101 Short Story Ideas: Creative Writing Prompts & Inspiration
Short Story Ideas…
Story Ideas with Three Elements
Choose three elements from the list below and write a story that incorporates all of them! For an extra challenge, combine three elements with another short story idea from 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.
Challenge: Write four stories in four weeks using these ideas. Are you up for it?
Extreme Challenge: Create a book of short stories! Choose seven or eight ideas to get started.
More Short Story Ideas
- A babysitter snooping around her employer’s house finds a disturbing photograph…
- At a Chinese restaurant, your character’s fortune cookie reads: “Your life is in danger. Say nothing. Leave the city immediately and never return. Repeat: say nothing.”…
- Your character’s boss invites her and her husband to dinner. She wants to impress, but her husband drinks too much and speaks his mind…
- It’s your character’s first day at a new school. He wants a fresh start, but encounters a kid from summer camp…
- Your character must tell his parents he’s getting a divorce, knowing they’ll take his wife’s side…
- At the airport, a stranger offers your character money to carry a mysterious package onto the plane…
- Your character suspects her husband is having an affair and decides to spy on him, but discovers something unexpected…
- A man bumps your character, stealing her phone. He answers when she calls, but refuses to return it. She decides to take matters into her own hands…
- After losing his job, your character discovers his son’s marijuana plantation. His son tries to recruit him into the business…
- Your character buys an antique urn at a garage sale, only to find someone’s ashes inside…
Even More Short Story Ideas
- Your character receives anonymous flowers and gifts, which become increasingly strange, making her husband suspicious…
- A missionary tries to convert your character during a storm warning. She lets him shelter in her basement, but it’s a long storm…
- Caught shoplifting, your character must do a personal favor for the shop owner to avoid the police…
- Your character suspects the librarian, who looks exactly like him but older, is his real father…
- A hitchhiker tries to persuade your character to drive her across the country…
- Your character seeks a buyer who will preserve her childhood home as-is…
- A bat in the house reveals your character’s husband’s true colors…
- Your character’s family seems uninterested in spending time with him after he changes jobs…
- Your character believes she can hear the dead on a radio channel and seeks answers about her parents…
- Your character, who can’t dance, gets an audition for a prestigious dance troupe…
And Still More Short Story Ideas
- Your character fights back against her boss who wants to fire her…
- Your character falls for the waiter/waitress on a date…
- Your character turns the tables on a stranger who follows her home…
- A child’s ghost stories about her new house become too real…
- Your elderly character escapes from the retirement home…
- Your character gets cosmetic surgery to please her boyfriend, but then worries he only loves her looks…
- A writer takes action against his noisy neighbors…
- Your character suspects his mother-in-law is trying to poison him…
- A homeless family your character shelters refuses to leave…
- Your character’s new husband disappears, leaving her with his resentful teenage children…
Personal Creative Writing Challenges
- Write about one of your five biggest fears happening to your character.
- Write about a character facing a problem a friend of yours had.
- Write about a character with a worse version of one of your bad habits.
- Write about a character who lacks one of your greatest strengths and needs it in a difficult situation.