went in. I waited outside partly sobbing and partly smiling.

Few moments later dad came out smiling. I knew he had bought the bike and we were going to be taking it home today. This was happiest day of my life.

It took me few years to understand that my dad had sold his ring that day to fulfill my wish!

This is what I’ve got so far:

Capt. Lee asked for interrogation volunteers. The Interrogation Rooms were full and there weren’t enough interrogators. Lt. Jones volunteered. She told him thee was a suspect in Interrogation room D. Should be easy — a straight-up homicide. Just tape the confession.

Entering IR D, he saw an inconspicuous middle-aged man. Inconspicuous? Maybe 100 years ago.

Lt. Jones introduced himself and sat down. He sat down and said he was there to get the man’s side of the story. Then he turned on the recorder. The man looked at him with amusement. “Do you really want my confession” he asked. Jones said he needed the man’s name and address first. “All right. I am Daniel Alan James, address 132321 Atlantic Avenue, Plot D3.”

Jones looked up sharply. “That’s a cemetery. Your real address please.” I get the nuts, he thought.

“I am not ‘pulling your leg’ as you so quaintly think. That is my address.”

“As to my confession. In 1869 in Palm Beach, I burgled May Palmer’s house I got a sackful of jewelry. I also hacked off her head. Sternly he looked at Jones. “You kept that back. He acted like that fact should have been publusged,, like he wanted credit for it.

“In 1920, in Miami Beach, I attended a speakeasy. I abducted a somewhat plump girl, Cynthia Handel, and eventually disposed her of in the Dismal Swamp.” Chuckling, he continued. You could say the alligators had a fine meal that night.

In 1936, Cleveland, Ohio. I presume you’ve heard of the Torso Murders there? The Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run? It was never solved. Poor Eliot Ness — he wanted so badly to be Mayor of Cleveland and not just Safety Director. That case would have given him the Mayor’s office. I denied him that.””I

Above the gables of the orphanage roof, a tremulous, gentle sound began to keen. It began quietly, as oh so fragile a thing. I held my breath where I had awakened in my bed to keep from drowning it out- the sound of a human singing through a violin.

I knew exactly who it was that sang. She had come in just that day, eyes wide, mouth closed, and a violin case clutched to her chest like it was the only thing she had left in the world. I was older than her and so in a different dormitory, but still the sound found its way, sorrowfully, lovingly, through the still night air.

The sound of it made me want to cry, as it stirred in me a pain I’d long ago learned to shove away, the origin of which was the only thing that me and the little virtuoso child shared. It unfurled itself deep within me, reaching out for the sound as it grew, grew louder and more powerful as the beginning upset turned to something more violent, something filled with righteous indignation at what had happened to her… to… to me. Tears welled up in my eyes and I curled into my pillow as I fought the onslaught of emotions. The anger, the injustice, the harrowing *grief*. It all slashed and dove and resonated through the air- through my soul. I curled around the reopened wound, feeling the unreleased cry of pain inside of me. But the tears still fell. They were like rain.

Suddenly the vibrancy in the tone fell flat. The last ringing note was undulating through the air, twisting with fading passion, as a quieter, stiller strain took its place. Dispirited and exhausted, the muted notes struggled to find me, and I imagined them getting lost. It was both a relief and a loss as I felt the raw emotions drain away. It felt… hollow. It was like how I usually felt only much, much worse, the sheer weight of it making it a pain all its own, although it signified the absence of it. It was a rock I couldn’t push off my chest, or a vacuum inside of me. It *hurt*.

Still, my eyes dried as I listened to the dispassionate, lilting notes. They bumped into each other with pattern but no passion. The lack of colour in it compared to everything else the little violin girl had played almost made me want to cry again- for her this time, instead of me. I wanted to comfort her. To tell her that she could find a family here again… even if it wasn’t the same.

But then- then something magical happened. I heard something in a note shift. Just ever so slightly, regaining some of its lost fullness. My heart jumped against my rib cage at it, like a baby bird too eager to be out of the nest. The sound broadened and deepened, spinning and growing to an unimaginable size and intensity, filled with such thought and memory as one can only know inside themselves. I couldn’t imagine that something of such monumental size was coming from such a tiny person and her instrument- no, her partner. Her friend. It had to be her friend to join her in all this.

The graceful creature grew and grew on when I thought it could grow more. Time had lost all meaning to me as it tapered and streamlined itself into something lighter- losing its weight and despair- but not its memory. That stayed. I could feel it within me, too- the warmth that was spreading through the song. It touched at my fingers and toes, the tip of my nose, and the center of my belly. I let out a breath as the weight- the vacuum, whatever it was- released, no longer afraid of it or drowning out the soaring melody that cozied into the corners of the resting place of me and so many others that had experienced what this other child was experiencing right now.

But I knew, as the music carried on through the night, a peaceful balance between love and light and sorrow, that she was going to be just fine. We were all going to be just fine.

This inspired me so i tried it came up with this so far

Things have been difficult lately. Even breathing seems to take a lot of effort. But grief often shuts people down. And everything seems to blur out. You must be wondering what broke me? Nothing just the same old heartbreak that broke souls in every time period.

That night I made my way Aden’s house. We had been dating for almost four years. He had asked me to marry him a week ago and I had to ask my parents if they accepted they’re daughter to get married at 21. To my surprise my parents had said yes and I was on my way to blow Aden’s mind with the amazing news. I rang his doorbell several times even though I knew where they key to the door was kept but manners were still important. After fifteen minutes of standing out the door my mind started exploding with thoughts I shouldn’t be thinking about. Aden’s car was still parked in the garage which meant that he was still home. I rushed to get the keys from under a plant pot and opened the door. Aden’s house was a mess but Aden was a clean freak. I made my way to Aden’s room and gently opened the door to see my whole world crashing in front of me.

Aden lay in bed with another women pressed to his side as they slept. No words, no tears just an apology. Just two words “ I’m sorry “ and I ran down the stairs, across the street and away from the person I had given my everything.

You see every person leaves a mark behind. But Aden , Aden left behind the deepest scars.

(please don’t judge, I’m only 12. And btw I’m a girl. I’m using my dad’s account)

It’s dark. My own shadows drown me. This is nothing new to me though, I’m not shocked or scared. Just lonely. Nothing to look forward to I’ll thing myself sitting and think, hoping. I don’t know how long this lasts, seconds, minutes, hours. I can’t sense the time passing, I don’t fully understand it. I don’t know how I got here or when I’ll leave. My life feels like it has no meaning. But yet, somehow I feel like I’m waiting for something, this longing for something to happen. But at this moment in time…I’m not really sure. I must have had more than this life, I must have lived in something different, color, happiness, friends, family….love…maybe, or is that me dreaming?

Have I lost my mind completely now. Maybe I’m not even here, In this darkness. Am I just mad? Why am I even asking…I’ll never get an answer. Sitting here hoping dreaming will do me no good! I must fight back. I’m not sure what I’m fighting for but if I do have a motive to fight then it must be worth it. Without thinking I lunge into the dark clouds. Fighting, not with any weapons but just by my longing for whatever is outside this lonely cage. The chains of my fear and uncertainty tug at my arms pulling me back but using all my force I shake them off and continue forward through the endless darkness…This place must end. There must be an ending for me, more than this dark realm. I jump forward, ready to scream as I hit the floor but I don’t have to. I didn’t fall…Am I..floating?

No, I don’t feel like I’m standing. I feel something on my hand but I can’t see what it is or even move to shake it off. Then I suddenly realize. The thought that I’ll no longer be lonely, this thing I feel, it’s a person. These thoughts, my feelings they allow me to take control. I slowly open my eyes. It all shoots my at once colour…light! I’m lying down on a bed, a hospital bed. My memories come soaring back. I look over to my right hand and see the lady holding it, in shock, but smiling brightly. It’s my mother! And in what seems like the longest time ever…I smile.

Clark stood at the window and watch as the first snow started to fall. He thought back to when he was a little boy and how he loved to go outside and play in the snow. The snowmen him and his sister would build, the snowball fights him and his friends would have. Then his smile changed to a sad face. He remember the last first snow fall that happen when he was a kid. That was the last time he was happy about seeing the snow. Clark’s father Ernest was at the local convenience store, when two mask men came in to rob the place. One of the robbers told Ernest to give him his wallet. He did but a long noise from the back of the store in scared the robber that he jumped and the gun he had pointed at Clark’s father went off and shot him in the chest.

Clark was home in the bed, but he jumped up out of his sleep, he felt that something was wrong. He got out the bed and went looking for his mother. When he got to the end of the hall he saw his mother at the door talking to some police. She turned when she heard the floor Creek. ” Clark honey, what are you doing up”? His mother asked with blood soaking red eyes . ” mother is everything alright? ” with every step he took closer to his mother he knew that what ever reason the police was at his house it wasn’t good. Every since that Dreadful night Clark, the night his dad was killed, he has hated the snow. It always seems to remind him of that night. It’s like all the good times he had in the snow was replace by the death of his dad, his hero, the man he wanted to grow up and be. They never did find the guys that robbed that convenience store.

Conceited Conflict

Simon did not die…

The inviting aroma of freshly brewed coffee had been enough to persuade him to walk straight into the little beach-side shack without as much as a second thought. He had made a mental note to thank Danny–his colleague and friend–for suggesting the place for a quick getaway.

People close to Simon knew that he savored these small pleasures of life: a peaceful evening relaxing at the beach, the blushing horizon as the sun set for the day, the scents of the tropical sea, the areca nut trees swaying to the music of the breeze, the waves at the shallow end lightly caressing his feet, the warm texture of the sand slipping away beneath his toes, children running around flying colorful kites… cocoa-rich dark chocolates, and fresh coffee.

And why not? After all, he thought, what was life without these? Nothing but a stressful grind, it was. To fight the distressing official battles day in and day out. To struggle to defeat the unethical schemes of the back-stabbing lot who lurked among colleagues and friends. To come back home to the nagging demands of a materialistic spouse. All that did nothing good for the soul.

It was late evening when Simon had walked toward the shack. When he got closer, he had noticed two men standing engulfed by the dark shadows behind the shack. Although he could not discern their features, and they were speaking only in whispers, their body language had betrayed the fact that they had been exchanging an agitated conversation.

As Simon was about to enter the shack, one of the men thrust a wad of money into the other’s hand. The other man briefly regarded the bundle before stuffing it into his trouser pocket.

A drug deal, likely–Simon had thought–or some other such shady business. How could these people come to such spectacular and peaceful places and engage in such disreputable and squalid acts? What a disgusting lot!

He had shaken his head to clear his thoughts, and inhaled deeply as he entered the shack. Freshly brewed coffee! He had smiled as he sat at a small, round, plastic table in a corner. All other concerns would have to wait for half an hour, at least.

Outside, unknown to Simon, the deal had been concluded. The men had followed up by exchanging a small vial of some sort. Then one of them had raised the hood of his jacket over his head and walked away swiftly without turning back, with his hands in his pockets. The other man had vanished into the darker shadows behind the shack.

The next afternoon…

Although–when it concerned professional life–Danny lacked severely in the department of moral and ethical values, he was regarded in their circles as a gem when it concerned friendship. He had rushed to the hospital at once when Simon’s wife had called. Dysentery–she had told him, repeating the doctor’s diagnosis–perhaps acute food poisoning. Very severe symptoms. Quite unbearable. Must have been something he ate yesterday.

Danny had stayed on at the hospital with Simon’s wife to lend her moral and emotional support. He wanted to make sure–he had said–that she got all the help she needed; he wanted to make sure that Simon recovered all right.

The third evening…

Simon rested motionless on a bed at St Sebastian Hospital. Motionless. Still. He wasn’t even breathing. He was finally free of all suffering.

Epilogue 1…

Normally, convincing a chemist and obtaining the required substance might have been the biggest challenge. On this occasion, however, a well-maintained friendship with a pharmaceutical assistant had proved quite rewarding.

The rest was simple to plan and execute. Simple did not mean without risk, but in this case the desired reward would be sufficient compensation for the risk.

The dosage would be just right. The doctor would have only the patient’s symptoms to go on, which would be easily mistaken for those of common diseases such as food poisoning or dysentery.

It would all be over even before anyone suspected foul play. Even if other signs did manifest afterwards, there was no incriminating evidence.

Epilogue 2…

Simon had felt the first signs of fatigue when he was almost half way back home from his getaway spot. He had believed that the nausea was caused by travel-sickness. Later that night his condition had become worse, and next morning he had tried home remedies for diarrhea. By afternoon, he had started discharging blood, and had to be hospitalized immediately.

Danny had stood by his bed in the hospital, looking in his weak eyes, holding his hand reassuringly. Behind those heavy eyelids, in those weak eyes about to close, Danny had seen a faint spark of realization. The reality of the deal he had witnessed behind the coffee shack had dawned on Simon. I wish you understood, my friend–Danny had thought–that it was nothing personal, that everything is fair in professional rivalry. In any case, it was too late now. There was no turning back.

Don’t strain yourself trying to talk–Danny had said–Just close your eyes, let go and relax.

— End —

(I’m only 12 so don’t judge me, I tried :D)

I’m alone. I’m surrounded by darkness. I’m lonely, I have no-one except silence to keep me company. I’m not sure how long I’ve been here…Minutes, hours….days? They mean nothing to me, I don’t know how time passes and why it matters. I’m too close to giving up. Surely my life must mean something. I can’t have been made to just be nothing, to exist only feeling, loneliness and fear. The fear of being forgotten, by this world, by myself. If I’m not already.

There must be meaning for me, something bugger, better. It’s all I want, all I ever dream about. A life with meaning, color, happiness…family. But that’s just a dream. That can’t be real, I have no memories out of this place why would I be suddenly be gifted such happiness. Is this it? I am going mad? Have I been here so long just lost my mind? No. That can’t be. I can’t give up, I must try….try escape this realm of darkness. I stand up, shaking slightly. No, I must be strong! I run forward, not sure where I’m going. Not sure if this place even ends.

I start hearing voices, they’re speaking to me… “stay…strong…everything’s going to be ok” I hear the voice saying. It was comforting, gentle and kind sounded. It sounds familiar….I run faster, using all of strength. I race through the darkness, wind smacking my face until I come to what looks like the edge. It was a drop, so deep I couldn’t see the bottom. Without thinking, using all my desire, the want to be somewhere with meaning and happiness I lunge forward and jump.

I…I didn’t fall. I’m alive, I think. I don’t feel like I’m standing. Wait, am I floating? No, don’t be silly. I’m…lying. I feel something touch my hand but I don’t have strength to even shake it off. I can’t see anything…Then suddenly reality hits me. I slowly open my eyes…It all hits me at once: Color, sound, people. I look over to my right hand to see who was holding it. She was crying but smiling at the same time. It was mother. And for the first time in what seemed like forever, I smiled.

“I’m borrowing one of your geese.”

Asta jumped in her seat by the fireplace, woken from her accidental nap. She whirled in her seet to see Jeppa, the slightly unhinged neighbour, filling the doorframe. He looked like any regular farmer, brown coveralls and pipe dangling from the side of his mouth, but sported a permanent wide-eyed stare that made the children (and everyone else) wary of him. Asta had half a mind to go back to sleep and let Jeppa be Jeppa, but curiousity got the best of her.

“Pardon?” She asked, slowly getting up, her arthritis crackling in her knees. “You’re borrowing what?”

“I’m borrowing one of your geese,” He repeated, unblinking. Then he turned on the spot, as if the conversation was over and done with.

“But why?” Asta exclaimed, hopping after him on stiff legs into the front yard. Three of her large, snowy geese were drowsily waddling through the hole in her white fence as Jeppa marched over and seized one of them by the neck. The other two hurried into a nearby hedgerow, abandoning their brother to fate. Jeppa stood there for a moment and admired the view over Asta’s fields, completely obvious to the furious flapping and hissing of the goose.

“What are you doing? Let go of him!” Asta cried, but Jeppa remained blissfully ignorant to the chaos he created.

“Beautiful day, isn’t it?” Jeppa sighed happily, still unblinking. Then, remembering why he was strangling a goose, he heaved it up under one arm and took off towards his own rickety cottage a few hundred yards down the gravel road.

“Wait!” Asta cried, limping after him. When she finally caught up to him he was crawling up a worn ladder propped against his roof, hissing goose tucked into his armpit as if it was nothing more than the daily newspaper.

Finding her best old-angry-crone voice, she howled; “Jeppa! Get down this instant! What on earth are you doing with Herman?”

This seemed to reach the decision centre in Jeppa’s head, and he stopped on the topmost rung. He stared at the wobbly chimney for a moment, as if pondering its existence, before replying. “I can’t afford a chimney sweep,” he commented simply. Then, with both hands, he heaved the goose up in one fluent motion and dumped it into the chimney. The hissing and flapping increased in volume, projected into the open air by the narrow chimney, until it became unbearable to listen to. Then it stopped. The goose must have fallen into his fireplace.

Asta’s mouth fell open. She sat down on her bum like a baffled toddler.

“Are you alright there? You look like you saw a ghost!” Jeppa chuckled obliviously as he descended from the roof and moved to let the goose out of his kitchen. The moment the door opened, a great, fluffy black thing scuttled out and down the road, hisses and quacks flying about it like the soot covering it.

“That,” Asta said, her voice quivering, “was my prized competition goose, Herman.”

Jeppa finally seemed to realise the extent of his actions. Wringing his hands he inched towards the door, hoping to use it for protection when she exploded, which she was bound to do.

“Isn’t… isn’t there a competition for black geese, perhaps?” Jeppa asked, hopefully unblinking.

Most short story ideas I have are too big write in just one sitting. The first one I wrote took months. It’s why I can’t write flash fiction.

I’m trying to write Flash Fiction. I love the challenge. It’s amazing how you can cut out redundant word from each editing. Try it, Sebastian. It’s good practice.

Okay, here goes: Persephone, Persephone Akeldama. She was a beautiful girl, slender waist, flowing blonde locks, petite figure. This quiet girl was often referred to by her fellow students as the “perfect doll”, due to her stunning looks and the love she received from the teachers. In a the darker half of this world, her nickname was not much different. The flawless puppet, she was called. Flawless because of her swift assassinations, and puppet because of her emotionless features. No one in school knew her profession, and no one in the dark world knew her real age, or even what she looked like. She was a complete mystery to both sides, only this was known about her: She is a prodigy. Of course, “Prodigy” meaning different things in either sides of the world. There was a large gap between prodigy killer and prodigy student. Not many assassins are born into their jobs, Persephone being an exception. At three, she was already trained to fight, and at the early age of twelve, she was already a well known assassin. due to her quick learning, her parents payed even more attention to her, punishing her whenever her actions did not fit into the range of perfection, training her more than any twelve year old should ever have to endure. And of course, making her kill. One by one, Persephone’s emotions died, every person she killed, every order she received. She carried them out with swift and deadly accuracy, losing all her innocence. Her purity was lost long ago.

So she found nothing wrong with killing her parents.

Persephone never loved anyone, because she was a killing machine, exactly how her parents had designed her. Her mothers last words: I’m so proud. Her fathers? :I’ve trained you well. A now orphaned Persephone felt no remorse, no guilt, no grief. Only a small pang of loneliness.

And that was the last emotion she would ever feel.

Ummmm, I got the juices flowing, just need my writing to flow……in the right direction.

So I combined all 10 of the “general ideas” into one premise. I think this is more the premise of a collection now… Oh well. Here’s the premise (or the rough draft)

As a child, Kell, a painting prodigy, discovers her parents’ dead bodies, leaving her emotionally scarred. Later in life, she clings to her boyfriends for moral support, which leads to many failed relationships. Her Fiance and colleague breaks up with her because he needs to spend more time on his work, even though it crushes both of them. Kell doesn’t look when she’s walking down the street, sobbing, and she bumps into her rich soulmate, Neil. They have a whirlwind romance, which ends up with their marriage. On their honeymoon, though, Kell’s mother’s ghost confronts her and warns her to delay the journey. Kell and Neil go anyways. A hurricane strikes, and the couple is stranded with a phycopath who just so happen to be Kell’s parents’ murderer. The couple doesn’t make it out alive.

I know that’s pretty dark, especially for a 17-year-old. It’s also not that great. But hey, I hope it gave you an idea or two! Happy writing!

You should really think about turning this into a novel! You’ve got quite the imagination.

The last laugh Kate Bester

“What? Oh heavens no! When?” Faye dragged the pink sweatband back from her forehead and shook her shoulder length blonde hair off her neck. She had just returned from the gym when the house phone rang.

“…sometime last night, peacefully. She had to go sometime, Faye.” Debbie’s longsuffering voice was irritating.

Faye sighed and shifted the weight from one shapely leg to the other. She crossed one ankle over the other and stared at her Reebok trainers. She bit her tongue before she could blurt out what came into her mind – why now? She had a very special and important occasion coming up and serious shopping to do!

“Mom was nearly eighty, you know Faye, but death is always unexpected, I know,” Debbie went on. Was she imagining it or was there a touch of accusation in Debbie’s voice? Deborah, her older sister, had never married. Instead, she stayed with Mom after Dad passed on ten years ago and took charge of the rambling old house in George. Come to think of it, when Debbie gave up nursing, moving in with Mom was the natural thing to do.

Faye had to muster all the self-control that she could to sound genuine and concerned. It was Mother after all…

“When is the funeral, then? Do you want me to come and help you with the arrangements?” she kept her voice low and even in case Debbie thought she was serious about the offer to help.

“No thanks, Faye, everything is fine. Mom had everything in place as usual. It will be a cremation of course…”

Debbie’s voice trailed off and Faye could just about suppress the groan that escaped from her chest before she said goodbye to her sister. She sank down in the closest, huge, overstuffed chair after she had put down the receiver. Of course. That is Mother. Well, was she corrected herself. Nothing ordinary or conventional. A cremation no less, so that all her old hippie friends could attend in their colourful rags and long hair and chant and blow their flutes and shake their tambourines. Faye had to admit to herself that a cremation at least would be better than embalmment. Her mother was quite capable of having them roll her in the scales of the boophone bulb like the Khoisan did with their dead.

Faye groaned again. She must be in shock otherwise why wasn’t she crying. Crying? No, she’d done enough crying after the second divorce in eight years. The last one was particularly messy but this time she stuck to her guns and got the house and a stiff alimony. Not that it’s about the money, which is never enough anyway, but one has to keep up appearances. She had spent a fortune on refurbishing the gazebo next to the pool. Oh gosh yes, and she must still pay for the embroidered voile curtains around the patio. And for the plant containers and cane furniture from Bali…

Faye sighed as she levered her challenged limbs from the chair. She will have a warm shower and then make her calls. Damn! Now she will have to drive all the way to George. She smiled. Yes, she will have to. Because of Mother’s pendant. She had to have it. Must be worth a small fortune by now…

That pendant was given to her mother by a very grateful Indian businessman. Mother had met him on a plane to Mumbai all those years ago when she travelled to India to see for herself what mysteries lay behind the lotus curtain. She ended up in his luxurious home and taught the whole family to speak English while she enjoyed every facet of that exquisite culture. If memory doesn’t fail her, the pendant has a top quality eleven carat flawless ruby, enhanced by… a shiver of delight passed through Faye’s body despite the warm gush of water.

At the garage to fill up and prepare the vehicle for the trip, she remembered how bored she was on weekends as a child. They travelled endless dusty roads, slept in tents, either sweating or freezing. Her botanist parents would be off in the veld , ooohing or aaahing, clicking their tongues and cameras. Deborah would be whooping somewhere in a shallow river. In her tent, her feet against the anchor pole, Faye swore she would never live this way. She would have money and everything it could buy. These bunny-hugging weirdo’s – her family – may enjoy the outdoors but she despised the smell of citronella candles, morning coffee and tinned food. Not to mention the squatting behind a bush when nature called. Ugh!

At nine o’clock the next morning, Faye was over the Overberg Pass and heading for Caledon. She would stop for tea at the Blue Crane and buy some of her mother’s favourite dried herbs. Yes, some buchu and lavender and rosemary. She’ll keep them on her lap during the cremation service and speeches to soothe her mind. Afterwards she will let them join her mother’s body to nirvana…

It was exactly twenty past one when she saw the huge pine trees and the red brick house behind it. The garden was a botanist’s dream. Like her mother exactly – colourful, mysterious, exciting and completely unusual. Faye’s eyes followed the garden path up to the porch. Handfuls of laurel tied with raffia or beads or leather thongs garnished the pathway from the gate to the porch and around the open door’s frame where fairy lights twinkled.

She opened the car door and slid off the seat. The manicured feet in the Blahnik sandals stepped together neatly on the tarmac as she automatically pressed the remote lock. Gingerly she approached the garden path and as daintily as possible made her way to the house.

Then it hit her. This wasn’t a welcome for her. The laurel symbolized Apollo’s way to remember his Daphne! Daphne didn’t want to marry Apollo and begged her father, Perenaeus, to hide her. He promptly turned her into a laurel tree. From then on Apollo worshipped the tree, hugged it, spoke to it and let all heroes and kings wear a laurel wreath on the head as adornment. This was for Mother.

Suddenly, there was her sister. Oh heavens, clad in a flowing caftan, pearls, beads, feathers and leather thong sandals, she could’ve been Mother!

Quickly Faye went over and folded her sister in her arms. While her sister was yoga-breathing against her shoulder, she took in the room behind. She smiled to herself . Ostrich feather boas were draped over the window frames, door frames and thrown over the backs of chairs. Huge black and white photographs of ostriches in all poses adorned the walls. Ostrich eggs and paraphernalia were displayed everywhere. This was a shrine to the ostrich as Nieuw-Bethesda was to the owl…

She let go of Debbie and cleared her throat. She took a deep breath, “Debs, what are we going to do with all this stuff ?” she hoped her chicanery would go undetected. Back in her mind there was an image of Mother’s ostrich leather handbags, shoes and purses she had collected before it became export posh. Her heart went on a gallop from excitement and anticipation.

At last they were alone. They cleared away the last few cups and plates. In the kitchen, Faye poured two large tumblers of Merlot for her and her sister.

“Sis, if you’re up to it, we can go through Mom’s things and decide what to do about some of it.”

“Of course, my dear.” Faye gulped.

Then the pendant was in the palm of her hand. This was a testing moment. She wanted to hang it around her neck immediately but thought it would seem callous. She let the heavy gold chain slide sensuously through her fingers while the ruby’s red eye winked at her.

“You have it, Faye, it’s too ostentatious for me. Mom also never wore it for that reason.”

“And these, Sis.” Debbie was on all fours in front of a deep drawer. She was pulling out ostrich leather gloves in every colour, handbags, clutch bags, more boas. They lay on the Kelim carpet like offerings to a queen. Faye stared and stared. “Oh yes!” her mind sang.

After breakfast the next day, Faye took her leave of Debbie who promised to visit as soon as everything was tied up and settled. When she was passing Mossel Bay, she started to relax and fingered the pendant at her throat. A warm glow filled her and she stretched to see it again in the rear mirror. It was an exquisite piece! She still felt surprised at how nonchalant Debbie was.

She decided to stop for refreshments outside Swellendam. She enjoyed stretching her legs in the shade of the old trees and watching the goats, chickens and ostriches they kept there for entertainment. She parked in the shade of a huge oak tree and went to the restaurant. She carried her fruit juice over to the enclosure on the lawn. A billy goat came towards her. Behind him a young ostrich craned its neck. A sheep, two lambs and a kid trotted up. Faye leaned forward.

She shrieked, jumped back and feverishly fumbling at her throat, she saw it

Ostriches also like jewellery.

I have not written a very long piece. It a quite short story. So…here it is…

Sydney woke up with a start, as beads of sweat adorned her furrowed brows. Next to her was her twin sister, Tanya, sleeping peaceful as Sydney had been a couple of moments before. She looked around as if searching for something or someone. Sydney almost dismissed the episode and went back to sleep when she heard it again, this time, even evident. The sound that had woken her up from her slumber. The sound that made her shiver and was even vexing than the sound of nails on chalkboard.

And then, it stopped. She looked around her for the source of what she heard. She decided to get some fresh air and walked out of the room she shared with her twin.

As she walked to the porch, she glanced at her reflection in the mirror. She couldn’t put her finger on what was wrong but she knew something was. She leaned in to get a closer look at her reflection when something hit her head and she fainted. When she regained her consciousness, she looked around her. She was in the porch and it was dawn. She went back into her house when she glanced at the mirror again. She could see her mother, her sister and her father. They all looked around as if searching for someone. What she couldn’t understand was why she couldn’t see her reflection in the mirror. Then, realization struck her like a ton of bricks. She was in the other side. Of the mirror.

Then the ending credits rolled in. Though it was just a trailer, it was well shot. Everyone couldn’t wait to see the full movie. We congratulated our friend, Mills, who had shot the film and went to hang out at her place.

Wonderful ideas. Thanks for inspiration.

*I’ve been wanting to write for a long time but never really got the push until right now. Sorry if it’s bad, it’s my first short and I’m 14* “One, two, three. Perfect, now I can go…” I quietly say to myself. I have something called Pure-O. Some people think that it’s worse than “normal OCD”. The others think that it’s completely unreal and it’s made up. What people don’t know about me is that I have Pure-O and it’s completely real and my life revolves around it. I make sure that people don’t find out about it because I am considered “ popular and high-status” where I live. “ Happy, good thoughts. Nothing bad.” I think to myself. “They won’t find out….hopefully. I am Claire Williams who has the best makeup and the straightest hair. Not the Crazy Williams girl that broke down in front of everyone because her presentation wasn’t how she planned it.” I think. Then the flashbacks swoop in and fill my brain. “Hi my name is Claire Williams and I am doing my presentation on the Economic Downfall of 2008…” I pause and look around. I see people snicker and talking. The teacher is just looking at me and gesturing for me to continue. I get scared and forget everything that I worked so hard to memorize. “Umm. I’m sorry ma’am, I can’t finish.” I tell my Economics teacher. When I try to move and collect everything, I can’t move. “No no no no no this can’t be happening. I can’t be having a panic attack at school.” I think to myself. I feel tears well up into my eyes. They slowly fall down my face and I taste the warm salty fluid. I suddenly tense up and can’t breath. Because no one knows about my condition, no one can help me. “Look! Williams is going crazy! Crazy Williams.” I hear people snicker from the back and the attack gets worse. I hear something new in my flashback…. It sounds almost as a ringing. I realize the bell is ringing for the students to get to class. I come back to reality and hope for the best on my first day of Senior year. I mean after all, it’s just school. Nothing bad could happen right?

PEN-082a 694w Anne Frank, Bella and Me by Helen Kudatsky

At nine, I bought my mom, Bella, a birthday gift on June 12th, a magenta lipstick for 19c. I was so proud. First present I ever purchased. She made me return it; It was too extravagant, and besides, she said, “every day is my birthday.” I cried. I knew her secret though. although a proper Jewish woman, sometimes she longed to be a gypsy.

Now, 60 years later, I’m reading “The Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank, here in the home where I live. Though nursed, I’m often blue that I can’t dance or paint anymore. But I love to read and write, and my friend, Julie, the librarian, kindly brought me Anne’s book, which I am now devouring.

Anne was an eloquent writer, describing her schoolmates and boyfriends. She began the diary at 13, disclosing her first period, having a special secret and becoming a woman. I too began to menstruate at 13, pondering the mystery. It’s horrid to imagine eight people in 1944, crammed into the Secret Annexe, handling eating, sleeping, hygiene and trying to stay alive, while whispering and tiptoeing to avoid discovery by the Gestapo.

To maintain normalcy, the adults set up a plan. The children continued their studies: Dutch, French, English, history, geography and art. Although Anne liked most subjects, she found algebra notably loathsome. I’m in that club too.

Her people have become my friends and family: Anne Frank herself, Edith, her Mummy, Otto, her beloved father, Margot, her sister, and the others hiding with them: the VanDaans, their son, Peter who was first, her friend, then later, her crush and confidant, Dr. Albert Dussel, the dentist and Moortjie, the cat. Four of Otto’s devoted employees provided food, supplies and world news, which kept them alive and boosted their morale.

After the war, Miep, a helper, found Anne’s diary in the demolished remains and rubble of the annexe. She gave it to Otto, the sole survivor of the group. He was stunned by Anne’s maturity and the breadth of her feelings. The Diary has been published in 67 languages, portrayed on stage and screen, and is considered one of the most moving accounts of the Holocaust.

For those of us beholding atrocity, Anne Frank is a beacon: humorous, inquisitive, forgiving, cheerful. Sometimes moody, though, she was nicknamed “the incurable chatterbox.” as she’d quarrel with others in the Secret Annexe they occupied for their 25 months in hiding.

My mom, Bella, shared a birthday with Anne Frank, June 12th, but didn’t know of it until years after Anne’s death. Bella lived to be 95. She loved reading as much as Anne did, and she wrote poetry and stories, but didn‘t start until middle-age. Anne, 15, died in March 1945, just two weeks before the war’s end, when she would have been liberated. In two years of hiding, Anne was devoted to writing in the diary, at times prosaic, sometimes distraught, frequently terrifying, but often funny, spiritual and uplifting.

If the war had only ended sooner, I imagine the writing that Anne could have produced and I envision Bella meeting her. Bella, born in 1913, Anne in 1929, 16 years her junior, they could have been aunt and niece; I see them sharing a Shabbat dinner, singing a Hanukah song; I picture them speaking one of their languages. They believed in the same things. Finally, I dream of them proudly sharing their writings, a mystery, a story of love and longing, a poem, and of course, on June 12th, their mutual birthday.

I dream of them walking hand in hand, pale wrinkled fingers holding a smooth teenaged palm. They come to a table set before them, on it matzoh brei with applesauce, a plate of potato latkes with sour cream. There are apples and honey, wine and rugalech. Bella and Anne eat heartily and shout for joy, no longer whispering or tiptoeing, no longer afraid to be Jewish women writers, no longer afraid at all.

PEN-082a-Anne Frank, Bella and Me.wps by Helen Kudatsky w:09/03/17 ei 09/19/17 694 wds 08 mn 99 Park St.#104 Brookline,MA 02446 C-617-939-3387 e-m: [email protected]

My story plot is of the fantasy/adventure type.

In the fictional town of Surron, Colorado (which is surrounded by high mountainsides from every angle, a tragedy occurs on September 5, 1963. Six-year old Robert “Bert” Aruson witnesses his drunken, abusive father murder his mother with a broken beer bottle. Advancing on him, the father sleeps on another discarded bottle and trips, impaling himself on the bottle with which he killed his wife. Robert runs off into the forest to escape his father to look of help, unaware of his father’s death. With his parents living far back into the woods, he ends becoming lost and spending the night in the forest. A mother bear, Dewa, with two cubs of her own, the boy Gemape and girl Biha, discover the young boy and adopt him into their family, christening him with the new name Nuun. Ten years later in 1973, Nuun has led a happy existence with his loving and supportive new family, having even made new friends like the crow Hai and the mouse Naeene. He even prevented unnecessary violence between his family and a wolf pack led by Dande and Gupa. Any hunters that come into the forest have their weapons stolen and permanently disposed of in the night by Nuun. By this time, Nuun and his actions have become something of an urban legend in Surron. Back in that town, the mayor Aaron Burdon (who resides upon a hill overlooking the town) runs the town, though he views it with contempt due to one incident. His younger brother, Reagan, was beaten by thugs hoping to steal money off of his rich person, leaving him with brain damage. Despite this, the townspeople started treating him and his brother differently afterwards, cruelly even. This has caused his hatred to ferment over the years until he comes up with a plan to destroy the town’s population with explosives at the upcoming July 4 picnic. His wealth and power make the workers unable to resist him, as they will become jobless should he imprisoned. “Nuun” comes across one of Burdon’s worksites and almost steals workers lunchbox, but is chased away. News soon spreads through the town and Nuun finds his happy life in danger of being shattered once again unless he can have assistance from friends both human and animal.

Nikita This is the story of me, Nikita, an orphaned girl, who didn’t know anything about her family. I was kept in the orphanage with a bunch of other girls. Ms.Keeper, the owner of the orphanage doesn’t tell anyone anything about themselves or their family. I didn’t know anything about myself, but everyone knew that in Ms.Keepers room there was a filing cabinet with documents of the real stories of our lives. Nobody ever dared to go in there though. Ms.Keeper looked like she was somewhere in the 30’s, she had grey hair, bags under her brown eyes, a slim body and a huge pimple on her long nose. She was not married. I have brown hair, brown eyes, freckles and a healthy, slim body.

I always thought of running away. I felt like I was in that orphanage forever. I remember growing up in there since I was a child and now that I’m 17 years old, I’m still here, hoping to find my family. But that, I thought was too unrealistic. I was sitting in an orphanage, hoping to find my family. No, I wanted to DO something to find my family. The only thing that held me back was Ms.Keeper and the thought that I really had no family. Ms.Keeper was always afraid of one of the girls running away, that’s why she made some workers put a stronger fence around the orphanage property. Ms.Keeper was also afraid of talking to the government. I thought so because the government will shut down her orphanage. One time, I overheard Ms.Keeper talking on the phone to the government and they said that it was illegal to not show the orphans their identity and who they are, but Ms.Keeper ignored them and kept talking about something else. Also, at 18 years old, you are free to leave the orphanage and become independent. I just turned 17. No one else was my age except another girl, aged 14 and all the rest were smaller than her. There was once a girl named Gabby who was the only person who was older than me. Just last year, she turned 18 and was supposed to go. On her birthday, Ms.Keeper made an announcement at the last moment that Gabby was leaving right now and is right by the door. Every girl ran out to give her hugs and goodbyes. Ms.Keeper didn’t even move. She didn’t even say bye. It was so cruel of her. We didn’t have a birthday cake with Gabby because Ms.Keeper threw her out the door on her birthday!

Everyday, Ms.Keeper lets us go outside for one hour, three times a day. We ate mostly sandwiches and drank water and sometimes juice. We also had some snacks, which were mostly fruits. We did school during the day too but this wasn’t real school. Ms.Keeper taught us everything. Ms.Keeper also bought us a TV, which was in the dining room. We mostly had everything we needed, except a family.

One day, when Ms.Keeper let us go outside, I was lying on the grass by myself at the farthest point from the orphanage. Then all of a sudden I heard someone coming. I looked up but saw no one. When I turned around, I saw a boy, looked like he was 15. He had brown hair, blue eyes and was tall. He said “hi” to me and I said “hi” back. We talked to each other for awhile until Ms.Keeper called us in. I really hoped that Ms.Keeper didn’t see me talk to that boy because she would punish me.

For the next three days, I talked to that boy over the fence every recess. He told me about his life and it really surprised me. He said he had a house as big as the whole orphanage (the orphanage is as big as a hotel). He said he had his mom and dad living with him, that he has money, any kind of drink, and lots of junk food. He played video games everyday and watched TV and also he quit school. His mom and dad don’t care about what he does as long as he’s home by midnight! When he told me this, I started thinking, is every life out there like his? What is everyone’s else’s life like? I couldn’t sleep that night or any other night after that day.

Soon, we became friends and he asked if the orphanage was boring. I didn’t even know what to say because it was alright living in the orphanage but compared to his life, it was nothing. I didn’t say anything and he asked if I wanted to run away to his house. I, of course, was surprised and didn’t say anything for awhile but then I said I would think about it. Ms.Keeper called us inside, and I don’t know why but she never caught me talking to him. Ms.Keeper usually stands by the door of the orphanage, looking into the field of how we are playing. I was farthest away from her so maybe she doesn’t see so well.

After those days, I couldn’t sleep because I kept thinking of running away. But how was I supposed to run away? If I got caught, I would be punished and I would have to be a slave to everyone, washing dishes, sweeping, and cleaning. Besides, I couldn’t run away because we all slept in rooms with four people to each room. Our room was the farthest away from the exit. I would have to tip-toe (at night?!?) through the whole orphanage just to get to the exit. No, I couldn’t do it. I was too scared. But that boy kept assuring me that everything will be okay.

I talked it over with the boy and I decided to run away with him at night, at 11pm because he had to be home by 12pm. By 8pm, all the girls in the orphanage would be sleeping, but Ms.Keeper stays up till 10pm, listening to classical music in her favourite rocking chair. As not to wake Ms.Keeper, the boy suggested that he would come to my window at night and I would climb over. Our room was on the lowest level – level one- so it was the closest to the ground. It was supposed to happen in two days from then. I was very nervous and scared, and I kept looking at Ms.Keeper if she had any suspicions, but it didn’t look like it.

It was the day of the run. I packed all my stuff, which wasn’t really much. I put all my clothes in my pockets (it fit perfectly). I was wide awake that night, listening till Ms.Keeper turned off her classical music and went to bed. It was perfectly silent. You could hear every single breath of the girls. My tummy had a trillion butterflies in it and I couldn’t stop my heavy breathing. At 11pm, there was a quiet knock at my window and I knocked back. That was our signal for letting each other know we were ready. I then looked at everyone in the room. They were sound asleep. I opened the window and it’s super squeaky. I waited a moment to see if anyone woke up, but no one moved. I climbed over the window to the boy. I closed the window with a loud squeak and started running with the boy to wherever my feet let me go. It was a dark night and only the half-lit moon was our source of light. The boy led me through streets and streets of houses until we came to a huge house. It was so pretty. It looked like the orphanage but it had no spiderwebs. It was clean and super nice. It looked like they were rich to have all those diamond stuff on the door.

They boy opened the door and the light hurt my eyes. It was so bright in there, so big. The stairs were curved, like I only saw in fairy tales, and there was his mom standing in the doorway. She first smiled, but when she saw me, she made a confused face and came closer. I was so scared. What would his mom do? Did he tell his mom about me? My brain threw me a thousand questions to answer of which I didn’t know the answers for. The lady came closer and asked the boy slowly who I was. He told his mom that I was a friend from the orphanage. His mom got angry, her face started to turn red and she started to talk louder. She started saying that I’m filthy and that she doesn’t want to see me ever again and to get out off this house. I looked at the boy. He started to cry. I tear went down his cheek. He begged his mom to let her stay for the night but his mom didn’t budge. The boy’s mom shut the door on me and I was outside in the cold.

All of this was for nothing. This meet we had. All the recesses we talked, all the nights I didn’t sleep, and I couldn’t go back to the orphanage now. I was alone. I didn’t even know where to go. I got off the boys lawn and I sat down on the sidewalk, crying and I realized I didn’t even know what the boy’s name was! Suddenly, I heard a door open. I looked back to see if it was the boy’s mom. No, it wasn’t. I looked around and saw that the boy’s neighbor has opened the door and was calling me. The person at the door was a grandma. She told me to come in. I stood up and came inside. She told me that she heard the neighbors talking loudly so she went to see what the commotion was about. She asked me if I wanted to eat but I refused. She sent me to bed, not knowing anything about me. She was so kind to me. She sent me upstairs where I had my own room. I fell asleep very fast, and I slept till lunch the next day. I forgot all about the orphanage and went downstairs to meet my hero. She was making breakfast for me. We sat down at the table and she told me her name ( Grandma Laura ) and I told her all about my life. Every single thing. When I came to the part about the orphanage, her eyes widened.

Grandma Laura told me that many many years ago, she was the owner of the orphanage! The government fired her because they thought she wasn’t suitable for the job. When she went away, she made photocopies of the documents of the girls and kept them because the girls were so precious to her that she couldn’t just leave them. Grandma Laura stood up and went upstairs to go get them. When she came back down, she had a whole ton of documents! She found one by the name of Nikita.

That morning changed my life. She let me read my own document. It figures out that my real mom died while having me. My dad was still alive. My dad’s name was Walter Eggons. The grandma’s eyes widened when I told her the name of my dad. She told me that that was her husband! So Grandma Laura was my mom? She didn’t die? But Grandma told me the whole story. My dad, Walter, first married a lady named Agnes, and they had a baby named Nikita ( that was me) and during childbirth, Agnes died, but I lived. Later, my dad could no longer care after me so he dropped me off at the orphanage when I was 1 year’s old. For my dad, that was a hard decision. He had to work but he couldn’t leave me at home and there was no one to look after me. After my dad’s wife died, he married Laura. Laura was sitting in front of me, tears in her eyes and on her cheeks. She then told me the saddest news- my dad died of cancer a couple months ago. I started choking back sobs, and then tears. Grandma Laura was the only family I had. She was my stepmother.

It has been seven years since that happened and right now I am sitting with tears in my eyes, telling you this. I live with my stepmom and my husband, Jeffrey. Turns out that after that day, I lived with my stepmom for a couple months but then the boy’s mom found out that I was still in this neighborhood. The boy was so happy to hear that, and he told me his name- Jeffrey Jones. We soon joined our friendship together and a couple months later, we were married. Also,he wasn’t 15 years old, like I thought, he was 17.

-Written by Nikita Eggons-Jones

I hope you like this so far tell me what to improve on.

Gunnvor is the daugter of a powerful samurai but that is only thing that they have in common. Her father is a ruthless man who fights for war, on the other hand Gunnvor fights for humanity, no one can see her true colors because they want to believe she wants bloodshed as well like her father. She hates their thoughts, imprisoned in her fathers hand, the only way to escape, is for some one, like her, to save her in the outside.

As she swoon her sword with grace she sliced the broom like heads off. Her father and mother were observing her progress as a warrior, when she was do she went to her parents and bowed. She left leaving them behind a cold chill settled on them, the mother knew why the father ignored. Gunnvor loved to walk in the town down below her house, all the people were Good-hearted and kind in every way. She sometimes is jealous of the children for having such free lives. But she does not listen to her selfish conscience, she walked across the flower bridge as a gentle men suddenly bumped into her. “Oh sorry about that I didn’t see you,” Gunnvor quickly got up embarrassed for fall. She looked up and saw man that was strong but kind, she then noticed that he didn’t recognized him, he look like he was from another country. She then suddenly pulled her sword pointed it near his neck. the man was taken aback, he looked shocked and then said ” Yes did I say some thing offensive.”

“your not from here are you,” She moved a little closer, her sword started to dig into skin. “Yea I’m just traveling, I came from the neighboring kingdom, I thought they were in good terms…..right?” He backed away a little from the sword cutting his neck. Gunnvor then lowered her sword slowly, The man rubbed his neck just to find that it is bleeding “by the way what is your name,” she sheathed her sword in it’s case. “My name is gunnvor,” He quickly whipped his head to her “What the, Gunnvor, the daugter of the samurai.”

“Yes.” she turned and started to walk away and stop slightly turned her head ” And you,”

“Uh my name is Cota.” he said then Gunnvor walked away, when she arrived at home she swept past her father to her bed room. That night she could not stop thinking of Cota, she thought how strange he was dressed and the way he looked. The next how ever her father again trained gunnvor, the train this time was diffrent, he was pushing her to far.

Many days have past and Gunnvor noticed that Cota was spotted many times near her house. Then when she training with her father which was basically torture, Cota came up to her father ” You will stop hurting her,” He said slowly and manically. However he was not moved “My wife has convinced you to protect her,”

“No I came In my own accord.” The father then spun and grabbed his sword and pointed to cota. “Well then can fight me,”

“We”l see,” cota grabbed his sword and the two fought, they fought for a few hours and the father was vanquished. Cota then went to Gunnvor and asked her hand in marriage.

Nikita This is the story of me, Nikita, an orphaned girl, who didn’t know anything about her family. I was kept in the orphanage with a bunch of other girls. Ms.Keeper, the owner of the orphanage doesn’t tell anyone anything about themselves or their family. I didn’t know anything about myself, but everyone knew that in Ms.Keepers room there was a filing cabinet with documents of the real stories of our lives. Nobody ever dared to go in there though. Ms.Keeper looked like she was somewhere in the 30’s, she had grey hair, bags under her brown eyes, a slim body and a huge pimple on her long nose. She was not married. I have brown hair, brown eyes, freckles and a healthy, slim body. I always thought of running away. I felt like I was in that orphanage forever. I remember growing up in there since I was a child and now that I’m 17 years old, I’m still here, hoping to find my family. But that, I thought was too unrealistic. I was sitting in an orphanage, hoping to find my family. No, I wanted to DO something to find my family. The only thing that held me back was Ms.Keeper and the thought that I really had no family. Ms.Keeper was always afraid of one of the girls running away, that’s why she made some workers put a stronger fence around the orphanage property. Ms.Keeper was also afraid of talking to the government. I thought so because the government will shut down her orphanage. One time, I overheard Ms.Keeper talking on the phone to the government and they said that it was illegal to not show the orphans their identity and who they are, but Ms.Keeper ignored them and kept talking about something else. Also, at 18 years old, you are free to leave the orphanage and become independent. I just turned 17. No one else was my age except another girl, aged 14 and all the rest were smaller than her. There was once a girl named Gabby who was the only person who was older than me. Just last year, she turned 18 and was supposed to go. On her birthday, Ms.Keeper made an announcement at the last moment that Gabby was leaving right now and is right by the door. Every girl ran out to give her hugs and goodbyes. Ms.Keeper didn’t even move. She didn’t even say bye. It was so cruel of her. We didn’t have a birthday cake with Gabby because Ms.Keeper threw her out the door on her birthday! Everyday, Ms.Keeper lets us go outside for one hour, three times a day. We ate mostly sandwiches and drank water and sometimes juice. We also had some snacks, which were mostly fruits. We did school during the day too but this wasn’t real school. Ms.Keeper taught us everything. Ms.Keeper also bought us a TV, which was in the dining room. We mostly had everything we needed, except a family. One day, when Ms.Keeper let us go outside, I was lying on the grass by myself at the farthest point from the orphanage. Then all of a sudden I heard someone coming. I looked up but saw no one. When I turned around, I saw a boy, looked like he was 15. He had brown hair, blue eyes and was tall. He said “hi” to me and I said “hi” back. We talked to each other for awhile until Ms.Keeper called us in. I really hoped that Ms.Keeper didn’t see me talk to that boy because she would punish me. For the next three days, I talked to that boy over the fence every recess. He told me about his life and it really surprised me. He said he had a house as big as the whole orphanage (the orphanage is as big as a hotel). He said he had his mom and dad living with him, that he has money, any kind of drink, and lots of junk food. He played video games everyday and watched TV and also he quit school. His mom and dad don’t care about what he does as long as he’s home by midnight! When he told me this, I started thinking, is every life out there like his? What is everyone’s else’s life like? I couldn’t sleep that night or any other night after that day. Soon, we became friends and he asked if the orphanage was boring. I didn’t even know what to say because it was alright living in the orphanage but compared to his life, it was nothing. I didn’t say anything and he asked if I wanted to run away to his house. I, of course, was surprised and didn’t say anything for awhile but then I said I would think about it. Ms.Keeper called us inside, and I don’t know why but she never caught me talking to him. Ms.Keeper usually stands by the door of the orphanage, looking into the field of how we are playing. I was farthest away from her so maybe she doesn’t see so well. After those days, I couldn’t sleep because I kept thinking of running away. But how was I supposed to run away? If I got caught, I would be punished and I would have to be a slave to everyone, washing dishes, sweeping, and cleaning. Besides, I couldn’t run away because we all slept in rooms with four people to each room. Our room was the farthest away from the exit. I would have to tip-toe (at night?!?) through the whole orphanage just to get to the exit. No, I couldn’t do it. I was too scared. But that boy kept assuring me that everything will be okay. I talked it over with the boy and I decided to run away with him at night, at 11pm because he had to be home by 12pm. By 8pm, all the girls in the orphanage would be sleeping, but Ms.Keeper stays up till 10pm, listening to classical music in her favourite rocking chair. As not to wake Ms.Keeper, the boy suggested that he would come to my window at night and I would climb over. Our room was on the lowest level – level one- so it was the closest to the ground. It was supposed to happen in two days from then. I was very nervous and scared, and I kept looking at Ms.Keeper if she had any suspicions, but it didn’t look like it. It was the day of the run. I packed all my stuff, which wasn’t really much. I put all my clothes in my pockets (it fit perfectly). I was wide awake that night, listening till Ms.Keeper turned off her classical music and went to bed. It was perfectly silent. You could hear every single breath of the girls. My tummy had a trillion butterflies in it and I couldn’t stop my heavy breathing. At 11pm, there was a quiet knock at my window and I knocked back. That was our signal for letting each other know we were ready. I then looked at everyone in the room. They were sound asleep. I opened the window and it’s super squeaky. I waited a moment to see if anyone woke up, but no one moved. I climbed over the window to the boy. I closed the window with a loud squeak and started running with the boy to wherever my feet let me go. It was a dark night and only the half-lit moon was our source of light. The boy led me through streets and streets of houses until we came to a huge house. It was so pretty. It looked like the orphanage but it had no spiderwebs. It was clean and super nice. It looked like they were rich to have all those diamond stuff on the door. They boy opened the door and the light hurt my eyes. It was so bright in there, so big. The stairs were curved, like I only saw in fairy tales, and there was his mom standing in the doorway. She first smiled, but when she saw me, she made a confused face and came closer. I was so scared. What would his mom do? Did he tell his mom about me? My brain threw me a thousand questions to answer of which I didn’t know the answers for. The lady came closer and asked the boy slowly who I was. He told his mom that I was a friend from the orphanage. His mom got angry, her face started to turn red and she started to talk louder. She started saying that I’m filthy and that she doesn’t want to see me ever again and to get out off this house. I looked at the boy. He started to cry. I tear went down his cheek. He begged his mom to let her stay for the night but his mom didn’t budge. The boy’s mom shut the door on me and I was outside in the cold. All of this was for nothing. This meet we had. All the recesses we talked, all the nights I didn’t sleep, and I couldn’t go back to the orphanage now. I was alone. I didn’t even know where to go. I got off the boys lawn and I sat down on the sidewalk, crying and I realized I didn’t even know what the boy’s name was! Suddenly, I heard a door open. I looked back to see if it was the boy’s mom. No, it wasn’t. I looked around and saw that the boy’s neighbor has opened the door and was calling me. The person at the door was a grandma. She told me to come in. I stood up and came inside. She told me that she heard the neighbors talking loudly so she went to see what the commotion was about. She asked me if I wanted to eat but I refused. She sent me to bed, not knowing anything about me. She was so kind to me. She sent me upstairs where I had my own room. I fell asleep very fast, and I slept till lunch the next day. I forgot all about the orphanage and went downstairs to meet my hero. She was making breakfast for me. We sat down at the table and she told me her name ( Grandma Laura ) and I told her all about my life. Every single thing. When I came to the part about the orphanage, her eyes widened. Grandma Laura told me that many many years ago, she was the owner of the orphanage! The government fired her because they thought she wasn’t suitable for the job. When she went away, she made photocopies of the documents of the girls and kept them because the girls were so precious to her that she couldn’t just leave them. Grandma Laura stood up and went upstairs to go get them. When she came back down, she had a whole ton of documents! She found one by the name of Nikita. That morning changed my life. She let me read my own document. It figures out that my real mom died while having me. My dad was still alive. My dad’s name was Walter Eggons. The grandma’s eyes widened when I told her the name of my dad. She told me that that was her husband! So Grandma Laura was my mom? She didn’t die? But Grandma told me the whole story. My dad, Walter, first married a lady named Agnes, and they had a baby named Nikita ( that was me) and during childbirth, Agnes died, but I lived. Later, my dad could no longer care after me so he dropped me off at the orphanage when I was 1 year’s old. For my dad, that was a hard decision. He had to work but he couldn’t leave me at home and there was no one to look after me. After my dad’s wife died, he married Laura. Laura was sitting in front of me, tears in her eyes and on her cheeks. She then told me the saddest news- my dad died of cancer a couple months ago. I started choking back sobs, and then tears. Grandma Laura was the only family I had. She was my stepmother. It has been seven years since that happened and right now I am sitting with tears in my eyes, telling you this. I live with my stepmom and my husband, Jeffrey. Turns out that after that day, I lived with my stepmom for a couple months but then the boy’s mom found out that I was still in this neighborhood. The boy was so happy to hear that, and he told me his name- Jeffrey Jones. We soon joined our friendship together and a couple months later, we were married. Also,he wasn’t 15 years old, like I thought, he was 17. -Written by Nikita Eggons-Jones

Yoyoyo its generikb here and today we are playing roller coaster tycoon

Anyone got ideas for a short story titled as Leornard’s Fatal Oversight. In need of help asap.

Ugh, this is getting do frustrating! I thought to myself as I struggled through the streets. My ankles kept twisting every time I slipped. Heels are so not comfy. I shouldn’t have worn them. As if my struggle wasn’t enough, people were pushing me as they passed me by. I was being shoved left and right amidst the bustling sidewalks of New York. Feeling fed up, I decided to lean onto a nearby store to regain my balance. What an awful idea it was. Unfortunately, I have miscalculated the distance between me and the store and I ended up leaning on thin air. I tried to right my footing before it was too late but I ended up tripping on my own feet. With a loud oomph I slammed into a passerby. Papers went flying around us as we both fell to the ground.

“Oh my gosh! I am so sorry.” I tried to hurriedly stand up but I ended flat on the ground again. “I didn’t mean to! I was just trying to lean on the wall to regain my balance since it’s the first time to wear heels, and oh my god, it is very hard and painful.”

The person nodded quietly and started gathering the papers. I got to my knees and tried to help. “I was supposed to be looking smart for today’s meeting, but I don’t think it’s been working out so well. I bet I look as smart as a baboon’s butt.” I heard the person chuckle but I went on with my rant, “I also bet that I am a total mess; I don’t how will I meet everyone at work this way. Oh man! They sure will give me an earful of criticism!” I didn’t realize I had been holding on to the few papers I collected while he tried to pull them from my grasp. “Oh, I am so sorry, once again,” I said still holding on to the papers while I got up, “I didn’t realize I was holding on to the documents…it’s not like I’ve read them; I’m just guessing they were documents as your suit looks neat and yeah.” I tugged gently on the lapel of the suit and finally raised my eyes to his face. My eyes probably widened as I saw him for the first time. To cut it short, he was hot! Like smoking salmon hot; or more like hot chili pepper that Indians eat hot! Now I’ll give all the details, I know you want them…I would want them if I was listening to one of my friends telling me such a story. Anyways, he stood a good foot or so taller than me. He had light brown hair styled backwards. His angular, defined jaw was covered with a five o’clock shadow. Bright hazel eyes shone with amusement as a slight smile covered his lips. “I don’t usually talk to strangers as much as I do. God! I’m coming off as talkative! I am not usually the talkative type; I seriously don’t know what is wrong with me today. And whoa, you look handsome,” my eyes widened in shock as he raised both eyebrows, “Did I say that out loud? Oh my god, I said that out loud. I didn’t mean to say that…I don’t mean you’re not handsome, because you’re one hell of a man; I just mean…Ugh! Now I’m coming off as a weird man-gazing half-crazed stalker. That is if I’m not fully crazed. I don’t think I’m making any sense…I should probably get going.” I went to turn around when I felt a tug onto something I’m holding to. With a confused look I looked to my hands and found the stack of papers. With a not so faint blush, I handed him the papers, “I’m sorry again.” I threw my hand behind my shoulder pointing in the opposite direction, “I should probably get going,” I said with a sheepish smile. I turned to leave again, but I was stopped…again. He cleared his throat, “I think you’re forgetting something.” “Um…no, I think I’m,” I turned his way to find him holding my bag. I awkwardly stepped to take it and said, “Thanks. I’ll see you around, not that I know where you are…I’ll just get going.” I took my bag and headed off in the opposite direction before I could embarrass myself any further. As I waited for the subway, I recalled what just happened and face palmed. I took the short ride to the office to compose myself. I was in for a surprise once I entered the meeting room, though. The man I bumped into was standing at the head of the table. “Good morning everyone, before starting today’s meeting, I would like to introduce you to the company’s new CEO…” Well, I wasn’t expecting this. I sat rigidly on the chair once we were told to. “Good morning everyone, I am Nathaniel and I am looking forwards to working with everyone on this team,” he said with a smile on his face. “Mr. Nathaniel, I would like you to meet our best employee, Ms. Felicity Brown.”My boss pointed my way and I wish he hadn’t. Nathaniel’s eyes found mine. They were filled with amusement. Oh this was going to be a long day.

And this, kids, is how I met your father.

A great (and family friendly) writing site is http://www.storybird.com

I might write a story about a girl who was born a princess but all her family died on a ship except her aunt and cousin…she gets taken to an orphanage and everyone else thinks she died too and she gets adopted a few Years later she goes to school and everyone is talking about her…one days she finds out that… oh u want to know well I’ll probs write a story about it on wattpad so u can look for it, it will be called…A princess???

Four new members have a look at couch on top of Crestwood center ship

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WRIGHT TWP. In all perhaps had to be the most significant reorganization matching presented among Luzerne regional 11 institutions zones, Crestwood school panel swore located in four sign ups compared to the ne member, repairing incumbents which are either of them missing in action unique reelection tenders belonging to the primary or elected to get not to research another phase.

wayne Brogna, Stacey Haddix, Kimberly Spath and thus Lauren McCurdy got been sworn appearing in thursday night. The four bought conducted completely considering that the to produce enhancement community. really earning incumbent from a big part that do survived habitual grievance in past times two very long time came anna Hollock Bibla, which will garnered your ex first four year terms the particular snowboard. you become a member of in 2017 because of profitable an exclusive two year sitting.

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following the meeting, Brogna documented can lone even talk to gain themselves even so that he fully Costello ran into finished loads of dubious ballots the actual game board during the last two growth cycles. he explained he’s talked containing Costello together n’ your own questions that can the pup, but admitted no sign ups may possibly well most try out the us president job, if he or she. so which he wasn safe voting for Costello.

barry Boone is unanimously specified as vice chairman, Maureen McGovern came chosen assistant, and after that Brogna been recently branded as treasurer.

all of the reconstituted block have their first finding for normal establishment votes arrange for Dec. 19, Five days right after the contract over curious law firms in order to post proposals on a structured feasibility study, sense my blackboard can have to be able to merit a legal contract.

Four newbies your day Crestwood their school panel accept the promise of health care office at some stage in thurs reorganization talking. right between lead are actually Stacy Haddix, Kimberly Spath, Lauren McCurdy and as a consequence randy Brogna. 17 public speaking.

while prompt wednesday authorities chairman paul Belusko should become aware of if will probably be at center arena this booked careers class a better or at site of the event thus more people beautiful vietnamese women may easily give priority to.

Belusko proclaimed she will be polling an additional four authorities musicians in email’s over the past weekend on recommendation mayor choose George light brown undertaken especially during tuesday night time seeing replace the to and time production for the.

looking to you can keep them respond back to me made by the following thursday, Belusko considered that Friday.

maybe authorities decides to transfer an appointment it provides a week in order to place and with seating rather than a unique fourth area chambers.

was regarded as thinking that it is recently doing open talking long before the performance visit someplace (home buyers and thus local authority or council) may questionthings just to associated with us transfer to the author’s your job session. which unfortunately whatever i thinking about, Belusko claims.

you will most likely plumbing service in sunday night-time show results demonstrations that when local authority or council could not vote on awaiting the law. comments together with inquires are allowed even though council monday date the general public get togethers. timetabled start.

village owner david Gazenski suggested it authorities call on which direction to start.

over council if that they move this approach to a different store, Gazenski alleged.

nearly as Belusko may reaching out to authorities, so too will white because of main receiving area for the mans professional recommendation.

I get distracted super easily, but I started writing down my most intrusive thoughts. 1, it helped me remember them, and 2, it helped me focus on the task at hand. From intriguing concepts to funny-sounding words. Some are quotes for funny dialog, some are character quirks. Now I have a list of really bad, really creative ideas that deserve to be told and deserve to die. Simultaneously.

For example, “Becoming so good at keyboard shortcuts that they do precognitive Googling” “A vegan who is transformed into a dog” “A math curriculum that hires voice actors from pop culture to voice the lessons ” “A character (probably lonely) makes a friend online and goes in for a fist bump with the monitor, only to break it.”

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100 Creative Plot Ideas Organized by Genre

by GetPublished | Sep 17, 2019 | Blog , Writing

Table of Contents

Here are one-hundred plot ideas for when your mind is feeling frazzled and the noggin empty. Some of the plot ideas here are completely out of this world while others are down to earth. From dystopia to romance, to the cliché and outlandish, this list is sure to kickstart your imagination!

Overcome Writer’s Block With Some Fresh New Plot Ideas for Your Genre

Fantasy plot ideas.

First off, we have some fantasy plot ideas for all your magical needs!

• A mortal has been accidentally placed onto Olympus.
• Everyone is born with three wishes in life that they are not allowed to use until (input age here).
• A contest for the queen after the sudden death of said queen from a magical realm.
• The bridge between the realm of the fae and mortal shrinks with each day while tensions run high.
• You are the first and last person to discover the fountain of youth.
• You have lived for (insert time) but have run into the option to finally be set to rest, but (blank) makes you question what you truly want.
• You have lived many lifetimes, always in an endless cycle of birth and death, you finally find someone the same though.
• Each night you are woken by the shouts of sailors and deckhands, the ringing of bells, and the light. But no one else has seen or heard such things.
• Luck has become a hereditary trait.
• Imaginary friends have gone too far, now that friend is real… but something is totally off.
• “Familiars” play pivotal roles in society, the strength of said creature determines your fate.

Live your fantasy writing dream, or find a genre that you should write for !

Romance Plot Ideas

Maybe love will always find a way with these romance plot ideas. Or will everything go down in flames?

• She’s a world-class thief, he’s the lead investigator. At each crime scene, there’s a note left just for him.
• He’s rich beyond anyone’s wildest dreams and no one has ever been able to get close to him. All he cares about in life is perfection which he always is looking for in artwork and whatnot. But then an unruly, perfectly imperfect girl bumps into him, ruining the vase he’s bought while at a show.
• She has no care for love, all she cares about is ruling with an iron fist, making her the fearsome but prosperous boss nationwide. Her newest hire has all the skills needed and perfect in every aspect, but then she’s discovered to be sent by her rival… what will she do?
• She’s motivated by blood and money and will take nearly any contract if there’s enough cash involved; he is to be the victim. But when one contract killer is trying to kill the other, what will occur?
• In his kingdom, it is to be a queen that always rules. However, when both his parents are murdered, to keep some unpleasant relatives off the throne he must change his entire identity to be the new queen. This includes marrying the prince of another kingdom…
• He ensures that everyone finds their soulmate, sometimes through much trial and error. All he’s ever done is watch idly by, but when he falls in love with a mortal meant for someone else, what is he to do?
• She’s a writer, one that writes about love and death. One night she gets a call from someone who says and acts exactly as one of her characters did… alarmed she continues to contact this person. Soon enough she finds herself in love with the character…
• She expects and wants everything to go exactly like all the fairytale stories she heard when she was younger, always with expectations high whilst being often the laughingstock. But then, she meets him…
• Everyone knows their fate, hers is quite bleak. She has no motivation and low expectations because of it, but then she is mistaken for someone else. And when she is mistaken to be who she’s not, he comes into her life and finds herself with everything she was never supposed to have.
• His father is quite literally (some well-known character that would cause problems, ex: the devil, Frankenstein/ doctor Frankenstein, Vampire/Werewolf, etc.), making him a total outcast. When a new girl who heeds no warnings approaches him, what will he do?
• Their relationship was fake or at least supposed to be anyhow.
• She began getting strange letters in her mail, they were yellowed and very old looking, but somehow well preserved all the same even though appearing to be from centuries ago. She eventually decides to write one back, and he receives it. They’re centuries apart but sure they’re soul mates.

Mystery Plot Ideas

What’s been stolen, who’s dead, what’s the motive? So much to ask for these mystery plot ideas.

• You can’t figure out whether you’re awake or asleep.
• You have woken up after a terrible accident, at least that’s what everyone has told you. No one seems to be willing to give any details and you can’t remember the last year of your life…
• You could’ve sworn that someone tapped you on the shoulder, but no one was there. As well you feel watched, and then you receive a letter.
• A few months ago, you began to sleepwalk, but it’s not only you, but it also seems the entire town is as well.
• As you’re restoring a painting you notice something strange, an engraving and the details seem to be changing.
• A crime has occurred, more specifically a murder. The victim was found poisoned at the scene and as if they were sleeping, next to a bitten apple… and they were dressed as snow white. Will more follow?
• A picture is worth a thousand words, or at least that’s what they say. This one was certainly worth more than that.
• A box of pictures fell onto you as you bumped a shelf, it showed a person in each and seemed to go back quite a long time… but in each, the same cat sat.
• People believed to be dead or lost for years have started to show up as if they never left with no recollection of where they went either.

Pro Tip: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook—don’t let distractions keep you from writing your first novel! Use different online writing tools to get the most out of your writing sessions.

Dystopian Plot Ideas

Suffering and injustice, the bread and butter of dystopian society, plenty of that in these dystopian plot ideas!

• People are now able to quite literally bet their lives when gambling now.
• In a desperate hope to cut down on crime and population, those convicted are now entered into a lottery of sorts, the prize? Death. Those with more convictions or worse crimes have a higher likelihood of being chosen.
• No one remembers why the walls were built, no one wishes to leave either though.
• Black Friday has turned into a “game” for the rich. They throw trinkets and cash to the crowds of those poorer to watch the bloodbath that ensues.
• Due to the high-cost and overcrowding of prisons, the government has sent prisoners to man-made islands of which there is no escape. Each island is for a certain level of prisoner, they are left to create their own society or kill each other, whichever works, I guess.
• It is now rare for twins to be born, and when they are born it most often is due to one that is meant to stop the other.
• A very rare few are born without emotions; it is possible though for others to donate emotions for a time.
• Physical traits are achieved through personality. Over time good deeds will create beauty.
• Reincarnation is a real thing, and there are bounty hunters to track down these people. They may have been lovers, criminals, etc.
• The ability to see color is a privilege of the aristocratic.
• Only the smart, strong, and stunningly gorgeous survive. Everyone else is put to death to control the population.
• Sometimes news stations find themselves lacking, that’s why you were born. You’re what they call a Joker, your entire purpose is to do all that will make for a great story.
• It is now possible to entirely swap bodies with someone else. Of course, this always results in the death of who you’re swapping with.
• It is illegal to look outside from the time 11:07 pm to 6:07 am. Each person is required to enter a windowless room for those times in which the government has the ability to lock and unlock the door.
• The earth turns out to be a sanctuary for an endangered species, humans. Today is the first day they are to be introduced back into the wild.

Hunger Games, Divergent, The Maze Runner—what do all of these books have in common? They are dystopian novels turned blockbuster movies! Read more about the best—and worst— movie adaptations of all time .

Horror Story Plot Ideas

Clowns with red balloons and masked killers, don’t go into the haunted house! Here are some horror story plot ideas!

• As an assassin with a sixth sense, you seek vengeance for the restless souls.
• You’re a sleepwalking murderer, but when you wake up, you’re a well-known and renowned detective. You’re hunting yourself and others.
• In the future virtual reality is more prevalent and even realistic than it’s ever been, an entirely new world and life. It’s often used on high profile criminals to make them live what they did from the victim’s view or their worst nightmare.
• You’re finally meeting your “soulmate’s” parents, thrilled and full of glee. But as they close the door behind you, they lean in to whisper, “I’m sorry” / “Forgive me”.
• You’ve been noticing strange things when you awake, new marks or stains, objects moved, new, or even missing. So, you set up a camera. After a few weeks of going over the footage, there’s something strange and unnerving.

~Idea to further this: You wake up, get out of bed, and look into the camera… and then you die. (You kill yourself, duplicate comes in, etc.), Then someone who looks like they could be an exact clone comes in and drags out the body, cleans up, and slips back into bed.

• She never seems to be able to get it right. She can’t seem to find “the one”, or someone even close to that. Little does she know it’s been the same… creature, a shapeshifter who at all costs will have her.
• Each night you heard a tapping on the glass or shrill noise. One night it was too loud to ignore and persisted… soon you realized it was coming from the…
• It’s 3:33 am, a blaring siren comes from your phone with an official notification: Do not look at the moon, do not even glance at it. As well there’s an unbelievable amount of texts and posts on social media saying in some way that it’s a must-see, stunningly beautiful, once in a lifetime view.
• “The human mind is truly the most horrifying and gruesome thing of all.”
• The crow counting rhyme: One for sorrow / Two for mirth / Three for a wedding / and Four for a birth / Five for silver / Six for gold / and Seven for a secret not to be told. There are also many variations of this rhyme that you could use instead, sets up for an interesting and creepy story though.
• The last thing I saw was the glow of my alarm clock, 3:00 am, and then (something scary, death, creature, etc.) ex: its long and sharp rotting nails slowly tore through my neck, its other “hand” muffling my screams. I then woke up in a cold sweat and glanced at the clock, 2:59 am… and that’s when I heard a creaking and smelled of rot.
• It is now possible to know some details of your past lives, how many, how long you lived, etc. As well it’s been linked that some of your phobias are how you died…
• You’re on edge, a few weeks ago you there would be some weird occurrence. Then it was a note with messy and illegible writing. Now you can hear shrill noises, screams, shouting, indistinct. Now at seemingly the source of a scratching noise etched is a clear warning.
• An anonymous admirer letter was slipped under your door at your college. It would seem cute and sweet if it hadn’t been from your closet.
• I found a dead body in my trunk today… I could’ve sworn that I had more than that in there just yesterday.
• Every night you visit me, sometimes in a dream, sometimes in my nightmares.
• I kissed my wife and darling daughter goodnight… and then I awoke in a white padded room with a straight jacket on. They told me it was all just a dream.

Plot Twist Ideas

There are some real turnarounds in this list of plot twist ideas!

• The princess saves the prince.
• Write a story where one of your characters either from the start or at some point in the book are dead or presumed dead. Then have it be that they never were to shake up the story.
• A character that keeps telling outlandish things, but it turns out they’re right.
• A main character or “essential” character killed out of nowhere.
• Have a very guilty and easy to hate a character in your story, have it be a double-cross or frame job.
• A character who is mistaken for someone else but goes along with it.
• A character is revealed to not be what they or the audience had thought.
• An important character throughout the plot is revealed to never have truly existed.
• Some devastating occurrence is caused by those whose entire goal was to fix it or keep it from occurring.
• A character believed to be unimportant to quite bland turns out to be essential and far from.
• Something the character has been searching for or desperately needed was right in front of their eyes the entire time.
• Have it turn out to be that the entire time some blackmail has been the cause for nearly all of a character’s actions.
• A character who is absolutely in love/ obsessed/ or infatuated with another learns it’s for the wrong reasons/ that they’re not at all what they seemed/ etc.
• It turns out the character or group of characters have been led to helping the enemy.

Other Creative Plot Ideas

Here are the last fifteen plot ideas, hopefully you’ll find some other creative plot ideas as well here!

• Make a hero or protagonist that most will hate, vice versa for an antagonist or villain.
• Truth or Dare, your character has a secret, or a truth. What are they willing to say or do to keep said truth secret.
• “I love you.”, “Lying isn’t a good look for you.”
• A bunch of short stories that end on major cliffhangers, but a final one. Once you’re done writing those maybe have them somehow all connect or give the ending to each.
• Everyone ages up until a certain age (ex: 18, 21, etc.) and will remain that age until they meet their soulmate. (Could be used as someone avoiding finding theirs to reign forever, or accidentally aging, or finding you aren’t aging even when with someone.)
• A high school group can’t agree on the meaning and interpretation of Romeo and Juliet , so of course they split into two groups. But then, one person from one group falls in love with the other. Even though it seems nearly every Shakespeare is going on in the group at the same time.
• The retelling of Snow White, if she truly had lips red as a rose, hair black as ebony, and skin white as snow.
• A world where everyone is born with a unique tattoo that gives a hint to fate, personality, each person they love their tattoos will begin to form somewhere on them. These tattoos cannot be removed and will not go away, though they can be hidden and covered. They will receive a tattoo or mark for each love they have, it does not matter if they no longer do or what happens.
• A customer-service worker (retail, support, etc.) who quits their day job to deal with demons, ghosts, and whatnot.
• A story on vampires, but not all are the usual sophisticated, well mannered, well spoken, and so on. Instead, they do their best to not seem outdated, may mercilessly mix multiple slang from way to many different eras, or talking in laughable applications of slang and references, etc.
• Vampires, but for once there are those who’ve been turned other than around nineteen or twenty. With some being turned as a child or while elderly.
• A world where all the mythical creatures or monsters, etc., exist and try to coexist. Each with their own job, talent, and so on. Trying to live “normally”.
• Cinderella went to the ball to murder the prince. Retellings of well-known fairy tales.
• A “superhero” and “villain” who are roommates and nemesis. (Could be they don’t know about the other so both are lying, they both know but don’t want to give away themselves, so on)
• A twist on the changeling stories. A mother caught a fair attempting to switch the child with a changeling soon after the arrival of her child. So she is unable to tell them apart, raises both. Both twins are exactly identical in voice and appearance.

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WEEKLY WRITING PROMPTS

Join (probably?) the world's largest writing contest. Flex those creative muscles with weekly writing prompts.

Showing 2214 prompts

Follow a group of strangers touring a city on some kind of vehicle — a bus, a duck tour boat, a party bike… anything that transports passengers.

LIVE – Adventure

Write about someone who’s traveling away from their hometown for the first time.

LIVE – Character

Write about someone’s journey to retrieve an important object that’s been out of their possession for a long time.

Set your story in an airport where all flights have been canceled and all the passengers and crew members are stranded..

LIVE – Dramatic

Write about someone who’s traveling to a place they’ve never been to meet someone they’ve never met.

Introducing Prompted , a new magazine written by you!

🏆 Featuring 12 prize-winning stories from our community. Download it now for FREE .

End your story with someone saying “I do.”

Write a story from the pov of a plus-one., start your story with people arriving at a special ceremony., write a story in the form of a speech (or multiple speeches)., center your story around two people who meet at a wedding., subscribe to our prompts newsletter.

Never miss a prompt! Get curated writing inspiration delivered to your inbox each week.

Write the origin story of a notorious villain.

Center your story around someone facing their biggest fear or enemy., write about two mortal enemies who must work together., start or end your story with a hero losing their powers., write a story from the antagonist’s point of view., set your story during the hottest day of the year., center your story around an unexpected summer fling., write about a character who is allergic to heat., start or end your story with a heatwave announcement., write about a summer vacation gone wrong., win $250 in our short story competition 🏆.

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

Contest #265 LIVE

Enter our weekly contest.

This week's theme: Bon Voyage

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Contest entries, closes at 23:59 - aug 30, 2024 est, recent contests ✍️.

#264 – Save the Date

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Creative Writing Prompts

When the idea to start a weekly newsletter with writing inspiration first came to us, we decided that we wanted to do more than provide people with topics to write about. We wanted to try and help authors form a regular writing habit and also give them a place to proudly display their work. So we started the weekly Creative Writing Prompts newsletter. Since then, Prompts has grown to a community of more than 450,000 authors, complete with its own literary magazine, Prompted .  

Here's how our contest works: every Friday, we send out a newsletter containing five creative writing prompts. Each week, the story ideas center around a different theme. Authors then have one week — until the following Friday — to submit a short story based on one of our prompts. A winner is picked each week to win $250 and is highlighted on our Reedsy Prompts page.

Interested in participating in our short story contest? Sign up here for more information! Or you can check out our full Terms of Use and our FAQ page .

Why we love creative writing prompts

If you've ever sat in front of a computer or notebook and felt the urge to start creating worlds, characters, and storylines — all the while finding yourself unable to do so — then you've met the author's age-old foe: writer's block. There's nothing more frustrating than finding the time but not the words to be creative. Enter our directory! If you're ready to kick writer's block to the curb and finally get started on your short story or novel, these unique story ideas might just be your ticket.

This list of 1800+ creative writing prompts has been created by the Reedsy team to help you develop a rock-solid writing routine. As all aspiring authors know, this is the #1 challenge — and solution! — for reaching your literary goals. Feel free to filter through different genres, which include...

Dramatic — If you want to make people laugh and cry within the same story, this might be your genre.

Funny — Whether satire or slapstick, this is an opportunity to write with your funny bone.

Romance — One of the most popular commercial genres out there. Check out these story ideas out if you love writing about love.

Fantasy — The beauty of this genre is that the possibilities are as endless as your imagination.

Dystopian – Explore the shadowy side of human nature and contemporary technology in dark speculative fiction.

Mystery — From whodunnits to cozy mysteries, it's time to bring out your inner detective.

Thriller and Suspense — There's nothing like a page-turner that elicits a gasp of surprise at the end.

High School — Encourage teens to let their imaginations run free.

Want to submit your own story ideas to help inspire fellow writers? Send them to us here.

After you find the perfect story idea

Finding inspiration is just one piece of the puzzle. Next, you need to refine your craft skills — and then display them to the world. We've worked hard to create resources that help you do just that! Check them out:

• How to Write a Short Story That Gets Published — a free, ten-day course by Laura Mae Isaacman, a full-time editor who runs a book editing company in Brooklyn.
• Best Literary Magazines of 2023 — a directory of 100+ reputable magazines that accept unsolicited submissions.
• Writing Contests in 2023 — the finest contests of 2021 for fiction and non-fiction authors of short stories, poetry, essays, and more.

Beyond creative writing prompts: how to build a writing routine

While writing prompts are a great tactic to spark your creative sessions, a writer generally needs a couple more tools in their toolbelt when it comes to developing a rock-solid writing routine . To that end, here are a few more additional tips for incorporating your craft into your everyday life.

• NNWT. Or, as book coach Kevin Johns calls it , “Non-Negotiable Writing Time.” This time should be scheduled into your routine, whether that’s once a day or once a week. Treat it as a serious commitment, and don’t schedule anything else during your NNWT unless it’s absolutely necessary.
• Set word count goals. And make them realistic! Don’t start out with lofty goals you’re unlikely to achieve. Give some thought to how many words you think you can write a week, and start there. If you find you’re hitting your weekly or daily goals easily, keep upping the stakes as your craft time becomes more ingrained in your routine.
• Talk to friends and family about the project you’re working on. Doing so means that those close to you are likely to check in about the status of your piece — which in turn keeps you more accountable.

Arm yourself against writer’s block. Writer’s block will inevitably come, no matter how much story ideas initially inspire you. So it’s best to be prepared with tips and tricks you can use to keep yourself on track before the block hits. You can find 20 solid tips here — including how to establish a relationship with your inner critic and apps that can help you defeat procrastination or lack of motivation.

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104 Of The Best Short Story Ideas And Prompts To Grab Your Readers

So, you want to write a short story — and not just a mildly entertaining short story but one your readers can’t put down until they’ve finished it.

You want a story that gets reactions like “Wow!” and “How did you do that?” and “Do you have more like this?”

What writer doesn’t want that kind of reaction, right?

And since short stories are short, you have less time to wait for your readers’ reactions — but you also have less time to grab their attention.

That’s why a great topic is worth its weight in gold when it comes to writing these little gems.

Even with the challenges inherent to short story writing, you’ll most likely finish a short story in far less time than you would a novel.

So, you’ll get to explore more story topics in less time than if you were writing longer works.

But how do you generate short story ideas that are worth the time you’ll invest in crafting a short story your readers will love?

If you’ve been writing for long enough, you already know good story ideas are everywhere, and you might even have some in mind as you read this.

But which of those ideas should be on your shortlist for story writing projects?

And if you don’t have any great ideas at the moment, where do you get some?

Short Story Idea Generator (how to generate story ideas)

Short story writing exercises, generating story ideas with the short story formula, timeless themes and emotional impact, 35 short story ideas, 69 short story writing prompts.

When it comes to generating new story ideas, you can take more than one approach. You might try these three:

• Writing exercises
• Writing prompts
• The Short Story Formula

Think of your school days when your English teacher assigned an essay or invited you to write a paragraph in answer to a question.

Maybe all you had to do was write one complete sentence. Or maybe your teacher wanted a haiku — or a rhyming couplet.

School isn’t the only place for writing exercises , though. If you’ve ever joined a creative writing group, your leader may have encouraged you to spend some time each day freewriting or writing a character sketch .

The purpose of writing exercises is to practice writing — or to practice a specific kind of writing (voice journaling, essays, persuasive ad copy, song lyrics, etc.).

So, whether it’s NaNoWriMo, Twitter’s #VSS (Very Short Story) challenge, or writing sprints, the more time you invest in these exercises, and the more you open yourself up to constructive criticism, the more quickly your writing will improve.

The most effective writing prompts and writing exercises make use of themes with a history of captivating and inspiring others. Because of this, either one might lead you to a story idea that you can hardly wait to explore.

Take one (or more) of those popular themes and combine them with a context that is both unique and relatable, and you have the formula for a compelling story idea.

Story writing ideas are generally more fully developed than writing prompts. It’s not unusual, for example, to begin with a writing prompt , develop it into a story idea, and then write the actual story.

And don’t beat yourself up if the first idea that comes to mind is a cliché. You’re human, and familiar ideas are the easiest to think of. Nothing wrong with that. The first idea is like a first draft , in that it gives you something to start with.

And don’t be afraid to mix it up — literally. Take one idea, mix it up with another, and play with it for a while. Who knows how you might juice up your story idea without even trying?

The best fiction story ideas make use of timeless themes. You’ll find one or more of the ten themes that follow in most stories that have been written, read, and shared over the centuries.

• The End of a Relationship
• Rags to Riches
• Scars / Wounds
• Ghosts / the Paranormal
• Deepest Fears
• A Soulmate Encounter
• A Journey Interrupted
• Monsters (human or otherwise)

The story idea itself — in its simplest form — doesn’t have to be original, and in fact, it shouldn’t be. But the way you embody and develop that idea should surprise your readers and evoke an emotional response in them.

It’s that emotional impact that makes your story not only worth finishing but memorable.

Short story ideas will look different from novel ideas, though — mainly because short stories have to make a big impact with fewer words. And because of this, the most powerful short stories have what James Scott Bell describes as the “one shattering moment.”

In his book, How to Write Short Stories and Use Them to Further Your Writing Career, Bell describes that moment as “something that happens to a character, an emotional blast which they cannot ignore. It changes them, in a large or a subtle way — in a way that cannot be ignored.”

Any one of the popular themes listed above could you give your main character a shattering moment that would change that character’s life or perspective.

Take a look at the following creative story ideas, many of which combine two or more of the popular themes listed, and feel free to modify any of them to create your next unputdownable short story.

1. Your character’s loved one has died , and he learns while going through that loved one’s belongings that the latter had a terrible secret that unnervingly correlates to your character’s deepest fear.

The rest of the story explores your character’s reaction to this discovery and how it affects his/her relationships and decision-making.

2. Your character has married the man she saw as her “soulmate.” During their honeymoon, he shows her his list of goals for their first five years together, and they have their first real argument over one of those goals — which requires something of her that she never agreed to.

She has a sudden memory of their first date and of the moment when she first decided he was the one, but she sees it now from his perspective, and it changes everything.

3. Your orphaned character inherits a house and moves in to find that it’s already occupied — by the spirits of the character’s long-deceased parents, who aren’t at all like the people other relatives have described.

4. Your character is having trouble getting past his anger over the wounds inflicted by those who raised him and by those with whom he had one failed relationship after the next.

After losing his job, he goes on a journey to change the direction of his life, but that journey is interrupted by the death of one of his parents — the one who hurt him the most.

5. Your character is widely regarded as a monster and doesn’t deny or hide from that designation.

When his closest confidante gets fed up with him, tells him off, and leaves the company they founded together, your character finds himself disoriented by grief and does something different.

6. Your character is content with her life but suddenly inherits a large sum of money and a palatial estate on the east coast.

She sees the inheritance as proof that the Law of Attraction works, and she invites family and a few close friends to move with her and share the wealth. On the first night of their stay, someone dies.

7. Your character’s snake-loving neighbor has just been found in the belly of her pet boa constrictor (who she swore was a better “snuggler” than her ex).

The ex shows up and is angry when he finds out that your neighbor left the house and everything in it to your character. He threatens to ruin her life if she doesn’t turn the house over to him.

8. Your character meets his/her soulmate on a flight that almost doesn’t make it to its destination; both of them respond to emergencies on the plane (one as a cop and the other as a doctor).

Once at the airport, your character learns that this soulmate is already in a relationship with a well-known philanthropist. But your character notices something odd and calls the philanthropist out.

9. Your character’s best friend just announced the end of a relationship, and your character is surprised to find this friend in a celebratory state of mind (rather than heartbroken).

Your character then finds out the disturbing reason for the friend’s manic behavior.

10. One of your character’s siblings is getting married, and during wedding preparations, your character learns something she was never meant to know. This discovery changes her relationships with everyone.

11. The happy couple living next door to your character has died in a horrific accident, and when the parents show up for the funeral, you find out why the couple always changed the subject whenever you asked them about their families.

12. Your character starts receiving messages from someone who knows his/her deepest fears and intends to exploit them. At the same time, your character is discovering a latent ability that relates to those fears but might also help him overcome them. Or they might change him into something the messenger never saw coming.

13. Your character meets a soulmate at a community grief counseling group meeting and learns that this soulmate also attends AA meetings (like your mc) — though with a different group and with a friend who doesn’t particularly like your main character.

The surprising reason comes out when your character goes on a first date with this soulmate. The soulmate’s friend swears he/she knows your mc from a different reality — which he/she visits in dreams.

14. Your character breaks free of a painful relationship and embarks on a journey to discover what she’s capable of. After volunteering at a nursing home — reading to vision-impaired residents and writing letters for them — she agrees to personally deliver one of those letters to the resident’s estranged son.

15. After avoiding close relationships because of deep scars from his childhood, your main character learns something about one of his parents that changes everything for him. He then has an opportunity to take a step off his accustomed path.

16. Your character has been married for 19 years before her spouse — after a weekend that reminds her of when they met and why she married him — hands her divorce papers.

17. Your character is making a list of reasons to break up with her boyfriend of two years when the latter comes home early and tells her he’s won the lottery jackpot.

18. Your character is a locally famous writer whose hero story ideas come from his freewheeling lifestyle and insatiable curiosity about others.

One day, out of boredom, he offers a homeless man $100 to propose to the first woman he takes a fancy to, while he watches from a safe distance. The proposal goes terrifyingly wrong.

19. Your character has just lost a child by miscarriage , and when she comes home, her married life has changed. Her husband, who was always the more talkative of the two, spends their time together quietly grieving in his own way.

Your character, on the other hand, becomes more outgoing and starts spending more time (and money) on her appearance.

20. Your young adult character finds himself suddenly orphaned when his parents die in a plane crash. The funeral is the beginning of a dramatic shift in his perspective and in the choices he makes.

He breaks off a relationship with a woman his parents adored, he quits the lucrative job that he hates, and he leaves the country.

21. Your character has just learned that his spouse has been cheating on him, and he confronts her when she gets home that night.

She reveals that what he saw as proof of her infidelity was something completely innocent — but that she’s already decided to make a permanent and dramatic end to their marriage.

22. The only child of your character is diagnosed with a fatal illness, and your character doesn’t know how to deal with the worry and dread that now consumes her.

Her doctor suggests one anti-anxiety med after another, and her husband and his family urge her to try one — for her husband’s and her son’s sakes. She goes into a fugue state with the experimental drug she tries, and she wakes up to the consequences.

23. Your character’s new glasses — created as a free gift from an old friend with unusual connections — reveal more than the physical objects in his field of vision.

After looking at a coworker and seeing the latter’s death just hours before it happens, he goes to replace the glasses with a plain pair from a local chain. Then he catches his full-length reflection in a window.

24. Your character wakes up alone in an unfamiliar place and is told by everyone he encounters that the life he thought he’d lived for the past six years — with a wife and three kids and with the job that barely paid the bills — must have been a dream.

He’s actually stunningly wealthy, treated with respect by everyone he meets, and desired by more than one woman. So, why is there a picture of him with his nonexistent family on his desk?

25. A year ago, your character met someone who offered her the power to transform the interior of her home to anything she wants — in exchange for a DNA sample from her only child, who is a gifted storyteller.

During the year after she accepted the offer, her home becomes everything she wants it to be, but her son stops telling stories, and one day she finds out why.

26. Your character makes drastic changes to his diet and adopts new habits that alienate him from his usual circle of friends but lead him to a new one.

He then wins a large sum of money from a scratch ticket that an estranged friend (a compulsive gambler) slipped under his door.

27. Your character has returned from a successful quest to find his home empty, with no sign of his loved ones other than a note left on the refrigerator.

Not only does he now have no one with whom to share his victory, but what he learns calls that very victory into question.

28. Your character has spent eleven years living with the consequences of a vow she has taken. When she forges a new friendship with a counselor, she learns something about herself that scares her and makes her avoid the counselor, for his own sake.

Keenly aware of her own vulnerability, she brands herself to ward off unwelcome attention.

29. Your character, after 15 years of living in a house chosen mainly to fit her spouse’s preferences, sees an ad for an apartment in town that represents the life she gave up to make her husband happy.

After hearing him complain about his life and their house for one too many times, she goes to look at this apartment and finds it has almost everything she wants. The apartment manager, a well-dressed woman close to her own age, hears your character’s last name and appears shaken by it.

30. Your character splurges on a new rug for her living room floor — the kind of rug she’s coveted for years — and her S.O. criticizes it and later “accidentally” spills his drink on it.

The final straw is his suggestion that she wait ‘til it dries and return it to the store for a refund or exchange it for something more practical.

31. Your character has recently broken free from a cult that had drawn him in when he was vulnerable from a family tragedy. His new support system — a group of other cult survivors — is having varying degrees of difficulty re-entering society and repairing damaged relationships.

Your character meets with them one evening at their accustomed café table and confronts a server whose off-handed comment provokes him. What begins as a calm request for respectful treatment escalates as other members of the group chime in and the server’s manager gets involved.

32. Your character has joined a church and finds herself under the tutelage of a church member who leans toward the traditionalist end of the spectrum and who regards her as the daughter he never had.

When he decides to renounce the church’s leadership and join an extreme traditionalist group, she backs away from him — after explaining to him why she won’t do the same. His behavior toward her changes and she makes a change of her own.

33. Your character is so desperate for money that he does something he never would have done otherwise. He doesn’t get caught, but he doesn’t get away with it, either. Consumed by guilt, he undergoes a penance of his choosing, which spirals out of control.

34. Your character walks into a tourist shop and buys a homemade “tonic” freshly mixed by the owner, after tasting and enjoying an innocuous sample in the same flavor. The tonic changes him in a way he can’t ignore or undo.

35. Your character inherits an old music shop with a secret back room where his uncle kept a few instruments that can make even someone like him — who has never played an instrument — a virtuoso in seconds. He takes the piano to his apartment and learns why his uncle (in a letter he’d written before his death) had warned him not to — and why his uncle kept the door to that secret room locked.

With writing prompts , you get a launching pad of sorts: a question, an idea, a provocative quote, or something that inspires a reaction — specifically a written one. Maybe that reaction is an argument, or maybe it’s an impassioned defense of an idea.

Whatever it is, the purpose here is to take that prompt and use it to generate a written response in one form or another. The aim of writing prompts for short stories is to get you started on a new short story .

The prompt could be as simple as a word or as detailed as a character sketch or an elevator pitch. It could even be a picture or a song. It could be an observation you make while (discreetly) people-watching.

We’ve create 69 short story writing prompts that flesh out an idea more thoroughly, giving you a good headstart for your story.

1. You get a new job, and your new boss approaches you on the first day with an invitation to the “After Hours Club.” He tells you it’s no big deal if you decline, but you get a strong impression that it would be.

2. One day, on the way home from work, your new car takes over and drives you to a remote area, stopping beside other cars in a clearing underneath a new moon. You wake up underneath a full moon and drive yourself home. But much has changed in your absence — and so have you.

3. You bake pies for a local bakery, and when a celebrity comes to town and tastes your locally famous turtle pie, he invites you to go on tour with him — to a movie set somewhere in Europe — to be his personal pie maker. You say yes.

4. You buy a single rose from a street vendor, and it lasts a week, then two weeks, then three, and then a full month. Only then does someone point out to you that previously healthy people in the neighborhood have been falling ill and dying at an abnormal rate.

5. It’s time for your 10-year-old daughter to make her First Confession, but when her turn comes to go into the confessional, she panics and won’t be persuaded to go in.

6. You’re stranded in a small village down a winding road from Burgos (Spain) on a Sunday. A stranger comes by on a motorcycle and goes to fetch a taxi for you. You’re waiting at the bus station when he tells you he knows you’re meant to replace his recently deceased wife.

7. The bartender brings you your first Irish coffee in what looks like a candy dish. Halfway through, you notice the whole cafe seems to be floating, and since you can’t put the rest into a to-go cup (alas), you pay your tab and head out. You think you’re doing fine until your key doesn’t work in the front door of your apartment building. Someone else kindly lets you in, and you recognize him as the bartender from that cafe.

8. You’re exploring an old Spanish town, and you realize someone is following you. You turn and find an old woman who asks if you’ll help her find her hotel. You help her, and she invites you in, telling you she has a son who shares your interest in all things Tolkien. You’re not in a hurry to get back to your hotel room, so you go up with her.

9. Your fingers don’t respond to you the way they used to, and you’ve been having other difficulties. You go see your doctor, and they run some tests to check for neurological diseases but don’t find anything. They think it’s probably stress-related. Your life has been stressful lately, and it doesn’t help that your new roommate has been acting strangely toward you.

10. You wake up with your heart racing, but you don’t remember why. You almost never remember your dreams but often wake up covered in sweat with your heart pounding. You’re tired of having to shower every morning and feeling sick for the rest of the day, so you decide to undergo hypnosis, hoping to find out what’s going on.

11. Your neighbors have been up to some strange shenanigans lately, and their lights are on well into the wee hours of the morning. You’d like to know why, but every neighbor you’ve talked to who have gone over there to ask about it has, later on, told you that nothing suspicious is going on and that those neighbors are “very spiritual, and so, so nice!”

12. The street lamps that light up your cul de sac have gone dark, and you’re outside waiting for your spouse to get home when something large and dark brushes past you, almost knocking you off balance. Then a man appears and asks, “Have you seen my cat?”

13. Someone has broken into your house while you were away and has taken all the religious articles out of it — every statue, every picture, and every holy water bottle. The thief left everything else alone.

14. You move into an apartment that used to be a hoarder’s paradise, and your manager gives you permission to paint the walls a different color and add some new flooring. You get to work removing the kitchen’s linoleum floor and find something you never expected.

15. You joined a wine delivery service, and the delivery person is every bit as charming as the labels on the posh wine he brings to you each week. When you lose your job and cancel the service, the wine keeps coming.

16. You buy a pound of gourmet coffee beans at a local food festival, and as you’re sipping the first cup from the first pot you’ve brewed, you have a vision, which feels as real as though it were actually happening to you. When the vision ends, you’re still in your kitchen, holding your cup. You take another sip.

17. You’re about ready to gather up all the ceramic village pieces that have been cluttering up your living room and toss them in the trash bin, but your spouse, who knows you hate them, insists you should try selling them on eBay, instead. That’s when the fight starts.

18. You buy a new pair of Bluetooth earbuds that are supposed to enhance your listening experience. You plug them in and use them while watching a movie, and suddenly, you’re there on the scene, about to get flattened (or eaten) by a dinosaur.

19. You need a new toilet, and someone shows up at the door (as though sent by heaven) to sell you a toilet that will flush down ANYTHING. Oddly enough, it doesn’t even need to be hooked up to your septic system. “All you have to do is remove and empty the dust tray at the base every evening, reinsert it for the next day’s flushes, and voila!”

20. You buy a new keyboard , and after typing a few sentences of a new story, it starts typing on its own, and you watch in surprise as it types out a new short story. You submit it to a contest you’ve never won and win first prize. You start thinking you’ll never have trouble paying the rent again! Then you accidentally spill wine on the keyboard, and even stranger things start happening.

Related:  55 Funny Writing Prompts To Inspire Your Inner Comedian

21. Your famous stew recipe has won an award. You go to collect it (a cash prize), and meet the next runner-up, who believes she should have won the first prize instead with her three-bean salad. She warns you not to spend the money, because she will prove you won unfairly. You go home and find a bowl of three-bean salad and a note.

22. You suggest at the breakfast table one morning that you might actually have too many books, and your SO seizes upon this and offers to help you thin out your collection. After breaking up with him, you cull a few volumes for donation and run into the author of one of them.

23. Your first issue of Real Simple magazine has finally arrived, but something has come with it — something you can’t see but that makes your life anything but simpler.

24. A girl scout comes to the door selling cookies, and you tell her you already bought some from her at the table outside your grocery store, and you’ve spent enough for the year. Suddenly, all the food in your house (including the canned food) becomes moldy or rotten. And every bit of food that passes your threshold becomes inedible.

25. You buy a new whiteboard to help you keep track of your writing assignments, but you wake up one morning, and new items have somehow been added to your list. And the new titles have a sinister edge to them. You live alone.

26. You buy a new poster that looks exactly like the TARDIS door, and you put it up on your bedroom wall. One night, right at midnight (you’re up working at your computer), the door opens and you walk through it.

27. You buy a CD with music that’s supposed to help you write more creatively and also lose weight more easily. You start playing it during your writing time, and sure enough, the words flow without effort, and you love what you’ve written. You also start losing ten pounds a week, and soon you can’t afford to lose another ten, but you’ve come to depend on that music CD.

28. You’re a carpenter who has joined a construction team to build a new development of 3,000+ square foot houses. All is going well until someone on the team discovers something buried in the lot for the third house. The foreman removes it and tells everyone to get back to work, but you have a bad feeling. And you’re right to have it.

29. Your boss announces they’re having a potluck and you’re all expected to show up and bring something. He also tells you it has to be homemade. You tell him you can’t cook, but he tells you, “Well, learn, then!” Strangely enough, you do, and you create an entree that has everyone’s mouth-watering when you open the lid at the potluck. But your boss is conspicuously absent.

30. You wake up in the middle of the night and rush to the bathroom, where you empty your stomach of everything you ate that day. Something else comes out, and it’s moving.

31. You stop at a coffee shop while making stops to apply for a new job, and the barista tells you the new bed and breakfast is looking for someone to handle their advertising. You apply, are accepted, and agree to start immediately. But the owner, who openly admires your bicycle, offers you a room at the B&B, so you’ll be more accessible.

32. You have way too much time on your hands since your latest project has earned you enough to more than double your previous year’s salary, and you’re taking a sabbatical. You see an ad for an opportunity to spend a month at a castle in Wales, with full room and board and a bicycle for exploring the countryside. You call the agent and book a flight.

33. One night, as you’re coming back from the bathroom, you see a bright light and follow it to see that your front window is wide open and bugs are swarming in and out. You rush to close it but then you see the view from it — which is not your usual view of the front yard. You see something you want to investigate.

34. Sometimes, people stare when you pull out an index card and start scribbling furiously onto it, but you don’t care. Then someone accuses you of writing something about him and, pulling out a gun, demands you hand the card over to him.

35. You’re starting a new job, and one of your co-workers tells you it’s up to the new guy to keep the coffee pot full for his first week. While you’re brewing the latest refill, muttering to yourself about how little you’re getting done that day, one of your co-workers starts choking and accuses you of trying to poison her.

36. Your home-brewed ale is the talk of the neighborhood, but your next-door neighbor frequently buys up your newest batch. You start imposing limits. He then starts telling other neighbors that your secret is adding pee from your pet guinea pigs, “But it’s cool, because urine is sterile. And that guinea pig pee really adds something!”

37. You inherit a lighthouse from your deceased uncle — along with the small living quarters attached to it. You move right in, looking forward to the solitude. But whenever you’re up at the top scanning the surface of the ocean, you see things that can’t possibly be there. And one of them sees you — and comes to visit.

38. You stop at the local nursery and pick up a new houseplant — a tiny, adorable succulent. The cashier looks nervous as she rings you up. “That plant isn’t normal. If you want to pick another one, I would totally understand.” She’s nodding with wide eyes as she says this, clearly hoping you’ll agree.

39. You live in a studio apartment. Your boss comes to bring you soup when you call in sick and sees the quilt on your bed, which you won at a raffle. “That’s the quilt my mom made!” she says. “She told me someone stole it.”

40. You take your kids trick-or-treating, and you go to your boss’s neighborhood (your boss suggested it). Most houses gave out full-sized candy bars, but one gave out treasure maps, and your kids want to find their treasures before you leave the neighborhood.

41. Someone offers you a chance to win a million dollars just by visiting his website and typing in your address. “I don’t need your checking account info. It’s not safe to give that to just anyone. I’ll just mail the check to you,”he writes.

42. You wonder what it would be like to be a famous actor, and someone, out of the blue, invites you to perform in his movie as an extra — “and, who knows, maybe something more… prominent.”

43. You get a call from the principal’s office that your daughter has been involved in a bullying incident. Someone was bullying her, and she punched him. There were witnesses, and the principal reminds you of their zero-tolerance policy for physical violence…

44. You get a call from the principal’s office that your son has been acting out toward his classmates (who, according to what he’s told you, have been behaving aggressively toward him) and had brought a weapon to school to protect himself. They’ve confiscated the weapon (a paring knife) and have called the police.

45. Your kid has an IEP, and the Special Ed staff at the school always sound so caring and professional at the meetings you attend with them. But your son tells you they behave very differently toward him. The principal assures you that she knows the staff would never do what your son has accused them of doing. She suggests your son may be lying.

46. Your young daughter notices that one of your trees is “sick,” and she goes to visit the tree, talks to it, leans against it, and tells it to please get better. It responds by growing stronger and larger, spreading its branches out and downward to create a sort of cave for your daughter to rest in when she wants to be alone. It becomes her haven.

47. You wake up one morning and start loading your excess possessions into boxes and bags and hauling it off to Goodwill to donate it. That’s when you find the tiny cameras hidden in the bathroom, and bugs hidden in every room.

48. Your favorite coffee mug has broken, and you’re in mourning. The mug you just bought as your “second” just doesn’t feel the same in your hand, but it surprises you by magically refilling your drink with every sip — and keeping it hot for you.

49. The moth on your ceiling doesn’t bother you — much. But every time you look, it’s there. And you wonder why it never leaves. When you finally get a step ladder to get a closer look at it, you can hardly believe what you’re seeing.

50. Your neighbors on the home office side of your house have never been friendly, but one day, the wife comes over with a pie and tells you she made it herself and that she’s tired of being cooped up in the house with no one but her husband to talk to. You look over and see the outline of her husband in an upstairs window.

51. Tired of getting hair in your face, you take an electric hair-trimmer and run it all over your head with the one-inch attachment. You look at the results with satisfaction.

52. Your spouse, who has never done or said a romantic thing since your honeymoon, suddenly comes home with an expensive bouquet and a travel brochure for a place you’ve always wanted to visit. Later on, someone delivers the car you’ve always wanted, and your husband unconvincingly feigns surprise. You ask him if he won the lottery, but he shakes his head and says, “This is way better. You’ll see.”

53. You’re out in your backyard and stumble over something, which turns out to be a small brick half-buried in the grass. You see initials etched into the brick, along with a crudely-shaped heart. You wonder what — or whom — might be buried beneath. Soon, you find other markers like it, and you wonder how you failed to notice them before.

54. Your neighbor invites you over to her house, and you see that every wall has a cross painted on it with crude, hurried strokes. You ask why, and she nervously clears her throat and says, “This place needs them.”

55. You watch an infomercial and order a new face cream, hoping it will restore a youthful look to your face. It does more than that.

56. Your teenage son gets a job and, on his first day, he encounters a rude customer. Unaccustomed to responding with calmness and diplomacy, he lashes out at the customer and gets himself fired. Instead of calling home for a ride, though, he takes a walk through town and runs into the same customer holding up a cardboard sign.

57. You put your headphones on when you start on your writing project, and, at some point, an unfamiliar voice interrupts your playlist to tell you he likes what you’ve written so far. And he thinks you’d get along great.

58. Your spouse starts trying different paint samples on walls all over the house, and you don’t like any of the colors; they’re either too bright or too dark. One day, you paint patches of a pale green-gray that you like next to his acid-bright or dark color patches, and he tells you it’s boring, and that he’s painting the house his way.

59. Someone keeps writing fortune-cookie phrases on your new whiteboard at work, and it’s irritating you. You ask around, and no one knows who keeps writing the messages. Then, one of the predictions comes true.

60. You look out the window while you’re working and you see one neighbor attacking his spouse, knocking her down and then kicking her. You call 9-1-1, but later on, the wife comes over and says, “I know it was you who called. And you’ve made everything worse!”

61. Every time you look outside and see the wind in the trees, you take a deep breath and feel calmer. When the air is still, you feel as though the whole world is holding its breath and that something bad is about to happen. So, when it’s calm outside, you picture wind in the trees and take a deep breath.

62. You see movement in the corner of your eye and whenever you look, you see a huge, black dog in the neighbor’s yard, running back and forth. This time, though, he runs into your yard and starts barking at your front door.

63. Your eight-year-old son gets up and immediately goes for his Kindle Fire to play Minecraft. You’ve found some educational apps you want him to try, so you’ve installed them on his Kindle. He comes to you a few minutes later and says, “This app is telling me to do things I’m not supposed to do.”

64. You try a new recipe for a potluck, hoping it will wow your boss and coworkers, but it turns out terrible, and you end up rushing to a restaurant for something to bring before arriving (late) to find out everyone has already eaten the entree you were most looking forward to trying. When the cops show up later to ask why everyone is violently ill except you, you tell them everything you know.

65. You take your teenage son to his orientation for a new job, and when you come back to pick him up an hour later, you find out no one has seen him — though you saw him walk in the door before you drove off.

66. You’re living in a world where everyone is born with a birthmark that matches that of their soulmate. But you are born without one.

67. You and your best friend are in a terrible car accident, and you both die. Your friend, however, has a very different account of what he saw on the other side.

68. You’re born with the ability to mentally manipulate DNA. You started with plants and moved on to your pets, who now have unique abilities. For the past few years, you’ve been hacking your own DNA.

69. You were raised in the deep South where manners and feigned politeness were a thin veneer covering your family’s questionable history and lingering dysfunction.

More Related Articles:

7 Of The Best Writing Prompts Apps You Need To Try

List of Tragic Hero Traits To Flesh Out Your Character

107 Character Mannerisms For Writers

Did you find these short story ideas and prompts useful?

I hope your mind is buzzing with an idea you can’t wait to start playing with. Keep this article handy, so you can return to it when you’re looking for a new short story idea. You don’t have to follow any of them verbatim; take one and change the details however you like to make the idea your own.

Just don’t forget the “one shattering moment” for your character — and the importance of making an emotional impact on your reader. You make this impact as much with dialogue as with description and the structure of your story. Make it all count.

And when it comes time to edit, cut everything that dampens the impact of your story. Your readers will love you for it!

If you found value from this list of short story prompts, please share it and encourage others to pass it on to support and inspire as many fellow writers out there as possible. Why not even invite them to share their new short stories with you after they’ve written them?

And may your creative energy and goodwill infuse everything else you do today.

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Competitions

1000 story prompts to spark your creativity.

By Ken Miyamoto from ScreenCraft · September 20, 2023

When you’re trying to figure out what you are going to write next, you need to choose wisely. Concept is everything — at least at first glance. It’s what sells the book, short story, movie or TV series. As soon as you have a compelling and engaging concept, you can build equally compelling and engaging stories and characters around them. Read more about The Secret to Understanding What High Concept Means in Hollywood . With that in mind, here we present the ultimate list of 1000 story prompts to get your creative juices flowing. So get ready to go down a wild rabbit tunnel of story prompts. Be sure to bookmark this post so you can read all one thousand of them!

Note: These prompts were purposefully developed on the fly. However, because we live in the same world and are influenced by the same things, some may same familiar. Some may have even already been developed. But the point is to get your creative energy moving as you consider any and all possibilities.

1000 Story Prompts

• Families from an alternative universe live upside down underneath our houses.
• A character dies and is told they can choose to be reincarnated — only to be reborn as a dog.
• A stay-at-home father lives a secret life as a superhero.
• A female superhero lives a secret life as a supermom.
• The world we know is discovered to be a dream of a superior being.
• Earth is actually a zoo watched by visiting guests (UAPs) from around the universe.
• A man’s toy collection from the 1980s comes to life.
• An introverted character realizes that they actually died years prior and are a ghost.
• Titanic in space.
• A world where superheroes are hunted down and killed.
• An alien invasion story through the eyes of the aliens. (Read this Script Lab Script Collection: Out of This World Sci-fi Screenplays ).
• Kids playing their parents’ Dungeons & Dragons game open a portal to the 1980s.
• A family awakens to the appearance of a strange door in their family room that wasn’t there before.
• A stranger appears at a family’s house claiming to be a future resident.
• Someone finds out how to rig the biggest lottery drawing in history.
• Angels come to live on Earth.
• Demons begin to overtake society as they try to take over Earth.
• A romantic comedy told through the eyes of two dogs that fall in love.
• Two football coaches from opposing schools fall in love — but are both still living in the closet.
• An egotistical manly man suddenly fears everything.
• A world where humans are the pets.
• A world where women don’t need men to procreate.
• An egotistical scholar is suddenly stripped of his intelligence for 24 hours.
• A being falls from the stars to the Earth.
• A man falls from the stars to the Earth.
• A woman falls from the stars to the Earth.
• A woman claims to be the daughter of God.
• God is nothing more than a cosmic child playing games with their toys.
• God is actually a writer that has conjured us all as stories.
• Characters discover a fountain of youth.
• A family is offered a vacation into the stars by visiting aliens.
• A family mistakenly books tickets to Paris, Texas, instead of Paris, France.
• An American woman inherits a castle in Scotland.
• Characters play, “What dead celebrities or historical figures would you like to have dinner with?”, only to see their selections come knocking at the door.
• What if Dorothy replaced somebody in Oz — and someone replaced her in Kansas?
• Scientists discover time travel and must keep it secret from the government.
• An animated movie demystifying the great white shark — a surprisingly peaceful species.
• Beings live in every single closet in the world.
• There really are monsters living under our beds.
• Suburban dads take part in the world lawn-mowing championships.
• A new law where criminals must face their greatest fears.
• A man afraid of snakes washes up on an island full of them.
• Vampires that can survive during the daylight.
• A world where vampires rule the Earth.
• The end of the world is near, and families must live with that knowledge.
• A world where space travel never happened.
• A world where war has never been waged.
•  A world where real old-world magic is slowly beginning to resurface.
• A young boy tries to convince everyone in his town that he actually IS a wizard.
• A young girl discovers that she is a descendant of witches.
• A collector’s collection of old lunch boxes from the 1980s allows him to send and receive notes from the past.
• Present day times where the internet and social media were never created.
• There are cities in the clouds.
• There are cities in the deepest parts of the ocean.
• A character discovers that they are living in a computer simulation — and they are the last human alive.
• A new and dangerous species is discovered living in the highest treetops of the world.
• A disgraced baseball manager manages a Little League team to the big championship.
• A retired football player goes back to coach his son’s Pee Wee league.
• The first female football player accepted into the NFL draft.
• Astronauts volunteer to undergo the first flight to Mars.
• The Earth is found destroyed by Nuclear War when astronauts from a Mars mission return.
• Star high school football players go out for soccer when their football team is barred from playing.
• The world’s biggest action movie star wakes up in the world of his hit movies.
• UFOS and UAPs are actually evolved humans from the future.
• Bigfoot exists — and it’s time for him and his kind to meet the world.
• A grumpy old man takes on a dare to become a comedian.
• Mosquitos are actually tiny fighter planes for a species trying to take over this world of giants.
• A character discovers that they are actually a robot.
• A character discovers that they are actually a clone.
• A character discovers that they are actually God who has suffered brain damage while walking the Earth as a human.
• A character discovers that they are the offspring of the Devil.
• A character discovers that they can hear the voices of the dead.
• A character discovers that they can see into the past.
• A character discovers that they can see into the future.
• Earth is actually Purgatory.
• Earth is actually Heaven.
• Earth is actually Hell.
• Earth is actually a video game for aliens.
• A suburban mother discovers that the whole neighborhood of mothers and wives are the “perfect” clones generated by the men.
• A suburban dad discovers that the whole neighborhood of dads and husbands are the “perfect” clones generated by the women.
• The children of a suburban family discover that the other children in the neighborhood are “perfect” clones.
• A man’s dog starts talking to him suddenly.
• A family’s dog starts talking to them one day.
• A character goes back in time to meet their younger self.
• A suburban family moves to the big city.
• A big city family is forced to move to the suburbs.
• Real-life dragons are released from a deep cavern.
• Rock climbers witness a cartel murder and are chased through the mountains.
• A skydiver falls onto an invisible alien ship.
• An astronaut crashlands on a planet and is taken in by an alien family.
• An alcoholic must deal with the demons of their past.
• A character is told they have twenty-four hours to right the wrongs they’ve done to others before they die.
• A bullied character wills themself to have super strength.
• An abused character wills themself to be able to fly.
• A racist is forced to live in the body of a minority.
• A male figure skater is placed into an Olympic hockey team.
• A character attempts to escape an underwater prison.
• An escaped convict hides in the suburbs.
• A police officer is sent to a prison where he has put away most of the prisoners within.
• Conflicts between countries are now decided by epic battles between one soldier versus another.
• A character falls in love with their best friend from high school.
• A high school jock is forced to live in the body of a nerd he bullies.
• A high school nerd is forced to live in the body of the jock who bullies him.
• A character tries to emulate the fictional Batman — fighting crime from the shadows.
• A character makes a wish to be smart and suddenly wakes up as the smartest and wealthiest businessperson in the world.
• A state championship-winning high school football coach is forced to coach a first-of-its-kind female football team.
• An unpopular high school kid mistakes strange coincidences for superpowers.
• Peter Pan is actually a monster that steals children.
• Billy the Kid awakens in the twenty-first century.
• Wyatt Earp is brought into the future by future townfolk in need of a sheriff.
• International spies must face the world of retirement.
• A submarine crew discovers a new world.
• A submarine crew falls into the deepest depths of the ocean and is frozen in cryosleep, only to awaken one hundred years later.
• Families are tasked with colonizing the moon.
• Humans now live on the moon, with what happened to Earth in their ancestors’ time left a mystery.
• A doctor finds the cure for cancer, only to be threatened by a secret society of government officials and soldiers.
• A doctor finds the cure for cancer, only to face the bureaucracy of giving it to the public for free.
• A doctor finds the cure for cancer, only to refuse to share it for millions of dollars for each dosage.
• The world’s first cyborg deals with not being entirely human.
• The world’s first human clone deals with their supposed lack of humanity.
• The world’s first superhero deals with the alienation of their abilities.
• A champion race car driver undergoes a worldwide race around the world by land, sea and air.
• A young character discovers they have healing powers — but every time they heal someone, they get more and more sick themselves.
• A writer discovers that every character they conjure comes to life.
• A mother and her teenage son switch bodies.
• A father and his teenage daughter switch bodies.
• A feuding brother and sister switch bodies.
• A wealthy boss and their underling employee switch bodies.
• A group of role-playing game players discovers that the rolls of their dice can determine things around them in their world.
• The parents are kidnapped by aliens, leaving the kids to save them.
• A major city is destroyed by a nuclear attack and the surrounding communities struggle to pick up the pieces.
• A young boy with an advanced aging disorder plays Pee Wee football against players a third of his size.
• A girl decides to play football on the guys’ team and becomes the star player.
• A shamed tennis pro competes in the highly competitive local pickleball tournament.
• The world of professional beach volleyball players.
• The world of major league eating.
• The world of professional cornhole players.
• The world of professional badminton players.
• A character suffers from a disorder that only allows them to communicate through song.
• A soccer player who is now a professional only because their father has coached them since youth soccer.
• A football player who is now a professional only because their father has coached them since youth football.
• A baseball player who is now a professional only because their father has coached them since youth baseball.
• A character finds a job site that can place them in any job in any time period.
• A smart and popular high school student finds a legal loophole that allows them to run for president.
• Angels are aliens.
• Demons are aliens.
• God was an alien.
• A faith-based story about a wise child that claims to be the son of God.
• A faith-based story about a child that can speak to those who have passed away.
• A faith-based story about a homeless man that some think is the second coming of Jesus Christ.
• George Lucas actually visited a world that inspired Star Wars after his near-death experience in a car crash.
• A farmer discovers an alien craft in his fields.
• A farmer discovers a strange wooden door in his fields.
• A character goes into an MRI and is somehow transported back in time.
• An F-35 fighter jet and its pilot are transported to the 1942 bombing of Pearl Harbor.
• A character afraid of water decides to overcome their fear by visiting the world’s biggest water park.
• A popular comedian decides to run for president as a joke, only to discover that they win.
• A young girl who loves the Little House on a Prairie books makes a wish to live during those times, only to discover the realities of those difficult times and environments.
• An online shark expert turns out to know nothing about sharks when he’s invited to a Shark Week show. (Read the Script Lab Script Collection: Killer Shark Movies That Audiences Eat Up )
• A sitting president wanting to get more votes decides to go to space.
• A poor single mother wins the biggest lottery in history.
• A character who wins the biggest lottery in history vows to give it all away — only to discover how hard it is to do that.
• A bank robber is a modern-day Robin Hood.
• A luxury cruise ship is overtaken by present-day pirates.
• A luxury cruise ship is overtaken by pirates from the past.
• A luxury cruise spaceship is overrun by space pirates.
• A family of the future must escape Earth from its tyrannical rule.
• A family of settlers in the 1800s face off against alien invaders.
• A family of settlers in the 1800s begin to experience UFO phenomenon.
• Cowboys from the Wild West face off against alien invaders.
• Parents travel to the future to see what their children grow up to be like — and the results are not great.
• The boogeyman is real.
• Santa Claus is real — but not how most would expect.
• A scientist clones his family that died in an accident.
• A character wakes up tied to an electric chair.
• A character wakes up in a gas chamber.
• Frankenstein’s Monster was real.
• A historian discovers that Dracula is real.
• A contemporary retelling of the Dr. Jekyll vs. Mr. Hyde story.
• A historian proves that King Arthur and Excalibur legends were real.
• A character wakes up and decides to do the opposite of what they would normally do.
• A character decides to sell everything they own to live on a sailboat.
• A character decides to quit their successful-yet-unfulfilling job to return to the job they loved in high school.
• A stay-at-home dad decides to start an Olympic curling team.
• Empty-nesters decide to sell everything and travel the country in an RV.
• A high school kid in 1969 decides they are going to hitchhike across the country to attend Woodstock.
• A rock star on the verge of superstardom stumbles upon a desert bar inhabited by members of the 27-Club — rock stars like Jim Morrisson, Janice Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse.
• An aging rocket scientist decides to make his own rocket to take him into space before he dies.
• The first baby born in space.
• The first family to go on a space journey.
• The satellites we see in the sky are actually UFOs/UAPs being covered up by SpaceX and NASA.
• People are invited to a haunted mansion where the eccentric owner wants to market it as a Disneyland-like attraction.
• A group of young friends go on an amusement park ride only to be catapulted into another world.
• The story of the creation of the first roller coaster.
• The story of the creation of a waterpark.
• A young teen wishes they could fly, only to wake up with angel-like wings.
• Kids discover a hidden doorway.
• Characters discover a hidden staircase leading to a strange world.
• Kids discover that their gaming system can control actual sports games and players.
• A high school football team scrimmages a professional NFL team — and beats them.
• A college football team scrimmages a professional NFL team — and beats them.
• A sandlot baseball team comprised of neighbor kids challenges the high school team.
• Old friends reunite over a suburban fire pit.
• A high school reunion leads to murder.
• An old grudge leads to a character being stalked.
• Someone is following a character on their cross-country drive.
• Someone picks up a hitchhiker, only to realize that they are a long-dead historical figure.
• A character travels back to their old hometown, only to realize that they’ve time-traveled to their childhood era.
• A thrill seeker commits a crime to be sent to prison so he can see if he can escape it.
• A YouTuber influencer pranks the wrong person.
• Dracula immigrated to the United States and is a crime boss.
• High school students on an abroad trip find Excalibur.
• Robin Hood is the villain of the story.
• Sherlock Holmes’s dog as he solves pet-life mysteries.
• Dorothy’s granddaughter is kidnapped by the daughter of the Wicked Witch of the West in Oz.
• The story of  The Wizard of Oz  set on another planet.
• A modern-day retelling of Tarzan .
• A woman is stranded on an island and must survive.
• The contestants of a  Survivor -like show learn that the civilized world back home has been destroyed.
• It’s revealed that an Olympic swimmer is actually a mermaid or merman.
• A father and son or mother and daughter go on a safari to bond.
• Parents of a college freshman decide to attend their child’s university to be near them.
• A father is tasked with coaching his son’s soccer team even though he’s never played or watched the sport.
• A mother is tasked with coaching her son’s football team.
• A father is tasked with coaching his daughter’s cheer team.
• Parents of spoiled rich kids decide to move their family to a third-world country.
• A soldier goes AWOL.
• While doing research in the jungles of Vietnam, a team of scientists is visited by a Vietnam War-era soldier.
• A poker player needs to earn money to pay off a debt.
• A contemporary retelling of the  Alice in Wonderland story.
• An aging mother with apparent dementia claims to be Alice from  Alice in Wonderland.
• The children of two families are abducted by aliens.
• An 1800s-era family travels to the frontier to start a new life.
• A brother and sister learn that their parents are Russian sleeper agents.
• A character discovers that their father is a wanted criminal.
• A character suspects that their father is a serial killer.
• A writer stalks random people to learn what it is like for serial killers to stalk their victims.
• When a character feels like their life has no meaning, they decide to get the high score on every old Galaga arcade machine they can find.
• A character discovers an old 1980s arcade.
• A character decides to quit their boring day job and open an old 1980s arcade.
• A former drug addict decides to find the child she was forced to give up.
• A grown-up orphan decides to find their birth parents.
• An orphan learns that their parents are aliens from another world.
• A stranded astronaut is taken in by an alien race.
• The first family to venture to another planet loses their son, only for him to be raised by aliens.
• A family struggles to keep up with the Joneses.
• Siblings struggle to survive the angst of being the new kids in school.
• A character creates a new kind of internet.
• A character mourns the death of their parent.
• A family decides to move away from the city and buy their own island.
• A family is shipwrecked.
• An astronaut living on the moon watches Earth be destroyed by an alien invasion.
• An astronaut living on the moon watches Earth be destroyed by nuclear war.
• A journalist is offered the chance to interview an assassin.
• A journalist is offered the chance to interview an alien living among us.
• A journalist is offered the chance to go back in time to interview a historical figure of their choice.
• A time-traveling assassin struggles to kill a child who would grow up to become Adolph Hitler.
• Children discover an old mine shaft and become trapped within it.
• Children discover a cave that leads into another world.
• Present-day children are grounded from their screens as their parents show them what they did growing up.
• The first trip down the Mississippi River.
• Present-day adventurers decide to travel the full length of the Mississippi River in a canoe.
• A pilot has an encounter with a UFO/UAP.
• A local sheriff tries to uncover a conspiracy.
• An FBI agent suspects a local sheriff of covering up a murder.
• An FBI agent and local sheriff team up to uncover a murder mystery.
• A high school student investigates the murder of a local teen.
• High school students are transported forward in time to their 30-year high school reunion.
• High school students are transported into the bodies of their middle-aged selves.
• Young children are transported into the bodies of their high school selves.
• A funeral reunites a group of high school friends.
• Friends take their terminally ill friend on an adventure.
• A character is mistakenly told they are going to die.
• A character visits a psychic who tells them they are going to die soon.
• A psychic foresees a murder.
• A fake psychic sets up clients to make them believe their predictions are coming true.
• A man pays a psychic to tell a woman he has a crush on that she’s going to meet someone just like him.
• A computer program becomes self-aware.
• A videogame character becomes self-aware.
• A character’s newly AI-automated house becomes a death trap.
• An AI fighter jet defies orders.
• The first human-looking military drone.
• The first cyborg soldier.
• A character’s memories are downloaded into a clone.
• A martial artist is invited to fight in an intergalactic tournament.
• A soldier is invited to fight in an intergalactic war.
• A single soldier represents Earth in a one-on-one match to the death.
• A family inherits an old castle with a ghost living in it.
• While visiting old castles on vacation, a family is transported back in time.
• A passenger on an airliner wakes up to discover they are the only person on the plane.
• The first civilian passenger flight to the moon goes awry.
• A family decides to sail around the world together.
• A character mourning the death of their parent decides to walk across the country.
• A character mourning the death of their sibling decides to bike around the country.
• A character mourning the death of their spouse decides to travel the world.
• Two characters fall in love during a layover at an airport.
• A sailor rescues another and they fall in love.
• A sailor decides to brave the Bermuda Triangle.
• All of the ships and planes that have disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle suddenly reappear.
• The Bermuda Triangle of space travel.
• Cats and Dogs rule the Earth.
• A small farming family fights off invaders during World War III.
• A small farming family avoids the nearby alien invasion.
• A talented Asian-American character struggles to become a country singer in Nashville.
• A musical prodigy goes to Julliard as a teenager.
• A musical prodigy goes to Julliard as a pre-teen.
• A Broadway stage actor portraying a historical figure is visited by their ghost.
• A young girl comes of age.
• A young boy comes of age.
• A young non-binary character comes of age.
• A writer has the power to write someone’s death.
• A writer has the power to change people’s minds.
• A writer has the power to build things in the real world through their writing.
• A small-town chef is hired to be the president’s chef after a campaign visit.
• A small-town sheriff decides to become an FBI agent.
• An FBI agent decides to retire and later becomes a small-town sheriff.
• An 18-year-old decides to run for sheriff.
• An 18-year-old decides to run for mayor of a small town.
• Children in a small town rally to convince the town board into financing a water park.
• Teens hide in an amusement park after hours only to see the characters of the rides come to life.
• After a terrorist attack, a college-bound student decides to join the military.
• A college-bound student decides to join the military after the death of their veteran father.
• A group of teens discovers that they are actually clones.
• Former prison cellmates are reunited after thirty years.
• Two puppy siblings separated at birth decide to find each other.
• A police officer who accidentally killed a teenager tries to reconcile with the family.
• A high school graduation goes awry when the “graduating” student reveals that they didn’t graduate.
• A college-bound student uses his tuition money to party.
• A bank robber hides in plain sight in a small town.
• A character escapes a mental institution.
• A character decides to commit a crime bad enough to go to prison so they can kill the murderer of a loved one.
• Two rival coaches make each other’s lives miserable in the off-season.
• An unlikely sports athlete becomes the best to ever play the game.
• A student that lost a limb in an accident wants to letter in every single high school sport.
• Friends recreate their favorite classic movie.
• An engineer is tasked with creating Leonardo Da Vinci’s various designs.
• Albert Einstein is reincarnated.
• Albert Einstein is brought back from the past to solve a dangerous problem.
• Alfred Einstein, Albert’s little-known idiot brother, tries to make a name for himself.
• Marie S. Curie, the mother of modern physics, rivals Albert Einstein.
• Children find a magic carpet in their grandparents’ attic.
• A contemporary retelling of the forty thieves as bank robbers the FBI is trying to track down.
• Siblings discover that they are the descendants of Adolf Hitler.
• A character learns that they are the bastard child of the president.
• A character learns that they are the bastard child of a king.
• A character learns that they are actually a missing child reported missing thirty years prior.
• A character finds buried treasure.
• Friends find a bag of money in the woods.
• Friends find a wishing tree that grants wishes a little too literally.
• Soldiers fighting in World War II realize that they are actually toy soldiers.
• A character who lost their spouse in the 9/11 attacks joins the military to hunt down Osama Bin Laden.
• A character dreams of an impending terrorist attack and does all they can to prevent it from happening.
• A mother deals with empty-nest syndrome.
• A father deals with empty-nest syndrome.
• A character decides to leave everything behind to live and work at a remote lighthouse.
• A man who claims to be a great hunter is anything but.
• A character obsessed with cartoons is thrust into their worlds.
• A comic collector searches for the ultimate find.
• A toy collector searches for the ultimate find.
• A character suffers from Sinistrophobia — the fear of objects to your left.
• A character does their best to become a criminal mastermind — with lackluster results.
• A character becomes a vigilante.
• A suburban American town bands together as an invading army approaches.
• An alien ship crash lands in the suburbs.
• A returning astronaut finds Earth destroyed.
• A returning astronaut finds Earth taken over by an alien race.
• A returning astronaut is actually an alien doing recon for an invasion.
• The real story behind the creation of Coca-Cola.
• The real story behind the creation of the hula hoop.
• The real story behind the creation of Pong.
• A teen who can’t detach from technology is transported back to the 1980s.
• A teen who can’t detach from technology is transported back to the 1950s.
• A teen who can’t detach from technology is transported back to the 1800s.
• Parents try to become influencers on social media — with hilarious results.
• Worldwide rule is decided by the Olympic Games.
• Characters struggle to survive a destructive meteor shower.
• Characters are sucked into their favorite TV shows.
• A hunter is transported into the lives of his prey.
• A skilled hunter is forced to hunt down and kill a man.
• An average Joe is forced to assassinate the president.
• An Amish man turns away from his Amish roots and goes to Vegas.
• Teens who leave their Amish community face a world of technology, drugs, and sex.
• A character decides to dig the deepest hole known to man.
• A ghost hunter falls in love with a ghost.
• A ghost falls in love with the owner of the house they are haunting.
• A ghost struggles to help the family of the house they haunt.
• A bowling league gets a little too competitive.
• A sand volleyball league gets a little too competitive.
• A small-town softball tournament gets a little too competitive.
• A bar owner keeps his patrons safe amidst a vampire attack.
• A bar owner keeps his patrons safe amidst a zombie attack.
• A bar owner serves drinks to ghosts who frequented the bar in the past.
• A man is suddenly approached by dozens upon dozens of offspring that were born of his donated sperm.
• An old band reunites after thirty years.
• Old former iconic band members reunite one last time after fifty years.
• A garage band is discovered and thrust into stardom.
• The story of a rookie MLB baseball player pitching a no-hitter.
• The story of a Little League pitcher pitching a no-hitter.
• A lifeguard is suddenly afraid of water.
• The world of professional minigolfers.
• A young man goes off to college and meets the girl of his dreams.
• A young woman goes off to college and meets the guy of her dreams.
• An LGBTQIA+ character goes off to college and finds the partner of their dreams.
• A young high school freshman comes of age.
• A stay-at-home parent deals with empty nest syndrome.
• A tubing adventure turns dangerous amidst a storm that causes flooding.
• A small plane crashes in the mountains and the passengers must survive and escape.
• An earthquake causes havoc in a big city.
• An earthquake unleashes beasts from deep within the Earth.
• A meteor shower is actually the end of the world — and the government knew it.
• A character struggles to deal with the death of their significant other.
• A pool hustler is released from prison.
• A gambler decides to beat the house against all odds.
• A gambler banned from all Vegas casinos decides to beat them all in disguise.
• A haunted amusement park.
• A haunted theme ride.
• A haunted mansion that is now a bed and breakfast.
• A ghost travels to various places as an afterlife vacation while haunting wherever they stay.
• A haunted spaceship is found by explorers.
• Astronauts on their way to Mars come across curious alien lifeforms.
• Astronauts on the first mission to Mars come across what looks to be a human-made ship.
• Astronauts on the first mission to Mars come across a ship identical to theirs.
• A dog travels on a cross-country adventure to find his person who moved off to college.
• A near-catatonic man is found wandering the streets in the rain, covered in blood.
• A serial killer raises a serial-killing family.
• A serial killer tries to quit but can’t.
• A portal to a strange alternate universe opens in somebody’s house.
• A family that has been underground since Y2K arises to a very different world.
• A pilot continually travels to different time periods after flying into a storm.
• A character discovers that they can’t die.
• A character discovers that when they die, they keep coming back to the day before their previous death.
• As a teen goes through puberty they develop superpowers.
• An old couple is given a chance to be reborn again so they can find each other and fall in love once more.
• Two married couples decide to swap mates.
• Swingers from 1970s suburbia are transported to the 2020s suburbia.
• People can transport themselves to their favorite movies and TV shows.
• People can transport themselves into the stories of their favorite books.
• Two brothers are all that is left of the human race.
• Two brothers face off against each other in the Super Bowl.
• Two sisters face off against each other in the U.S. Open.
• A brilliant but nerdy high school student conjures the perfect football scheme to win it all.
• Two volleyball players decide to quit college and become professional beach volleyball players.
• A shamed tennis pro decides to team up with a suburban mother and wife to win the pickleball championships.
• A new sport in created — arena golf.
• A competition where the person who stays up the longest wins ten million dollars.
• A social experiment gone wrong.
• Prisoners escape from a prison for the criminally insane amidst a terrible storm.
• A teacher saves a school from a school shooting but suffers from PTSD.
• Soldiers fall in love but are separated by war.
• The first encounter with an alien race leads to a representative swap so humans and aliens can learn about each other.
• A character somehow begins to exchange emails with their past self.
• An undelivered letter sent from a soldier to his family is finally delivered a generation later.
• NASA receives a message from space.
• NASA receives a message from space from a futuristic space crew claiming to be from the 1960s.
• NASA receives a message from space from a futuristic space crew claiming to be from the 2060s.
• A stargazer begins to communicate with something in the sky with a flashlight.
• Two children appear from deep within a mountain cave.
• Lost siblings are raised by forest animals.
• A youth soccer team competes for the national championship.
• A JV football player becomes the star quarterback when two varsity players go down.
• A track and field star breaks both legs in a car accident and struggles to return to competition.
• A middle school-aged character breaks both legs in an accident but heals in a way that makes them the fastest human being.
• A character wishes they could be fast only to see their wish granted by literally only being able to do everything fast.
• A character gets a call from a stranger claiming to be locked in a van somewhere.
• A 911 operator gets a call from a serial killer threatening to kill again.
• A 911 operator gets a call from someone claiming to be a vampire.
• A legal loophole allows a child to run for president.
• A treasure hunter finds a treasure that causes government agents to hunt them down for it.
• A time traveler goes back in time to find out who really killed JFK.
• A time traveler goes back in time to stop the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
• A time traveler goes back in time to see if Jesus Christ was real.
• A time traveler goes back in time for the sole purpose of documenting historical moments on film.
• A time traveler goes back in time to bet on games of the past.
• NASA decides to use a passing asteroid as a fuel saver to travel to Mars.
• A mother must hunt down her serial killing son.
• A father must hunt down his serial killing son before he kills again.
• Parents deal with the horror of their child being exposed as a serial killer.
• A detective goes to extreme measures to get into the mind of a serial killer.
• A detective uses new technology to inject their consciousness into the mind of a serial killer.
• A parent who is a detective uses their skills to find out who toilet-papered their house.
• An inner-city youth runs away to the suburbs to see what life is like in such a safe place.
• An inner-city family moves to the suburbs to escape violence only to see it manifested in what they felt would have been a safe place.
• A suburban family moves to the city and struggles to adapt.
• A family finds a wolf pup and raises it.
• A family finds a lost Bigfoot child and raises it as their own.
• An alternate universe where humans have colonized the moon.
• A future where humans have colonized Mars.
• An autistic child struggling to adjust to society begins to display superhuman powers.
• An autistic child struggling to adjust to society begins to display gifted musical talents.
• A genius child helps their father win at the casino.
• A genius child being raised in an abusive home runs away and begins to sit in during college classes.
• A youth bowling tournament gets a little out of hand.
• A planet from millions of light years away from Earth tries to find a way to venture there.
• A lone gunslinger travels across the country searching for their arch-nemesis.
• A village of Samurai warriors deals with an alien trying to kill them.
• Immortal people walk the Earth unseen.
• A news reporter is contacted by someone claiming to be immortal and wanting their story told.
• A news reporter is contacted by someone claiming to be from the future.
• Authorities arrest a stock market trader for inside trading and are shocked when he claims to be from the future.
• The military fights vampires.
• The military uses vampires as supersoldiers.
• The military uses zombies as a first-wave assault.
• An aging martial arts teacher decides to become an MMA fighter to make ends meet.
• An inventor creates a new form of fuel.
• An inventor creates a new form of energy and is chased by the government that wishes to stop it from going public.
• Someone creates a website with outlandish conspiracy theories and the public begins to believe them.
• A pizza delivery driver is forced to transport a hitman to his next hit.
• The Universal monsters (Dracula, The Wolf Man, etc.) are transported into the real world.
• An unhinged Dungeons & Dragons player circa the 1980s believes the game’s world is real.
• An escaped convict tries to start a new life in a quiet town.
• A lonely housewife falls for an escaped convict she picked up on the highway.
• A train is loose and only character can stop it.
• An AI program enacts revenge on a user who treated them poorly.
• Die Hard in a school.
• Die Hard on a cruise ship.
• Die Hard in a spaceship.
• Die Hard on an island.
• A character goes on a run and is taken by someone.
• A father enacts revenge on his child’s killer.
• A new teacher inspires the school.
• A church school student believes their pastor is an angel.
• A child discovers that their parent is a fallen angel.
• A character dies and comes back to life as their family’s new pet.
• A trivia night turns bloody as players are told if they get an answer wrong one of their team members will die.
• A heat wave of the century puts lives in danger.
• A flood of the century puts lives in danger.
• A lonely comic book-loving character decides that they want to become a real-life supervillain — and they fail drastically and hilariously at every turn.
• A vampire that is afraid of the dark.
• A consciously-aware zombie.
• A werewolf that is allergic to fur.
• A character terrified of water and desperate for a job applies for a lifeguard position.
• A chef loses their taste.
• A motivational speaker loses everything and struggles to follow their own device.
• A psychic becomes a detective.
• A detective enlists the help of a psychic — and they fall in love.
• A hypochondriac goes to medical school.
• A self-help author is exposed as a fraud.
• A character takes a vow of silence.
• A character will win a million dollars if they don’t speak for a year.
• A character that is a vegetarian and desperate for a job can only find one at a butcher shop.
• A comic who was attacked on stage must overcome their newly developed stage fright.
• A popular musician who was attacked on stage must overcome their newly developed stage fright.
•  An atheist is mistaken as a prophet.
• A librarian becomes trapped in the story of their favorite book.
• A child escapes bullies in an abandoned city library.
• A rich child is given a robot companion for their birthday.
• An adoption service that allows aliens to adopt human children in need.
• Cloaked alien ships have been watching the world for centuries.
• A pilot discovers a strange city in the clouds.
• A submarine crew discovers a strange city at the bottom of the ocean.
• JFK is cloned.
• Abraham Lincoln is cloned.
• Nazi fanatics attempt to clone Hitler.
• A detective in the 1960s discovers who he thinks is Adolf Hitler.
• New technology allows people guilty of environmental crimes to be transformed into trees and plants.
• A man is transported into the body of a woman.
• A meat industry executive is transported into the body of an animal.
• A motivational speaker loses all of their motivation.
• A heralded divorce counselor is actually on their fifth marriage.
• A successful wedding planner struggles to plan their own wedding.
• A life coach has a mid-life crisis.
• A haunted antique store.
• A haunted museum.
• Museum historical exhibits are actually portals into the time period they represent.
• Someone has the power to use photographs as portals into the captured time period.
• Angels and demons walk among us.
• Aliens walk among us.
• Vampires walk among us.
• Hunters stumble upon Bigfoot.
• Hunters become the hunted.
• Someone is living in the walls of someone else’s house.
• A character decides to hitchhike around the world via automobiles, planes and boats.
• A teenager steals their parent’s car for a day.
• A teenager steals their parent’s boat for a day.
• A teenager steals a sailboat to sail around the world.
• A city family decides to live on a farm.
• Farmies decide to sell their valuable land to go live in the city.
• A family discovers a tiny civilization of people that are one-centimeter tall living in their backyard.
• A race car driver tries to get back on the track after a dangerous crash.
• A race car driver is hired to be a driver for a bank heist.
• A race car driver becomes an eSports star.
• A zookeeper who hates animals.
• A fireman becomes a pyrotechnician.
• A fireman becomes a pyromaniac.
• A doctor is haunted by the patients who died under their care.
• A teacher is caught drunk at school.
• An engineer accidentally creates a time machine.
• A nurse is killing their patients.
• An architect is tasked with building the first moon colony structure.
• A lawyer learns that the client they are defending is guilty of murder.
• An accountant discovers that their company is working with the mob.
• An artist can’t stop painting a particular face.
• A writer is pulled into the world of their bestselling novel.
• A scientist discovers the cure for cancer and now they’ve lost it.
• A police officer struggles to survive after being attacked in the streets.
• A dentist becomes a sadistic serial killer.
• A psychologist believes their patient is a serial killer.
• A social worker goes against protocol and takes in a family in need.
• An actor with multiple personality disorder becomes the most heralded actor of their time.
• An athlete tries to make a comeback during a mid-life crisis.
• A photographer begins to capture ghosts in their pictures.
• A journalist stumbles upon a conspiracy that leads all the way up to the White House.
• A mermaid washes up on the beach after a hurricane.
• An underground city flourishes.
• A haunted forest.
• A lakehouse family reunion leads to hijinks and bonding.
• An ancient buried alien city is found in a desert.
• A mysterious cavern is found behind a waterfall.
• A carpenter begins to display the biblical powers of Christ.
• An ancient temple awakens from within.
• Ancient Egyptians begin to come out of the pyramids.
• An electrician is electrocuted and develops strange powers.
• A plumber working in an old building discovers a civilization of monsters in the sewers below.
• A towering palace appears out of nowhere.
• A volcano under Yellowstone erupts.
• A veterinarian claims to be able to hear the thoughts of animals.
• A haunted skyscraper.
• A skier falls deep into glacier caverns and struggles to escape.
• A mountain climber falls deep into glacier caverns and sees that others decades before him did the same and struggled to survive.
• An economist predicts a massive economic collapse — but no one will listen.
• A computer programmer escapes into their own virtual world they’ve created.
• A pharmacist uncovers a pharmaceutical conspiracy.
• A financial advisor is corrupt.
• A diver shrinks to the size of a fish and explores the coral reefs of Hawaii.
• Ghosts haunt a sunken shipwreck.
• A character who doesn’t know they are a ghost — while everyone else does.
• A hairstylist and fashion designer mock the fashion industry by creating ridiculous designs only to see them become worldwide trends.
• Empty nest parents decide to sell their house and buy a vineyard.
• Rocky Mountain Hot Springs suddenly become fountains of youth.
• Rocky Mountain Hot Springs can heal all sickness and disease.
• A wildlife reserve is actually the home of Bigfoot.
• An observatory has the power to transport visitors to other planets.
• A haunted movie theater.
• A Hollywood makeup artist is hired by the government to help spies assume different identities.
• A paramedic is taken hostage by a mortally wounded bank robber on the loose.
• A paramedic is taken hostage by an escaped and wounded convict.
• A football stadium haunted by NFL legends.
• A baseball stadium haunted by baseball legends.
• The true story of the first surveyor to lay out plans for the first highway.
• A haunted library.
• A government translator is the only survivor of a terrorist attack and is taken hostage.
• An art gallery’s paintings come to life.
• A London bridge is inhabited by trolls.
• A haunted lighthouse.
• A real estate agent specializes in haunted houses.
• A haunted and abandoned ski resort.
• An old abandoned ship from the 1700s appears in a harbor after a hurricane.
• A geologist discovers a type of rock not of this earth.
• An old Civil War-era fort suddenly comes to life with a full brigade of soldiers.
• An astronomer discovers a new planet.
• A new planet suddenly appears close to Earth.
• Earth is suddenly transported to another Solar System.
• A historian is approached by government officials to use their time travel machine to investigate historical mysteries.
• Tomb robbers are haunted by ghosts.
• A geyser erupts, leaving behind strange creatures nobody has ever seen.
• A mathematician becomes obsessed with solving a seemingly unsolvable equation.
• A used car salesman has to sell one hundred cars over one weekend to save his business.
• A fitness trainer is hired by an obese character to get them into shape — and they become fast friends while doing so.
• The story of employees spending a summer working at a water park.
• A rock climber struggles to climb the mountain their father never could.
• A news anchor freezes on live television and loses his job.
• The life and career of a saint-like pastor.
• A character is tasked with inventorying an old government warehouse full of wooden and unmarked boxes.
• A robot factory becomes self-aware.
• A haunted abandoned 1980s-era shopping mall.
• A day in the life of 1980s-era teenagers hanging out at a shopping mall.
• The lives of retail store employees.
• Students believe that their school is haunted.
• A haunted hospital.
• A highway motel is actually a time portal where visitors from all decades and generations visit.
• An actor goes back in time to meet the historical figure they are portraying.
• A cartoon animator’s creations come to life.
• A cartoon animator is whisked away into the world he has animated.
• The lives of those who work at a spaceport.
• After the civilized world has been destroyed by Nuclear War, survivors discover an old radio station and try to find other survivors through the radio waves.
• A character is stuck on a fire tower as a forest fire rages around them.
• A cemetery security guard begins to see ghosts.
• A cemetery security guard deals with the rising dead.
• A claustrophobic character is buried alive.
• A marine biologist befriends a real-life mermaid.
• A marine biologist befriends an alien hiding in the ocean waters.
• A music teacher going through a mid-life crisis decides to start a rock band.
• A music teacher going through a mid-life crisis decides to get his old band back together.
• A physical education teacher going through a mid-life crisis decides to try out for the Olympics.
• A hunter bored with hunting animals decides to start hunting people.
• A cop teams with a vampire to take out a mob boss who is actually a werewolf.
• A travel blogger is kidnapped.
• Siblings who think their parents are boring wake up in the 1980s and see what adventures they had.
• A world where everyone prefers to live in virtual reality.
• A character realizes that the world they live in is actually a virtual reality world they created 100 years ago.
• The world of a cult overtakes society.
• A cult leader is actually an alien.
• A cult leader is actually a bored character who was dared to create a successful cult.
• A pacifist has a twin who is an assassin and must assume their identity.
• A parent seeks revenge for the death of their child.
• A hero must save the world one last time after already having done it dozens of times before.
• Forbidden love between GMs of rival sports teams.
• An archeologist searches for Excalibur.
• A middle-aged character who has lived with their parents their whole life must live on their own after their parents pass away.
• A lowly servant rises up against a dystopian overlord.
• A detective trying to solve a single murder case discovers that it links to murders from around the world.
• The first international serial killer is discovered.
• A father seeks forgiveness from the children he abandoned.
• A mother seeks forgiveness from the children she abandoned.
• A character seeks forgiveness from the parents they abandoned.
• A group of thrill seekers decide to break as many extreme records as possible.
• A teacher tasks his students with trying to find a world record they can break.
• An empty nest mother stalks her college son.
• An empty nest parent uses the internet and social media to find the perfect mate for their kid.
• A family decides to be the first family to fly around the world in a hot air balloon rig.
• A world where there is no land.
• A future where society is forced to live in underground cities after Nuclear War.
• A future where society is forced to live in floating skies.
• A future where society is forced to live in underwater cities.
• Three days in the lives of characters that attended Woodstock.
• A father hunts down and kills everyone that had anything to do with his son’s drug addiction.
• A drug addict gets clean and travels the country atoning for his past wrongdoings.
• A character goes back in time to see who killed their loved one.
• A character befriends the person they know who killed their loved one.
• A character unknowingly befriends the murderer of their loved one.
• The most unlikely pair fall in love only to discover they are related.
• A character is tasked with marrying someone before their upcoming birthday or risk losing their inheritance.
• A character is tasked with marrying someone before their upcoming birthday or risk having to marry a childhood friend who they signed a contract with before going to college.
• A lawyer is tasked with defending a known mass murderer.
• A doctor is tasked with saving the life of the person who killed their loved one.
• The world succumbs to mass flooding as characters struggle to survive.
• A character’s wish to spend one more day with their lost loved one comes true in an unexpected way.
• An American high school football star moves to Australia where their new school only has rugby.
• A thrill-seeking parachuter travels through a storm and lands in another time.
• The Wild West in space.
• The true story of Billy the Kid.
• A character can build things with their mind.
• A character wakes up invisible.
• A character can teleport from one place to another.
• A shape-shifting serial killer.
• A character wakes up with the ability to read people’s minds but can’t stop the new power.
• A hiker stumbles upon a civilization of tiny people that capture him.
• A world where cities are forced to live under force field domes to protect them from nuclear fallout.
• A therapist has the ability to feel others’ true emotions.
• A therapist can read their patient’s minds.
• A serial killer with the power to manifest everyone’s greatest fears.
• A character with the power to start earthquakes.
• A character that feels no physical pain.
• A character has a seizure and suddenly develops powers that are slowly killing them every time they use them.
• A new rock star copes with their newfound stardom.
• An actor copes with their newfound stardom.
• A movie star goes back to their hometown after the death of their parent.
• A movie star goes back to their hometown for their 30-year high school reunion.
• A character suffers from amnesia and slowly begins to remember who they are.
• A human and an alien fall in love.
• A human and alien couple raise a family in the suburbs.
• Children discover that their parents are alien imposters.
• Children discover that their parents are robots.
• Siblings discover that they are actually from another planet.
• A soldier deals with losing limbs in battle.
• A soldier comes home after the war.
• An intergalactic soldier returns home after a decade of fighting in an intergalactic war.
• A grandma with a legendary cookbook within her family decides to open a restaurant.
• A family fights over grandma’s secret recipe.
• When a character wins the lottery their family fights for their share.
• When a character wins the lottery they are stalked by people wanting their share.
• A character wins the lottery and uses it all to find the cure for cancer.
• A group of high school friends have a pool party only to be transported back in time to their grade school selves.
• A group of high school students meet up the night before they all head off to different colleges.
• A group of old-timers all wish that they could go back to their high school years — and their wish comes true.
• A college student wanting to lose his virginity before he turns twenty-one meets his soulmate who has vowed to not have sex until she’s married.
• A character meets their perfect match only to discover that their parents have decided to get married.
• A wild high school party leads to unexpected and inspiring mixtures of cliques.
• High school students in the future go off to college on different planets and spaceships.
• Despite universal hate of clowns, a clown troupe decides to open a clown school.
• A videogame designer is actually a military recruiter who uses their games to recruit soldiers.
• Soldiers are now drone pilots who control drone robot soldiers.
• A princess wants to be a warrior.
• A warrior wants to be a princess.
• Paleontologists discover proof that dragons did exist.
• A cowboy visits the big city.
• A wizard teleports to present-day New York.
• A scientist time travels to the Middle Ages and is treated like a wizard.
• A caveman is found preserved in a glacier and comes back to life.
• The scary story of a traveling circus in the late 1800s.
• Aliens visit the World Fair in the 1960s.
• Babe Ruth is transported from the past to the future and manages to still dominate baseball.
• Fictional detective characters from 1970s crime shows come to the real world and try to tackle cases as they did in the show.
• A fictional action hero becomes self-aware within his movies.
• A submarine crew falls asleep and wakes up to realize they’ve been transported to space.
• A submarine crew realizes they have traveled back in time and face a fleet of WWII German submarines.
• The story of a character and their dog.
• A ninja faces off against an Old West gunslinger.
• A samurai faces off against a medieval knight.
• A character’s mirror image starts to talk to them.
• The reflection in our mirrors is a window into a mirror universe.
• A probe sent lightyears into space sends back images of a planet identical to Earth.
• Astronauts discover an alien probe.
• A wife realizes that her husband has been cheating on her for years and goes out on a wild night out with her single friends.
• A husband realizes that his wife has been cheating on him for years and goes out on a wild night out with his single friends.
• A character with a low IQ undergoes an experimental surgery and becomes a genius overnight.
• An egotistical character with a high IQ hits their head and loses all of their smarts.
• Back in the 1980s, a snowboarder invades the ski slopes.
• A previously famous fitness instructor tries to get back on the fitness scene but is clueless about how out of shape they are now.
• A rabbi, priest and monk walk into a bar.
• Young friends who find a boat decide to travel down the Mississippi River.
• A group of young friends decide to climb a mountain.
• A child decides to live exclusively in their backyard tree house.
• Young friends decide to make the biggest tree house they’ve ever seen.
• A rich character lives life like a child.
• A child enters a poker tournament via a loophole in the rules — and wins.
• Three brothers reunite after being kept apart for decades.
• Three sisters reunite after being kept apart for decades.
• Best friends discover that they are actually siblings.
• A couple who have just met discover that they are actually siblings.
• A middle schooler has a crush on their new teacher.
• A puppy brings a family together.
• A dog declares war on the new cat adopted by the family.
• A dog and cat become best friends.
• A puppy raised by cats tries to make friends with other dogs.
• Vampires live on the dark side of the moon.
• Aliens live on the dark side of the moon.
• A superhero loses their powers.
• A dying superhero must give their powers to a worthy person.
• A mother must deal with her alcoholism while trying to remain the perfect mom.
• High schoolers create an underground fight club.
• High schoolers become drug dealers to pay off their parents’ debt.
• College students become high-stakes poker players to pay off their student loans.
• A high schooler offers to protect bullied students — for a price.
• A military sniper is recruited to become an international assassin.
• A high school student is mistaken as an international assassin.
• An IT tech discovers a secret file.
• Filmmaking students decide to recreate their favorite movie.
• An aging man’s dream to be young again comes true as he ages backward each day.
• A character is given the chance to revisit the pivotal moments in their lives.
• A character is given the chance to go back to their high school days.
• An old website from the 1990s allows characters to email God.
• An old website from the 1990s unlocks a sinister being.
• A charismatic character proves a point about society by making people believe the world is flat.
• Characters travel back to the era of dinosaurs.
• A brilliant high school student decides to clone themselves.
• Twin characters are mortal enemies.
• Twins meet each other and discover that they’ve fallen in love with the same woman.
• A man lives two lives after he marries twins that were separated at birth.
• A character must decide which twin they want to date.
• A successful screenwriter is forced to work a regular job for a living.
• A successful athlete is forced to join the workforce.
• College students discover that the dean is a Russian sleeper agent.
• High school students suspect that their principal is a Russian sleeper agent.
• High school students suspect that their teacher is a mobster in the Witness Protection program.
• A man travels the world looking to taste the perfect beer.
• A dying character wants to find their soul mate before they die.
• An angel wants to walk the Earth as a human.
• A character is afraid of everything.
• A man and his dog switch bodies.
• A storm opens a strange portal.
• A character has a meal with the devil.
• An upstanding citizen decides to rob a bank.
• A fraud investigator uses their knowledge to cheat their company out of millions.
• An insurance investigator uses their knowledge to cheat a company out of millions.
• A professional athlete comes out as gay.
• A character deals with the realization that they have done nothing spontaneous in life.
• A construction worker falls in love with a demolition worker.
• A soldier comes back from war and discovers that their spouse has disappeared.
• A soldier comes back from war and discovers that their spouse has another family.
• A character mourning the loss of their family decides to build a cabin in the woods.
• Friends decide to dig the deepest hole they can in their backyard.
• Friends discover buried treasure in their backyard.
• High schoolers decide to plan the most epic party of all time.
• A smooth-talking character loses their voice.
• A deaf person uses their special talent to become a musician.
• A town bands around a dying kid’s dream to become a superhero.
• A child discovers that their parents are vampires.
• A child discovers that their parents are aliens.
• A child discovers that they are adopted.
• A veteran decides to find his old buddy from Vietnam.
• Two war veterans dealing with PTSD fall in love.
• A police officer must break the law to save their family.
• An average character discovers they have a unique talent.
• A Dungeons & Dragons player wants to learn to become a blacksmith to make their own sword.
• A character finds a magical sword embedded in a tree.
• A small lake town discovers that something strange is in the lake waters.
• A character raises a bear as a pet.
• A brilliant high schooler discovers a new energy source.
• A brilliant child solves the most difficult math problem.
• A talented musician struggles to become a star.
• A talented writer struggles to be published.
• A bow hunter with a compound bow travels back in time.
• A child breaks into prison to see their father.
• A father breaks out of prison to see his child on their birthday.
• A character discovers a strange microchip under their skin.
• A character discovers that they are actually an angel that fell to Earth.
• A football player strives to be taken seriously by their coach.
• A football player strives to get a college scholarship to play football.
• A football player strives to get drafted into the NFL.
• A character buys an old desk that has special powers.
• A character’s split personalities suddenly appear as real people in their house.
• A tennis player has an opportunity to make it as a ping pong player in the Olympics.
• Teenagers make their own Quija board.
• Tarzan on another planet.
• Sherlock Holmes in high school.
• People’s shadows come to life when they are asleep.
• Old reality stars try to make a comeback.
• Old child actor stars try to make a comeback.
• A pilot mourning the death of his family takes one last flight around the world.
• A soccer or rugby coach is hired to coach an American football team.
• Two swordsmen meet in the forest, ready to duel.
• A character wanders the streets of a deserted Los Angeles.
• A young man from the dangerous inner city streets attends open tryouts for the NFL.
• A former NFL player goes back to his hometown to coach his high school football team.
• A young woman who always wanted to be a princess gets the chance to make that dream come true.
• An American discovers that he is the heir to the British throne.
• A forty-something man goes back to college and walks onto the football team to realize his football dreams.
• What really happened to the Roanoke Colony?
• The “real” reason the Terracotta Army was created.
• The “real” reason the Great Pyramids were created.
• Chornobyl has more secrets than we previously knew.
• What happened to the Lost Colony of Japan?
• What “really” happened to Flight 19?
• A minimalist and a hoarder move in together.
• A Vegan Animal Rights Activist moves is forced to move in with a Butcher.
• A mercenary is partnered with a pacifist.
• A risky and destructive detective is partnered with a pacifist.
• A risk assessment analyst is partnered with a risky and destructive detective.
• A wilderness survival expert is forced to relax at a luxury resort complex.
• A hardworking executive is tasked with leaving their phone behind for an off-the-grid adventure.
• Teenagers are forced to go on an off-the-grid adventure in the wilderness.
• A health nut is forced to live with a junk food addict.
• A tech-savvy teen is tasked with teaching an old person about technology.
• A collector of rare books finds a copy of the first Christian bible.
• A collector of rare books stumbles upon one that unlocks evil into the world.
• An antique collector finds a genie in a bottle.
• A genie in a bottle plans a daring escape.
• A scientist searching for UFOs and a UFO skeptic partner together.
• A failed comedian is forced to work at a funeral parlor.
• The life of a stuntperson.
• The life of a presidential chef.
• A Midwesterner comes to Hawaii for college and learns how to surf.
• A famous sharpshooter time travels to the Old West.
• An uber-Jimmy Buffet fan struggles to get over the death of their idol.
• A bartender decides to move to the Bahamas to open a bar in paradise.
• When a former work-from-home dog owner gets an office job, their dog breaks out of the house to find them.
• A fantasy football GM is given the chance to run an NFL team and fails miserably.
• The first cyborg.
• The first female NFL player.
• A person’s dreams are actually glimpses into the lives of strangers.
• Nightmares are a glimpse into hell.
• A little boy goes missing in a small town.
• A little girl goes missing in a small town.
• A restaurant owner must do something spectacular to stay open.
• The training of a real ninja.
• A modern-day Samurai lives life off the grid.
• A spy discovers their parents were Russian sleeper agents.
• A space explorer discovers a planet called Earth.
• A werewolf tries their best to live a regular life.
• A modern-day witch struggles to follow their beliefs.
• A knight and a samurai duel.
• A hacker stumbles upon a disturbing secret.
• An assassin is tasked with going back in time to kill his younger self.
• A bounty hunter chases their most difficult bounty.
• A mercenary struggles with following through with their assignment.
• An archeologist makes a shocking discovery about humanity.
• A gunslinger from the Old West grows old.
• A pirate captain defies his crew.
• A historian discovers that what they believed was fact is actually fiction.
• An inventor creates the ultimate undetectable weapon.
• An inventor creates the ultimate new energy source and is chased down by government officials.
• A ghost hunter begins to fall in love with the ghost they are chasing.
• A cyborg detective.
• A shapeshifting serial killer.
• An AI becomes self-aware.
• An ancient warrior is reawakened.
• A time-traveling historian quietly records the truth behind all major historical events.
• A VR gamer can’t escape his VR game.
• A genetic experiment gone wrong.
• A puppeteer’s puppets come to life.
• A little person struggles to live in a big world.
• The unexpected truth about Area 51.
• The unexpected truth about Stonehenge.
• What really happened on the Mary Celeste ship found floating and abandoned?
• The Mothman legend.
• A serial killing clown.
• A clumsy superhero.
• An inept spy.
• The heartfelt story of a local cat lady.
• A character addicted to social media.
• An old character decides they want to be a social media influencer.
• A couch potato witnesses a murder.
• A ghost bunter who is scared to death of ghosts but good at hunting them.
• A barista falls in love with a customer.
• A Dungeons & Dragons dungeon master is thrust into their own campaign.
• A compulsive liar struggles to be taken seriously when they witness something outrageous.
• A hopeless romantic has the worst luck in love.
• A museum of oddities comes to life.
• A germophobe struggles during the pandemic.
• A soap opera actor gets their big feature break.
• A soap opera actor is stalked by a fan.
• Santa Claus decides to retire.
• An eccentric crossword puzzle solver discovers a secret code within the daily puzzles.
• A UFO abducts an annoying human that doesn’t want to leave the ship.
• A bartender realizes that their patrons are vampires.
• A UPS driver delivers to a haunted property.
• A country town bands together to survive a flood.
• A character gets a call from their long-missing spouse.
• A lowly story prompt content creator sees his prompts come to life on the big screen.

How to Use Story Prompts

What can often get your creativity flowing is reading story prompts — brief and often intriguing or thought-provoking sentences or ideas that serve as a starting point for creative writing, providing a concept, scenario, world, or theme that can be expanded into a full-fledged story.

You can use story prompts as a foundation to develop characters, plotlines, conflicts, and resolutions, ultimately crafting your own unique stories around the initial idea provided by the prompt.

Want to Come Up With Your Own Story Prompts?

The secret sauce of storytelling is learning how to come up with those grand ideas and concepts. It may seem daunting to most. How do you come up with something fresh and new when everything seems to have been done? Creativity is the key.

• Give people what they’ve seen before, but a different version of it.
• Merge two clever ideas into one.
• Introduce a concept into a whole different world and genre.
• Subvert expectations from otherwise familiar stories and characters.

Do that and, boom…you’ve just come up with your very own story prompt!

Read More: 50 Gold Screenwriting Quotes to Jump Start Your Creativity

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Home / Book Writing / Realistic Fiction Story Ideas: 50+ Prompts to Get You Started

Realistic Fiction Story Ideas: 50+ Prompts to Get You Started

For some writers, it's easy to come up with a story about space aliens, vampires, superheroes, or magical beings. But what if you're looking to write a more grounded, realistic short story or book? Well, you might need some realistic fiction story ideas. Luckily, that's just what we have for you in this article. We'll talk about different ways to come up with realistic fiction ideas, and we'll provide you with a list of realistic fiction story prompts to get you going.

Let's get going!

• What realistic fiction is
• How to come up with story ideas in this genre
• Prompts for realistic fiction stories
• How to test your idea before you write

Table of contents

• What is Realistic Fiction?
• Choose a Theme
• Draft Some Characters
• Realistic Fiction Story Prompts
• Vetting Your Realistic Fiction Idea
• Realistic Fiction Story Ideas: Final Thoughts

As the name suggests, realistic fiction defines fictional stories that are grounded in reality. There are believable characters , the situations are easily recognizable, and the conflicts are genuine. These storylines can take place at any time, but they're usually contemporary to the author's life. A realistic fiction tale may seem like a true story, but it's not.

Realistic fiction is not a genre of its own. There is some definite overlap with other genres , like literary fiction and historical fiction. The main characters can be anyone from high school kids to elderly adults. Even children can be major players in a realistic fiction story. But one thing has to hold true: they need to be realistic characters in realistic settings.

Coming Up With Realistic Fiction Story Ideas

There are about as many ways to come up with story ideas as there are writers. Obviously, no one can tell you what to write, but you can get inspiration from anywhere. And the following tips should help do just that.

Writing with an overarching theme in mind can help get the ideas rolling. And there are some common themes in realistic fiction that have held true over the years.

• Love – All different types of love — new, old, unrequited, platonic, fading — make excellent themes for realistic fiction.
• Growing Up – Some of the best realistic fiction is about changing from childhood to adulthood, or from adulthood to old age.
• Life Changes – From divorce and sickness to getting fired and learning to truly live, life changes have made for many a great story in this literary genre.
• Self-Discovery – The successful woman realizes there's more to life than working 60 hours a week. The college student suddenly realizes that his true passion lies in religion after a near-death experience. Everyone goes through self-discovery, which makes it an excellent theme.
• Bravery/Perseverance – Finding the will and the way to face unbeatable odds is a very human thing. We take solace in others learning to live their best lives in the face of great adversity.
• Social Issues/Injustice – Some of the most impactful realistic fiction stories deal with social issues such as racism and injustice. Creative writing in the realistic fiction genre is all about exploring these kinds of issues through compelling and believable characters .

You may have noticed that all these themes are very human. Of course, you could argue that every story is, at its core, human. But these themes are especially human because they're about struggles that people from all walks of life have to deal with. They're about humans dealing with very human problems . If you keep that in mind, you won't go wrong while crafting your realistic story.

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Remember that characters in realistic fiction won't have superpowers, magical abilities, or the ability to read other people's thoughts. They won't live in a futuristic science fiction civilization. They're just people, which means you can take inspiration from real life .

Try to nail down some character specifics for your protagonist first. Will she be an aging woman who just lost her husband of forty years? Will he be an accountant who saves a young boy's life on his way to work?

Your main character should absolutely have a story arc , so think about what you want that arc to be. Uplifting stories generally have a positive arc with a relatively happy ending. But, like life, there's no guarantee of a happy ending in realistic fiction.

Also, think about some traits or quirks you want your main character to have. Not only physical traits, but beliefs, habits, and compulsions, as well . Check out this article for more on making believable characters .

The following prompts are designed to get the ideas flowing. You can choose a writing prompt and stick close to it, or you can let it take you in any direction you please. The story you end up with may look nothing like the writing prompt you started with! Let each prompt be the story idea that sparks a novel or a short story.

1. Write a story about a character learning that the most important aspect of a relationship isn't what she once thought it was.

2. Write a story about a group of close friends becoming a family after one of their own passes away.

3. Explore the meaning of love through the eyes of two different characters from opposite sides of the world.

4. Write about a character learning about self-fulfillment vs happiness the hard way.

5. Write about an old couple finally going on a train trip through Europe in an effort to save their marriage.

6. Write a story about a character who struggles with self-esteem and vanity.

7. Explore where true confidence comes from.

8. Write a story about characters learning what's truly important as they move from adolescence to adulthood.

9. Write about a woman who meets the love of her life as a result of the 9/11 attacks.

10. Explore the importance of learning to help others during tough times.

11. Write a story in the form of a personal narrative from the perspective of a cult leader.

12. Explore the life of a fictional 19th-century suffragette.

13. Weave the story arcs of several seemingly disparate characters into one surprise ending where they all get what they've been searching for — together.

14. Write a story about a character who loses one of their five senses but learns to live better for it.

15. Write about a character overcoming drug addiction.

16. Write about a character who willfully decides to turn around their philosophy about life, learning to live with intention.

17. Write a story about an author who struggles with writing until something drastic happens in their life.

18. Explore where morals come from and why there's such a big wide range of them.

19. Explore a situation (either real or fictional) in which the majority was wrong about something that affected people's lives.

20. Write a story about a character learning that his concept of love is unhealthy.

21. Write about a family of refugees struggling to survive as they flee their war-torn country.

22. Write a story about an aging athlete who does the impossible.

23. Write about two characters struggling to shift their priorities and keep their relationship intact as they age.

24. Explore a character's trip through the criminal justice system as she is wrongfully convicted of a crime.

25. Write about an entrepreneur's journey to start a small business while his larger competitor sabotages him.

26. Write about a man's journey to return a lost child to his parents.

27. Write about a character learning to love herself before she can love anyone else.

28. Explore the implications of obsession.

29. Write about two characters who used to be best friends when they were kids reconnecting after many years.

30. Start your story with a small moment that has outsized and unforeseen consequences.

31. Write about a teenager who runs away from home after an argument with his parents.

32. Write about the last citizens of a dying town, struggling to revitalize the area.

33. Explore a historic earthquake or natural disaster through the eyes of fictional characters experiencing it.

34. Write about two children who are accidentally left at an amusement park.

35. Write a story about characters during the Great Depression.

36. Write about a dispute between neighbors that gets quickly out of hand.

37. Explore the meaning of Christmas through the eyes of a character who has just lost her family.

38. Explore the trials and tribulations of a character who was devastated by the 2008 financial crisis.

39. Write about a person who leaves everything behind to join a cult (e.g. Peoples Temple or Heaven's Gate).

40. Explore the implications of a husband who is caught spending time with a son he's just learned about.

41. Write a story about parents who struggle with a teenager who has mental health issues.

42. Write a story about siblings who struggle to deal with the mental and physical deterioration of one or both parents.

43. Write a story about a kid who has to deal with bullying at his new school.

44. Write a real-life fairy tale without the magic. Set it in modern times.

45. Explore the high-stakes corporate world through the eyes of a woman who encounters a glass ceiling.

46. Write about a poll worker who is accused of doctoring ballots during a particularly virulent election.

47. Explore the implications of a gender reassignment operation through the eyes of the person undergoing the operation.

48. Write a story about a young woman who struggles with anxiety as she makes her way through the world.

49. Write a story about a pair of identical twins who have to learn to live their own lives after spending so much time together as children.

50. Write a story about a town that suffers a severe earthquake.

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In the realistic fiction genre, good writing is a combination of compelling story elements , characters that feel real, and situations that are easily recognizable. Of course, a knack for narrative writing is also a plus. Fortunately, all these things can be learned.

But in the competitive fiction market, you need more than just a great story to succeed . For the best chance of success, you need to position the book into the correct categories and ensure you have the best metadata so readers can find it.

And the easiest way to do this is with Publisher Rocket. If you find a story idea that you like, you can vet it with Publisher Rocket, ensuring that the category isn't too competitive. Publisher Rocket can also tell you if there is a demand for the type of realistic fiction story you're going to write.

• Publisher Rocket's keyword search tool can help you determine what phrases and keywords Amazon shoppers are actually using when looking for realistic fiction books on Amazon.
• The Competition Analyzer helps you to see what other realistic fiction authors are doing and approximately how much they're making from their books.
• The AMS Keyword Search function can help you formulate the best Amazon Ad campaigns for your realistic fiction book .
• Lastly, the Category Search function helps you to choose the best categories when you publish your book on Amazon . This is very important for visibility!

This tool does the heavy lifting for you, searching through Amazon to bring you information on keywords, categories, and competition. Learn more about Publisher Rocket here .

Each writer has their own writing process, but the prompts and tips above should help you get into the creative flow. Whether you use a prompt as the spark of inspiration for a full-length book or for a short story idea doesn't really matter. Many great realistic fiction writers got good with short stories before moving on to novels. What matters is that you stay consistent and keep writing. The more you write, the better you'll get!

Dave Chesson

When I’m not sipping tea with princesses or lightsaber dueling with little Jedi, I’m a book marketing nut. Having consulted multiple publishing companies and NYT best-selling authors, I created Kindlepreneur to help authors sell more books. I’ve even been called “The Kindlepreneur” by Amazon publicly, and I’m here to help you with your author journey.

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301 Short Story Ideas Guaranteed to Kick Your Writing into High Gear

With shorter attention spans and increasingly hectic lives, it's no wonder readers love short stories now as much as ever. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button , The Shawshank Redemption , Minority Report , and Brokeback Mountain —even Hollywood has taken a renewed interest in short stories.

Below are 301 short story prompts and starters to help you become inspired, get past writer's block and explore the fascinating process of writing in a genre that Stephen King famously once compared to a kiss in the dark from a stranger.

Please feel free to use any of these ideas to spark your next creative project. You don't have to credit us, but it would be much appreciated if you do! A simple link to ServiceScape is the best way to do that.

Need more writing prompts? Check out our writing prompt videos below or try out our Writing Prompt Generator .

• A group of hunters are on a hunt. Their dress and actions are completely primitive until the end when they change back into suits and leave the area in modern vehicles.
• Weather patterns across the globe suddenly shift, causing natural law to go haywire. A family tries to make sense of it while getting to safety.
• A flood swept away an entire town, leaving only the library and its strange secret.
• Your main character is evicted from their home and forced to call in some favors. Although, those favors take him/her on a wild ride they never expected.
• The night before an important social function, your main character is tasked with saving the world.
• Your main character's boat is sinking in the middle of the ocean and he/she only has 1 hour to make a raft from parts of the vessel.
• Your main character joins the communist regime and leads the party to glorious victory over the capitalist bourgeoisie funded by your antagonist's Super-PAC.
• Your main character has a change of heart and partners up with your antagonist, joining their evil organization and proving a much more capable evil overlord than your antagonist could ever hope to be.
• Your character's things are packed up and they are ready to leave town tomorrow. Before they say goodbye to their town, they decide to stop by at their favorite bar just to say goodbye. Something that happens at the bar makes them question whether or not leaving is the right decision.
• When your character is hanging out at their favorite coffee shop, they notice someone loitering outside. As your character leaves, they see a black SUV pull up and a very handsome man gets out. The loiterer goes to lunge for the man, but your character instinctively decides to jump on him, blocking him from attacking the unsuspecting man. It turns out that the handsome man is the governor of the state. What happens next?
• Two giant fingers reach down and pluck your main character away from what they were just doing, and unceremoniously deposit them on a pirate ship.
• Your main character finds an abandoned car, keys still inside, parked outside their home.
• Your protagonist is a corporate CEO who suddenly must hunt and forage his own food.
• Your characters are trapped in a structure that constantly shifts and changes. How do they find their way out?

Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Supernatural

• Your main character wakes up in the body of the person he/she most despises.
• An outdoor music festival receives strange, otherworldly visitors who decide to take the stage for their own performance.
• A man wakes up to discover he can no longer hear but can see things he's never seen before.
• A man and his dog go to the dog park to play and the dog finds a bone with strange carvings on it that reacts to the environment in unexpected ways.
• A group of high school friends cross paths 10 years after graduation to catch up, only to learn that one in their midst has developed special, superhuman powers.
• A secondary character stumbles upon a talking blade, and they begin behaving suspiciously.
• Your character wakes one morning and finds that they are physically stronger, faster, and have greater reflexes than when they went to sleep. Each time they sleep, they become stronger.
• As if losing everything she owned in the tornado wasn't enough, Lila learned that she'd been laid off from her job. And that's when she started noticing the monsters.
• A tertiary character is revealed to be "The chosen one," and your main character must help them to succeed in fulfilling their destiny.
• The antagonist dies, but the story doesn't end.
• Your main character is given a suit that protects them from danger—unfortunately it has a different threshold for safety than seems ideal.
• A character in your story becomes aware that they are in a story.
• our character wakes up deaf and mute but sees more colors than he or she knew was possible.
• Your main character finds that time has slowed for them. Each year they age only several weeks, and slowly those nearest them are beginning to take notice.
• Your main character makes a pact with an alien visitor to trade bodies for the day to tour around unnoticed.
• Your main character wakes up in an unrecognizable city that is at least 100 years more advanced in technology than we are today.
• Lightning strikes your main character and he/she wakes up in the hospital with a small black goblin perched on their shoulder, which no one else can see.
• The sun goes out, replaced by building-sized lights in the sky over each major city. Across the world, beams of light descend from the sky, and each points toward your main character.
• A secondary character is visited by aliens. They are told that they have been chosen as a representative of humanity amongst the interstellar accord. They need your main character's advice.
• Your main character has a theme song which plays for ten seconds every time they enter a room.
• Your protagonist is visited by a comic book hero who needs their help.
• Your character cannot wake from a series of back-to-back dreams that feel like he or she is awake.
• All rhinos have gone extinct except for two, and your main character has been granted guardianship of the last two of their kind.
• Your character notices a weird growth on their arm one morning. They brush it off as a weird bump or scratch—until it turns into something else entirely.
• Your character has always thought of their parents in a certain way, but here lately they're doing something unusual that changes your character's opinion of them.
• Your main character is the owner of a variety store and an invisible car crashes through the wall, driven by an invisible person.
• Your antagonist and protagonist meet in the afterlife, hundreds of thousands of years after your story takes place.
• Your antagonist and protagonist get freaky-Friday-ed. When they wake up, each is in the other's body.
• Your main character is suddenly invisible, but they don't know how long it will last.
• Your main character wakes up, in high school again, and finds that they are late for an important test.
• Your main character is granted a single wish, but must be careful, because the genie granting the wish will attempt to misinterpret any wish they make.
• Your main character finds himself/herself in the video game they were playing.
• Your main character is the leader of a random group of apocalypse survivors who must now forage for food.
• A cell phone is found locked inside a cabinet in a home recently purchased by newlyweds. On it is a recorded message from their future children. What does the message say and how did it get there?
• Your main character and the three people standing closest to them, are thrown backwards in time three hundred years.
• Your protagonist can see the future and doesn't want to leave his/her home.
• Your main character discovers that they are a wizard, and that this means they will have to leave their family to learn how to safely practice magic, in a school they have never heard of.
• Suddenly, your main character can hear the thoughts of everyone who is wearing the same color shirt as they are.
• Your protagonist dies. The story doesn't end.
• Your main character is really a guardian angel in human form.
• Your protagonist meets a man claiming to be God. He/she doesn't believe the man, but then miracles ensue.
• Two adult sisters discuss a fateful night when they were teenagers and ran away from home, only to encounter a pack of vampires waiting to take them in.
• A family comes together for Christmas, only to discover that they have somehow switched bodies and perspectives over the course of the meal.
• A man or woman wakes up as his/her dog or cat and it's breakfast time.
• Two writers discover they've written the exact same text, word for word, 1,000 miles apart from each other.
• A parent and child encounter their ancestor, who has been dead for centuries, and they go on a walk through the city/the woods.
• A lost Incan treasure is found in the basement of a school in Ohio. How did it get there? And more importantly, how is it glowing?
• Your main character suddenly loses his ability to see but can hear things he hadn't heard before.
• .It's 2050 and most of America has become one large city except for a small area in the middle of the country, considered uninhabitable by most people except for a few. Who are they and how do they survive?

Romance and Drama

• A secondary character starts their own business and enlists your main character to help it succeed but falls in love instead.
• Your antagonist wins over your main character's best friend, convincing that friend of their good intentions.
• Your main character gets a new job, working at the evil corporation run by your antagonist—but the work they would be doing could really help people.
• Your main character and their best friend find themselves in a love triangle with your antagonist.
• A couple is having an argument at the table beside your character at a restaurant. Although they are trying to avoid eye contact, your character realizes that one of them is the ex that the other never quite got over.
• A tertiary character is seriously stressing out, and your protagonist feels the need to reach out to them with a kind gesture. It does the opposite of help.
• Your character is talked into going to their romantic interest's mother's dance recital, and their romantic interest doesn't show up.
• Your character is at a friend's house for a dinner party. Suddenly, someone they absolutely despise walks in. What do they do now?
• Your character's boyfriend of five years surprises them with an engagement ring at a dinner with their whole family. They pause for a minute before they answer him. But if he knew their secret, there is no way he would be proposing right now. The whole room is waiting for the response.
• Your character gets matched up with a famous person on Tinder. What happens on their date?
• Your character's friend introduces them to someone at a party. It turns out that your character and the other person actually know each other quite well. However, neither of them acknowledges this fact. The friend steps away. What do they say to each other now?
• Your character's mom seems really tense when they are out to dinner with her one evening. They ask her what's wrong. "I have something to tell you," she says gravely.
• Write a story about a father and son reuniting for the first time in 20 years. Why did they go so long without talking? What finally brought them together?
• Your main character's romantic interest finds one day that they are much more interested in your antagonist.
• Suddenly, a tertiary character confesses their love for your protagonist, getting down on one knee and producing a ring. But your protagonist loves someone else.
• One night when your character is at a bar with all of their friends, a mysteriously charming stranger starts talking to them. They are instantly captivated by their every word. They ask for your character's number, but there's just one (major) problem.

Mystery and Horror

• A writer's manuscript contains words he didn't write…ghostwriting in its truest form. But who is his co-author and what does the ghost want?
• Your main character comes home to find that their family is missing.
• Your character wakes up covered with strange tattoos and can't remember how he/she got them.
• Your protagonist awoke from a nightmare to find an object from his/her dream laying on the pillow.
• Two cousins hitchhike along a deserted country road, following a stream of black smoke to an abandoned house, where there is no one tending the steadily burning fire.
• Your main character wakes up in the trunk of a car, their head throbbing.
• An escaped convict leaves behind evidence of his innocence for the search party to find.
• Your protagonist wakes up aged considerably, after a Rip Van Winkle-esque 20-year nap, and his friends don't believe his story.
• There's no way out of the concert hall but the concert-goers tried to find it anyway. Behind them, the snarling monster prowled.
• Lost in the woods, two teens encounter a witch-like woman who offers them all they've ever wanted in exchange for one small thing—their baby sister.
• Your main character discovers a long-lost sibling who is down on their luck.
• Your main character is given an important heirloom, an item passed down for generations in their family. But it is cursed.
• Your main character finds a black mahogany door in their basement, shut tight with chains.
• One night while your character is camping in the woods with their family, there's a loud noise from inside the tent. At first everyone thinks it's an animal, but this sounds like nothing they've ever heard before.
• Your main character has a conversation with a ghost from their past, either literally or figuratively.
• Your main character goes broke drinking and gambling and wakes up the next morning with a small white rabbit perched on their chest, possibly stolen from the magic act they saw the night before.
• Your main character wakes up on a rooftop, in their underwear.
• Your main character inherits a vast fortune, but they must stay in a creepy old house for an entire night in order to earn it.
• Your main character sells their soul and seems to have all of their problems solved, only to find out that the devil is a blood relation, and there are no catches.
• Your main character wakes up to find that ¾ of the world's population has suddenly disappeared without a trace.
• Two adopted twin sisters embark on a journey to find their birth father, only to find that he's been close to them all along.
• Your main character's dog goes missing in the night, and they aren't the only one missing a pet. After some sleuthing they discover that a friend has become a werewolf, and that their best friend is the cause of the missing animals.
• Your main character wakes up wearing a strange ring which glows with sparks of blue electricity.
• People find that if they don't concentrate on keeping their soul attached to their body, it begins to separate. Without continuous concentration, everyone becomes ghosts of themselves.
• Your character discovers that there's something really mysterious happening at the neighborhood park. Your character finally works up the nerve to go down there one evening, and what they find is even more peculiar than what they originally thought.
• Your main character is trapped in a dream that is quickly becoming a nightmare.
• After a particularly grueling day at work, your character groggily returns to work the next morning. The secretary, who your character has said hello to every morning for about five years, suddenly has no idea who they are. When they tell her their name, she responds: "No one by that name has ever worked here."
• Your character wakes up one morning in what looks to be a hospital. They try to move, but it appears they are strapped into the bed. A nurse suddenly enters the room and calls them by the wrong name. What happened to them? What happens next?
• The doorbell rings. No one is there, but a mysterious package was left behind. Your character opens it up and find something inside that's very unexpected.
• Write about a scenario where a character does something terrible and gets away with it completely.
• Your character's sibling is wanted for a serious crime. They swear that they didn't do it, but your character is not so sure.
• A ghost of your antagonist's great-great-great-grandmother visits your protagonist, warning him to stay away from her great-great-great-grandchild.
• On your character's walk to work, they notice that the streets are suspiciously empty. Brushing it off, they finally get to their office. There's no one inside at all. They walk around searching for someone, anyone to ask what's happening. They find no one and nothing.
• A child draws scenes that end up happening exactly as he/she draws them. His/her parents try to understand what is happening.
• Your main character has been knocked unconscious, and another character from your story needs to step up and take their place.
• At the library one afternoon doing some research, your character notices an unusual photograph. Your character is immediately captivated by it. What's in the photograph?
• Your character's grandma recently passed away. In her will, she left your character something very strange.
• Your main character has just come face to face with their worst enemy, and they are monologuing.
• Your antagonist has finally won, accomplishing their greatest feat. Now what?
• Your antagonist and protagonist swap places for a day.
• Your antagonist and protagonists are placed in the same dorm room at university. Hilarity ensues.
• It turns out your antagonist was right the whole time, and now your protagonist has some explaining to do.
• Your main character or antagonist wins the lottery, a jackpot of 3.4 million dollars. But he/she doesn't want it.
• Your main character is contemplating suicide until a stranger stops him/her.
• The king dies, and your antagonist's best friend becomes the new ruling monarch. The catch is, they don't seem too bad, other than the fact that your antagonist keeps whispering in their ear.
• Your protagonist is incredibly late for their next scheduled meeting, and he or she just keeps running into obstacles which stall them further.
• Your character's birthday wish that they made when they were blowing out the candles actually comes true. What is it? Is it everything that they hoped for?
• Your character's home is a little worse for wear. It seems like everything is broken and your character has no more money to invest in this money pit. In the garage, they see an old can of gasoline. Would they do the unthinkable? What is going through their mind right now?
• Your character's family has a lot of traditions. They go along with them, except for one. If their parents knew your character broke this rule, they would likely disown them. What is it? What would your character do if they found out?
• Your character is a pretty shy, introspective person. One day they wake up and realize that they are saying everything that they think. They can't control the words that are coming out of their mouth at all. While this is helpful when they are trying to talk to friends and acquaintances at work, it really starts to get them into trouble.
• Your character is a member of a family that has always feuded with their neighbors over trivial issues, and now must ask his/her neighbors for help in an emergency. How do the neighbors respond?

Story Starters

• The place where the world stopped was not so strange, but the vertigo was overwhelming. The girl could not decide whether or not it would be wise to jump.
• The gear turned, interlaced with another, and another. His eyes traced the inner workings of the machine to the place where the light shone.
• Static played between the cracks of the monitor, the spark and hiss of the television muffled as the living room filled with water.
• The hand was pale, as if circulation had long stopped; and the ring upon the creature's finger seemed to glow with a spark of interior fire.
• They say that when you die in a dream, you die in real life. I can tell you that isn't true; because I died in a dream, and what happened to me was much stranger than that.
• The girl spun, dragged by the momentum of her backpack, tilting from one foot to the next so that her balance was tenuous, her motions growing wilder.
• The face in the mirror was not his own. It was handsomer, his eyes more vibrant, his skin clearer. He frowned, uncertain, but his reflection smiled.
• Once upon a time, in a night with no stars and no moon, there was a shadow in the darkness.
• Bright blue water held the stars' reflections, until she dove beneath the surface. Then for a long moment the lake was still, until I began to grow nervous. When she finally returned, she held aloft over her head the star which had hung in the North, the wish-making star.
• It was, as the wave of mud descended, sprayed by the wheels of a yellow taxi – it was that moment which made that day the worst of her life.
• Again, try again. Concentrate now, it will not come easily.
• Strange, to see her here. She seemed out of place. Not the soft out-of-place, like an uncle entertaining unfamiliar nieces and nephews, but the hard of out-of-place which drew every eye in the room.
• It was a trick of the fingers, and a twist of the wrist, which changed the shape of the shifting cloak. One moment the garment was a heavy green wool, and the next it was black satin, suitable for the night's entertainments.
• I have been many things: a pawn, a dancer, a master of the blade; but none of these in the way you might think, and none of them for less than a moment.
• The torch hissed as he plunged it into the river and let the current sweep the light away. Then he was alone in the dark with the red-ember eyes.
• Like a dream she had drifted from the room, and like a dream she seemed unreal, and like a dream she was gone.
• The pencil was now stuck in the ceiling, the glob of green hanging precariously from it; and before I could dash across the room, or throw the stapler again to dislodge it, Mr. Smythe reentered the classroom.
• The lower level was waist-deep already, flooding from a number of breaches along the starboard hull. Younger crewmen were wading through the water in search of bailing buckets. Older crewmates were racing toward the ladders, offering prayers beneath their breath.
• The river was home to a great many, and together they drifted along it. It was never fast, never sudden, but always full to brimming of fish, and always clean to drink.
• The sphere was some metal he had never seen before, like steel but with a faint blue hue. It stood out nearly three feet from the earth; and where it was exposed to the air, lightning struck it repeatedly, illuminating his surroundings with each strike.
• The woman swung her scythe with the steady clockwork motion of a pendulum.
• Frost spread across the ground. Slowly at first, with the lingering laziness of autumn, but then with greater fervor; and the creature flew along behind it as it spread across the field.
• Doom blanketed the town, like silence might have on a more peaceful night.
• Typical, he thought. Another throwaway evening. Not a soul in town, and not a sound to be heard; but that night was anything but typical.
• She didn't blink. Not when he made faces, or when he screamed; not when he brought out the joke about the garden gnomes, or the one about the flea circus. She didn't even blink when he resorted to the feather, or when he made a motion like he might poke her in the eye.
• His favorite color had always been blue. Not because it was depressing or anything – it wasn't – but because it seemed to soak in the light, and then give some of it back. Like black, he thought, but less dead, less drab.
• The ballet slipper would not fit, and that would never do. Only moments now, before they knocked on her dressing room door, and her sister's slipper would not slide onto her foot.
• You aren't supposed to have conversations through the wall of the changing rooms, especially not the fancy kind where a woman waits outside to ask if everything fits just right. And yet, here she was, knee deep in the most awkward conversation she could imagine.
• There was no gravity here, and so she floated, waiting to come close enough to something solid that she could push off from it, and toward the exit.
• They say bleach for blood but the odor is too strong. Best to take it out with hydrogen peroxide. Then again, it looks strange buying thirty bottles of hydrogen peroxide at three in the morning, so I settle for a couple gallons of bleach.
• The doctor looked up from the manila folder in his hands and said, "Your test results are positive."
• Just as she settled into the backseat with her suitcase and carry-on bag, an oncoming headlight illuminated the driver's face and she realized this wasn't her Uber driver. He was the man they'd been showing on the news the last few days.
• As the doctor handed the newborn bundle to her, she gasped.
• As she threw her head back to soak up the flowering spring trees, she saw her ex-husband watching her from across the street. How could he have known she was here?
• The young girl was maybe 5 or 6 but there was something about her that chilled me to the bone.
• She might never get the chance to be alone with him again. Her husband was across the country; he'd never find out, so why not?
• "Is this your handwriting?" the policeman asked with a scowl.

• I could have been anything—a doctor, lawyer, architect. Instead, I became a carney.
• When he saw the state troopers standing on his front stoop, he thought they must have the wrong house. But when the troopers took off their hats and one of them asked, "Are you James Cooper?" he couldn't find the strength to answer.
• "I knew you'd come back to me," she whispered. "It's been a lifetime but I knew you'd come back."
• The doctor emerged from the double doors and said, "There were some unexpected complications."
• This was the moment he'd been training for. He strapped on his helmet and got in position.
• She continued running, but as the trail of blood got thicker and the splattered drops got closer together, she started following the blood instead of the greenway path. She had to find the source of all this blood. Was it animal blood... or human?
• When he looked around, he froze. He'd been here before. This was the same place where he kept getting stuck in his dreams. Would he be able to find his way out in waking life?
• She shut off the kitchen light and turned to go upstairs to bed, unaware that two sets of eyes were watching her every move.
• He frantically searched his lab, but he found no sign of the invisibility potion. How could someone have stolen it before he even got the chance to use it?
• As she listened to him snore on the pillow next to her, she wondered how much longer she could stay married to him. She prayed he would die in his sleep or get hit by a car. Then her eyes fell on the pillow at the foot of the bed.
• "Mr. Dempsey, they're not both going to make it. We can save your wife or the baby, but we can't save both. You need to let us know your decision in the next two minutes, or we may lose them both."
• "Are you sure you want to do this?" the man asked as he positioned the needle over her heart.
• Nothing had grown in that patch of grass for 50 years. It had been a barren dirt patch ever since that stranger had conjured a fire bolt and scorched the ground. But Tommy definitely saw a green sprout growing in the middle of the barren square. What was it, and how could it produce life in a place that nothing else could?
• The car rattled as if she'd gone over a speed bump, but she knew there were no speed bumps on this road. She looked in her rear view mirror and thought she saw blonde hair… and maybe a human form on the road. She wondered if she should turn back. Had anyone seen her?
• "If you walk out that door right now, I don't ever want to see your face in my home again," his mother said.
• "I will get my money back one way or another," he growled, as he pinned her arms beneath her back.
• "The price of freedom depends on what you're willing to pay. Tell me, sir: how much is your freedom worth to you?
• She fumbled in her purse for her keys, but her hands were clumsy with fear. Just as her fingers grazed the familiar key fob, a sweaty hand grabbed her shoulder.
• He'd seen her. She could tell by the smirk on his lips. She pushed through the thick crowd in hopes of making it to the exit before he blocked her way.
• She glared at the thick bracelet on her bicep. Why did her parents make such a big deal about never taking off? It was heavy and not even stylish. She found clasp and fiddled with it for a moment. Surely her parents were exaggerating about all the awful things that would happen to her if she ever took this off.
• He extended his hand to her and said, "Hi, I'm Finkel Wolfson." She looked at his outstretched hand as if it was crawling with spiders and roaches. "Oh, I've heard about you," she said with a sniff. Finkel panicked. He was 3000 miles away from home; how could she have heard about him?
• "One of us has to try it," Amir said as he pointed to the lumpy, unfamiliar fruit on the tree in front of them. If we don't, we'll starve to death. Death by poison seems worth the risk in case it's edible, doesn't it?"
• The night winds rustled as the door to the old woman's home slowly opened.
• She laughed when he told her the news. It was exactly what she expected and she knew the lie was over.
• He glanced in his rearview mirror and saw that the blue sedan was still following him.
• She stepped off the elevator with a sense of purpose. This time, she would succeed.
• He flicked the stub of his cigarette onto the pile and walked away without a second look.
• Just as they got to the edge of town, the car started making a terrible clunking sound.
• "What's that smell?"
• He rolled down his window and called out, "Hey—do you want a ride?"
• "You better get down to the station. It happened again."
• The dog raced toward her with such intensity that she didn't have time to get out of his way.
• "I don't think you're capable of love."
• He picked up the glowing rock and inspected it. Where had it come from, and how had it ended up in his backyard?
• By the time Johnny got home, thousands of sheets of paper had piled up on the floor beside the printer, each with only one sentence printed in bold type: "I am coming for you, and there's nothing you can do."
• "How could you have married him? You promised you'd wait for me."
• "I've lost him," she screamed, but none of us knew what she'd lost.
• For a moment, time slowed, and the sound of the approaching storm was all that we could hear.
• "Look out!" he shouted.
• I'd never last long in the slammer. I get all frantic when I'm in tight spaces, start tryin' to climb the walls and such.
• Tears filled her eyes as she scanned the list a second time. She didn't make the team.
• "I'm pregnant."
• He watched her leave, knowing that she only locked the flimsy doorknob behind her. He had at least two hours before she'd be back home.
• "Where am I?"
• "What happened to you?" She asked.
• There are three things you never mess with if you know what's good for you: heroin, border patrol, and the Valdez cartel.
• She fell to the floor when she heard the first explosion. She didn't know if she should try to escape or try to hide.
• "We're sending you to live with another family. It's for your own safety."
• As she watched this hulking, hairy animal lope across her backyard, she wondered what two creatures collaborated to make this tremendous beast, and what was it looking for?
• "She hasn't spoken a word since the accident. Our friend said that you might be able to help her."
• "Don't lie to me. I already know the truth."
• As he walked away, his smile grew from a smirk to an all-out grin.
• "Why is all of Daddy's stuff in the front yard?"
• He counted his register drawer again. How could he be short $2500?
• The teacher looked at his gaping shoes and tattered clothes and knew she had to find out what was really going on at home or this kid would end up in the system. She called him up to her desk and asked, "Do you want to help me on a project this weekend?"
• If he hurried, he might be able to get back to work before anyone found out what he had done.
• "Do you have experience with demons?" she whispered from under the table.
• "This medicine numbs the pain, but it will also permanently numb your ability to feel pleasure. Do you want it?"
• "Mr. Whipple, we've just learned that your wife is an undercover agent with the Russian government. We need your help apprehending her."
• Once she'd confirmed that no one was looking, she ducked into the unmarked building.
• When she walked outside the next morning, she realized his curse must have worked.
• He pulled his hat low over his brow and tried to blend in with the crowd, hoping no one would realize who he was.
• He was inside the video game! But wait—if he was in here... who had the controls?
• She bent down to pick up the strange-looking shell from the sand, but as soon as her hand touched it, the earth started to shake.
• He opened the letter and sunk to his knees in the middle of the driveway.
• "What are we going to do once the last of this food is gone?" he asked.
• She looked closer and realized that this tree was growing dollar bills instead of leaves and quarters instead of acorns.
• There is never a better time to say "I'm sorry" than when karma is kicking you good.
• When the pigeon swooped down in front of her, she realized it had a note attached to its right leg.
• "I'll need to speak to at least three of your ex-girlfriends to check your references before I'll go on a date with you."
• "Mommy, there's a ghost in my room!"
• Something wasn't right. No one seemed to recognize her. No one even really seemed to see her. Could he have erased her existence?
• They had never been this high before. As she reached for the next rock outcropping, she wondered if it was actually close enough to reach, or if she was about to fall into the canyon.
• "This is something we don't usually show visitors," the museum docent whispered as she unlocked the door marked "DANGER!"
• He looked both ways before crossing the street, not realizing that he had just made the worst decision of his life.
• "How did you get that scar?"
• He muttered a few extra spells as he stirred the potion. He couldn't risk it malfunctioning this time.
• Every person on the street and in the mall looked identical. They were all wearing red shirts and blue shorts, and every single one was a man with light skin and short brown hair. What had happened, and how was she the only one who was still different?
• "You don't understand," she said, looking at him sadly. "I am not who you think I am."
• All the lights in the city went out and they knew the monsters were surrounding them.
• "If you take one step closer, it'll be the last step you ever take," he said, pointing the weapon at the strange figure in front of him. But his threat was useless, since the creature had no feet.
• There, nestled within the grove of trees, was the thing he'd been waiting for since he was 12 years old.
• "Who's there?" Her words bounced off of the metal walls of shipping containers when she awoke. But there was only the echo of her own voice to answer her.
• They were lost in the woods and they knew it, although this time was different. This time, they were hunted.
• Looking into the fire was the wrong thing to do. He found he couldn't drag his stare away.
• It wasn't until my father pushed me off the cliff that I believed he was telling the truth.
• The sign hit them like an inanimate object.
• The pumpkin would not stop growing, despite the application of the second potion. The witch had lied.
• All four tires were on the ground, but I had started floating toward the surface.
• Smoke leaked from the exhaust pipes of the Mustang as the plane began to descend. She looked into the jungle below, dreading the impact.
• Picture us, standing against the world, armed to the teeth, walking out into that blizzard.
• If romance is dead, then I suppose there are none to blame but the hopeless romantics. It was a boy, not too long ago, that taught me romance – real romance—isn't something hopeless, or unenergetic like stale poetry, or futile like canned compliments.
• It's impossible to tell really, just how many times I've come back.
• When a pet passes away, the moment is strangely dense. That moment as I held the shoebox was the longest of my young life, but there were harder times to come.
• The girl crept past the open door, listening with piqued interests for clues revealed in the voices beyond it.
• Thunder does not crash like a wave, but ripples outward like a pebble tossed into a pond. When the lightning struck, I was the first to hear that thunder.
• Heroes wear masks for all kinds of reasons. I wear the mask so they can't see the grey at my temples or the weariness of age in my eyes.
• The sun never shone like it did that day. It baked my skin until I felt I might burn in the shade, but I never did. Nothing went wrong that day.
• The paper tore once, twice, three times. I shredded it and scattered it to the wind.
• Ma always told me not to climb so high. Always lookin' out for me 'cause I ain't look out for myself. Too bad Ma ain't here now.
• They think they know me, but they don't really. I hunt only at night and only when I know I have the advantage over my prey.
• City slicker like myself doesn't have a wit of business in the country. They knew it. I knew it. Not a one of us in that room was happy I'd purchased the land.
• Here's the thing about family. Family sticks together, but it's almost never roses and sunshine. Family sticks together when you have nothing; so when you have it all, well, things get complicated in a different way.
• It wasn't my idea to paint the damn cow, it was Johnny's; but I suppose I'm to blame for going along with it.
• Stars spin real slow. So slow you can't see it, unless you have the time and the resources to take a really close look.
• I can't say I ever much liked gym class. I've never seen the point of running unless you were being chased. But I'm running now, aren't I? I guess I'm glad I never skipped gym.
• It's been a few years since the guns got off the street, and the drugs. Didn't happen all at once, but it did happen fast. Not sure I like it.
• My dad raised me believing that time is money. Now that money is time though, I'm not sure anything he taught me means what I thought it would.
• I realized that something was wrong when I thought "I'm getting married," instead of "I'm getting married to John."
• It wasn't a happy winter, but it wasn't so sad either, considering.
• "Blood is thicker than water," we all heard that. What people don't do is say it out full: "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb," which, (if you ask me, which you didn't) means almost the opposite.
• Never thought I'd dance on his grave, not really.
• Clouds parted that night, while I was bending picking weeds in the dark—fool thing to do—and the moon shone down on my garden.
• There are dreamers like me, but none as vivid, and none who know the clouds and sunshine of my mind as I do.
• You can't sing—can't really sing—a happy song when you are sad; but I know now that you can sing a sad song, and fill that song with life, when you are happy.
• All it took was one step into the water and I knew I was home.
• If love stories begin with wonder and end with tragedy, this isn't really a love story.
• She looked out the window and saw moving shadows, as far as the eye could see, and was thankful at least for the light from the window on the house on the hill.
• "I'm falling for you," he said. But he knew that look and he regretted it immediately.
• Give me five minutes and I'll turn that girl's silly smile into a look of shock.
• At dawn, we were swallowed up by the darkness, but it didn't matter, really. We had waited for it all night long.
• If loss were a taste, you'd spit it out as soon as you were able to. But it isn't. It's a sound and a cry and it goes on forever.
• That night in September, the body count was almost as high as the temperature.
• ."They're not even normal," the little girl whispered. "Look Ma', those men have gills for ears."
• She closed her eyes and remembered the flowers in her mother's yard and how red the roses grew.
• There was nothing left to say but "I love you" as they stood together and watched the world burn.
• "Mamma, there's someone here to see you." I knew from the sound of my daughter's scared voice who that someone was.
• Lost in a wonderland of sorts, I wandered the home's slanted hallways until I found the right room.
• "There he is," she shouted. "I told you he…..!" But before I could turn to look, she screamed and fell silent.
• The explosion could be seen for miles around, but only two people saw it.
• She couldn't identify the lifeforms standing across from her but she knew they weren't human. She also knew they weren't friendly.
• "Here, put on this mask," she said. "They can't know who you really are."
• It took 15 days and 11 hours to reach the mountain range on foot, but there it was in front of us, big as we knew it would be.
• "I don't know how you handle this type of thing on Earth," she spat, "but here on Mars, we don't let killers run free."

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44 Short Story Ideas

Here are lots of short story ideas that you can use as writing prompts. Any of these ideas can be used either humorously or dramatically... or you can try both. Have fun!

Story ideas - 3 elements

Choose a set of three elements and write a story that contains all three of them! Extreme challenge: combine three of the elements with one of the other short story ideas on this page.

• A stolen ring, fear of spiders, and a sinister stranger.
• A taxi, an old enemy, and Valentine's Day.
• Identical twins, a party invitation, and a locked closet.
• A broken wristwatch, peppermints, and a hug that goes too far.
• Aerobics, a secret diary, and something unpleasant under the bed.
• An ex-boyfriend, a pair of binoculars, and a good-luck charm.
• An annoying boss, a bikini, and a fake illness.
• The first day of school, a love note, and a recipe with a significant mistake.
• A horoscope, makeup, and a missing tooth.
• A campfire, a scream, and a small lie that gets bigger and bigger.

More short story ideas

Challenge: 4 stories in 4 weeks using these short story ideas. Are you up to it? Extreme challenge: Why not write a book of short stories? Choose seven or eight short story ideas to get started.

11. A babysitter is snooping around her employer's house and finds a disturbing photograph...

12. At a Chinese restaurant, your character opens his fortune cookie and reads the following message: "Your life is in danger. Say nothing to anyone. You must leave the city immediately and never return. Repeat: say nothing."...

13. Your character's boss invites her and her husband to dinner. Your character wants to make a good impression, but her husband has a tendency to drink too much and say exactly what's on his mind...

14. It's your character's first day at a new school. He or she wants to get a fresh start, develop a new identity. But in his or her homeroom, your character encounters a kid he or she knows from summer camp...

15. Your character has to tell his parents that he's getting a divorce. He knows his parents will take his wife's side, and he is right...

16. At the airport, a stranger offers your character money to carry a mysterious package onto the plane. The stranger assures your character that it's nothing illegal and points out that it has already been through the security check. Your character has serious doubts, but needs the money, and therefore agrees...

17. Your character suspects her husband is having an affair and decides to spy on him. What she discovers is not what she was expecting...

18. A man elbows your character in a crowd. After he is gone, she discovers her cell phone is too. She calls her own number, and the man answers. She explains that the cell phone has personal information on it and asks the man to send it back to her. He hangs up. Instead of going to the police, your character decides to take matters into her own hands...

19. After your character loses his job, he is home during the day. That's how he discovers that his teenage son has a small marijuana plantation behind the garage. Your character confronts his son, who, instead of acting repentant, explains to your character exactly how much money he is making from the marijuana and tries to persuade your character to join in the business...

20. At a garage sale, your character buys an antique urn which she thinks will look nice decorating her bookcase. But when she gets home, she realizes there are someone's ashes in it...

Learn to make your story a page-turner with our online course Irresistible Fiction.

Even more short story ideas

21. Your character starts receiving flowers and anonymous gifts. She doesn't know who is sending them. Her husband is suspicious, and the gifts begin to get stranger....

22. A missionary visits your character's house and attempts to convert her to his religion. Your character is trying to get rid of him just as storm warning sirens go off. Your character feels she can't send the missionary out into the storm, so she lets him come down into her basement with her. This is going to be a long storm....

23. Your character is caught shoplifting. The shop owner says that she won't call the police in exchange for a personal favor....

24. Your character is visiting his parents over a holiday. He is returning some books to the library for his mother and is startled to notice that the librarian looks exactly like him, only about thirty years older. He immediately begins to suspect that his mother had an affair at one time and the librarian is his real father...

25. Your character picks up a hitchhiker on her way home from work. The hitchhiker tries to persuade your character to leave everything and drive her across the country...

26. Your character has to sell the house where she grew up. A potential buyer comes to look at it and begins to talk about all of the changes she would make to the place. This upsets your character, who decides she wants to find a buyer who will leave everything the way it has always been....

27. A bat gets in the house. Your character's husband becomes hysterical, frightened that it might be rabid. In his panic, he ends up shutting the bat in a room with your character while he calls an exterminator from a safe place in the house. His behavior makes your character see her husband in a new way....

28. Your character changes jobs in order to have more time with his family. But his family doesn't seem interested in having him around...

29. Your character develops the idea that she can hear the voices of the dead on a certain radio channel. She decides to take advantage of this channel to find answers to some questions that are bothering her about her dead parents....

30. Your character's dream is to be a professional dancer. At a party, she mentions this dream to a stranger, who says that he has contacts in the dance world and gets her an audition for a prestigious dance troupe. One problem: your character doesn't know how to dance. Your character decides to accept the audition anyway and look for a solution....

And still more short story ideas

31. Your character thinks her boss is looking for an excuse to fire her. She decides to fight back....

32. Your character goes out for dinner on a date and becomes attracted to the waiter or waitress....

32. Your character notices that a stranger is following her. She pretends not to notice. The stranger follows her home and watches her go inside. Then when he leaves, your character turns the tables and starts to follow him....

34. A child moves into a new house and finds out that the other kids in town think it's haunted. She begins to invent ghost stories to tell at school in order to get attention. But the more stories she tells, the more frightened she becomes of the house...

35. Your elderly character escapes from the retirement home where his or her children have placed him or her....

36. Your character gets cosmetic surgery in an attempt to make her boyfriend love her more. But then she worries he only loves her for her looks....

37. Your character is a writer. But his new neighbors are so noisy that he can neither work nor sleep. He decides to take action....

38. Your character's mother-in-law comes to visit for a week, and your character suspects she is trying to poison him. He shares his suspicion with his wife, who says he's always hated her mother but this accusation is going too far. Meanwhile, your character has stomach cramps, and his mother-in-law is downstairs making breakfast again....

39. It's a freezing cold night. Your character finds a homeless family on his doorstep and invites them into his home to sleep. But in the morning, the family doesn't leave....

40. Your character has recently married a man with two teenage children. The children resent her, and she tries to avoid them altogether. Then her new husband (their father) disappears suddenly, leaving only a short good-bye note....

Story ideas: personal creative writing challenges

41. Make a list of five things you're afraid of happening to you. Then write a story in which one of them happens to your character..

42. Think of a big problem that one of your friends had to face. Then write a story in which your character battles with that problem..

43. What is one of your bad habits? Invent a character who has the bad habit, but a much worse case of it than you have. Write a story where this habit gets your character into trouble.

44. What is one of your greatest strengths? Invent a character who doesn't have this strength. Create a situation in which having this strength is very important for your character. What does your character do? Write the story.

Keep the short story ideas flowing

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• Writing Prompts

56 Dystopian Writing Prompts

Escape to a dark, disheartened world with these 56 dystopian writing prompts .

Mass poverty, cruelty and fear cover a dystopian world. From the shelter-like homes to the dark, broken streets. Life is hard. When writing a story set in a dystopian world you need to describe the harsh reality of this world in great detail. Make the reader fear this world. Think about the leaders who have control. This control might be significant, where harsh rules are made to keep the peace. Alternatively, there could be a rebellion, where leaders have no control and civilians are running havoc. See our master list of world-building questions to help develop a believable dystopian world.

A dystopian world is a world in shatters and ruins. How did it become this way? What rules and regimes do civilians follow, if any? What type of crime is most prominent in this world? These questions will help you create a realistic and powerful dystopian world for your readers.

Looking for some name ideas for your new world? Check out this world name generator . You might also find this list of Earth day writing prompts and this list of over 110 sci-fi writing prompts .

Dystopian writing prompts

To help you create a powerful story about a society in crisis, here are our 56 dystopian writing prompts:

• In the year 2,121, sea levels have risen at an extreme rate. 98% of the Earth is now underwater. The remaining 2% is made of small islands scattered across the Earth. With resources at a scarcity, the islands must work together if they are to survive.
• A virus has wiped out 95% of humanity in the future. The only survivors are machines and a group of secret underground warriors who rebelled against technology for centuries.
• In the future, a virus has caused some humans to mutate into ravenous troll-like beasts. While the remaining humans have to learn to survive in the world with these beasts.
• The life expectancy of people has dropped drastically in the future. At the age of 18, humans start to deteriorate and slowly pass away. The ruler is an arrogant 14-year-old kid.
• Scientists have combined robotics with human tissue to increase the life expectancy of humans. Apart from the vital organs, such as lungs and heart, as well as parts of the brain, humans are mostly robotic. Eventually, humans start losing control of their bodies to machines. 
• From the moment a human is born to the day they die, humans are connected to the internet. Everything they need to know about life is on a screen to which they are connected. One day, a technology outbreak completely wipes the internet. Humans are switched off. What happens next?
• Scientists have found the secret to endless happiness. They create a new pill that needs to be taken once a day to remain happy. But is this new pill all as it seems?
• To promote equality in the future, humans have to dress the same and talk the same. Any inappropriate English and slang words are banned. All around the world, everyone must speak English. If these rules are broken, the rule breaker will be sentenced to prison or even death.
• With the brand new Cloner 3000, cloning is just a button press away. Clone your cat, your dog and even yourself if you dare. What are the potential dangers of cloning yourself too many times? 
• Law and order is destroyed in the future. People are free to do whatever they want without any consequences. Until a group of vigilante heroes decide to recreate the law.
• There are two types of people, the rich and the poor. The rich have an extreme amount of money and power. And the poor are living on the streets and undergrounds, struggling to get by. A poor orphan girl is adopted by a rich family and discovers a deadly secret about how the rich become rich. 
• The excessive use of technology and social media has meant that 95% of the world suffers from extreme social phobia. The slightest human interaction results in mass panic attacks. One brave human decides to create a group where people can meet face to face regularly to help them overcome this fear.
• Crime has become such a huge issue in the future, that every home in the world has become a prison cell. Prison guards patrol the streets and provide prisoners with the essentials. One guard feeling guilty that his family is locked behind bars, tries freeing them, and soon things get out of control. 
• Oxygen is the new currency in the future. Instead of money people buy, earn and sell little canisters of oxygen. Continue this dystopian story…
• Desperate to create the perfect world, the government provides every person with a free virtual reality headset. Once worn, the person is transported to a tranquil utopia. Meanwhile, the government secretly has other plans in the real world. 
• A virus has turned every tree, plant and flower on earth into flesh-eating monsters. The only way to survive is to kill all plant life on Earth, but how will the planet survive?
• A new mobile app in the future tells people when to eat, sleep, drink and essentially live. Without the app, humans would be lost, confused and clueless. A group of cyber hackers, hack this app to gain control of all humans. 
• Being the main cause of social disorders and suicides, the internet is banned in the year 2,098. With the ban of the internet, people slowly resort to the old ways of living before the internet ever existed. Until a group of individuals find a way to bring back the net. 
• Bored of old-style video gaming, humans resort to sticking chips inside prisoners. Once a prisoner is chipped, they can be controlled like a video game character. 
• Desperate to be beautiful and young, rich people resort to stealing the actual skin and facial features of ordinary people. These extreme surgeries soon start to have a weird effect on humans.
• The Earth has been destroyed by a huge asteroid. A few humans that survived by living underground finally emerge to start a new life on Earth. 
• With the Earth’s population at an all-time high, it’s time for every human to prove their worth. After the age of 16, humans must take a test every year. If they fail the test, they are killed immediately. One young adult scores incredibly high on the test making them the ‘chosen one’. 
• Due to the lack of resources on Earth, all luxury items have been banned. People survive on basic rations of bread, rice and beans each month. No vanity items, such as jewellery or make-up are allowed. One day a group of civilians discover that luxury items do exist, but only the leaders can use them. 
• For the sake of human evolution, scientists have turned the small town of Whitefish into a huge science experiment. No one is allowed to enter or leave the city unless they are told so. Every now and then, a new stimulus is introduced, so that scientists can record the human reactions for a research paper. 
• Write a story about the aftermath of World War 5. Who was at war and who lost it? What devastation did the war create on Earth?
• In the far future, robots are responsible for creating human life. They carefully program each human when they are born to do certain tasks in life. One human realizes that they don’t need to follow the orders programmed in them and fights for freedom.
• After a huge asteroid hits Earth, the last two survivors have to find a way to recreate life. It’s a modern, dystopian Adam and Eve story.
• World leaders ban religion and talk of God in the future. A man discovers a secret church up in the mountains where people secretly believe in God. 
• Due to animal cruelty, people are no longer allowed to have animals as pets in the future. All pets live out in the wild without any human masters. One homeless teenager finds a hurt dog in the wild and takes care of it. Eventually, authorities find out about this forbidden friendship.
• A bored scientist dedicates his whole life to recreating popular monsters like vampires, werewolves and Frankenstein’s monster in real life. He finally masters the procedure and offers it to rich people at a price.
• Tired of the rat race and busy city-living, people move to the country to live a peaceful and calm life. Eventually, cities like New York City become a playground for criminals and runaways.
• When the human population on land reaches an all-time high. One man goes on a quest to create the ultimate underwater city for humans. Continue this story.
• In the year 2,121, 100% of the population becomes vegan. Eating any sort of animal product is considered cannibalism. Farm animals realize that humans will no longer eat them, so decide to plan their revenge.
• Cyber-pets become a huge thing in the future. Technology advances so much that people would rather buy robotic pets inside of real ones. This results in more stray animals on the streets. With no human love, the pets turn into savages attacking both humans and the cyber-pets.
• Humans have left Earth for a better life on Mars. One day, thousands of years later, a space astronaut from Mars lands on Earth to find…
• In the future, the majority of jobs have been taken over by robots. The only way to earn money is to take part in a series of games and challenges created by the rich for their entertainment.
• Everyone on Earth has experienced some sort of mutation in the future. This mutation has made humans powerful and troll-like. As the only pure human (with no mutations), your character’s daughter is kidnapped by a group of mutants who want to use her blood to make humans human-like again. 
• Imagine you are the last human survivor on Earth. What would you do alone on Earth?
• Describe a future where all humans are either deaf or blind.
• You and your family live underground away from all the technology. Write a series of diary entries about life underground.
• Sugar is banned completely in the future. Even fruits that taste sugary are no longer available. You are the leader of a secret underground group that creates your own homemade sugar. However since humans haven’t tasted sugar in a long time, the results become very dangerous.
• Since Earth has been destroyed, every family lives in their own spaceship homes floating around the galaxy. Every now and then you need to protect your home from space invaders, pirates and of course black holes.
• Write a story about one boy, his dog and a group of robots living on Earth as the only survivors. 
• Lying dormant deep at the core of the Earth, dragons finally awake. After a series of powerful earthquakes, they burst through the ground one by one. 
• With surveillance cameras watching everyone. A new TV show called, ‘Did They Really Do That’ airs across the nation showing the most embarrassing moments of civilians living in your area. You then go on a mission to destroy all surveillance and destroy the TV show.
• One man’s dream to swim with the dolphins is taken to extremes, as he genetically modifies a group of humans, so that they can swim underwater. Unknowingly these humans turn into monstrous mermaid-like creatures.
• Huge floating islands are created all over Earth to cope with the increase in the human population. These floating islands become new countries on the map with their own rules and way of life. 
• In the year 3,021 world peace is finally achieved. Everyone lives in perfect harmony. But how was this world peace achieved? One curious civilian makes a shocking discovery.
• Write a news article about the latest riot happening in your town in the year 2,899. Why did this riot happen? Who was involved? Where did it happen? What exactly happened before and during the riot?
• You are a lab assistant for a company that creates genetic make-up for humans. The make-up keeps humans looking young for their entire lifespan of 180 years. One day you discover something shocking…
• Cats and dogs have evolved into human-shaped beings. They now rule Earth and treat humans like pets. 
• Due to natural extinction and the threat of disease, all animals are gone in the future. You and your family have created a secret underground zoo , which holds the last remaining animals on Earth.
• Write a story from the perspective of a servant robot who wants to be the mayor of the city. 
• Scientists have learned to extract emotions from humans and contain them in jars. At a price, you can remove negative emotions like anger, sadness and fear. You can also sell and buy positive emotions like happiness. To obtain a new emotion, you simply inhale the emotion directly from the jar. In a special clinic, over 10,000 jars of emotions are contained, until one day…
• The Earth is a massive video game for advanced aliens living on a distant planet. They randomly spawn monsters whenever they feel like, and can control any human they like. One day the aliens are so bored that they create a big scary boss monster for a town of people to fight.
• In an effort to create a better world, all humans must take a personality test. If your personality does not meet the criteria set by the government, then you are sent to work camps. People at the work camps live a horrible life of abuse, torture and endless hard work for 18 hours a day. Imagine that your main character fails the personality test, and is sent to one of these camps.

For more gritty ideas, check out our guide on what is dieselpunk plus story ideas .

What do you think of these dystopian writing prompts? Which one is your favourite? Let us know in the comments below.

Marty the wizard is the master of Imagine Forest. When he's not reading a ton of books or writing some of his own tales, he loves to be surrounded by the magical creatures that live in Imagine Forest. While living in his tree house he has devoted his time to helping children around the world with their writing skills and creativity.

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72 Short Story Ideas To Supercharge Your Writing

Are you ready to write a short story , but not sure where to start? Get some new ideas today with these diverse and engaging short story ideas. 

Though I’ve broken them up into subcategories, don’t feel limited by the headings. Feel free to add some romance to a supernatural story, or frame a family tale in a historical or dystopian setting.

The key to using these short story ideas is an open, flexible mind. Use these prompts as springboards, and then follow your inspiration.

The first half of these short story ideas are general categories — Humor, Family, Power, Plot Twist — while the second half offers story ideas in specific genres — Fantasy, Horror, Dystopian, Crime, Sci-Fi, Romance .

And when you’re ready to write a novel, I have resources for you, too. This thorough guide to novel writing will give you all the tools and techniques you need to write an exquisite novel.

• Substitute teachers are sick of not being taken seriously, so they form a secret society: Subperior.
• Tell the tall tale of a high-fashion penguin who goes shopping for a tuxedo and gets into the modeling industry. Make as many crossovers between fashion and bird life as possible.
• An Elvis impersonator books a concert that is so good, people believe the real Elvis has come back to life. Next thing he knows, he is the leader of a superstitious Elvis cult.
• After a religious cult takes over the government, caffeine is outlawed. Tell the story of a brave and coffee-loving family who opens a #CaffeineSpeakeasy.
• Everyone confuses Fabio the Frog for a toad because of his warts. Explore the struggle.

2 Characters or Less

• Tammy has been in solitary confinement for 2 years and hasn’t experienced any human contact, not even letters, at least until she starts receiving mysterious notes under her door.
• Tired of working as a corporate robot, Gerald uses all of his sick days to spend a week alone hiking in the Appalachian Mountains. Everything seems fine until a blizzard hits.
• A shy web designer thinks he has found the man of his dreams online. It turns out he is being catfished by the member of a competing company who is probing him for information.
• Brenna and James work for two neighboring fast food companies and always take their lunch breaks on the sidewalk bench at the same time. Are they brave enough to pursue something more from this newfound friendship?
• A traveling make-up artist named Brenda and a purse-sized dog go on a cross-country trip to a funeral that Brenda does not want to attend. Tell the story from both Brenda’s and the dog’s point of view.

• Homeschooled Adam has just finished high school and is planning to start college close to his town when suddenly, an attack on his isolated hometown means he is drafted into the army. Even though he is away from the first time and terrified, he doesn’t just survive — he becomes a key strategist thanks to his scientific insight.
• Traveling nature photographer Lindsay happens upon a group of indigenous people who may have found the cure to cancer in a rare, local plant.
• Portuguese foreign exchange student Gabriela’s host parents aren’t as innocent as they seem. Before she knows it, these undercover mob members kidnap her as part of an international conspiracy theory. Halfway across the world and alone, how can she escape and uncover the truth?
• An American actor is cast as the star of a movie about a multi-lingual travel agent. Instead of buying Rosetta Stone, he packs his bags and decides to travel to four different countries across the world, but he doesn’t expect to fall in love with his guide.
• A boy steals a jet packet that can help him fly, and he gets adopted by a flock of birds as they migrate south for winter. Show how his relationship with them evolves until hunters try to kill the birds and shuttle him back home.

And if you’re ready to move from short story writing to bigger writing (NOVELS!), I also have a wonderful resource for you.

Read this comprehensive post on how to write your novel , including ideas on outlining, writing a series, and using the snowflake method.

Friendship/Family

• When 14-year-old Oliver learns that he is the only adopted child of his eight-person family, he feels betrayed and runs away to find his birth parents. However, after 2 months alone on the road, he runs out of money and still has not succeeded. Does he keep looking or go home?
• An unlikely friendship between the 6-year-old sons of feuding parents leads to an unexpected and tense reunion at a playdate. Is this the beginning of a reconciliation, or is it just added fuel to the fire?
• Two childhood friends stopped talking after a high school feud, until they find themselves on the same international flight five years later. What conversations unfold over the next 12 hours, and do they keep in touch, or go their separate ways forever?
• A set of 12-year-old identical twins have gotten away with switching places in class since one is good at math and the other is good at English. They switch outfits at lunch and come back to each other’s desk to find their very strict and observant mom is the substitute teacher.
• When Ali, a Muslim man, falls in love with Rachel, a Jewish girl, both of their families are appalled. What do their families do to keep them apart?

• Federal investigations into an ongoing murder investigation discover that a dangerous coalition of police officers were behind the crime.
• A famous gymnast is under fire for using performance-enhancing steroids. It turns out that she’s the one who leaked the story to detract attention from the fact that she is a drug lord selling a highly addictive and eventually deadly new substance.
• A young television actor is hailed as one of the best of his time. While reporters call him “method” for only interviewing in character, it’s because he doesn’t have an identity outside of his famous characters, three of whom he switches between due to Dissociative Identity Disorder.
• Jenna is backstage at graduation about to make her valedictorian speech when she hears a gunshot in the crowd. Write an account of the next 10 minutes from her perspective.
• An elderly couple keeps all of their money at home between the pages of their books. They’re ready to gather it all and start looking for a retirement home when a fire burns down their house and their cash.

• After only a year in office, Governor Li finds himself tempted by a corrupt organization who wants him to sabotage a public transportation project in exchange for funding his entire reelection.
• Principal Watkins wants to take the promotion to district director, but she knows the new principal will slash all of the arts programs. How does she decide between the promotion that will help her send her kids to college and saving the arts programs she loves so much?
• When General Adams finds that the opposing army will surrender if she hands herself over, does she prioritize her own safety, or sacrifice herself, even if it means torture?
• A successful lawyer knows that his client is guilty of murder, but he can easily lie and win the case, which is getting significant media coverage and would surely guarantee that he would be made a partner at his firm.
• Yvonne has worked hard to build her successful real estate company, and she loves her work. But when a competing realtor starts stealing all of her clients, she has to fight back in unusual ways to keep her business alive. 

Supernatural

• On his 16th birthday, Christopher miraculously survives a head-on car crash without a scratch. A week later when he scrapes his knee playing basketball, it heals within minutes. Where did this power come from, and what can he do with it?
• The Elite Education Society, or EES, is giving out pills to gifted students that give them the power to stay awake for 48 hours and record everything they see, hear, and feel in their minds as if in a notebook. But little do they know, the side effects that appear two weeks later will cause a disaster.
• 63-year-old Emerald is the only member of her family without a superpower. However, when the local police force who relies on superhero power fails to catch a murderer, her down-to-earth perspective ends up being the key to solving the crime.
• After his concussion, Jamal Winston finds he has no control over recurring and vivid dream of his accident. However, while awake, he is able to project images in his mind into the room and change the world around him. Too bad the doctors think it is all in his head, and continuously sedate him. Can he fight the power of a medically induced coma?
• What happens when technology gives animals the power to speak?

• Rachel, a successful defense attorney who was just made a partner at her firm, is working on one of the biggest murder cases in Boston’s history. When she realizes she’s developing feelings for the prosecutor, it’s too late to back out. What’s more important: stay true to her work values, or take a chance at love?
• Jordan’s just a lonely college guy swiping through Tinder when he finds his favorite actress, Geena Davis, has liked him back. But when they meet up, he realizes they have no connection. Rather, it’s her assistant who catches his eye.
• When Alexandra and Amber’s yearlong secret relationship is discovered, they’re expelled from their all-girls high school and forced to attend separate public schools. How to they keep their love alive under the watchful eyes of their judgmental community?
• Two painters have been married for 5 years. How does their relationship change when one of them suddenly goes blind?
• This short love story between an asexual boy and girl will contain three distinct scenes: a cute meeting, a first date, and the first time the two say “I love you.” The challenge is to build romantic tension without any sexual tension whatsoever.

• When the long-running secret order of magicians is discovered, it’s time to fight. But what’s stronger: ancient magic, or advanced, current technology?
• The Pineshore National Forest is home to more than just evergreen trees. It is a haven for werewolves, and though they only come out at night, the fleas that cling to their skin crawl into the lake and transmit the werewolf virus through the town’s water supply — the only people it doesn’t affect are those under 14.
• Vampires and Robots that run on human blood fight over the limited human blood supply in an epic war of the supernatural versus the machines.
• A seemingly ordinary horse is visited by a mystical presence that promises to make her a unicorn, but she must face the dangers of escaping her stable if she wants access to this new and mysterious world.

• A spaceship that can surpass the speed of light allows some humans to escape our solar system with its dying sun. How will humanity decide who gets to be a passenger?
• A special computer virus is engineered by a rogue Apple employee to control human desires and impulses.
• A pet store with an overflow of cats sells them at a very low price. However, what seemed to be normal kittens were actually the offspring of an alien that can body jump from human host to human host, causing each of their hosts to commit suicide after 24 hours.
• A live TV special about the White House has a microphone malfunction that ends up broadcasting a top-secret meeting about an impending alien invasion to the whole nation.
• Scientists develop a new brain scanning device that can read thoughts. Who should have access to this technology? Before they have time to decide, someone has hacked into their computer system and stolen it.

• It’s Halloween, and ghost hunting teenagers wander into an infamous haunted house near a local graveyard, only to find that it’s not ghosts they need to fear, but a poisonous gas that warps their memories and puts them at the hands of the delusional and twisted man who lives upstairs.
• When a disease similar to chicken pox breaks out in a local preschool, it leads to a quarantine. Though it seems harmless at first, it turns out that its symptoms include violent outbreaks that cause the children to break loose and terrorize the town.
• What seems like an ordinary meditation seminar turns out to be the recruiting ground for an extremist cult that hypnotizes members to commit acts of violence. No one is immune, except Margaret Bradshaw.
• Nothing can wake Keith up from his night terrors, which cause him to attack anyone who comes near him, as he cannot distinguish those he loves from the villains he sees in his head.
• JJ has to scuba dive 300 feet down through a genetically modified shark breeding ground in order to rescue his girlfriend in a broken submersible, but a horrifying surprise awaits him in the depths.

Crime (Mystery/Revenge)

• After he discovers another man’s clothes tucked in the back of his girlfriend’s closet, Brad plans a fishing trip to get her far away for the weekend and teach her a lesson.
• The Smithsonian Slasher has caused panic throughout DC. With a new victim every other day within 500 feet of one of the museums, he must have a motive and a method, but how are the police to find him when he has destroyed all of the cameras and keeps escaping?
• A shoplifting dare turns into a case of mistaken identity, and next thing she knows, college junior Amanda is on trial for murder. 
• Officer Turner is three years sober and dedicated to getting his life back on track. That is, until he is called to the scene of what he thought was a theft, but turns out to be a high-profile drug bust. Can he suppress his urges around the mountains of cocaine, especially since he is in charge of collecting evidence?
• What happens when a set of identical twin men commit countless murders that they plan together, but continuously use each other as an alibi?

Dystopian/Futuristic

• In 2150, Aliya becomes pregnant with twins and, in an overpopulated country with an authoritarian government, has to make a choice of which one to keep and which to kill when they are born. Instead, she sets out to escape across the border with her husband.
• When NASA scientist Jose discovers that there is an impending alien attack that is sure to destroy Earth within the month, he becomes the reluctant leader of an uprising and the coordinator of an international planet evacuation.
• When California breaks off of North America and declares independence, it sparks the second US Civil War.
• It turns out the iPhone 26 has been hacked and can be remotely detonated. Key political leaders across the globe are assassinated on the same morning, and the world descends into chaos.

• 20-pound dachshund Kevin stands out among his border collie siblings and is bullied for being different. He is set out to prove that not only can he herd sheep, but befriend them as equals.
• 8-year-old Tanner has been working hard all year to keep his grades up so that he can participate in the annual Teacher-For-A-Day extravaganza.
• What happens when a normal girl discovers a teleportation device in the park across from her house that only she knows how to use?
• An elementary-aged child has a unique talent for understanding animals, so much so that they end up helping out trainers, veterinarians, and wildlife researchers. Work in some animal facts!

If you’re writing a children’s book, then read my post, “ 12 Steps to Writing a Children’s Book .”

• It’s 1955. After Rosa Parks is arrested for sitting in the white section of the bus, a group of Civil Rights Activists of all races come together to start a nonprofit bus business.
• Write a first-person narrative of an Ancient Roman Colosseum showdown between a criminal and a lion.
• World War II is brewing, and Brian wants nothing more than to fight for the Allies, but to do so, he’ll have to make sure no one finds out that he was assigned female at birth.
• Who was Abraham Lincoln without his famous top hat? Write an account of its transformations through the years, paralleling its life with that of the 16th US President.
• It’s love at first sight for a lucky young couple as soon as the Berlin Wall crashes to the ground, but in the days that follow, their parents aren’t so excited.

For advice on writing a historical novel, you should definitely check out 7 Steps to Writing Historical Fiction .

I hope these short story ideas have generated some good stories for you! Leave a note in the comments if a particular short story writing prompt worked well for you.

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250 comments

Can I use one of these fantastic ideas in my book? Do I need to credit your or something?

No need for credit! Go for it.

Thank you! I love writing but always run out of ideas. This was really helpful, Bookfox!

Cam I use this for animation and post it on youtube

These are wondeful ideas but I still dont know what to write for the rest of it

so i dont have to give any credit to you if i use one of youre ideas

Thanks for the story ideas! I started an introduction to one of the ideas, and I think it’s great! Again, thanks for all the ideas! Even though it’s not required, I’m putting you in the credits.

BOOKFOX, I want to use these for a story of mine is it okay or?

Yes, it’s okay. Use away!

Hi Book fox, I’m writing a essay and I want to use the Friendship Feud one. May I use it and do I have to credit you? Thx!

Go for it. No credit necessary.

These are very interesting and nice ideas

heyy! thank you so damn much for these ideas, you have no idea how much helpful these are. thank you so much. stay blessed

Could you please assist me, I’m writing a story about twin high school girls, but I’m out of ideas

this ideas are terriable

You misspelled two words out of four.

The ideas are brilliant.

You misspelled these and terrible.

why would you use them anyway if you can’t write a four word sentence?

Do you have better ideas then?

This comment says a lot more about you than it does the ideas.

If you really can’t turn any of these ideas into a compelling story you may want to take a little time to look at your own shortcomings and how you might address them, instead of attacking the people around you.

Better than a lot I have seen.

i know i’m late but that was the best roast i’ve ever seen

Maybe try looking at your own grammar before criticizing a perfectly good list of ideas for stories. You can’t even write a simple sentence, who are you to call this “terriable?”

i know right i did not find this helpful at all. At least i found someone to agree with me. thank you AARON. I love you for that <3

JULIANA, just because you don’t like them doesn’t mean they’re bad.

Can you do better?

Learn how to write bro

woah this got a little verbally violent for a story writing ideas page

honestly, some of them are great, i could never have thought of these, thank you sm!

I love these! Thank you!

I have to write a children’s book about cells so I’m trying to get inspiration. This is helping so thanks!

dang bookfox savage 😀 I wish I found out about this earlier dang I’m late

These prompts are amazing, they really helped me a lot! I’m a writer, I write all sorts of different genres like Romance, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror, Crime and Murder +more, and I really liked the Adventure, Twist, and Romance prompts, which I will likely write a story or a book off of. Again, thank you so much I love these! <3

These are great ideas and I thank you for sharing.

OMG this is the best thing i’ve ever seen. Thank you for this!!

thx for this. really helpful

omg i love the identical twin story, but do you think it will be appropriate for my school short story

Depends on what level of school you’re at! But as a former teacher, I always loved whatever stories my students came up with, as long as it was a good story.

What section is it in?

Crime, Mystery/Revenge

Wonderful stories…

Did you write the story of the identical twins. Wold you like to share your perspective.

omg i love that one as well

Can I use the one with Rosa Parks? I would love to give it a try for short story.

im triggered.

Why…?

Omg thank you so much this is amazing!

— Janelle Lien

JANELLE LIEN

aka jelly_janelley_lien

I can’t stop writing the story with the 14 year old boy and how he is the adopted one out of eight family members it’s so awesome!!!

I want to write a novel and these are just so inspiring it might just happen!!!!

Bookfox can I change names/ideas a little to make it my own

Of course! Change it in whatever ways you want to.

Amazing Website. I love the ideas. I don’t know how on earth you managed to think of all these ideas because it takes me hours to think of just a simple plot. Thanks a lot. This really helped me. 🙂

I’m actually writing a book

Wow really? I am too, I will soon publish it!!!!

did you publish it yet?

Bookfox,I’m writing a short story for school – 500 words so do you think it’s OK to cut the description in the introduction because if I use description it goes past my limit. Any ideas for what to do?

Bookfox, this is pretty amazing. I’m writing a story right now, and I’m almost finished. I promise that I’m going to give you credit for these *amazing* story ideas. I wouldn’t have done it without you, or the Random Name Generator…

Hey, Bookfox. I positively love these story ideas. I’m going to write a story off of one of these ideas, but I’m going to put a small twist to it. Is that okay and do I have to give you credit?

No credit necessary! Have fun with the story!

I love how diverse this is, most of these types of prompt lists have no mention of LGBT+ people whatsoever, this is so great!

Don’t you have anything better to do then complain? If it bothers you so much then replace the sexuality of the characters with ones you want. It’s just prompts, you don’t have to stick to the script.

Huh? She didn’t complain, she was saying something complimentary….

Why, what’s wrong with LGBT?

she was complementing them for including lgbt?

Nothing. Read her comment and fully understand what she was saying before jumping to conclusions. She was happy the LGBT community was integrated into the post.

What about Black Civil Rights? Sometimes LGBT+ members think their situation is the most important. Don’t get me wrong I think we shouldn’t even be fighting for human rights but we have to. But if you want to stand up for what’s right, stand up for the Civil Rights too.

Wow, I love the way that you’ve presented ideas that spur creativity, and are open to any kind of ending and interpretation. I’m thinking about building off either the idea of Tammy in solitary confinement, or the idea of quarantined children that have a disease like chicken pox, that causes violent outbreaks. Thank you!!

I’m almost done with my story! I’m writing it on Google Docs, and the pages are much longer than real pages. It’s 50 pages, and if any of you have Google Docs or Google Drive in general, can you tell me how much that is? Thanks.

Regards, John

Do you think that I can do a story about a guy who can’t die and seen everyone he loved died? I wanted to see what somebody thinks about that.

Of course! That would be awesome!

Bro this comment is exactly one year old.

And that comment is almost one year old

And that comment is just over one year old

i love these story ideas THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU HAVE A GREAT MIND I LOVE THEM SO MUCH thank you for inspiring me

This was…… amazing!!!

I love this website! It’s so helpful and great. Just wondering can I please use the graduation, gunshots one? I really like that one. Thanks

Absolutely!

How do you get such amazing ideas? I get ideas too but very VERY slowly. AND, I don’t know whether I should write the story as a novel or a short story. Also, Love you for such amazing ideas; Even more so for sharing them! Hats off

These stories ideas are great! I will definitely use them. Does any credit need to go to book fox?

No, no credit necessary. Enjoy!

So I can use one of these and not give you credit?!

I LOVED THE IDEA ABOUT THE TRUTH OR DARE MISTAKE I HAVE 13 PARTS TO IT

I would love to hear it.

With the portal in the park,what should i call it?

Here’s a story idea… A girl gets raped at 16 and has a baby boy named Ryan. She gets married later to a man that she thinks works at an office building but he really works as a secret agent, saving people everyday. The woman then gets pregnant with twin girls. Later she gets kidnapped by someone trying to get revenge at her husband. Her husband then gets the message at the work place and is surprised that it’s his wife. He then goes on a mission to find his wife.

All that ‘she gets pregnant’ is just unneeded in the main story. She doesn’t even have to get raped, as it has no meaning to the story whatsoever. Make her husband a normal guy who then goes to save his wife after she gets kidnapped by the man she was raped by as he’s afraid of being convicted.

It is the best story idea thingamibob ever

Book Fox is best

So I was wondering if it was okay that I altered a few story ideas to make my own. If it isn’t I can always use the ones written down, which are amazing, by the way. Thank you for the help! I’ll be booked all Summer with writing now!

Completely fine! Alter away.

I would just like to say I used the Graduation/gunfire prompt in a school contest and the story I wrote was selected as the top story written throughout the school. This is my favorite list for writing and one I continually return to. Thanks for making it!

I use your ideas all of the time they are so inspiring. You should start up a youtube channel telling stories u have written. 🙂

I wrote a couple of private-eye e-book novels: “Midnight Whiskey” and “Angel Eyes” that nobody is reading, so I don’t know if they are any good or not. Anyway, no more private-eye novels from me. Now I want to try humor but need some ideas to get started. You provided me with nine suggestions to consider. Thanks much, J. G. Curtiss

Hi I’m doing a stop motion for my project at school and I was wondering if it would be ok if I used one of your ideas and if you wanted me to credit you or something?

No, you don’t have to credit. Good luck with the project!

Ok thank you

These are all fantastic story ideas, however the one about the dachshund seems to be very similar to the plot of Babe the Sheep Pig?

“A successful lawyer knows that his client is guilty of murder, but he can easily lie and win the case, which is getting significant media coverage and would surely guarantee that he would be made a partner at his firm”

Change murder to child molestation, and this is the basic plot of ‘The Devil’s Advocate’ (Keanu Reeves/Al Pacino film).

Hey, do you want to write a book together?

Thank you, but I’m not much of an author. I dabble, but a book? No, I’m not even close to being in that league.

These are some absolutely brilliant ideas! Thank you so much for sharing them, they definitely got the creative juices flowing!

Wow! These are brilliant ideas.

i love these so much!

Thanks so much! Love it!

Wow these ideas are fantastic but I am a teenager (13) and well can I write

Do you have any internships available? I am a Journalism major, but I enjoy writing short stories for fun. I haven’t written a short story in a while but I am trying to start back up again. I would love to be your intern if you would give me a chance. Thank you

Not any internships available right now, sorry. But keep writing!

Wow. The ideas are fantastic! Thank you so much! I love the one about identical twins. Most of my story ideas come from other books I’ve read, then I combine different books. Is that cheating?

Hi bookfox, what would the conflict and antagonist be for the one about the kid who has healing powers? Thanks!

Conflict could be that there’s an unpleasant side effect and he must decide whether or not to seek help and risk losing his powers. Alternate possiblility: someone finds out about his powers and he becomes a human science experiment. Hope this helps!

Thank you book fox love the ideas

These are really good and great for a short story

I REALLY like the idea about the substitute teachers. You are the MOST AWESOME person ever. Thanks BOOKFOX ! Does this count as plagiarism if I use the idea because it didn’t come from me?

No, it’s not plagiarism. Enjoy!

This is really creative and helpful!!! :)) I want to use the identical twin one. But I love sci-fi too and those prompts are really good ones. Thank you so much for all these ideas!

This is by far the best list of writing prompts I have found online; thank you so much!

Hey is it ok if i use one of ur really good syories in this creative story tests thing or is that plagerisim 9 (Like if its plagerisim ill change it a bit)

Sure, go right ahead.

Thank you so much!! You just helped me with ideas for the short story for homework!! (He said we could look up ideas and we don’t have to come up with it ourselves)

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I love your story ideas. I want to give you story credentials. Do you want it?

If you’d like to, sure!

Can I use the one with the hearing dogs , and what should It be called?

Yes, you can! And name it whatever you want to.

Thank you so much bookfox your the best you should write a book, about book ideas Marry Christmas

You are amazingly talented at writing books thanks

you good at this thing

Desperately been looking for inspiration these days. Used to come so much quicker- story after story! But now that I’m determined to write a full length novel, my inspiration just goes away. I think I’m a bit intimidated by the sheer work a book is, so I just shut down, but I’m determined! Now I just have to pick the perfect idea.

So helpful! I was thinking how to spend my winter holidays, and as I enjoy writing, I thought I would write 1 short story every day. If I would have thought of a good idea on my own I would have been surprised. These are great ideas. I came across this website today and I’ve written a story using one of these guidelines. Thank you once again.

At 82 years young my own ideas are few and far between. I’ve just joined a small writing group in my small town in NZ and am inspired by your great ideas. My fingers are itching to get going, just have to get past Christmas with all the Grandies. Merry Christmas to you all.

these stories are great thanks so much

these are amazing i am definitely using one of these in my short story!!! do i need to credit you?

No need! Please enjoy.

i want to use so many, im a huge fan of writing, and i may enter one in my school short story contest. do i need to give you credit???

You offer such a variety of diverse prompts! It’s not often that someone gets to see such unflinching representation of LGBTQ and other marginalized people in literature. Thank you!

Hi! I am coming up with tis really cool story about a fairy, but now I’m stuck, any ideas?

Some ideas: 1.) Murder a character 2.) Have one go missing 3.) Injure your main charater (trip, fall, get stabbed, ect) 4.) Take a look at some dialog prompts and work them into the scene 5.) PLOT TWIST

Do you have any other suggestions for horror?

A scream echos across the street. One by one, the houses go dark. Mine is next.

Thanks 4 the feedback!

and I’m going to do a short story semester in ELA, mind if I use one of the short story ideas for my writing?

Omg, I love these! Thank you so much! How do you even come up with all of these ideas???

How awesome is this?! I love this idea page so much. I’m in elementary school, so do you think the one about Brenda and her dog would be good for my writing class? We are doing our own stories; every theme!

hi just wondering – like the idea of the identical twins murder story but can you explain how they use each other as an alibi? i dont really understand that part of the prompt. thanks

I’ve got to write a 5-600 worder for my beginners creative writing class by tomorrow afternoon. I was stuck so I started trawling sites for prompts. Your’s is the best I’ve found yet. I usually write dark and heavy stuff but I wanted to try humor for a change. I’m going to go with the Elvis one; I love it! Thought I might work as many Elvis song titles into the narrative that I can. Thankyou, you’ve turned a frustrating day into fun.

Here are ideas that i want to see in a novel: A young boy who becomes the leader of the residence, fighting zombies. The story tells how he grows up and how every event makes him stronger.

An event that makes almost every person gain a power to manipulate pacific things. The story is told by a school boy who can manipulate everything. He tackles through difficult problems as growing into a teenager. Many people relly on him for protection but he doesnt know how to use his ability.

A knew idea for mass production of electricity causes all the power in the world to run out. Nothing can turn it back on. The story tells of a war between the president and ordinary people. The story is post apocolyptic. The moon blows up, global warming occurs, cyclones occur almost everywhere. Everywhere is a dead zone. The story is of a normal person who falls inlove with the leader of the resistance. In the end, the leader betrays them. Many more events occur but it is up to you to find out.

A fantasy story where most mythical creatures become extinct. The story is of a basted whos father was the king. After the king dies, his half brother becomes king. He was raised as a slave. He tries to excape but is captured and tortured. He manages to excape under great sacrifice. He becomes friends with the rest of the mythical creatures. Creates an army and manages to become a king. After long effort he manages to overcome his brother.

A story where a boys spy father dies. After the boy grows into a man he becomes a spy too. He is tasked with a small enemy but he finds out that it can dedtroy the world. The villian kills almost everyone he knows. He finds another spy service and joins them. He manages to……………..(insert your thoughts)

cool ideas!

wow great ideas!

hey if i used these ideas would it be plagiarism???????

No. Use away.

These are so inspiring!!!! I am writing a book on Wattpad for a reward and I want to use the plot of the one with DID, can I borrow it??

I’m stuck on a story any tips?

I love the one with the overflow of alien cats, but is it ok if I change the part about commiting suicide?

Sure, change away!

what type of story is appropriate for 4th grade

Great idea’s thanks and can i use some of these idea’s for my story???

This is by far one of the best short stories website I have come across! I’m thinking about doing the Caffeine Speakeasy one, although can you give me some tips o how to build on the plot? 🙂 Thanks.

that was cool but its not helping

Can I use one of the topics for my short story? If I can do I have to use credits or something like that?

hi I like sci-fi stories and and thigs to do with superheros as I am a big marvel fan. However I am not sure which of your supernatural ideas I like best please could you give me a suggestion of which one to do. thank you

I think the one with Emerald would be a good pick

(If you don’t like her age, I’m sure you will be able to change it!)

I love this I really love writing but am not very good but these are amazing i’d love for my teacher and classmate to see them cause my teacher loves using story starters like this thank you so much for the inspiring ideas

This is such a great list of short story ideas! I love how this was put together, categorized and included the LGBT+ community. This personally helped me a lot with my writer’s block. Thank you!

WOW! Thank u so much BOOKFOX! Can I take one or two storylines and mix them together to make one story?? Do I have to give you some credits???

Thank you so much for these great ideas! I am currently trying to write a short story about a girl who’s 18th birthday is on the 31st December 1999. Your suggestions really helped me realise that it was getting boring and that I had not researched at all!!

So, do we have to give credit because i like these ideas. I’m already writing two books right now and im only 12.

Lol I write lots of books too!! 🙂

Any writing tips I’ve been stuck on a story and I don’t know if I should give up or keep going.

Try coming up with the backstory before you write your outline. Once you have the backstory down, the outline tends to just piece itself together. Also, focus on how the external events push the internal conflict of the character. External conflicts are boring and flat if you don’t connect them to the internal conflict.

This was cool, but didn’t really help.

Thank you so much for creating this site! I’m ALWAYS running out of good ideas for story writing! I love all of the different catagories that you sorted these story ideas into! It made it so much easier to find what I was looking for!

Hi. Can I use one of your ideas? They are all equally creative and non-cliché.

I am in middle school, and I needed ideas for a book. I love writing but I can never figure out what to write about. Thank you for all these ideas!

They are just mind blowing

they are great ideas, but alot of them seem better for a longer story. either way, i love writing, and these are great ideas. thank you!

the ideas are so great, i have no clue which ones to chose however i am still am learning about writing so if anyone ca give me advice on writing that would be great, thank you.

thank you so much this has helped me write a terrifying story and it was easy thanks to you

I need like a full story idea with chapters and the genre is adventure can someone help me

Thx for the ideas

I think these ideas are genius, I’m Competing in the young writers award writing competition and I’m afraid if I use these ideas, I’ll get caught and say I was “copying” a book that has already been made? Do you think I will??

These ideas are good! Can I use one for my short story!Please?

I want to use one of these prompts for a short story competition at school. Can I do this or is it considered ‘copying’?

Go for it! Your story will be very original.

I want to write a short story and the word limit is 1000 words can you please give me some more ideas

This is great!

List like this are good to get the mind flowing. The real value is reading an idea and thinking “Not bad… you know, a better idea is…”

My problem is everything I write winds up as porn. The guy hiking into the blizzard will meet an ice nymph on my head.

It’s good porn, but still…

I’m really interested in a story idea for a Wattpad story I would like to write. Can I use it? and If I can do I need to credit you or anything?

Please use it. No credit necessary.

These are all great ideas but I still don’t know what to write!

Sir, All are good concpet. I like to take one from the list. Can I use it…?

Can you post more historical fiction prompts?

Hi, have you checked out my historical fiction prompts?

https://thejohnfox.com/2016/06/historical-fiction-writing-prompts-and-ideas/

I absolutely LOVE those ideas. They are sensational, epic, insane, perfect. But whenever I try to write something under a specific catergory, I can’t seem to stick to one idea and I think I trail off a lot.

Great Post.!!!! Thanks for sharing this post with us it was really very informative and quite helpful for my small research. Thanks again.

Great ideas thank you! Do you have any ideas on animals? I would like to do a short using horses or dogs and am looking for more ideas. All ideas welcome!

These ideas were wonderful, but I have a problem. I’m having writer’s block, and even looking at short story ideas isn’t helping. Do you have any tips?

Sign up for my email list and you’ll get a free copy of my PDF on how to defeat writer’s block.

I’m meant to write a 500-word story for school, which has to happen over the period of 1 day and can’t be fantasy or even a bit fictional. I have no idea what to do. Help!

hey thanks you help with a project i have at school and i think im gonna get an A+

I have a story idea of my own that any of you could try! When the main character, Emily, is diagnosed with schizophrenia at 15, her whole world changes. Not only does she hear and see people no one else can see, but she is suddenly caught up in a wild adventure that may end up with her dead.

These stories are amazing! Could I use one or two of them for a new story?

These are great thank you so much, helped with my block!

These are so great there’s so many ideas I have for some of them. Definitely great for inspiration!

Do You have an Post apocalyptic short story ideas, I am completely stuck.

TO ANY AUTHORS: Please write stories appropriate for young teens, no grisly murders or anything that my Mom would balk at.

I go to the library and can’t find any books that interest me and get past my parents’ once-over.

These ideas just saved me, I wanted to submit a short story, for a contest, and the deadline is in 9 days!

I love this website! This is so helpful. I have already figured out 100 stories in my head to write.

Im doing an Ext Eng 2 course in year 12 at the moment, and i need to find original content that would not bore the HSC markers. As much as these ideas intrigued me, would it intrigue the HSC markers, or are these stories on the touchline of being too cliche and predictable?

Hi thank you for sharing to write short story ideas You know I’m a beginner in writing a story as before I wrote many blog posts for clients now start for short story writing.

Thanks again Michel Joachim

Great collection of ideas! The horror and fantasy sections are my favorites.

I’ve also found that art is also a great source of story ideas. If I look at a piece of art and ask myself “What are these people talking about? How did they get here? What will they do next?”, my mind starts filling with ideas for possible stories.

As an actor who uses a similar acting technique to the one in the dissociative identity disorder idea, I’d be careful portraying that. It’s not as simple as it sounds, and of course, it’s always important to research disorders before writing them.

I’m currently trying to write a story and I’m stuck, any ideas?

These are amazing ideas, and I’ve been in love with writing since I was in 2nd grade. However, I’m having a hard time building off of them. Not that they’re bad ideas, I’m just having a hard time writing recently and I really want to write a story. The last time I wrote a story was at the beginning of 8th grade this year. Any tips for being able to kick off a good story when you have a lot on your mind?

maybe pick the best stories in mind idk i am not a writer

I love these ideas they really helpful, I always needed a kick start for writing and this really helped

Help! I have no clue on what to write about, I like to write about fun stuff like thriller and adventure but to push me even further I would like to do some romance novels. Any ideas?

The first short story in the ‘romance’ section could be appropriate to what you are looking for. You could add in some more thriller action as that story is really for romance. Hope that helped! HAPPY WRITING 🙂

I loved this so many cool ideas and there very mysterious so you can always think of things.

Wow!! Thank you SO SO SOOOOO much!! I loved the ones about twins, like many other people also said. Here’s a fun fact you’ll probably find really interesting about me that’ll make you say “No way. REALLY?” Well, I’m actually a twin who’s 12, so the idea about 12 year old twins switching classes for each other would be PERFECT. Thank you again, this page was lifesaving!!

Hey BookFox, I was wondering if I could use one of the mentioned ideas. If so would you like me to write a citation for you?

Just go ahead and use it.

I want a story and the romance section is a great idea thank you BookFox

I used the one about a girl finding a teleportation device outside. This page saved my life. Thank you so much.

Help can you please teach me how to write story about 15/9

I love to make stories, but I can’t stay in one story. I get bored easily and I have trouble staying on one topic. I am a HUGE fan of horror. Are there any prompts you can give me?

Those that say these are bad ideas have to think about their own imagination with it! I was able to come up with multiple spin offs from these, thanks to you of course! Absolutely love them. Were some of them not exactly in my interests? Yes, but no ones going to love everything 100%. And even with them not being in my interests, I can still see them being turned into great story ideas with the right person.

Hey, I know I might have come a little late but…. I absolutely love your ideas! If it is not asking a lot do can you guys upload a few more story ideas, just for the reason that I have used almost every one of them in my writing!! Thank you,

Hi I was wondering if this is a good start to a book or does it need a lot of work cause I need all the help I can get so … here is what I got so far

Hi my name is Kaylon Klinglesmith I am about to turn 18. I am working as a maid for this cute, rich, but shy college guy named Blake. So the way I met him is kind of funny. It started when I was walking to college. I am living by the collage I ran into while I was looking for an important green math book. I fell on the ground and by the time I was getting up a boy with blue hair and blue eyes was saying something but I could not understand It sounded like blue bla bla blue ha ah ht. See I don’t understand anything but then I finally came to my senses and he was talking Korean. I am so lucky I studied Korean. He was actually saying “ Hey what do you think you are doing… you got my shoe dirty.” I was so busy trying to understand what he was saying I did not look at him until he said meanly “hey you look at me!” so I looked at him. He said sarcastically “ Do you understand me or do I need someone to translate for me” I said sadly “ um I am so so sorry about your shoe” He smiled and said with joy “what is your name“ I was so nervous sooo I sounded like “Me my um Kaylon Klinglesmith what is your name?” He said he would not tell me until I do something for him so I asked what he wanted. He said “I need someone to be my maid” I said “me or do you want me to find someone for you?” He said, “I want you to do it for my friend. Oh and my name is Byeong-ho” Which means bright and great in Korean. “Well bye Ohh and my friend should be here any minute ” He said with a smile

So …. I finally found my book and I bet 100$ you don’t know where it is … you’re not getting 100$ but it was in another book. Anyways I was sitting on a bench thinking that we have no school today !!!!!!!!! That was me being mad at my self for going out of my house now I am a maid

These are SO the best ideas I have seen! All others pale beside them. They just get you thinking and that’s what I want. Thank you!

I love to write stories. Your ideas are amazing! I’m starting a new grade and want to write fresh stories. Could I use some ideas? I would definitely mention you in credits.

Btw you have really creative ideas! Have you written any books? I would totally read them.

THESE PROMPTS ARE AMAZING THANK YOU ✨ Also, are there any restrictions on changing them slightly?

If I use any of these, do I have to credit you ? really like the Oliver one, btw.

Nope, just go for it!

These are really good, but not the scary ones (I don’t like scary things). I might use one of these ideas in the play I’m writing, thank you BookFox!

This is my first adventure. After being retired for a few years, I was bored and decided to return to work on a seasonal position with a well-known company. Work was good until COVID-19 entered the world and everything changed. My job closed its doors forever; so now here I am unemployed at an age that employment is hard to find unless you are well experienced in what may be offered. This is when writing came to mind. I’m glad that Google helped me to find this online writing course. I think it’s great! Perhaps from the lessons explored and learned I will be able to actually have my first short story published. I look forward to this with great anticipation.

Salve! As one author to another, love this! Perfect ideas for my story. I am writing a mafia story and I think I shall use the mistake equals unhappiness. I appreciate the ideas! Vale!

Hey Bookfox, love all of these ideas! out of curiosity, could any of them be used for a book?

Sure, use away!

BOOKFOX i have to thank you for giving me such wonderful ideas #3 childrens was very helpful for my writing assignment.

this is my book that I made using #3 childrens

(made with modified writing prompt)

4 year old Bean the corgi is your average stray dog. He is known all around town as the dream dog. Every day Bean must put up with people trying to adopt him but bean turns them all down. Here is Beans story…

It was a bright and warm day in the park where we see BEan the dog strolling around sniffing things when Beans sees a shiny thing on the ground it looked like a round beetle made of clay and silicon. So he watched it for 7 minutes when he saw a girl walking towards the beetle bean thought that the girl was going to take it so bean and the girl simultaneously pounced onto the beetle. The beetle split in half right as they pounced but the beetle the girl landed on was smaller than the one Bean captured. Bean and the girl(Amanda) were stunned when right before their eyes the beetles started crawling into their stomach, Strangely enough, it didnt hurt. The reason for this was that bean and Amanda’s brain had never felt this feeling of crawling beetle made of silicon before so it put up a weak tingle instead of pain.

A week later Bean discovered that whenever he thought hard enough he could do any of the following things: cut off gravity for any one thing, Change the density of himself and anything metal and could use telepathy or swim through anything like it was water. But as we all know bean is a dog so he would not be using these powers for being a superhero or wooing a girl as he does not care because he is a dog. So Bean started using his telepathy to play fetch with himself and make the ball very light so it would go farther. Sometimes he would just make himself light so he could bound around happily.

Amanda was very confused when a week later she was able to teleport so the first thing she did was see how far she could go and she realized that as long as she could see where she would be able to go there so she decided to see if the corgi also got powers.

3 months later beans unique abilities were discovered by nasa and area 51 and they sent a soldier team after him armed with tranquilizers and dog treats that would sedate him if he ate them.

Bean was minding his own business when he felt a spark go through him suddenly he felt…sophisticated And so he went outside to play fetch and calm his mind when suddenly it felt unnecessary and tiring. A couple of minutes later he was craving earl gray tea 2 cream 1 sugar and half sweetener. When there was a creaking noise and Suddenly 5 humans flooded in at the door all wielding dog treats now even though bean was more sophisticated he still loved treats and so when the humans started waving the treats bean went up without hesitation and started inhaling as many as he could.

He woke up in a white room with many people in white coats staring at him. Bean was confused but he did not really care where he was because the coat – people smelled nice and friendly when to his surprise one of the people started talking and to beans surprise: he could actually understand them! So once the conversation was over bean said: “hello my good sirs wonderful day out isn’t it? But I am feeling like I could fancy some caviar and tea. Do any of you good chaps know where I could find some?“ All of the people were stunned when one said “did that dog just speak?” then another person said “and he spoke like a fancy person!”.

Eventually Bean introduced himself and the scientist also did and explained why they wanted him there they said “Bean we brought you here because of your ability to manipulate gravity so we thought well gravity prevents us from launching our massive ships off of earth so you could cut off gravity for our ship and we could launch it into space”. Bean suddenly spoke something that would change history forever. “Well my good chaps if you are scientists then you would know that gravity transcends space and time so i could theoretically send a message back in time and advance humanity massively if i sent a message back in time that would contain all of our research of this era and humanity would be ahead of its normal schedule”. “He’s a genius!” They all chorused. When one of the people said: “well couldn’t he use his telepathy to move our solar system to a different place? Or push a black hole away? Or defend earth from meteors?” The answer is yes, said bean. In addition to all my other unique abilities i have the ability to zoom in with my eyes so i can tell you that i have already tried those things with no advancements for anyone or anything.

Amanda had managed to track bean all the way to a mysterious shack she guessed that this was beans house but when she went in she saw walls that looked as if they were bleached when she looked harder she saw around 6 people that looked like scientists and a fancy voice from the middle of the group she decided to teleport into the middle of the circle so she did using her tele-balls which is a tiny camera she throws and if it land somewhere she cant see she lokes through the camera and can teleport there so thats what she did and once she was in the middle of the circle she saw a dog with an ornate collar eating caviar and drinking tea. The collar showed that the dogs name was bean and that this was the dog she was looking for. Suddenly the scientists realized that someone had just teleported into their circle and very very surprised so they sat amanda down and started asking questions but she answered nothing and suddenly: bean spoke, Chaps my far-sight detects an asteroid the size of the moon hurtling towards us we must do something!.

Now normally this would be no problem because bean could just slap it away with his telekinesis but this one was much too big for that so the scientists made a chamber that would supercharge bean with enough power to destroy the asteroid. So bean stepped into the chamber and started absorbing energy rapidly so rapid that the machine could not supply energy fast enough. So bean started absorbing energy from the scientists and from amanda and the earth and finally once bean had absorbed every trace of energy on earth he was finished so he flew into space using his telekinesis and started absorbing the asteroid and then the moon and finally… the sun and the galaxy when Bean finally had enough energy he transformed into a ball of light and sped off into the unknown.

Hi these are really good ideas thank you cuz I want to try and get better at writing stories and finishing them

With this help I just wrote such a good book! Thank you so much😆

Every writer NEEDS this book.

It’s a guide to writing the pivotal moments of your novel.

Whether writing your book or revising it, this will be the most helpful book you’ll ever buy.

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108 Romance Writing Prompts & Love Story Ideas

Everybody loves a good love story – here are 108 romantic writing prompts and love story ideas to inspire you!

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Everybody loves a good love story, and with these romance writing prompts for romantic fiction, you are sure to find some inspiration to write a story for the ages.

These romantic writing prompts are free for you to take and let your imagination run wild. Use them as novel ideas, short stories, screenplays, or just try them as creative writing exercises to stretch your imagination.

Romantic Fiction Writing Prompts and Story Starters

Please note : We use the pronouns “she and he” in some of these examples, but of course you have the freedom to reverse and change genders as you see fit!

1. Their story begins on a bright summer morning when they both awake in bed together with no memory of who they are or where they came from.

2. She is determined to go on an epic road trip this summer. When her best friend bails out at the last minute, she talks one of her co-workers into joining her as a reluctant sidekick for the adventure of a lifetime. 

3. Write a story where one character finds the other character in their tent while camping alone.

4. Our heroine catches the hero stealing food from the restaurant where she works. Is he a bad guy or is there more to this story? What happens when she realizes she is falling for him?

5. A mysterious stranger leaves an item at the main character’s front door with a note attached saying “For a rainy day”.

6. Our hero is a jet-setter whose father has died and just left all of his possessions to someone else. He’s about to demand the rights to his inheritance when he realizes maybe he likes this person.

7. Write a romance story about an undercover cop investigating a person for a crime they didn’t commit. As the cop learns more about them, they realize they are innocent and they might be falling in love.

8. The heroine’s father warns her that she’ll be in terrible danger if she accepts the hero’s marriage proposal.

9. Our two characters are shipwrecked after an unexpected storm. They find themselves on an island where they are forced to spend their first night together under the stars.

10. An impromptu dance competition is announced at the bar where two characters are enjoying an evening of drinks. Do they have what it takes to win the contest and at love?

11. The hero is the brother of the person our heroine has had a crush on for years – who is also her best friend.

12. Write a love story where two single parents drop their kids off at the same daycare every morning. When they run into each other, will they be ready to give love a second chance?

13. She has a secret thinking spot on the roof of a nearby building. When she goes there after learning she lost her job, she discovers someone sitting there.

14. Our characters are both recovering addicts. They both have had problems with alcohol and drugs – will they be able to stay clean long enough for true love to find them?

15. Our characters are on vacation in the countryside of a foreign country when they accidentally crash their cars into each other, resulting in them being sent to the same hospital where they share a room for a week.

16. Our hero and heroine meet in line at the grocery store almost every week. After constantly running into each other, he finally asks her out.

17. The heroine’s wedding is cancelled the day before she was supposed to walk down the aisle. She isn’t sure how to pick up the pieces so goes to the beach to sort herself out, where she finds herself falling for someone new.

18. The might be lawyers on opposite sides of many cases, but they can’t deny that there is something between them…

19. The two of them are in a band together, hoping to get their music heard by the world. They start falling for each other, but will it rip the band apart?

20. Our main characters are both struggling to find their places in the world – one feels like their parents never supported their dreams, and the other left their hometown behind without any plans to return. Together, they learn what it’s like to be true to themselves for the first time.

21. They’ve lived together in the same apartment building for years and have a somewhat passive aggressive relationship with each other. It sparks into something more when he asks her to try his new hot sauce recipe.

22. Our two characters find themselves thrown together and in love after they meet while on vacation in a tropical paradise – only to discover that they live in different countries on separate continents. Can they make it work?

23. He likes her… she likes him… but he’s a total ladies’ man. Can she ever get over this fear and see him as more than a player?

24. They are both running from something in the woods and help each other to escape and survive a dangerous situation. What are they running from and could it make them fall in love?

25. She thinks she’s found the perfect guy – until she discovers he has a secret identity. Will he tell her on his own or will she call him out for it?

26. After a mix-up with their reservations, the characters find they both booked the same rental for the week. Rather than forfeit the deposit and ruin their plans, they decide it to share the space together. Will temporarily living together spark romance or will it be a disaster?

27. The story begins with our heroine rescuing the hero from a life-threatening situation. After they meet, sparks begin to fly. What we don’t realize until much later is she’s the one who caused the accident in the first place.

28. The protagonist is a famous chef who is loved by everyone in the neighborhood – except the frustrating food critic who keeps writing terrible things about their cooking. Can the chef woo them over?

29. Our characters meet when both of their cars break down in the middle of nowhere, and they need to wait together until their cars are repaired.

30. The two of them are sharing the back seat of a limousine after a logistics mix-up at their job when things take a turn for the passionate…

31. They have been friends since they were kids vacationing together every summer – but now it’s getting serious. They might not be just friends anymore…

32. The heroine has been hired by the hero’s start-up company to test his new product for attracting love. However, the product is so effective that she finds herself falling for him!

33. He is a famous actor and she is a waitress at a restaurant he frequents – but they both know that he’s tired of the glitz and glamour and wants to settle down. Can she show him that romance is real?

34. One of them is a real estate agent and the other is a home buyer looking for the perfect house, but they end up finding so much more than either of them expected…

35. They go out on a blind date with the hopes of finding love. But what if one of them ends up being the other’s boss and part owner of the company?

36. They had a casual romance in high school, but they both went their separate ways and have both changed a lot. When fate has them meet again, will it spark the magic from their old relationship?

37. They’ve both reached fame in their careers – but when the cameras are on at all times, how can they be honest with each other and their feelings?

38. Frustrated with life on earth, our hero and heroine volunteer to go live on the space station as part of an experiment for two years. They might have escaped all their problems on earth, but can they actually make a relationship work?

39. The two main characters work together at a local animal shelter and they both have secrets to hide about themselves and their lives. When their paths cross on a daily basis, can they resist the pull to tell each other everything?

40. The story begins with two high school sweethearts who are reunited years later only to discover that they are both unhappily married to someone else. Is it too late or will their love prove to be stronger?

41. He’s a famous musician with all kinds of problem. His life is falling apart and now he starting to fall for the person who tends the gardens at his mansion.

42. They’re both on the run from the law. When they cross paths to form an unlikely bond, can they both get out of their current situations to make it work?

43. He wants his lost love back, but how can he convince her he’s changed?

44. The two of them are on a business trip in a foreign country when there is unrest in the streets – can they make it out alive?

45. A famous actor and a famous actress are both staying at the same hotel during the filming of a romantic movie. Could the sparks be more than just what’s in the script?

46. She has had a crush on him for years, but he never notices her. Will he finally realize that true love is right under his nose?

47. Our main character is always setting up their friends on dates and playing matchmaker – what happens when someone tries to match them with someone new?

48. One of them is a soldier, the other an army nurse. They meet on a helicopter ride after being evacuated from a dangerous situation.

49. They broke up years ago but then run into each other after not talking to each other anymore. When they stop and actually listen to what the other person has to say, do they realize that maybe they never really stopped loving one another?

50. Our main character’s dog is missing – but will they find love in an unexpected place instead?

51. Write a love story where one person is a tech mogul and the other person thinks technology is evil. When they start to fall for each other, will technology get in the way?

52. They are both running for mayor in their small town. Only one person can win the election – but can they both win in love?

53. Write a romance story where one character believes that love isn’t for them, so the other person must prove them wrong by showing them how wonderful love can be.

54. Two people meet after finding out they’ve both been dumped. As they try to plot their revenge on their exes, they discover maybe they have feelings for one another.

55. Our main character’s father is determined to find them a match and has arranged for them to have a new date everyday. Will they ever meet the one?

56. When two people who have never met before get into an argument, they end up trapped in the same room together for hours on end. Will this argument push them together or tear them apart?

57. Our main character finds themselves having vivid dreams that feel real about someone from their past. Use this romantic writing prompt to write a love story that transcends the test of time.

58. They are both avid readers who frequently go to the library but one of them believes they can read people’s future through their books. When they finally meet will they be able to read the other’s mind?

59. Our main character is an adrenaline junkie living life on the edge. When they meet someone who wants to tame them, will they be able to gain some balance in their life?

60. She lives in a world where men are forbidden. When she finally meets one face to face, will she be able to resist her feelings or fall into temptation?

61. Write a story where the main character is the president’s daughter. Can she have a relationship with the son of a political rival?

62. Two discover that both their horoscopes describe what their ideal mate would be like and how they will meet – and it’s each other!

63. One of them is a hard working chef and the other is a photographer who wants to take pictures in the kitchen. When they meet, they find that they have more in common than just their love of food.

64. When our main character gets a new puppy, it turns out to be more than they bargained for. After the dog tears up their neighbor’s flower bed it might just turn into romance.

65. She’s an actress and he’s a cop on location providing security for the movie – but what happens when reality mixes with fiction?

66. Two lovers forced apart by war are reunited only to discover that one of them has been injured physically and the other mentally. Can they get past their scars and move forward?

67. Two people who have gone through terrible things in life meet in a support group and learn how to live again together.

68. The Civil War has just broken out – but one of them is from the north and the other is from the south. Will the war tear them apart or bring them closer together?

69. In a post-apocalyptic world, our two characters are both on the run. When their lives cross paths, they decide teaming up could benefit them both – but does their alliance turn into something more?

70. After accidentally sending an email to a stranger, they become online pen pals. When they meet for the first time in real life, will it be love at first sight or disaster?

71. Their tempers have both gotten them in trouble in the past. When they meet at an anger management class, will they finally learn to control their anger and let love in or will it all blow up?

72. Two con artists meet and decide to team up. They have great chemistry but will they ever be able to fully trust each other?

73. After a tornado devastates a small town, our two characters are drawn together by their grief. Can they rebuild a new future together?

74. When two detective partners need to catch the bad guy, they go undercover as a married couple. Could it be more than just a ruse?

75. Write a romantic love story where two friends start having dreams about each other. Will will these dreams be prophetic or turn into a real life nightmare?

76. When our hero finds himself trapped in another dimension, he takes refuge in an abandoned warehouse only to discover that there is another guest who also happens to be beautiful.

77. The two are travelers who both stop at a diner at the same time. When they are served something otherworldly, they suddenly find themselves with the ability to see ghosts – and each other’s pasts.

78. After finding a wallet in the parking lot, the main character is determined to find out who it belongs to and return it. After a long goose chase of research, they finds themselves falling in love with them. When they finally meet, is the person everything they imagined?

79. A group of people are forced to live in a small bunker together when nuclear war breaks out. Can they find love with each other or will they all turn on each other?

80. Our main character starts seeing a vivid symbol in mysterious places. They try to brush it off as nothing until meeting a stranger who has a tattoo of the symbol. Could it be fate?

81. During their first date, two people receive terrible news. Can they still find happiness together despite all of their problems?

82. After being ditched by their friends at the prom, two loners meet and decide to spend an exciting evening together.

83. While skeptical of psychics, our protagonist is also desperate to find love. After being told of a terrible misfortune about to happen, will it turn out it makes them meet the one?

84. Two people from different social classes find themselves attracted to one another. Can they make it work or will it be torn apart by their differing backgrounds?

85. Two long-time friends find themselves thrown together by a terrible accident. Can they be there for each other or will their differences tear them apart?

86. A young couple find themselves responsible for protecting a powerful and ancient weapon. Will they be able to keep it together and stop the evil that is trying to destroy it?

87. A woman confronts her ex-boyfriend at the wedding of a mutual friend – and their hate for each other is unleashed. Can they make up or are they determined to destroy each other?

88. Our hero meets a woman who teaches him about true love and everything he’s ever dreamed of finding in a relationship. Before they can be together, however, she disappears – only to return mysteriously years later.

89. Burned out by the dating scene, two people decide it’s best to sign up for a service that sets up arranged marriages. Will they be able to make it work?

90. They might both be rich and beautiful, but they always feel like the people they date only care about their looks and money. One decides to pretend to be poor while the other wears a disguise. Have they finally met someone who loves them with no regard to money or looks or will the truth be too much to handle?

91. They just met and really hit it off but one of them has to leave for a work project overseas for the next 5 years. Can they make a long distance relationship work?

92. Two people who hate each other become stuck on the same ocean liner together and must work together to survive a violent storm.

93. He might only be 28 and has a successful career, but he’s starting to go bald. Is it too late for him to find a partner?

94. As journalists for their school’s newspaper, they are always on assignment together. Could an innocent stop for breakfast one morning turn their casual relationship into something more?

95. The older couple in a photograph she discovers looks familiar – but she doesn’t know who they are. One of the people looks a little like her, only older. Could it be a view of the future to come?

96. Two people who have known each other since childhood must fight to survive against an army of zombies that are trying to turn them into meals. Can they make it out alive or will their pasts consume them?

97. She is out of work and lives in a trailer park with her sister. She decides she will marry someone rich and sets off to win over the heart of the local millionaire. Will she learn there’s more to love than just money?

98. They have been growing apart for years – but when they each meet someone new, they realize that maybe it’s time to stop running and face the past head on.

99. When you are born, you are assigned three potential love matches. You meet them all on the same day at the same time on your 21st birthday and must choose one by the end of the night to spend the rest of your life with.

100. They are both from different cultures, but when they meet each other for the first time, they are instantly drawn to each other. Can their love survive all the forces that want to tear them apart?

101. She is kidnapped and sold into slavery, but he will do anything to find her.

102. When he ends up in prison, will she find a way to help him or will his past always be too strong for her to overcome?

103. The two of them have been best friends since they were kids, but when they go into business together, their love for each other may become more than it was before.

104. Write a romantic love story that is inspired by whatever you ate for lunch yesterday.

105. A man travels back in time to find his true love and change the way things ended.

106. She has been sent on a mission by the king to find and return the prince before something terrible happens to him.

107. He is one of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy – but when he meets someone who can be considered his greatest catch yet he realizes he is in love with them.

108. Two leaders of planets on the way to extinction decide to join forces and create a new species of people to continue their worlds. Will their attempts to play matchmaker and procreate work?

I hope these romantic writing prompts and love story ideas inspire you to write something great. If you do happen to write a story with these prompts, you know we would love to check it out so please let us know about it in the comments below!

Looking for even more great story ideas and writing prompts? Check out these other resources at ThinkWritten!

• 365 Creative Writing Prompts for Everyday
• 42 Fantasy Writing Prompts
• 101 Poetry Writing Prompts

Do you have any other romantic love story ideas to add to this list? Share your own romantic writing prompts in the comments below!

Chelle Stein wrote her first embarrassingly bad novel at the age of 14 and hasn't stopped writing since. As the founder of ThinkWritten, she enjoys encouraging writers and creatives of all types.

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Majoring in English

Students majoring in English bring their skills in and passion for writing and interpretation to a wide variety of professional careers – in journalism or the arts, as teachers or professional/technical writers, in marketing or research, or in graduate or professional school (in law, medicine, film/television, and business). See Why English? for updates on some of our graduates. The Career Center  can provide majors with additional information regarding careers.

Our majors value the training our courses provide in analytical thinking, rhetoric, and persuasion. They find literature a way to enter empathetically into the lives and experiences of others. Their studies prepare them for social and civil service, sometimes after spending time in such popular forms of community service as the Peace Corps or the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.  

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English majors take courses in writing, literature, and critical theory. They explore a broad range of approaches to literature, culture, new media, and film, including feminist criticism, critical race theory, postcolonialism, cultural studies, and queer theory.

Students have the opportunity to study traditional British and American texts as well as contemporary media and multicultural literature from around the world.

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The Creative Writing Program offers students a coherent course of study in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. The creative writing minor is firmly grounded within the liberal arts tradition, integrating courses in poetry, fiction, screenwriting, and creative nonfiction writing within their broader literary and cultural context.

Introductory courses familiarize students with the practice and theory of creative writing. Advanced courses offer a workshop setting in which students write and critique one another’s work. Electives focus on particular genres of creative writing, such as Lifewriting, Fantasy and Science Fiction, and Screenwriting. All creative writing courses incorporate some study of literature as well as close attention to students’ own creative writing.

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