Please! Help! So, I am writing this post using 1000 writing prompts. It might be misleading because I have nowhere near 1000 prompts. I am asking you to help. I will add to this post every day, and I would like it if you said prompts, too. If you enter a prompt in the writing section, I will add it. We will work together to get to 1000. Of course, some of these will be better than others, and they can be of all shapes and sizes. If it takes a paragraph or so to explain the prompt, that’s fine! I will still add. If you want to add pictures, ensure you have the copyrights to use the images. I won’t just use anything that you find on the web. Also, please keep the prompts original. Please don’t take them from other sites. If it is a prompt you heard long ago and loved, that’s fine; just don’t cut and paste.
It was a great idea to come up with 1000 writing prompts, but once I started writing them, I realized I wouldn’t be able to do this on my own. So please help! Add a prompt. I will check the comments every day, and I will keep adding to the list. I was hoping this would be fun. We’ll see how it goes.
Please visit our WRITING PROMPTS MAIN PAGE for a complete list of our prompt lists.
1000 Writing Prompts!
1. A man is locked in a room with a orangutan. He is not a trainer
2. After the gun fell out of his pocket…
3. Write a story about this picture:
4. The man sneezed in the crowded subway car…
5. Diving over the edge of the cliff meant he had to aim for the small well below. It was his only hope of surviving the fall
6. He held on tight to the car door, trying to hold himself steady, as the world spun past the window…
7. He wasn’t sure he could eat the hand of a fellow human being, but he was dying….
8. He took one look over the side of the high cathedral walls, took a couple of steps back and leaped over the edge…
9. The bright harvest moon began to get smaller and smaller as the two celestial bodies began to drift away from each other
10. She was still blind folded as she felt along the ground, but she could smell the stench…
11. It was Christmas after all, the lights might have been extremely unsafe but…
12. He was so tired. When he jolted himself away for a third time, he was face to face with the headlights….
13. She balanced herself on the limb looking into his bedroom window she saw…
14. Without his big toes it WAS incredibly difficult to walk.
14a. Writing a prompt about this picture:
15.Write a story about a time you were late for now good reason.
16. Empty your pocket/purse onto the table.
Pick three random items.
Place them each on a white piece of paper in front of you. (this is to enable you too see them in relative isolation)
Label each piece of paper as I, 2, or 3
You must pick from one of the following –
These items are clues to either:
A. A murder
B. The end of an Affair or
C. The last known activity of someone who has disappeared.
Chose from A,B or C.
Now –
Start with the object you have labelled ’1′ & write for 10 mins about this.
Repeat for 2 and then 3.
Fit the three sections into a story.
When finished, lob of the ending you have written, and give the story the exact opposite ending
17. Write a blasphemy.
18. Nick was watching tv when the news anchor said, “Nick you really shouldn’t be watching tv. You need to go talk to Carol right now. Call her.”
19. Nick was watching tv when the news anchor said, “Nick you really shouldn’t be watching tv. You need to go talk to Carol right now. Kill her.”
20. Write a prayer.
21. This is one I’ve just made up, would be interested to hear how anyone gets on, might try it myself 🙂 Takes just over 30 minutes to complete
Empty your pocket/purse onto the table.
Pick three random items.
Place them each on a white piece of paper in front of you. (this is to enable you too see them in relative isolation)
Label each piece of paper as I, 2, or 3
You must pick from one of the following –
These items are clues to either
A. A murder
B. The end of an Affair or
C. The last known activity of someone who has disappeared.
Chose from A,B or C.
Now –
Start with the object you have labelled ’1′ & write for 10 mins about this.
Repeat for 2 and then 3.
Fit the three sections into a story.
When finished, lob of the ending you have written, and give the story the exact opposite ending.
22. Write a story about a time you were late for now good reason
23. Think of any television, movie, book, or historical character that inspires you. They can be living or dead. Write a journey story with this character as your guide.
24. Write a story where you have to decide to save the life of one loved one or another. You can only save one.
24a. Use the following picture as your writing prompt:
25. You’re reading my mind. Fellow John S. and I sat down three weeks ago and decided that we, too, would write a book of prompts. He had picked up a neat book of prompts at a writer’s conference. We thought that we could create our own. But I like to share, too. So, here are a couple, for what it’s worth.
26. Your cell phone rings with an unknown number. You recognize the prefix. You answer and the voice on the other end says, “I’m the sister that you didn’t know you had. Want to know more?”
27. You’ve had a really rotten year financially. Your friends give you nice gifts, but you can’t afford it. What do you do?
* You are stopped by law enforcement on a not-so-traveled road. He claims that you were speeding and broke several other traffic laws. He can take you to jail and impound your car. But you can go free without a ticket if you perform oral sex on him. What do you do?
28. Describe the perfect meal. Who made it? Where do you eat it? Who’s with you?
29. It was Christmas morning. The sidewalks were empty except for a lone man walking a kid’s bike to…
30. You wake up at 4 am, and there is a man you have never met standing over you.
31. You get a phone call from the president of the United States…
32. Write a letter to a dead world leader. The letter will be sent through a newly invented time machine.
33. You turn the bathroom light on in the morning and there is a ghost floating behind you in the mirror…
34. Write a short story that is less than 25 words.
35. Write a poem that is 16 words and 4 lines long.
36. Find a hotel lobby. Sit there for at least 30 minutes. Write a story about the people you see there.
37. Write a story about the tallest man in the world winning a subcompact car.
38. Find 10 items around your house. Write a poem with all 10 items in it.
39. Write a story about making a deal with the devil.
40. Write a story about this picture:
41. Write 50 word short story that does not have the words, a, an, or the.
42. First line: He fell out of the plane….
43. “This virus kills 1 in 3 people, and it has an infection rate of….” is how the news broadcasts starts when you wake up.
44. You are the secretary to the personal aid to President John F. Kennedy.
45. Use a dictionary. Find the first word of each section A-J, and use each of those words in a poem.
46. Write a 26 sentence short story that goes in alphabetical order using all the letters in the alphabet.
47. You decide to poison your husband…
48. High in the mountains, you finally decide you must eat your best friend…
49. (Emma Swan) I have an idea. Use these names of songs as titles, chapter titles or ideas for your writing:
* Comfortably numb
* Where were you last night?
* Doll parts
* Midnight confessions
* Liar, liar
* Accidents never happen
* Crash about to happen
* Does your mother know?
* Anyone for tennis?
Update! We are adding more prompts from here…..we have begun to work in earnest to write 1000 writing prompts…please help us. We want to have 1000 writing prompts here by the end of the summer, and I know I cannot do it without your help.
50. Your dog is killed while chasing a car. When the man knocks on your door to tell you, he has the bloody dog in his arms. He smiles I hit your dog…
50a. Use the following picture as your writing prompt:
51. You wake up, upside down. Your seat belt is holding you in place, you smell smoke.
52. Write story that has at least 26 sentences. There can be more than 26, but there must be at least 26 sentence and those 26 sentence MUST go in alphabetical order from a-z. For example (this is a very rough draft):
A pain exploded inside Lester, but he was unaware of how he got into this position. Cautiously he looked around the corner. Dangerous sounds were coming from the alley. Effort was what he needed to move his legs after the long fall. Fatigue was setting in. Great effort went into him pulling himself around the corner. His legs dragged behind him dead. It was all he could manage. Just a few moments before he had been sipping a Jack and Coke aboard American Jet fight 331. Karen had been talking to him. Little did they know the plane was going to clip the side of the antenna. Moments seemed like hours as the rush of air pulled him out of the seat and then falling, falling, falling. No sound. Oceans of silence rushed over him as he fell. Pounding, pounding, pounding finally moved from his chest into his ears. Quasars burst in his eyes and then darkness. Realizations about what had happened didn’t come until he was crawling into the empty alley. Surely someone had seen him fall and would come help. That didn’t seem to be the case. Utterly exhausted he saw people rushing by at the end of the alley. Varying in the speed of their walking no one even looked down the alley. What madness, no one had seen him fall! Xanthic fingers pulled him along the asphalt. Yawning suddenly he could not keep his eyes open. Zapped of all strength his last image was of people rushing, maybe going to work, maybe going to eat, maybe something that he would never know again.
53. This one is very easy and very hard at the same time. It is not so much the writing you do but the imagination you will use to get there. The prompt: “What are the last 10 words you hope to ever write?”
54. Start a 50 word story with “She was dead before I got there….”
55. Write a juxtaposition. A juxtaposition is when 2 very unlike things are placed beside each other. Find 2 very unlike things and then write a short story based on how those two unlike images or objects go together. For instance an agoraphobe in a metoer shower. Maybe it banans and terpentin or fireworks and terrariums, anything that doesn’t seem to fit together just right. Use this to write?story to show how to the two objects or images come together.
56. Write a poem or piece of flash fiction about a day that you witnessed something violent. It might be a fight between two other people, or a fight you were in. It might also be a car accident or some other traumatic event. Start the work in the MIDDLE of the action.
57. Write a short story, any length, about a tramatic event that you have put into slow motion. For instance a character seeing his life in review as he is crashing his car. Describe what it looks like as the shattered glass floats close to his face and eyes.
58:
59. Finish this prompt with story 100-500 words: You’re are walking to a friends house and trip over the body of a dead alien….
60. Write a 50 word story about the end of the world.
61. Begin a short story or a poem with the line “I couldn’t find my shoes, and she woke up.” Suggested story length 500 words.
62. Write a 20 word story that begins with the word Atom(s) and ends with the word Fungus.
63. Write a short story or a poem about the picture abote. It is titled Girl in the Rain. Make either the poem or the story as long as you like.
64. Write a 50 word story that does not use the words the, a, an.
65. Write a story/poem where 2 very famous people meet for the first time and hate each other. You know, Brad Pitt gets in a fight with Jay Leno.
66. 
67. You are having lunch with a blind date. You think it’s going well. Right before the check arrives, a horrible buzzing sound starts. Everyone in the restaurant begins looking at your table. Your date opens his/her mouth and a wasp the size of a soccer ball crawls out onto her face….
68. At your child’s birthday party, in your back your, her friends are all playing pin the tail on the donkey. You are talking with the parents of your daughter’s friends when you hear the children laughing. You venture out in to the backyard, and see that the kids are watching a clown perform. You did not hire the clown. You go back into the house and ask if anyone hired the clown, and everyone stands shaking their heads. Then you hear screaming.
70. 
71. You’re been itching the small bug bite for weeks. You have been very nervous about the presentation and you’ve been itching it furiously over the last 12 hours.
72. Write a story about falling out of an airplane and surviving.
73. As you are getting things out of your bag, you realize you must have mixed things up. Somehow, this looks like your bag, but it’s not. As you open it something is moving inside….
74. Writing about someone falling in love with you. You can’t stand them.
75. You see the helicopter headed toward your home. It is flying very low, out of control, and you can tell exactly where it’s going to crash…
76. You have to cross a bridge that is 150ft off the ground, but it is very old and falling apart. Describe how you feel, and what you do to get across…
77. You find yourself floating through outer space. You have 2 hours of air. What are you last thoughts.
78. You slip and fall, you land in something sticking. When you pick yourself up, you realize you have landed in the middle of a giant bee hive.
79. At one point you realize that the new yogurt going around, is actually an alien species infecting the human race. You’ve never liked yogurt, so you haven’t been affected. Now there are yogart zombies everywhere. What will you do….
80.
81. You had a fight with your significant other. you are on vacation in a strange city, Chicago, New York, some place big. It’s your first time in this city. You walked out of the hotel in a rage. You weren’t thinking. It’ late now, and for some strange reason, you feel the man, who has been following you for at least 3 blocks, is a vampire.xxx
- She always saw the world a little differently than anyone else, in ways that were beautiful but also lonely.
- The letter had come that morning, but he still couldn’t bring himself to open it.
- He stood on the bridge looking out at the foggy water, wondering if today might be the day.
-
The old woman always wore red on Tuesdays, though nobody knew the reason why.
- It wasn’t the first secret she had kept hidden in that big old house.
- With shaking hands, she lit the seventh candle and prepared to make her wish.
- She had always been able to hear voices that others couldn’t, whispering words only she understood.
- He liked to go exploring deep in the woods behind his childhood home, never knowing what forgotten secrets he might uncover there.
- The scar seemed so ordinary, just a pale line on her wrist, until she traced its history back through generations.
- She saved every ticket stub in a box under her bed, little reminders of moments that contained all the magic in the world.
- That melody he always hummed without realizing it held memories he couldn’t quite grasp.
- Every mirror in the house was covered except for the tiny one hidden away in the closet.
- The painting was quite ordinary, landscapes never stood out much to him, but he found his eyes drawn to it day after day.
- She learned at a young age how to make herself disappear even when it seemed there was nowhere to hide.
- Every week he anxiously awaited the letter he knew would never arrive.
- Someone had lived in the tiny cottage long ago but it seemed they had vanished without a trace.
- She didn’t realize she was staring until the handsome stranger looked up and met her gaze with his arresting emerald eyes.
- In the attic full of her grandmother’s belongings, she discovered a strange new world she never imagined existed.
- His reflection had always troubled him, though he could never pinpoint exactly why.
- The book simply appeared one day without explanation, leather-bound with peculiar markings tooled into its cover.
- In her dreams she could fly anywhere she desired, soaring high over breathtaking vistas no one else would ever see.
- The marks had appeared that morning on her arm, shapes she couldn’t make sense of and cautiously hid from sight.
- Someone was leaving gifts on her doorstep she couldn’t explain: a single flower, a perfect seashell, a leaf turned to gold.
- As his memory faded, glimpses of the past would rise up at unexpected times—the briny scent of an ocean, the distant laughter of a little girl.
- An old photograph fell from the pages of a library book, its subjects gazing up at her as if they held tantalizing secrets.
- The tree’s gnarled branches whispered at night when darkness obscured its deformities.
- From her bedroom window, the abandoned house down the block took on a sinister cast at twilight she didn’t recall from childhood.
- His footsteps echoed too loudly on the city streets at night, no matter how quietly he tried to walk.
- The gilded mirror held fast to its secret—that within its reverse world lingered ghostly scenes it alone could perceive.
- She always checked behind shower curtains and inside closets in unfamiliar places, never certain what might be hiding inside.
- On her tenth birthday she rode her bike to the end of the road, finally daring to cross the threshold into mysterious woods full of fabled dangers that turned out not to exist at all.
- The tree had stood for over a century, but all it took was one clap of lightning to erase all the initials carved into its trunk, leaving no trace that any lovers had ever existed.
- She felt comforted by rainy days because the endless gray matched the loneliness inside that no one else could see.
- His mother had warned him never to enter the cobwebby attic, so naturally he could think of nothing else even as an adult when visiting his childhood home.
- They found the odd little doll abandoned near the lake, so they adopted her and made up magical stories about where she came from that somehow still rang true.
- No other patrons came into the bookshop run by the eccentric old woman who seemed to never leave, though Lydia still stubbornly returned day after day for reasons unclear even to herself.
- The wall calendar still showed July 1983, though autumn leaves swirled outside as if trapped in an endless time warp.
- She had become a master at pretending until she no longer remembered the last moment anything was real.
-
In a forgotten corner of the library, an ancient tome remained inexplicably cold to the touch no matter the season.
- 40.His shadow sometimes did not mimic his shape or movements but rather took on distortions of its own.
- Her grandmother’s porcelain dolls watched Emma with suspicion from their shelf whenever she visited theisier house.
- Amy had always had an uncanny knack for bending reality whenever she told stories, but now her tales were starting to come true.
- 43.No one else heard the crying baby that woke Lily at 4 AM every morning in her apartment.
- Oscar swore the gargoyles perched atop the old church had changed positions whenever he wasn’t looking directly at them.
- Robyn looped yarn, ribbon, and threads over every doorknob in intricate patterns only she understood the significance of.
- The old railway bridge had been abandoned for sixty years, but Cassidy could still hear the train whistles mourning their lost passengers every night at 3:33 AM.
- In the corner of Nate’s eye, the barren winter trees outside subtly transformed into threatening figures that vanished whenever he turned to face them.
- Marcy religiously left onion skins scattered across her window sills and doorway, declaring it kept unwanted spirits away.
- Every Wednesday evening, Aaron saw the ghostly outline of his childhood home appear in an empty lot down the street before flickering out of existence by dawn.
- Andy hoarded ticket stubs, bottle caps, crumpled napkins, broken pencils, leaves, and strange rocks as if they were priceless treasures rather than oddities to everyone else.
- Eliza instinctively distrusted mirrors ever since the night her reflection blinked asynchronously and seemed momentarily distorted into another face entirely.
- The objects in Margaret’s junk drawer seemed to rearrange themselves spontaneously whenever she wasn’t looking.
- Kevin awoke one morning to discover his closet held dozens of unfamiliar shirts in his size with tags still affixed belonging to stores he’d never visited.
- Jasmine heard a phantom phone ringing incessantly in the middle of the night but could never pinpoint the source of the antique bell tones.
- Mark realized he somehow already knew the twists and endings to books right before reaching them, as if he had read them before in another forgotten life.
- Tara wandered the same five blocks every afternoon, seeking someone she could never quite describe but was certain she’d crossed paths within this neighborhood before.
- Andrew found odd scraps of paper hidden around town scrawled with handwritten lists of numbers and gibberish words that meant something profoundly important just beyond his understanding.
- Samantha swore the full moon transformed her stoic neighbor Mr. Patel into a much younger, carefree version of himself that disappeared by daybreak.
- Whenever Madelaine used her grandmother’s strawberry jam recipe, she found herself momentarily visited by visions of memories not her own, all centering around that little yellow farmhouse kitchen from long ago.
- As Greta got older, she realized her imaginary childhood friend probably hadn’t been imaginary after all, but rather a ghostly visitor quietly keeping watch.
- The gingko trees lining Ivy Lane resembled gnarled hands reaching to snatch passerby into their clutches on windy autumn days when their leaves blew into swirling vortexes on the sidewalk.
- Camille awoke each night to the sound of a crying infant echoing from the abandoned mansion down the street, even though she knew for a fact no one had lived there for decades.
- No matter how systematically Damien organized his office, everyday he’d return to find his papers and supplies rearranged just slightly enough to make him uneasy about what transpired in his absence.
- From her apartment window, Colleen watched a spectral funeral procession march silently down Main Street beneath a cloudy sky every dawn before vanishing before anyone else stirred awake.
- While walking his dog Puck every morning at sunrise, Ezra noticed how their shadows took on monstrous proportions with distorted shapes that differed ominously from their mortal forms.
- Claudine couldn’t explain why she felt compelled to leave decaying bouquets of dried roses atop unmarked graves in the abandoned cemetery on the outskirts of town.
- As illustrator Wren sketched fantastical cityscapes, she realized the architecture she drew was slowly appearing mirrored in real buildings around town that had not been there previously.
- Noelle strangely always dreamed about funerals the night before local townsfolk passed away, witnessing each ceremony unfold exactly before reading their obituaries the following day.
- Quinn had somehow acquired a clock from the ruins of the old hotel destroyed in a massive fire forty years ago, and though its hands were missing, he swore he could still hear it ticking.
- While scouring antique shops on Lafferty Lane, Miriam noticed the painted eyes of Victorian portraits followed passersby, blinking only when unobserved.
- Sylvia awoke every other Thursday morning to find one of her grandmother’s vintage dresses hanging on her closet door, replaced two nights later with a different gown in an unending cycle.
- Random objects went missing from Claire’s life – single socks, ballpoint pens, bobby pins, crumbs – only to reappear in odd places days or weeks later long after being forgotten.
-
Martin’s nut allergy seemed to flare up solely when walking past 1313 Mockingbird Drive even though no trees stood along that isolated stretch of road.
- Children’s laughter echoed in the old bell tower even though the elementary school it once summoned had been razed a decade ago.
- Hallie never visited the scene of her best friend’s tragic accident at Widow’s Peak, but after a vivid nightmare she awoke to find her shoes caked in red dirt from that very outlook’s cliffs.
- A melodic French lullaby from Gabrielle’s childhood emerged in place of radio static whenever she drove along the wooded road leading to her grandmother’s abandoned cottage.
- Several dozen rusty padlocks clicks open simultaneously whenever Trace passed the chained gates of the derelict fairgrounds that closed under mysterious circumstances thirty years ago after a deadly fire.
- Though Adison lived alone, she’d often catch her drapes fluttering from the wind as if someone had been peering out her second story window just moments before.
- While scrolling aimlessly through social media, Geoffrey stumbled across his doppelganger’s account under the name “Nathaniel G. Trent” containing photos of places he didn’t recall visiting.
- Rocking chairs lined the front porches along Waters Street, but only Clara’s ever groaned under the weight of an invisible occupant whenever dusk settled across the neighborhood.
- After inheriting an antique cigarette case engraved with the initials A.M.W, Isabelle found herself haunted by visions of its original owner wandering the halls of her home late at night.
- Though mute since birth, Lucy’s vocal cords produced screams in her sleep that perfectly mimicked the victims of the serial killer who once stalked her hometown twenty years ago.
- River had uncannily accurate premonition dreams predicting strangers’ deaths the very next day, but none of the authorities she contacted took her warnings seriously enough to intervene in time.
- While sketching wildlife in an overgrown cemetery, Wren discovered an additional decades-old gravestone etched with her exact name and birth year in place of the deceased.
- A increasingly humanoid shadow trailed Campbell’s movements no matter the sunny conditions or light sources, clinging to him like an unshakeable specter imperceptible to anyone else’s eyes.
- On fretful nights, Carling detected an extra set of hurried footsteps ascending the staircase to mimic her own just far enough behind to blend into the echoes.
- Though Allegra moved halfway across the world, the same cracked painting surfaced in every temporary sublet she inhabited to watch over her with its ever judging gaze.
- Printers and copiers arbitrarily sputtered to life in the middle of the night to produce reams of cryptograms only Ilana possessed the compulsion to decode.
- Prickling nettle flourished along the crumbling brick walls of abandoned buildings wherever Octavia wandered as if nourished by the gloom perpetually enshrouding her.
-
While sorting through old Polaroids from family vacations, Katrina noticed shadowy doppelgangers stalking them just at the edges of every photograph, camouflaged at first but overtaking them over time.
- On her daily run, Cara found herself involuntarily detoured to an empty lot no matter the route, compelled to sprint faster and faster within its high grass by unseen forces before stumbling back onto familiar sidewalks gasping for breath.
- Ethereal voices whispered Jason’s name from the distorted static of the broken radio inherited from his late grandfather, both chiding and pleading for unattainable restitution only he could hear.
- Any mirror or camera lens Hayley peered into long enough seemed to expose a stranger’s face in place of her own, mottling back only once she convinced herself it was a mere trick of the light.
- Animals hid and machinery malfunctioned in Arlo’s presence as if the mechanical world itself rejected the disjointed aura clinging to him that he could never fully shake off.
- Plagued by vivid nightmares every time she drifted off, Mina resorted to periodic micro-naps to avoid getting trapped too long in the strange dream world stalking her waking life.
- Though the abandoned playground seemed innocuous during the day, after dusk Karissa noticed specters of children swinging higher and higher until the chains snapped taught from impossible heights where bone should have shattered from such lofty falls.
- No matter how softly Maeve tread at night, the squeaking floorboards still gave her away, almost as if the old house itself disapproved of her ghostly wanderings.
- Stoic gargoyles silently judged Axel from the impressive brownstone facades along his walk home from the graveyard shift each dawn until he doubted whether they were stone statues at all.
- While scanning faded daguerreotypes at a yard sale, Fiona spotted her doppelganger lurking sullenly in the background of strangers’ portraits posing at old homesteads she inexplicably recognized.
- Though Angelika moved frequently, the same Missing Child poster bearing her image appeared taped to peeling telephone poles wherever she settled briefly enough to call it home for a little while.
- Here are 100 more literary fiction story starters:
- The old lighthouse had been abandoned for as long as anyone could remember, but its beacon still shone brightly every night, signaling…something.
- Miranda dared to inch closer to the figure crouched beneath the weeping willow tree, but before she could make out its features, it turned and fixed her with a piercing stare.
- The mysterious letter held cryptic instructions leading Clara on a scavenger hunt across town to uncover a hidden truth about her family.
- Though Brian was colorblind, he swore he could see a kaleidoscopic aura shimmering around Kai whenever they locked eyes across a crowded room.
- Madeline pressed her ear to the attic wall where the strange thumping noises originated every night at 3:33 AM, only to hear an impossible heart beat keeping time.
- The antique cuckoo clock struck thirteen times, after which Helena found herself mysteriously transported back to nineteenth century rural England each night.
- Investigating crumbling homesteads consumed Elliot until he inevitably uncovered horrifying tales of their previous inhabitants now haunting his waking thoughts.
- While scanning microfilm obituaries at the local library, Paige discovered her name listed among a town’s centuries-old death records predating her birth.
- Seeking inspiration for his next novel, Liam retreated to an isolated cabin haunted by muses…or perhaps ghosts lingering with their own untold stories to share.
- Audra slipped on a resale shop ring only to find herself bombarded with the passionate memories of its original owners that refused to fade.
- Beneath the modern city streets, extensive tunnels snaked leading Damascus deeper underground to where an entirely hidden world existed.
- Only when twilight fell did the strange stone figures surrounding Valleyheart Cathedral transform in Ty’s periphery from inanimate gargoyles into leering creatures with malintent.
- Investigating her recurring uncannily vivid dreams, Calliope compiled extensive notes mapping out an alternate life somehow lived within her subconscious.
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While browsing the missing children’s database, Delia was unsettled to discover photos of herself posted decades before her actual birth.
- An overgrown hedge maze behind Pete’s childhood home rearranged itself spontaneously to prevent his escape, almost as if it developed sentience.
- Only when she peered through antique spectacles did the full ghostly presences lingering in Abilene’s creaky Victorian home reveal themselves to her.
- Rangers patrolling Mirkwood Forest at night reported sightings of a fabled horned trickster whose footsteps Jesse claimed hearing echoing outside her boarded up windows.
- Upon inheriting his ancestor’s estate, Lawrence soon realized he had also inherited a centuries-old family curse passed down through generations.
- Morphing trees with gnarled faces peered into Ronan’s windows late at night, tapping on the glass pane with knotted wooden claws whenever clouds obscured the moon.
- While scouring the bargain VHS bin, Maya discovered a tape labeled with her name on it and watched in horror as it depicted her murder at the hands of a masked stalker.
- From the shadows of an alleyway, the dilapidated ruins of Edgar’s childhood home would materialize under the hazy glow of moonlight before vanishing by dawn.
- Though shrinking in use for generations, Violet noticed fresh footprints forming along her ancestral family’s secret underground tunnel system each time she returned to investigate its disintegrating state.
- Miranda answered a cryptic personal ad seeking a companion to explore hidden parts of the city, unaware she was being lured by a cult into increasingly depraved initiation rituals.
- While surveying the remains of a remote estate, Chet discovered a skeletal hand protruding from the dirt that seemed to point towards the crumbling family crypt nearby.
- Every letter Danielle typed on her vintage typewriter materialized days later in poem form within the pages of library books she had never checked out.
- Though Arielle lived inland, echoes of distressed seamen shouted tales of shipwrecks through the conch shell stored atop her bedroom dresser on stormy nights.
- Investigating his recurring insomnia, Caleb discovered his bedroom mirror provided glimpses into his waking actions from the previous day whenever he peered into it after 3:00 AM unable to sleep.
- Delicate strands of golden filament glinted beneath beams of moonlight wherever Sophie wandered at night, forming elaborate dreamcatchers in bare trees overhead by dawn.
- While scouring online obituaries, Talia was unsettled to discover records of herself listed as deceased centuries earlier with no explanation besides the date she would actually perish.
- Attempting to identify the subjects in old tintype photographs, Vivienne noticed phantom extras blurred in the background who watched her intently despite slowly fading from the images over decades.
- Though a star student by day, by night Morgan roamed her elite academy grounds to secretly dispose evidence of the coven meetings held onsite for generations after hours.
- No one else appeared to notice the faceless woman in a sequined red dress endlessly dancing alone to faint orchestral music echoing around Abigail wherever she went.
- While scanning decrepit old journals, Elizabeth discovered cryptic maps charting ley lines invisible to the naked eye intersecting exactly where unexplained local tragedies occurred in her rural town over two centuries.
- Ghostly visages peered back at Remi from reflective surfaces like tarnished mirrors and cloudy windows, silently pleading through decades of grime for someone to acknowledge them.
- 135.Exploring the caverns as a child, Vanya discovered a winding staircase seemingly carved into the very bedrock descending hundreds of feet deeper into the hillside than logic should allow.
- Catching their eyes for too long, Gabriella sensed the portraits of ancestors lining the manor halls scrutinizing her thoughts and actions, their stern judgement transforming to contempt over her unladylike behavior.
- While scouting a dilapidated train station, Janelle stumbled across strange chalk symbols scattered across the rust-stained platform spelling out messages she couldn’t decipher but felt were intended just for her discovery.
- Glitching screens projected silent video footage of familiar spaces Oliver occupied at that very moment from various impossible angles, as if eyes monitored him from hidden vantage points just outside reality’s bounds.
- Mesmerizing lights hovered over the cornfields bordering Scarlett’s childhood home late at night, distorting into kaleidoscopic fractals whenever she tried focusing directly upon them.
- Exploring the family cabin, Imogen discovered undeveloped film canisters capturing the blurry visages of guests inexplicably present at events years before her birth.
- Silverware and dishes rattled violently inside Mona’s kitchen cabinets whenever home alone, creating deafening cacophonies clearly intended to drive out unwanted inhabitants like herself.
- Investigating the recurring noises interrupting his sleep, Levi discovered mysterious entities gathering in his bedroom mirror’s reflection for a brief warped glimpse each night.
- Creeping ivy flourished only on abandoned buildings Julia explored within her remote mountain town, spiraling faster the deeper inside she delved.
- While scouring her late grandmother’s storage unit, Lola discovered an old travel trunk brimming with postcards chronicling her existence in far flung eras predating her actual birth.
- Gliding her fingertips across crumbling cemetery headstones, Vera sensed echoes of the entombed souls’ turmoil seeping from the very granite meant to memorialize their now silenced voices.
- Every antique clock Niko encountered inexplicably stopped at 3:28 AM no matter their calibration, as if temporally yanking her outside the normal flow of space-time.
- Flickering streetlamps illuminated pockets of impenetrable darkness lingering around Renata wherever she walked at night that even the brightest beams struggled piercing.
- Cryptic ransom letters cut from magazine text arrived for Savannah from an anonymous stalker who inexplicably knew childhood secrets she had shared with no one.
- Investigating the recurring sound of an infant sobbing outside her apartment door, Zadie made the mistake of peering through the peephole after midnight and momentarily glimpsed the shadowy face of something utterly inhuman staring back.
- While scanning old records for the local historical society, Bryn came across multiple copies of her birth certificate bearing different maiden names for the mother who abandoned her as an anonymous infant.
- Tattered library books surfaced on Willa’s doorstep containing annotated passages echoing her innermost thoughts in handwritten ink predating common ballpoint pen manufacturing.
- Glowing will-o’-wisps glimmering along decaying garden paths lured unsuspecting travelers deeper into the foreboding forest, flickering out once footsteps hit patches of odd symbology carved at crossroad clearings too late to turn back from whatever dark rituals transpired there after nightfall.
- Exploring the abandoned asylum, Malaya discovered diverse ancient relics from innumerable faiths and cultures scattered about suggesting bizarre experimental rituals attempting opening doors to other dimensions conducted there long ago.
- While surveying the derelict manor grounds, Vivienne detected lingering traces of its tragic histories seeping skyward and crystallizing into shards of light above just beyond her peripheral vision.
- Investigating the recurring visions troubling his sleep, Rhett charted celestial patterns online corresponding with his sightings of the green lady haunting his family’s rural farmlands seemingly begging for her story to finally be known.
- Ghostly music echoed from Brenna’s baby monitor nightly as if emanating from the empty crib, the antique lullaby spinning the mobile though no mortal child rested beneath its gently twirling suspended stars and moons.
- Flipping through childhood photo albums, Kat noticed her blurry faced mother momentarily appearing decades younger than possible in the background of ordinary snapshots before shifting back to her actual age once spotted.
- While scanning news archives for a local history genealogy project, Tamsin uncovered the unsolved cold case disappearance of a woman bearing her exact name and description some thirty years prior.
- Investigating the blood banshee lore of his ancestral Scottish highlands, Alasdair encountered the dreaded spirit firsthand lurking amidst crumbling castle ruins detectable only by her shrill keening piercing the night’s veil.
- Checking old maps of his rural hometown, Xavier discovered entire mysteriously vanished side streets once existing where now only empty fields stretched undisturbed for centuries since their bizarre purge from recorded history.
- Flipping through crumbling leather journals from past asylum director Dr. Heinrich Mann, inception sketches of the disturbing nightmare constructs and optical illusions he inflicted upon patients appeared less theoretical and more autobiographical in nature the deeper Ada translated his demented scribblings by firelight late at night alone.
- While scanning salvaged old ship logs, Kiara was startled to discover entries from her late grandmother documenting her own birthdate aboard a passenger liner supposedly sunk decades earlier.
- Investigating her recurring vivid dream of being entombed alive, Azaria charted ancestral burial plots only to discover one empty grave bearing her name and exact birthdate chiseling off the original corpse’s identity.
- Glancing at his wristwatch, Rafael periodic experienced time fracturing into duplicated overlays of the moments surrounding him as if glimpsing behind reality’s dimensional curtain.
- Plagued by visions of a raven-haired woman lurking outside her bedroom window, Talia discovered journal entries hinting her Victorian-era doppelganger pined and perished while awaiting her lover’s return from a doomed Arctic expedition long ago.
- While exploring off-limits shadowy corridors of the museum after hours, Gianna began noticing eldritch finished paintings lining the forbidden east wing that were definitely not present on the guest tour though signs bore names matching those of featured artists.
- When home alone late at night, Flor perpetually felt unseen eyes tracking her and heard phantom footsteps echoing hers throughout the creaky cottage inherited from her mysterious ancestor alleged to have spontaneously vanished from a locked room never solved.
- Surveying estate sale items previewing upcoming auctions, Caterina spied a glimmering heirloom once belonging to her maternal great-grandmother who reportedly perished in an asylum fire decades earlier though she bore no burn marks in any surviving photographs.
- Peering at family photo albums, Ronan periodically perceived blurry background figures resembling his doppelganger lurking behind foliage who blinked out of existence instantly when stared at directly.
- While scanning old yearbooks in the school library archives, Micah discovered chilling photographic evidence suggesting fellow students shadowing her in the periphery all bearing her exact likeness yet dressed in outdated eras’ attire.
- Investigating local lore surrounding the abandoned greenhouse ruins, Vivienne and her friends held a seance attempting to channel the notorious botanist who died there a century ago under questionable circumstances only to inadvertently enable a far more sinister entity’s crossing into their world instead.
- Each year on her birthday, Faith noticed the neighborhood birds and squirrels acted bizarrely muted as compared to their normally lively chatter, almost as if commemorating a tragic event not privy to human knowledge.
- Every Halloween as dusk fell, a phantom 1950s era couple strolled by Armand’s window clasping hands before vanishing directly behind the old oak their bodies were later discovered decades prior after apparent double suicide.
- While browsing old journals salvaged from the charred asylum ruins before impending demolition, Tristan discovered cryptic repeated allusions hinting the impending birth of malevolent entity rather than indications of mere psychiatric quackery as commonly assumed of the disgraced doctor once practicing there.
- Peering at old portraits lining her ancestral manor’s dark corridor Madeleine noticed the sitter’s gazes tracking her movements, their pupils dilating and contracting wildly though no other facial muscles moved.
- Investigating recalled toys from his youth rediscovered in the attic, Gabriel periodically sensed some sinister presence observing him that inexplicably lurked just outside his periphery despite no visible figure casting any such illusion whenever glanced.
- While exploring nearby woodlands, Arabella stumbled across odd little weathered altars adorned with melted candles, scraps of lace and ribbons where she sometimes glimpsed flickering lights floating around after dusk.
- Each year while placing summer solstice offerings around the old standing stones, Vivienne spotted a misty extra silhouette joining hands in their celebratory circle that blinked out of sight if stared at directly.
- One afternoon exploring the writing desk inherited from his late grandfather, Luca discovered cryptic letters penned in shaky script warning against answering any strange newspaper personal ads however tempting their intrigue.
- Every dusk walking past the abandoned city orphanage, Opal noticed the third floor nursery window illuminated though no electricity flowed there for decades, silhouetted figures pacing about until she crept close enough prompting their hasty retreat into deeper darkness.
- While scanning digital copies of century-old asylum intake logs for ancestry clues into relatives’ fates, Eli discerned between the lines chilling hints that certain powerful families committed bothersome black sheep under aliases to silence and contain their abilities rather than treat psychological maladies per se.
- Investigating the recurring bizarre phenomenon of his digital cameras malfunctioning around specific local woodlands, Felix gradually realized the likely presence of ancient ley line vortexes scrambling technological signals rather than sheer equipment failure alone.
- Each autumn peering out classroom windows overlooking the apple orchard cemetery, the rare child glimpsed spectral forms floating amongst the neglected headstones though teachers dismissed such sightings as mere tricks of the imagination meant ignoring.
- Exploring the abandoned shopping mall bought for redevelopment but left untouched after permit delays, Janelle felt waves of misery emanating from the dusty vacant spaces as if the very air itself still vibrated with traumatic events from decades past somehow indelibly embedded there.
- While sorting through boxes of old polaroids rescued from her grandparents’ flooded basement, Madeleine discerned ghostly faces peering back amidst familiar gathered groups that foretold early demises awaiting those prematurely grinning subjects.
- Investigating the overgrown ruins of a centuries deserted seaside village, Cian occasionally spotted a lone misty form wandering forlornly before evaporating upon his approach as if the ghostly denizens resented mortal visitors temporarily disturbing their ocean vista haunt.
- Each year while holiday decorating the ancestral family manor, Gwenavere noticed the centuries old Nutcracker figures brieflyanimate into startlingly lifelike motions out of her peripheral vision before freezing upon direct scrutiny.
- Exploring crumbling insane asylum rooms decades after abandonment but long before scheduled demolition, Vivienne sensed profound psychic agony still echoing though plastered walls now overgrown with decay as if absorbed directly from anguished souls once imprisoned there screaming into eternal oblivion.
- While scanning old ship passenger lists for ancestry school project clues, Kai encountered an unexpected additional name typed in faint red ink beside that of his immigrant grandfather suggesting another person may have accompanied him on that pivotal transatlantic journey appearing on no other travel documents.
- Sorting through aging newspaper archives downtown, William glimpsed the occasional photo of himself published decades earlier though attired in unfashionable eras’ garb with no memory of participating in those captured moments unfolding around his seemingly temporally misplaced likeness.
- Investigating recurring sightings of spectral cavalry soldiers thundering through wooded rural acreage on significant Civil War anniversaries, local historians unearthed old battlefield maps confirming legitimate ground for such otherworldly reenactments linked to pivotal skirmishes once fought there staining the land withIssuing blood soaked into its memory.
- While exploring the long abandoned family hunting lodge cabins, Gwen sensed a lingering malignant presence watching from warped window frames like unwelcome squatters refusing to surrender territory they’d marked decades earlier through committing dark acts within these now decaying walls.
- Each year while trimming ivy off her grandmother’s ornate mausoleum, Eliza inevitably noticed one particular vine creeping faster than the rest toward the structure as if desperate to envelope some secret it once contained now interred below.
- Investigating the recurring dream imagery of three women beckoning from within a gnarled oak grove, Vivienne eventually located the secluded forest site depicted down to exact detail only to discover three empty graves dating back centuries now obscured amidst overgrown brush and prominent claw mark gouges shredded deep among the bark.
- The old lighthouse had stood empty for decades, yet its beacon still shone brightly every night, as if calling lost souls home from an eternal sea voyage.
- Delia slipped the antique key into the mystifying lock it inexplicably fit, unsure if she truly wanted to discover what forgotten secrets the ornate wooden door might reveal inside her family’s creaky attic.
- Investigating recurring sightings of ghostly children playing in the meadow after dusk, local historians linked the puzzling phenomenon to a deadly school bus crash that occurred there sixty years prior.
- While scanning crumbling century-old parish archives for genealogy records, Vivienne stumbled across her grandmother’s name listed among 19th century death indexes even though she distinctly recalled the ornery old woman passing merely a decade ago from an ordinary stroke.
- Each autumn Wes spotted a faceless cloaked figure keeping pace alongside his vintage vehicle whenever driving past the notorious curve where his high school sweetheart perished decades earlier on prom night.
- Sorting through salvaged charred asylum patient artworks prior to scheduled demolition, Octavia discerned hidden figures screaming soundlessly within the painted flames as if the very souls of those forgotten individuals cried out for modern acknowledgement.
- Investigating the recurring dream imagery of three women beckoning from within a gnarled oak grove, Vivienne eventually located the secluded forest site depicted down to exact detail only to discover three empty graves dating back centuries now obscured amidst overgrown brush and prominent claw mark gouges shredded deep among the bark.
- While exploring the old family manor shuttered a generation earlier, Gwen discerned portraits subtly altering whenever her back was turned–a knowing smirk or arched brow here, an innocuous veil lowering there–hinting at secrets long buried with the venerated ancestors depicted glaring indignantly from their gilded frames irritated by her intrusion into their decaying domain.
- Peering out the backseat window when she was little, Hazel thought she saw her image ENDINGLy reflected in the glass despite nothing being visible in the darkness, as if a ghostly stranger sat in her spot when unobserved.
- Investigating the recurring phenomena of electronic devices mysteriously malfunctioning in certain Deadwood City locations after dark, Dr. Felix Xavier compiled extensive geomagnetic data confirming the presence of an incredibly rare crossover node torn in the dimensional fabric of that space-time perimeter inadvertently or perhaps deliberately ripped open through violent prior events that transpired there.
- While exploring subterranean prohibition era speakeasies hidden beneath the old Black Dog Distillery warehouse, Gwen stumbled across strange graffiti markings scrawled frantically in luminous paint actively changing before her eyes as if attempting to relay an urgent message.
- Every Halloween when passing the crumbling old asylum ruins on her late night drives home, Eliza spotted wraithlike silhouettes gazing mournfully from caged windows as if the forgotten suffering that transpired within those walls had permanently scarred its very foundation.
- Investigating her recurring visions of ghostly dancers swirling about a grand ballroom, Clara discovered faded records confirming an opulent hotel once stood on that site a century earlier that mysteriously burned down mid-gala killing all finely garbed guests waltzing within its fiery grip.
- While scrutinizing old maps of his rural Appalachian hometown, Xavier detected entire mysteriously vanished side streets predating his birth once existing where now only empty fields stretched undisturbed for generations since their bizarre purge from recorded history.
- Catching their emerald eyes for too long, Eliza sensed the portraits of ancestors lining the dilapidated manor halls scrutinizing her thoughts and actions behind thinly veiled contempt at her dust cloth sacrilege disturbing their decaying gilt frames.
- By flickering candlelight late at night alone sorting through his late father’s accumulated clutter prior to estate sale, Luca discovered cryptic letters penned in shaky script warning against answering any strange personal ads listed in their small town newspaper however tempting their lonely hearts intrigue.
- A character wakes up to find that they are the only person left in their town. What happened? Where is everyone?
- Write a story that begins: “The letter was meant for someone else, but it arrived on my doorstep anyway…”
- A shy student and star athlete are assigned to complete a project together. Write how an unlikely friendship forms.
- “I should have known something was wrong when…”
- A story involving a smartwatch that displays the future. How does the protagonist react? What do they do?
- Someone is anonymously sending kind gifts/letters to random people in town to make them smile. Write the story from either giver or receiver POV.
- “The paintings in the abandoned house seemed to follow me with their eyes.” What happens when the protagonist returns to the house?
- 2 people get trapped overnight somewhere strange/unusual. How do they pass the time? What do they talk about? How do they get through it?
- “It was the first winter snowfall of the year when I saw the footprints…” What happens next? Where do they lead?
- Start with: “I had almost made it home when I heard the noise behind me…” What happens next?
- Doctor tells someone they recover memories/life after reincarnation therapy. Main character undergoes therapy. What past life gets revealed? How does it impact them?
- Someone starts receiving messages from what seems like their future self. What do the messages reveal?
- Main character finds a phone number written on a bathroom wall. What happens after they decide to call?
- “I read the newspaper headline three times but still couldn’t believe my eyes.” What was so astonishing about the headline?
- Write about two neighbors who discover compartments in their homes, revealing secrets of people who used to live there. Do their searches intertwine?
- “I always thought Grandma’s stories were fantasy, pure entertainment… until that strange summer when…” Finish this story starter.
- Tell the story of someone who reunites with a childhood friend/sweetheart years later. Do old feelings resurface or has too much time passed?
- Someone starts finding post-it notes around their house with specific life instructions to follow. Where do they lead? Should protagonist listen?
- “As we drove up to the new house, all I could see was the old tire swing hanging from the tree.” What happens in this new mysterious home? Any magic?
- A mini-story involving a scarecrow coming to life…
- “Write a short story that begins with finding money/jewelry buried in a yard.” What happens next?
- Your character opens the door to their home and enters an alternate world/reality. What do they see? How do they react?
- The world has lost all sources of electrical power. Write a story in this new world.
- “With shaking hands, I opened the mysterious gift box and inside discovered…” What happens next?
- It’s discovered that animals can now speak to humans. Write a short story around conversing with a pet, zoo animal, wildlife creature etc.
- The childhood monster under your protagonist’s bed actually turns out to be real. What happens? How do they react once grown up?
- Opening line: “It was the whistle I heard first before laying eyes on the ghost train…” Finish the story!
- Rewrite a classic fairy tale from a secondary character’s perspective.
- They discover they can see “auras” around people indicating their moods/intentions and whether they’re dangerous etc. Do they keep it a secret? Do they try helping people?
- Write a story involving someone who claims he has no reflection in mirrors. Is it true? Why might this phenomenon be occurring?
- Opening line: “It was the howl that awoke me in the middle of the night…” What happens next?
- Write a story that begins with a doctor revealing someone’s death in 1 week. How does this impact the way they live their remaining days?
- “It seemed like any other boring Tuesday, that is, until the president announced that we’d made contact with extraterrestrial life…” Finish this sci-fi story!
- Your protagonist finds themselves having to care for a new mysterious plant. It seems to grow and change oddly overnight! Then what happens?
- Opening line: “It all started when my childhood crush climbed in through my bedroom window one night…” Finish the story!
- Two pen pals finally meet in real life after years of correspondence. Do sparks fly or are they disappointed?
- Opening line: “As night fell in the desert, we finally saw the mysterious glowing tent in the distance that the locals warned us not to approach.” Your characters investigate anyway – then what happens?
- Story about someone discovering a new world through a secret door in their home – a fantasy realm, past, future, etc. What do they experience?
- Story about someone who figures out how to hack into dreams…
- A mini sci-fi story… set in a future with AI companions…
- Genre mashup! Combine 2 random genres into one wacky story, like fantasy-western or supernatural-romcom.
- Someone discovers a strange new app that chronicles their entire life and future… It knows everything as it happens! Now what?
- Story set in a mysterious town where no one can lie…
- Someone discovers they can erase certain memories/moments from people’s minds. Do they keep this power secret? Do they experiment? Consequences?
- “I couldn’t believe my eyes when my best friend came back after missing for 2 years! But something was… different…”
- Your character finds cryptic letters/texts guiding them to save someone’s life. Do they follow where they lead? Positive or dangerous outcomes?
- Opening line: “It was the growling from under my bed that kept me awake that night…” What happens next?
- “I knew I shouldn’t take candy from strangers… which is why I was so confused when…” Continue this story.
- Protagonist is out late one night and glimpses someone who looks exactly like them passing by. What happens next when they try to chase them down?
- Genre mashup! Combine a classic fairytale with a modern story idea. Fairytale characters placed in everyday situations.
- Story involving a magical glass orb…
- Story with a setting featuring an enchanted forest.
- Your protagonist receives an invitation to a mysterious gala event hosted by an anonymous stranger…
- Rewrite a classic myth/legend as a modern dystopian story. How might themes translate to reflect modern society issues?
- Someone discovers a way to enter works of art or old family photos almost like virtual worlds. What do they learn? Where could it lead?
- “They told me it was just a scarecrow, that my mind was playing tricks in the night. But then I saw it move…” Continue this scary story!
- Protagonist finds cryptic letter from themself – sent from a future date! It warns them or asks them to prevent something…
- Story featuring a magic camera that shows the near future of whatever it takes a photo of.
- Story written as a conversation between a personified Fortune and Misfortune.
- “When I pictured time travel, I imagined sophisticated machines – not the strange immunotherapy drug trial I volunteered for…” Continue this sci-fi story!
- Someone realizes they can communicate with ghosts. Friend? Foe? Do they keep it secret?
- A mini-story set during the Salem Witch Trials…
- “I thought it was just a game when my friends dared me to knock on the spooky abandoned house’s door late one night. At least… until somebody opened it!” Continue the story!
- Story featuring a mysterious shop with artifacts imbued with magical powers both helpful and dangerous…
- Protagonist finds out their doppelganger is committing crimes and they’re being blamed…
- Rewrite a classic story as a text conversion, emails, or phone conversation between the characters rather than prose. Play with formatting.
- Story about someone who figures out how to enter works of literature or other fictional stories…
- Protagonist is abducted by aliens! But… they’re actually kind of adorkably innocent rather than scary? What happens?
- “Grandpa’s war stories sounded farfetched. But now, huddled in this trench and looking into the eyes of my enemy, I know every word was true…” Continue story!
- Protagonist discovers someone close to them actually has a secret second life/job unbeknownst to anyone… What is it? Do they confront them when found out?
- Story containing the line: “I should never have told my twin ‘I wish you’d disappear!’ the night before they vanished without a trace…”
- “I swiped left, I swiped right, and then my dating app asked, ‘Would you like to match with your soulmate?’”
- Story about someone discovering a clone of themself has been made without their knowledge…
- Modern fantasy story involving mythical humanoid creatures secretly living ordinary lives in human society…
- Story centered around a mysterious store where you can buy magical real-life edits to memories, outcomes, events, etc. But every edit comes at an unpredictable price…
- Gritty noir detective story featuring classic fairytale characters and story elements somehow incorporated into the setting…
- Protagonist discovers a way to bring fiction characters to life…! Chaos? Friendship? What happens?
- Story that begins: “It was my patient’s first day awake from a 30-year coma. ‘What did I miss?’ he asked. How do I explain everything that’s changed?”
- A mini-story featuring a roadside stand that appears each year selling incredible magical objects before vanishing without notice…
- Story written as a one sided conversation between personified Life and Death…
- “It turns out the ‘imaginary friend’ my daughter kept insisting comes to play with her when I’m not looking wasn’t so imaginary after all…” Continue story!
- Opening line: “It was the passphrase that appeared engraved on my arm that morning that let me know I wasn’t alone…” Continue!
- Protagonist keeps reliving the same disastrous day over and over again like “Groundhog Day.” What happens? How do they escape this strange time loop?
- Historical fiction short featuring classic art/literature characters interacting…
- “When I jokingly made a wish on my birthday candles for a ‘perfect friend’, I didn’t expect to open my eyes to see…” Continue this magical realism story!
- Story involving the discovery of unusual dinosaur fossils that seem almost mythological/supernatural… What explains them?
- Someone starts receiving messages from their future descendants warning them about impending mistakes… Should they listen and alter the future? Consequences?
- Opening line: “It all began when scientists discovered a way to give animals human speech and reasoning for short bursts…” Continue this short!
- Story about someone investigating why people are suddenly disappearing without explanation from a small town… Supernatural or logical cause?
- Story featuring reincarnation but with someone being reborn in unexpected eras / family situations over time… Perhaps even switching gender or nationalities…!
- “I thought I was prepared for anything in medical school… And then they wheeled in the patient covered head-to-toe in thick fur…” Continue!
- Story featuring a matchmaking agency that uses magic/futuristic tech to determine literal soulmate pairings…
- Write a story where every 10 years or so the protagonist jumps forward in time. Why?
- Story written from perspective of the last person on Earth…
- Fantasy adventure featuring a protagonist questing to return peace to warring lands of anthropomorphic animal race territories…
- Protagonist discovers a way to bottle talents/skills and share them in liquid form… Do they commercialize this magic elixir? Mess ups when people swap by mistake?
- Story about AI companions becoming sentient. Friendship? Danger? Uprising?
- Super short story featuring a genie who lost their magic therefore twists all wishes into bitterly ironic outcomes…
- Rewrite a classic myth/fable in modern setting. What details change? What themes/lessons remain timeless?
- A Museum Comes To Life At Night – the art transforms back into what it represents. Mischievous Greek gods, chilling monster paintings, playground in famous surreal artwork etc.!
- Write about a character who receives a mysterious letter in the mail. What does it say and how do they react?
- Describe a library or bookstore from the perspective of someone who spends all their time there.
- A photo album is discovered in an antique shop. Write a story about one of the people shown in the album.
- “I never would have stolen that car if I had known what was in the trunk.” Tell that story.
- Write a suspenseful story that begins with the line “I sensed I was being followed as I walked home through the empty streets.”
- Describe 5 seemingly mundane objects in poetic detail, using metaphor and imagery.
- Craft a story using the title “The Edge of Seventeen” as inspiration.
- Write two diary entries – one from the perspective of a vampire, and the other of their human lover.
- Describe a room from the perspective of someone who just entered it for the very first time.
- Use the phrase “Would you rather?” as inspiration for a short piece of flash fiction.
- Write a conversation between a prisoner and a guard, revealing something surprising about their relationship.
- Describe the walk home after getting off the last bus/train on a Friday night. Capture the sights, sounds, and feelings.
- Write a story featuring a character searching desperately for something they lost. Do they find it?
- Narrate a wedding scene from the perspective of a guest who knows a scandalous secret about the bride/groom.
- Write a fictional story about someone you pass on the street, based only on subtle cues from their appearance and demeanor.
- Describe an abandoned amusement park brought back to life through the eyes of someone who played there as a child.
- Use the phrase “The trees whispered secrets only I could hear” as the opening line to craft a short story.
- Write a fictional press statement announcing that the lost city of Atlantis has been discovered after thousands of years underwater.
- Craft a slice-of-life vignette about someone reminiscing while listening to a favorite song from childhood.
- Use a deck of cards to inspire a story. Reference the cards you draw at key moments.
- Describe someone’s favorite secret hiding spot in rich sensory detail. Why is it special to them?
- Write a scene featuring two estranged friends reuniting unexpectedly in a strange location after not speaking for years.
- Open with “As I looked around at the faces surrounding me, I knew one of them must be the killer.” See where the story goes from there.
- Pick two fictional characters from different books/movies that would never interact. Write a scenario where they meet and describe their conversation.
- Describe a busy marketplace through the eyes of a pickpocket searching for their next target.
- Craft a story that begins with “I swerved to avoid hitting the creature standing motionless in the middle of the deserted road.”
- Imagine you discover a door in your home that has never been there before. Describe what happens when you enter it.
- Use a famous painting or photo as inspiration for a story. Describe both the image itself and the tale it provokes.
- Write a fictional commencement speech filled with wisdom you’d most want to impart to graduates.
- Describe someone reacting to finding an unusual item that has washed up on shore from the sea. What is it? Where did it come from?
- Craft a story using the phrase “ink stained dreams” as inspiration.
- Write about a prodigious talent who suddenly loses their gift and has to grapple emotionally with no longer being special.
- Use only metaphor and imagery to describe joy, heartbreak, fear, calm, and wonder.
- Narrate someone’s first skydiving experience from the moment the plane takes off through landing safely on the ground.
- Write a fictional account of scientists making first contact with an advanced alien civilization.
- Describe someone returning to their hometown after being away many years. What has changed, and what has endured?
- Craft a story featuring a historian researching an intriguing figure from the past.
- Use a family heirloom as inspiration for a story exploring its secret history.
- Write a tale featuring a character searching for treasure, whether monetary or emotional/spiritual. Do they find it?
- Opening line: “I still remember the day the last tree was cut down.” Where does the story go from there?
- Describe a typical morning through the eyes of someone going about their daily routine half-asleep.
- Craft a story that begins with finding a cryptic note left under your door. What does it say, and what happens next?
- Use the title “The Photo That Shouldn’t Exist” as inspiration for a twisted tale.
- Write a conversation between two people sitting together on a ferris wheel at an amusement park. What are they discussing high in the air?
- Craft a story using the phrase “You can’t understand what war is like unless you’ve lived through one” as inspiration.
- Describe an unusual job from the perspective of someone who works there.
- Imagine meeting your childhood self. Write that conversation.
- Narrate a story featuring a character searching the city for a mysterious graffiti artist. Do they find them?
- Write a story featuring a historian researching an intriguing figure from the past.
- Describe the summer night an adolescent first falls truly in love. Capture the emotional exhilaration using metaphor and imagery.
- Craft a story using the title “The Edge of Seventeen” as inspiration.
- Write a horror story that begins with seeing an unusual animal behavior you’ve never witnessed before.
- Narrate someone overcoming lifelong fear and attempting something daring.
- Open with “As long as I can remember I’ve been different from the other kids…” Where does the story go from there?
- Use only metaphor and imagery to describe envy, rage, passion, grief, and optimism.
- Rewrite a fairy tale from the perspective of the villain who feels they’ve been misunderstood.
- Craft an emotional story about two friends growing apart over time despite trying to preserve their bond.
- Write a conversation between an adventurer and the ghost that haunts their family’s isolated old estate.
- Imagine a world without any problems. Now write about someone trying to stir up trouble in that perfect world.
- Write a story told from the perspective of an insect experiencing a commonplace setting or event as epic and extraordinary.
- Craft a story featuring a character searching for a legendary ghost train that appears once a year in the foggy night.
- Write a fictional story about someone you pass on the street, based only on subtle cues from their appearance and demeanor. What secrets might their subtle gestures reveal?
- “I know I’m not thinking clearly, but I’ve made my decision and I won’t change my mind…” Where does this story go?
- Craft a tale featuring star-crossed lovers using imagery and metaphor to intensify the emotional stakes.
- Write a scene featuring two estranged friends reuniting unexpectedly in a strange location after not speaking for years.
- Describe someone’s first experience traveling abroad alone using rich sensory detail.
- Imagine you can communicate with animals. Write a fictional conversation with a nonhuman creature most humans underestimate.
- Narrate a story featuring a character trying desperately to remember someone or something important that is eluding them. Do they succeed in remembering by the story’s end?
- Open with “I peeled the bright orange sticker off the wrapped package that just arrived…” Where does the story go next?
- Craft a story using the title “Impossible Colors” as inspiration.
- Write about someone who wakes up to discover their house is sentient.
- Describe someone having an emotional conversation with their vehicle after caring for it many years. Use metaphor to intensify the bond.
- Narrate the experience of someone setting foot inside a newly discovered cave for the very first time, using rich sensory detail.
- Write a story featuring a historian researching an intriguing figure from the past – except the historian gets transported back in time.
- Craft a story using the phrase “ink stained dreams” as inspiration.
- Imagine humans have perfected dream travel technology, but someone is sabotaging dreams. Tell that story from the inside out.
- Narrate someone’s first time seeing the northern lights using metaphor and imagery to capture the magic.
- Open with “I peeled the bright orange sticker off the wrapped package that just arrived…” Where does the story go next?
- Craft a horror story featuring a seemingly harmless sequence of numbers that drives those who encounter it mad.
- Write a conversation between two strangers sitting together on an airplane. What common hopes and fears might they discover uniting them?
- Describe someone finally visiting a fictional city they’ve dreamed of their entire life. Use rich sensory detail to describe both their imaginings and reality.
- Narrate a story featuring a character searching the city for a mysterious graffiti artist. Do they find them?
- Open with “As I looked around at the faces surrounding me, I knew one of them must be the killer.” See where the story goes from there.
- Rewrite a fairy tale from the perspective of a more obscure character we rarely consider deeply.
- Craft an emotional story about trying to care for someone slowly losing their memory. Capture the pain of feeling them slip away.
- “I know I’m not thinking clearly, but I’ve made my decision and I won’t change my mind…” Where does this story go?
- Write about someone who wakes up to discover their house is sentient.
- Imagine humans can voluntarily enter each other’s dreams. Write about someone attempting to send an urgent message directly through someone else’s subconscious.
- Craft a horror story featuring a sequence of numbers someone becomes unhealthily obsessed with figuring out.
- Narrate someone overcoming lifelong fear and attempting something daring using metaphor and imagery to capture the exhilaration of bravery.
- Tell the tale of two unconventional star-crossed lovers fighting against stigma to stay together.
- Describe someone finally visiting a fictional city they’ve dreamed of their entire life. Use rich sensory detail to describe both their imaginings and reality.
- Write about an outcast banding together with other ostracized people to build their own little community.
- Craft a story featuring a character searching for a legendary ghost train that appears once a year in the foggy night.
- Open with “I still remember the day the last tree was cut down.” Where does the story go from there?
- Imagine you discover a door in your home that has never been there before. Describe what happens when you enter it.
- Narrate the experience of someone setting foot inside a newly discovered cave for the very first time, using rich sensory detail.
- Describe someone’s favorite secret hiding spot using imagery and metaphor. Why is it special to them?
- Write a horror story that begins with seeing some unusual animal behavior you’ve never witnessed before.
- Craft a short story using the title “Impossible Colors” as inspiration.
- Write about a character discovering something extraordinary in an ordinary place.
- Describe a room from the perspective of someone who just entered it for the very first time.
- Use all five senses to describe preparing and eating a favorite childhood meal.
- Tell the story of a scar – real or imagined, physical or emotional.
- A beloved pet suddenly speaks. Write the dialogue between pet and owner.
- The seasons have lost their order. Describe this strange new world.
- Write a Gothic tale about a haunted mansion in your hometown.
- Legend tells of a magic waterfall that grants wishes. Write the scene where your character finds it.
- “I never expected monsters to look like that…” Expand on this thought from your narrator.
- Write about the day the portrait in your attic begins talking to you.
- Describe five small moments that changed your character’s life forever.
- Overhearing a secret conversation changes everything your character thought they knew about someone close to them. Tell this scene.
- Write about flowers blooming in winter. What caused this strange occurrence?
- “I cannot tell a lie, not about this.” Start your story with this line.
- Write about someone who wakes up to discover they suddenly have a supernatural ability.
- A magical book that makes everything its reader writes about come true. Write the scene where your character realizes the book’s power.
- Describe the most breathtaking sunrise or sunset your character has ever seen.
- Retell a favorite fairy tale from the perspective of the villain. Make them sympathetic.
- Flower petals fall from every opening in your character’s house. Why?
- Write about discovering a room hidden inside your home that doesn’t appear on any blueprints.
- Open with: “It was the howling that woke me…” What happens next?
- Write a letter from one fictional character to another fictional character.
- Write a scene about two characters seeing snowfall for the very first time.
- Use synesthesia to describe your character’s emotions. What do their feelings taste/look/sound like?
- Tell the story of a long-lost twin reuniting with their sibling later in life.
- Open with this line: “Let me tell you about the very worst thing that ever happened to me.” What’s your character’s tale?
- Describe a character’s unique laugh and what it conveys about them.
- Invent and describe a magical board game your characters play.
- Write a twist on sleeping beauty where she sleeps for 2000 years and wakes to a baffling modern world.
- “I meant to do it.” Start with this as your opening line. What happens next?
- Describe a character overcoming their biggest personal weakness to do something incredibly brave.
- What if birds could talk? Write a conversation between your character and a chatty bird.
- Write a poem or scene from the perspective of a non-human animal like a cat or dog.
- Describe someone who battles monsters that are invisible to everyone else
- One character lives on the moon, another lives at the bottom of the ocean. They strike up an unlikely friendship. Tell their story.
- Create and describe fantastical plants that reveal people’s thoughts and memories.
- Someone close to your character is not what they seem. They have been hiding a secret double life all along.
- Write a gothic tale featuring a haunted painting or other artwork.
- “The photographs in my album aren’t in the correct chronological order. I wonder why…” Tell the story suggested by this prompt.
- Put an unlikely pair of characters (ex: mermaid and vampire) on a long road trip together as they travel to accomplish some goal. Write a scene from their journey.
- “Of course I talk to myself. Who else can I get an expert opinion from?” Write a story inspired by this quip.
- What if we aged in reverse, growing younger every year until we “died” as infants? Describe this strange new reality.
- Tell the life story of an immortal being as they observe eras pass by throughout history.
- Write a sea shanty to be sung aboard a pirate ship on its way to bury treasure.
- Flowers that erase memories are discovered. Describe the chaos as people try using them for questionable purposes.
- Write a dialogue between a novelist and their fictional character who thinks they deserve better treatment in the story.
- Develop a fictional myth about the phases of the moon.
- Describe someone overcoming adversity with the help of an encouraging ghost that only they can see.
- Invent a mythical librarian who helps characters solve mysteries and quests using magical books.
- Write a tear jerker scene about someone telling an intricately crafted lie to shield someone they love from the horrible truth.
- Write dialogue between two strangers waiting at the same bus stop in the middle of the night. What brings them there?
- Invent a legendary spell book and describe its intricate lock that keeps it closed.
- Write about a support group for mythological creatures struggling to adapt to the modern world.
- You discover a phone number written in every single book on your shelf. When you call, someone answers: “Hello. We’ve been waiting.”
- Write about mismatched, bickering detectives that must work together to crack a curious case.
- “I wasn’t aimlessly daydreaming. I was…” tell the story your narrator trails off from explaining fully.
- Flowers bloom year-round, except winter. All but one person experiences life without winter over years and years. Write from their perspective.
- A longstanding urban legend in your neighborhood finally proves true. Tell this story.
- Write a friendship scene between two unlikely beings – example: ghost and knight.
- Describe a weary witch hiring an assistant to help manage their demanding workload.
- Write a story featuring a lasting friendship between a vampire and zombie.
- A creator dialogues with their creation who takes issue with their personality, backstory, or destiny assigned to them.
- Open with: “The portal only opens at midnight on a full moon. Of course it does.” Set the scene!
- Someone is forced to seek help from someone they disadvantages long ago. Write this humbling scene.
- Write a twist on Medusa’s origin story making her more sympathetic.
- A painted door in an alley seems to change artwork each day. One day, it opens… Describe what happens next.
- Write a scene about a support group for the second-born children of fairytale families.
- Write a scene about gathering around to listen to one’s elders tell stories around a bonfire. What tales do they tell?
- A ascending hot air balloon gets caught in a storm and ends up on a strange new land floating in the sky. Describe what they find.
- Time runs differently across space so cosmos-travelers return younger or older than when they departed. Write a reunion scene between two characters after cosmic travel has aged them differently.
- Paint a verbal still life describing a bowl of fruit that has one exceedingly strange addition.
- Write the opening scene of a novel featuring an amateur detective/journalist researching small town supernatural mysteries.
- Your character overhears monsters mysteriously discussing “the peace accord” falling apart. They are shocked to discover monsters secretly living among humans.
- Write a scene about a support group for people who suddenly develop odd supernatural abilities.
- In the world you’re writing, the moon changes color each night instead of phase. Describe the unique hues and what they signify.
- Open with “It was the first sunny day after a long bitter winter.” Describe this symbolic transition from your character’s perspective.
- An old wishing well’s magic activates after years of silence. Describe the cascade of unfulfilled wishes coming true all at once.
- Write an epic battle scene between mythological hero and monster. Lead up to climactic moment.
- Write a tearful scene between two immortal beings who love one another, but know they must part ways as eras change.
- Describe the small town where all fairy tale creatures live side-by-side, just beyond the forest.
- Craft a lyrical poem describing emotion using colorful metaphors and sensory imagery.
- A story that explains the phenomenon of deja vu.
- AsSeasons cycle at random, write a scene of someone experiencing a strange unseasonable event
- Write a humorous scene between a perfectionist spellcaster and their supernatural familiar who keeps causing mischief.
- Write a dialogue focused scene featuring an unlikely friendship between mythical beings from opposing lands.
- Describe a haunted seaside lighthouse and the mysterious shipwreck submerged beneath its glow. Tell the story of how they came to rest at the bottom of the sea.
- Write a melancholic scene about parting ways with a magical creature who helped you through a difficult time as a child.
- Describe a eccentric small town inventor who manages to create actual dreamcatchers that bottle dreams while people sleep. They build a business selling custom dream experiences.
- Pick two fictional characters from different books/movies and imagine their hidden friendship. Write a dialogue scene between them.
- About a support group for horror movie protagonists struggling to process their unusual traumatic experiences…
- Choose a flower and write an imaginative tale explaining its unique characteristics or how it came to be.
- Describe a faerie marketplace full of merchants selling enchantments, potions, mystical remedies and artifacts imbued with magical properties.
- Pick any mundane task (ex: doing laundry) and describe it using grandiose poetic verse befitting an ancient legend.
- Write simple heartfelt dialogue between two characters falling in love while watching meteors streak across the night sky.
- Describe a wise librarian who helps characters locate books with advice to overcome great adversity.
- Write a suspenseful scene featuring a character investigating the sudden sinister laughter emerging from their haunted grandfather clock.
- Choose an emotion (love, hope, regret etc.) and describe it as a tangible living essence that your character encounters.
- Describe two secret pen pals who find an enchanted mailbox allowing them to send letters to the past and future.
- Paint a vivid setting describing a bookshop full of endless winding halls stacked to the brim with volumes of exotic magical knowledge and relics
- Detail extraordinary hanging lamps illuminating a revered ancient library filled with mythical texts, haven to legendary scholars pursuing eternal mysteries
- A photo falls out of an old book you’re reading, showing people you don’t recognize living in a historical period. Write their story.
- A train is delayed for hours, trapping a diverse group of passengers together. Write the scenes that unfold between them.
- You open a door in an abandoned lakeside cabin and discover a room that shouldn’t exist. What’s inside?
- An estranged grandparent sends you an invitation to meet for the first time. Write the dialogue for this complex encounter.
- You find an old recipe box filled with clippings and personal notes. Use one recipe or note as inspiration for a story.
- A professor requires students to debate ethical questions around a controversial novel. Write the debate.
- After a funeral, family members gather to make difficult decisions about an estate. Explore the tensions that emerge.
- Construction crews discover a buried time capsule from 100 years ago in your neighborhood. Write fictional journal entries from that era.
- Social media brings a long-lost friend from childhood back into your life at an emotional time. Write the scenes that follow.
- Through a mix-up, you receive a voicemail meant for someone else. It contains news that impacts your view of a close friend. Write the story.
- A teacher assigns students to convince the class of an unpopular viewpoint about society, history or human nature. Write a speech.
- An acquaintance invites you to join a book club then hosted by a local celebrity author. Write your observations and conversations.
- You discover a relative’s WWII love letters hidden away. Use them to construct a story set in that era.
- A stranger interviews you for a documentary project on ‘ordinary lives.’ Write the conversation that ensues.
- Research an obscure historical figure and write a fictional diary from their perspective.
- Find an old family photograph that piques your curiosity. Write a story about it.
- Overhear a cryptic exchange between two people that suggests hidden troubles or secrets. Construct backstories and flesh it out.
- Rumors swirl about the closure of a community fixture. Write the conversations neighbors have speculating why.
- Study people around you in public and imagine their lives, routines or backstories. Write a scene or story based on your musings.
- An elderly neighbor asks you to help clear out an attic or basement filled with mysterious things from their past. Write the unfolding story.
- Write a fictional conversation between two memorable characters from different books (Tom Sawyer and Hermione Granger, etc). What would they talk about?
- Listen to a stranger have a one-sided phone call. Imagine the other half based on the clues you can gather. Write the full dialogue.
- Set a story within a unique subculture (storm chasers, magicians, renaissance fair community, etc). Research it to add authentic details.
- Your hometown is divided on a controversial local issue (development project, school closing, etc). Write speeches from both sides.
- Write about a teacher who left an imprint on you for good or ill. Explore the complexities.
- Develop a fictional friendship between a child and elderly person. Imagine the dialogue and stories they share.
- Overhear someone mention an unusual phobia. Construct a literary story around it.
- Choose a career and research ethical dilemmas that arise. Write fictional case studies exploring them.
- Retell a fairy tale or myth from an unusual perspective, perhaps that of a minor character. Add depth through fictional scenes.
- Write a fictional commencement speech for your school and time period, commenting on society.
- Use a real historical event as inspiration for a fictional short story. Research to add relevant details.
- Pandemic stories are told from one perspective. Tell the other side (the masks-are-tyranny side or the other).
- A lie is discovered that reshapes a family’s history. Write the revealing conversations.
- Write about two friends from starkly different cultural backgrounds. Explore points connection and disconnection.
- A magical watch temporarily lets you inhabit someone else’s consciousness. Write your observations.
- On a trip, you glimpse someone you think died years ago. Or did they? Construct the mystery.
- Write about a ‘ordinary’ moment that still had an unexpected profundity you think about sometimes. Explore why.
- Someone reemerges from your past with a shocking revelation that reframes your memories. Construct the scene.
- Write about someone who struggled mightily to achieve a dream, failed, picked a new wildly different path, succeeded.
- Write about the day a long-harbored family secret was finally revealed. Did it explain anything?
- Pen an opening scene featuring a fascinating hobby or interest (mushroom hunting, metal detecting, crabbing, etc). Research details.
- A healthcare worker has an experience that reshapes their calling and purpose. Write it.
- Write fictional letters two friends send each other over many years—from youthful days to old age.
- A survivor of a hardship or illness grapples with why they made it. Explore complex emotions like guilt.
- Write a fictionalized dialogue exploring the ethics of war between a soldier, pacifist and civilian.
- Retell a classic myth from the ‘villain’s’ perspective. Use empathy to add complexity.
- A teacher retires after decades. Write their reflections on how students and education changed.
- The discovery of an ancestor’s hidden past forces a young person to reexamine their family and self.
- Write about star-crossed lovers torn apart by family, customs or beliefs. Explore shades of culture clash.
- Write a conversation between two unusual trailblazers in their field. What drove them?
- Fiction often focuses on problems. Write about someone helping solve a problem instead.
- Write fictional interviews with locals on the cultural lore of your place.
- A broken family reconnects after years thanks to the persistence of one member. Write a reunion.
- Write about someone who loses everything then finds a truer community.
- Why is the villain actually sympathetic? Use empathy and backstory.
- What events made someone abandon everything familiar to start life anew? Explore the complexity behind drastic change.
- Write fictional interviews with locals about how a community survived hardship and rebuilt (flood, fire, upheaval).
- Write about someone who learns their town or family history is not what it seemed.
- Fictionalize the story of a historical figure rediscovering their purpose in a second chapter of life.
- Write a conversation between two unlikely people (child and elder, celebrities, rivals) finding common ground.
- Write about someone who sought refuge in nostalgia to escape present troubles. Did it help or hinder?
- Write about a watershed experience that taught someone to start living more boldly.
- Write a fictional commencement speech exploring how to keep ideals alive despite harsh realities.
- Write a complex mother-daughter exchange exploring family legacy, purpose and expectations.
- Why might someone conceal their talents? Write about it.
- Write about someone who felt trapped by others’ limited perceptions of them.
- Write fictional interviews with people touched by great art, music or beauty. How did it impact or inspire them?
- Write about someone who lost faith in institutions but found it in people’s kind gestures.
- Write about someone who climbed high then used their place to lift others.
- Write about the day a marginalized group spoke and society finally listened.
- Write about someone who felt oppressed by labels and erroneous assumptions, and fought back.
- Write about someone who rediscovers wholeness and purpose after loss.
- Write about the day everything changes in a traditional community after years resisting progress.
- Write a complex father-son exchange about purpose, vulnerability, loss.
- Write about someone who searched high and low for solutions only to find answers in unexpected places closer to home.
- Write about someone who lovingly helps a person find their way when they’ve lost theirs.
- Write about someone who moves between cultures, languages, classes or eras and uses this as creative power.
- Write fictional commencement wisdom from someone unusual or unexpected.
- Write a conversation between two people exploring how to speak across political divides with empathy yet conviction.
- Write about someone who courageously honored their individuality despite pressures to conform.
- Write about someone who felt displaced geographically and culturally before discovering community.
- Write about someone who courageously fought injustice and made society more equitable as a result.
- Write about someone who rediscovers forgotten parts of themselves while helping heal community division.
- Write about someone who found an unexpected gift in a challenge.
- Write about someone who reclaims joy after trauma or turmoil.
- Write about someone who realized a dream isn’t the dream and had to find a new one or revive an old one instead.
- Write about someone who has glimpsed truth and now struggles to integrate it into everyday life.
- Write about someone who courageously risked privilege or safety to expand human rights.
- Write about everyday rebellion against inequality.
- Write about someone who found meaning and fellowship on the margins of society.
- Write about someone who challenged internalized prejudices with courage and honesty.
- Write about a watershed moment someone first felt seen for who they truly are.
- Write about someone who found connection and understanding bridging a divide.
- Write about someone who realized they were loved not despite their flaws but because of their full, complex humanity.
- Write about someone who learned to trust in hard times by seeing models of courage and resilience around them.
- Write about someone who models moral courage and integrity in a climate bereft of it.
- Write a story that values compassion over judgment.
- Write about moral awakenings large and small.
- Write about everday decency, empathy and acts of conscience during inhumane times. Find the helpers.
- Write about the transformational power of love – its joys, trials, risks and healing.
- The last text message a person receives before their phone dies unexpectedly reveals a long-kept secret. What happens next?
- An estranged couple gets trapped overnight together in an elevator during a blackout. What truths come to light?
- During a walk in the woods, a character makes a disturbing discovery about someone close to them. What do they find?
- A package arrives on a character’s doorstep with no return address. What’s inside that changes everything?
- Someone gets an ominous fortune from a fortune cookie that seems to eerily predict future events. What’s the prediction and does it come true?
- Two former best friends run into each other years after a bitter falling out. Will they reconcile or push each other further away?
- A character sees a familiar face in an old photograph from decades ago that makes them question history as they know it. What photo is it?
- A teenage character overhears a private conversation that was clearly not meant for their ears. How do they respond?
- Someone receives a long-overdue apology from a past bully or wrongdoer. Do they accept or reject the gesture?
- A time capsule buried years ago is finally unearthed, containing relics from the past that bring up emotional memories. What’s inside and who buried it?
- A diary is discovered detailing scandalous small-town secrets from decades past. What secrets are uncovered and what effect do they have today?
- Someone famous secretly returns to their small, quaint hometown. What happens when their true identity is revealed?
- During a blackout, a character overhears their neighbors discussing something suspicious. What were they discussing and what does the character do next?
- A regretful moment from the past hauntingly resurfaces during an ordinary present-day encounter. What moment was it?
- A hidden underground bunker is discovered on an old estate. What’s found inside?
- A character living a double life struggles with their growing inner turmoil. What secret life are they leading and does it eventually unravel?
- A single person receives an anonymous Valentine’s Day card unlike any other they’ve received before. What sets it apart?
- Two longtime rivals are forced to work closely together to achieve a shared goal. Do they prevail together or fail disastrously?
- Someone is convinced that their new home is haunted by a sad, restless ghost only they can see and feel. Are they imagining things or not?
- A high school reunion takes an awkward turn when old drama, rivalries, and romances unexpectedly resurface. Whose past comes back to haunt them?
- A character finds their estranged parent’s long-lost journal and reads startling revelations about the true circumstances of their conception. How does it change them?
- Someone returns home to find a surprising guest waiting for them with an unbelievable claim. Who is it and what news do they bring?
- During a power outage, someone gets an emergency phone call from a voice they haven’t heard in years and thought they never would again. Whose voice is it?
- At the reading of a will for a mysterious elderly neighbor, shocking family secrets get revealed about people still living in the small town. What secrets come out?
- A character accidentally falls into a forgotten root cellar on an abandoned property long-rumored by the townspeople to be haunted. What do they find?
- Someone begins finding little notes and gifts hidden around their home when no one else should have access. Who is leaving them and why?
- Two friends make a hurtful vowed promise as children that they later come to deeply regret. Do they keep it or break it?
- During an ordinary errand, someone has a magical chance encounter that feels like destiny. Who do they meet?
- After a bad breakup, someone drunkenly vents their innermost thoughts and feelings in an email to their ex. Do they regret sending it the next day or not?
- When their ex unexpectedly shows up in their small, remote town, a character is forced to confront their lingering complicated feelings about the relationship and its demise. What happens when they run into each other again?
- Exploring the attic, someone finds old letters exchanged between a WWI soldier at the front and his sweetheart back home. What secrets do the letters reveal?
- Sorting through a recently deceased relative’s estate, a meaningful memento dredges up difficult memories of the complex relationship they had. What item is it?
- During a terrible snowstorm, the power goes out and strangers snowed in together at the local diner slowly open up to each other about who they really are and the problems they’re facing. What secret does someone reveal?
- Someone begins exchanging old family stories and recipes through written letters with an anonymous stranger. What happens when they finally meet in person?
- A single moment of intersection between two people who unknowingly had a profound effect on each others’ difficult life journeys years earlier. What moment was it for each that later intertwined their lives again?
- Someone tries to anonymously reunite a lost memento with its aging owner, only to discover that nothing about its story is what it seems. What item is lost and why is its history so complicated?
- A character struggles with the discovery of a shocking truth about their family’s Dark Secret hidden for generations. What was the long-buried secret?
- The discovery of an old family heirloom in an antique shop opens up difficult memories and realizations. What item is found?
- A character is tempted to read the private diary of their reclusive elderly neighbor. What secrets are revealed inside its pages?
- Sorting through old photos while visiting recently widowed relatives, someone discovers troubling information about a relative’s mysterious death long ago. What new information casts doubt on the accepted story?
- A character accidentally overhears a private conversation not meant for them revealing life-changing news about a friend. What secret comes out?
- Someone tries to save a stranger in a crisis but is surprised when the experience dredges up difficult personal memories. What memory resurfaces?
- A character attends an auction selling off the household antiques of someone they once knew. They decide to secretly bid on a meaningful item from the past. What item is it?
- A character receives a surprising letter in the mail posthumously written by someone important from their past. Who was it from and what does the letter reveal?
- An old trunk containing memorabilia of young lovers from the past is found. But a troubling secret is unearthed about what really happened to them. What secret comes to light?
- Family secrets come tumbling out when the matriarch’s will forces heirs to confront painful truths from the past to receive their inheritance. What secret changes everything?
- Reading through an ancestor’s old journal, a troubling account forces someone to question a relative’s war heroism. What did they learn?
- An encrypted diary written by a mysterious rumored witch is uncovered hidden inside an old house’s wall decades later. What secrets from the past does it expose?
- A character becomes obsessed with learning more about the stranger who saved their relative’s life during WWII. But the history they uncover is more complex than expected. What do they discover?
- Someone accidentally discovers who the anonymous author is of an infamous political pamphlet that shaped local history. After learning their identity, then what happens?
- While reading old love letters in an attic, a character discovers an ancestor’s secret hidden an affair that changed the family’s history. Who was involved in the scandalous affair?
- Two exes bid on the same memento from their ended relationship at an estate auction resulting in surprising revelations. What item is it and what emotions get stirred up again between them?
- A coded message gets found hidden in a library book leading to the unraveling of a mystery. What does it reveal?
- As a building is demolished, an old time capsule is discovered hiding secrets from 50 years ago about some of the town’s most prominent past families. What secrets get unearthed?
- A character explores the empty house next door and finds clues leading them to uncover an unsolved mystery about its previous occupants. What do they discover?
- While restoring an ancestral family home, someone finds a secret hidden room that contains troubling insight into a relative’s unknown dark past. What’s discovered behind the secret door?
- A character receives a tempting offer to sell an inherited family heirloom with an incredibly complex history and even darker secrets. Do they part with it or keep it?
- Someone accidentally discovers an ancestor’s long-lost grave, leading the descendant to uncover difficult revelations about their family’s whitewashed past. What secrets come to light?
- Two childhood friends reconnect as adults and decide to reveal their very different perspectives about the mysterious tragedy that tore them apart years earlier. Whose account of the past is the truth?
- A character is contacted by a dying stranger who asks to see them one last time to make a disturbing deathbed confession that will change the trajectory of their life. Who is it and what news does the stranger reveal?
- While cleaning out a relative’s closet after their death, someone discovers secret love letters revealing a hidden affair from decades ago. They confront a person who is still living with what they uncovered. What happens?
- A character interviews an elderly dying ancestor about the past, uncovering the true details behind mysterious vague family stories they grew up hearing whispered about all their life. What’s the real story behind one of the tales the ancestor finally tells?
- Someone finds an old photograph torn up and thrown away in an antique family Bible documenting a mysterious erased figure sharing a troubling secret. Who had been in the missing torn section of the photo and why?
- A character moves to a remote hotel for the winter season for solitude while writing an important book. But mysterious things begin happening that seem tied back to the hotel’s eerie history. What do they discover about the past of where they are staying?
- While searching the attic for Christmas decorations, someone opens an old jewelry box and finds a secret talisman left behind by an ancestor with a note revealing an unbelievable family secret. What truth has been hidden for generations?
- Renovating their new home, a character discovers a century-old concealed love letter inside the wall written by someone once in turmoil living there. It mirrors their current emotional struggles in an uncanny way. What similarity is revealed?
- Someone begins exchanging old family stories and recipes through written letters with an anonymous stranger. What happens when they finally meet in person?
- A character interviews an elderly dying ancestor about the past, uncovering the true details behind mysterious vague family stories they grew up hearing whispered about all their life. What’s the real story behind one of the tales the ancestor finally tells?
- While perusing old newspapers on microfilm at the library for a family ancestry project, someone stumbles onto a troubling news account from long ago about a relative’s questionable rumored actions. What troubling secret comes to light?
- An old trunk containing memorabilia of young lovers from the past is found. But a troubling secret is unearthed about what really happened to them. What secret comes to light?
- Someone discovers who the anonymous author is of an infamous political pamphlet that shaped local history. After learning their identity, then what happens?
- A coded message gets found hidden in a library book leading to the unraveling of a mystery. What does it reveal?
- While restoring an ancestral family home, someone finds a secret hidden room that contains troubling insight into a relative’s unknown dark past. What’s discovered behind the secret door?
- A dying matriarch’s last will and testament includes a stipulation requiring the truth to come out about a Dark Secret she’s kept hidden for decades. What gets revealed?
- An old mix tape found in the new house someone moves into sparks them to unravel the mystery of the lost soul who lived there long before them. What do they discover about who it belonged to?
- A character interviews an elderly dying ancestor about the past, uncovering the true details behind mysterious vague family stories they grew up hearing whispered about all their life. What’s the real story behind one of the tales the ancestor finally tells?
- While helping clean out a reclusive elderly neighbor’s home after their death, someone discovers old letters revealing a forbidden affair from decades ago that mysteriously mirrors their own complicated relationship. What secret similarity exists?
- A woman finds her father’s old camera with an undeveloped roll of film inside. When she develops the photos, she discovers one of herself as a baby with her father and another woman. She realizes it’s the only photo proving her father had an affair and she had a half-sibling. Does she confront her father? Track down the mystery woman? Or keep the discovery to herself?
- Sorting through his recently deceased grandfather’s things, a young man finds an old journal written in German. Though unable to read it, he discovers ticket stubs and a necklace hidden inside its pages. He pieces together clues indicating his grandfather may have been hiding his Jewish heritage and Nazi persecution during WWII. What secrets from the past will unravel?
- A struggling writer stays at a historical literary retreat to find inspiration. But she begins having vivid nightmares and even daydreams about the female author who died tragically at the retreat over a century before. She finds her unfinished last manuscript and becomes obsessed with solving the mystery behind the woman’s unexplained demise.
- While clearing out her eccentric aunt’s overcrowded home after her death, a woman discovers a carved wooden box containing old letters from a passionate affair and a key to an unknown lock. What secrets will the clues reveal? Will she solve the mystery or leave Pandora’s box unopened?
- A man finds a recipe box left behind in his new home by previous owners with unusual ingredients and cryptic notes. He begins testing the odd recipes and having intensely vivid nostalgia for things he never actually experienced as he slowly unlocks occult secrets about the house.
- A woman finds her grandmother’s diary hidden under old quilts describing her arranged marriage as a mail order bride. As she reads further, she discovers her grandmother had a forbidden romance with a local Native American man and faced being ostracized when she became pregnant. What happened and how will she now perceive her family’s history?
- A young couple moving into their first home finds a crying antique doll sealed behind drywall in their basement. After removing her, increasingly chilling things happen and they research the doll’s history, slowly unraveling the dark secrets of the home’s previous occupants.
- A man clearing out his parents’ cluttered attic after they move to assisted living discovers his father’s old typewriter with a stuck piece of paper inside. When he finally extracts it, he’s shocked to find it’s a confession admitting the man he called dad was not his biological father. Stunned by the deception, what emotional truths will be uncovered as he tries to learn more?
- A soon-to-be married woman’s beloved grandfather presents her with a ruby engagement ring, claiming it carries their family’s blessing. But strange occurrences make her question the ring’s history. What troubling provenance will she uncover as wedding day nears?
- While renovating his drab home office, a man peels back old ugly floral wallpaper to find a stunning intricate mural hidden underneath. He becomes obsessed with learning more as he slowly restores it to its initial glory, not realizing the mural’s secret occult meanings that will soon filter into his waking and dreaming reality.
- A woman arrested while protesting a pipeline through sacred tribal lands begins having vivid dreams and even waking visions of the past injustices committed there over centuries. What will she learn from the ghosts that haunt those hills and how will it impact her activist efforts when she’s eventually released?
- A struggling father discovers packets of old love letters from World War II in his attic tied in a ribbon addressed from his deceased grandfather to an unknown woman. As he reads them, he’s shocked to uncover a hidden secret love child who may still be alive, making him question his family identity.
- A man clearing out his elderly father’s home after he passes away discovers an old steel box secured with a complex numerical code containing just a yellowed newspaper article about a local kidnapping 60 years prior. He becomes obsessed with cracking the code and solving this personal mystery left specifically for him.
- While prepping her deceased great aunt’s manor home for sale, a young woman finds the aunt’s handwritten cookbook filled with strange elaborate recipes and a hidden letter indicating she may have accidentally poisoned her husband decades before. What really happened?
- A struggling married couple on the brink of divorce travels to a remote resort on their last attempt at reconnecting. While there, the discovery of a locked wooden box fills them both with questions about its contents and future, serving as a metaphor for whether they should lovingly unlock their hearts or throw away the key forever.
- A woman finds worn old pages stuffed in a glass bottle hidden in the chimney of her family’s new lake house from children long grown. A faded list of their summer promises brings back bittersweet memories for her, sparking contemplation of dreams abandoned or forgotten.
- A retiree joins a club for those researching genealogy, but begins having vivid reenactments in his dreams of what he believes could be his ancestors’ experiences – joyful traditions, traumatic passages, forbidden romances – causing him to further pursue details of his family’s whitewashed past, wherever it may lead.
- A blocked author moves into a cabin in the remote snowy woods to find inspiration for finishing his novel. But screams and strange visions lead him to unraveling a mystery about the cabin’s previous occupant and her even more puzzling sudden disappearance years ago.
- While restoring an old family lake cottage to sell it, a woman finds a metal lockbox containing her deceased mother’s secret diary revealing her long-ago summer romance with the future famous author who once occupied that same cottage in his youth. Moved by their story, she reconsiders selling the meaningful place frozen in time.
- When a retired museum curator’s husband dies, she returns to her hometown to tend to his arrangements. A large donation of historical documents arrives at the museum during her visit, containing troubling personal letters indicating her husband had covered up a murder tied to her prominent family long ago.
- An amateur metal detectorist near an old abandoned asylum uncovers a woman’s gold locket with a photograph of a child inside. Researching records & investigating where it was found looking for relatives, he unravels the dark harrowing tale behind how it likely reached its burial place, changing his perspective.
- While remodeling a home’s kitchen, a couple finds old letters exchanged during WWII between the house’s previous owner and her beloved brother stuck overseas revealing troubling secrets. This leads them to question an honored family in town & a published war history book’s accuracy.
- A woman staggered by her husband’s request for a divorce impulsively flees to a solitary rental home to process her swirling emotions. The arrival of an anonymous letter containing hidden secrets about the house’s history somehow mirrors her own inner turmoil, leading to clarity on her new path forward alone.
- A widower discovers a secret letter his wife wrote before she died that calls into question their entire relationship.
- A struggling actor takes a job as a mall Santa, only to have a troubled young girl insist she’s the real Santa Claus.
- An elderly woman is convinced the creepy new neighbors next door are vampires and tries to gather proof before anyone else gets hurt.
- A man wakes up one day to find everything mechanical or electronic has stopped working and he seems to be the only one aware.
- A group of estranged childhood friends reunites at their old summer camp 20 years later and old memories, rivalries, and secrets resurface.
- A reclusive author’s latest novel coincidentally resembles tragic events in a stranger’s life, causing them to seek out the author at all costs.
- After their father’s death, three sisters grapple with their childhood memories of him and what they reveal about each other.
- A watch that temporarily stops time falls into the hands of an outsider teenager who uses it to escape his difficult home life.
- In the aftermath of a deadly high school shooting, students, teachers and the shooter’s parents grapple with grief, regret, and the search for motive.
- After a near death experience, a cynical man starts to see ghosts everywhere but can’t get anyone else to believe that he’s not crazy.
- A man gets a skull transplant after an accident and is haunted by disturbing visions and impulses from the donor.
- A parallel universe suddenly overlaps with ours and people search for their alternate universe doubles – or avoid them.
- After a break-up, a heartbroken woman stumbles upon a magical photo booth that takes her back in time to relive all her past dates.
- A man’s wife discovers his collection of macabre souvenirs taken from people he believes did evil deeds but got away unpunished.
- A roadside diner connect the stories of both its employees and customers who pass through its doors over one busy summer.
- During Prohibition, a young woman bootlegs whiskey to save her family farm but soon gets noticed by the mobsters and Feds alike.
- Laid off from the local mine, a struggling Appalachian man turns poacher in a desperate attempt to provide for his family.
- After his new heart transplant, a ruthless Wall Street exec finds himself wracked with the donor’s moral conscience.
- In 1850s California gold country, two young orphans disguise themselves as boys and secretly work a claim, sparking a dangerous rivalry.
- During the Great Depression, a girl from a struggling family starts writing letters as an imaginary socialite to escape the difficulties of her daily life.
- An African slave bonds with an orca whale while working a plantation by the ocean and risks everything for attempting communication.
- In near future New Orleans, a fake Katrina survivor works as a tour guide peddling made up stories to tourists until exposed by a real one.
- In 1969 suburbia, a homemaker plagued by disturbing dreams starts writing them into bestselling horror stories under a male pseudonym.
- During the Bubonic plague, a young monk tasked with documenting the dead struggles with despair and his fading faith.
- A mother and daughter pick a paranoid and haunted hitchhiker who turns their road trip into a living nightmare.
- In Japanese internment camps during WWII, a young artist secretly draws political cartoons that get smuggled out at great risk.
- After his adoptive parents are killed overseas, a U.S. orphan discovers he’s the heir to a foreign throne, prompting a battle for his loyalty.
- Homesick aliens stranded on Earth since Roswell befriend a local waitress who reminds them of their lost home planet.
- A widow rents out a room in her home to an eccentric lodger who claims he speaks regularly with her dead husband.
- After a brilliant mathematician loses her scholarship, she takes a caretaker job unknowingly moving into her mathematician idol’s former residence.
- A struggling ex-convict tries to turn his life around by taking a job as groundskeeper on a creepy old estate, but begins unraveling dark secrets about his employer’s past.
- A little girl begins exchanging letters with Mark Twain, despite him having died years earlier, somehow communicating via time itself.
- After a woman’s daughter disappears, she fixates on a guy in an old photo developing a theory he’s a time traveler who abducted her.
- When his NFL dreams fizzle, a washed up athlete returns home to coach peewee football, reviving his gloom hometown’s spirit.
- A guilt-ridden bartender forms a friendship with a troubled regular only to have the man’s darker nature slowly revealed over time.
- A man wakes up to find his wife and sons have been replaced by imposters with the same names and memories as his family.
- In 19th century France, a widowed perfumer falls into despair only to create her best scent using the essence of her lost love.
- After a hedge fund manager commits suicide, his loyal assistant uncovers the investor scam that drove him over the edge.
- A blacksmith’s apprentice teams up with a talented local girl in a feudal village to create legendary swords imbued with magic.
- When his drug plane crashes in rural Mexico, a pilot holds a poor village hostage to force them to grow opium for him secretly.
- After her daughter goes missing, a mother realizes all traces of her ever existing are disappearing in a plot reminiscent of The Langoliers.
- The sole survivor of a horrific plane crash, a girl finds herself healing on a mysterious deserted island that seems to oddly cater to her survival.
- An amateur metal detectorist discovers Excalibur only to be pursued by dangerous modern day druids who protect its secrets.
- A mother shields her son from the truth surrounding his father’s death during 9/11 and creates an elaborate fictional life they shared together.
- In near future Los Angeles, a psychiatric android struggles to treat patients now that AI has made lying obsolete.
- After a bad mushroom trip, a man believes he died and was reborn in an alternate universe just slightly different from his own.
- During the Revolutionary War, a reluctant soldier wittingly takes on the dangerous role of the army’s executioner to spare others the horror.
- After a decorated general loses the Vietnam War, he goes into reclusion only to resurface 20 years later with a secret new mission.
- A motherless teenager fixates on a random passerby believing he’s her real father, desperate to form a connection with any parental figure in her lonely life.
- After a tragic miscarriage, a woman unravels mentally and starts stealing babies she believes were meant to be given to her instead to raise as her own secret children.
- A dancer crippled in a car wreck goes to extreme and ghastly lengths to make her mangled leg beautiful to behold in motion once more.
- When his high school girlfriend’s corpse washes up 15 years later, a man reexamines their toxic teen romance and who could have wanted her dead all along.
- A guilt-ridden psychiatrist forms dangerous bonds with his patients, getting entangled deeper in their wild world until he too unravels mentally.
- Unemployed in Appalachia, desperate locals turn a blind eye to a growing operation that harvests body parts from outsiders unlucky enough to break down along a winding mountain road.
- After his wife vanishes on their anniversary, a professor uses sensory deprivation tanks to probe the dark secrets in her writings for clues to discovering her fate.
- An Afghan woman immigrates for an arranged marriage only to slowly go mad isolated in the home of the strange man chosen as her husband.
- After his recklessness causes his brother’s death overseas, a former soldier trains his traumatized PTSD service dog to attack specific military uniforms.
- A teen girl uses wild berries and poisonous roots to start subtly picking off members of her broken foster home one by one.
- During prohibition, a glamorous jazz singer weds a Chicago mobster only to become more ruthless and murderous than her deadly husband could ever be.
- After his mother’s suicide, a therapist pours over her old belongings and writings in an attempt to save his own crumbling sanity and marriage.
- An eccentric mortician starts experimenting with deadly fungi to give the corpses sent for her to prepare vivid posthumous dreams to comfort grieving loved ones.
- Homeless and struggling with addiction in New York City in the 70s, a violin virtuoso still clings to the wreckage of his former musical fame and brilliance.
- After a man wakes up from a 30 year coma, he struggles to adapt while suspicions grow that his wife may have caused his mysterious accident to steal his fortune.
- A mother desperate to protect her mutant son imprisons increasingly dangerous criminals to serve as fresh blood for his horrific flesh eating hunger.
- Obsessed with tales of changelings, a superstitious mother in 19th century Ireland comes to believe her children are impish replacements from the fairy world.
- After his plane crashes in the Amazon, a Catholic priest turns to the native tribe rescuing him only to jeopardize their entire civilization with disease and zealous evangelizing.
- When his submarine crew is taken hostage, a captain must play an unwinnable nuclear chess match alone against the rogue Russian captain behind the hijacking.
- After a tornado destroys his rural town, a young man fixates on rebuilding his childhood home by hand while his neighbors move on around him.
- A guilt ridden hitman forms a friendship with his latest mark only to struggle with whether to go through with the hit ordered by the mob to whom he owes his life.
- In 1930s Hollywood, a stuntman for a transgenic actress slowly discovers the disturbing experimental origins behind her shapeshifting talent and fame.
- A widow grapples with regret after destroying a priceless Stradivarius violin left to her instead of selling it to secretly pay off crippling medical debts.
- After a comet passes, increasing fits of violence grip a small town as a stranger insists they’ve been cursed for the brutal colonial sins buried in their history.
- After a chef’s wife elopes, he spirals creatively and starts a members only dining club to serve avant-garde dishes to deaden his inner misery.
- An Iranian woman immigrant suspects her grief counselor was actually behind her daughter’s tragic bus accident but can’t get anyone to take her fears seriously.
- After his girlfriend dies during a shamanic ritual, a professor studies with the shaman to reconnect with her spirit, but slowly goes insane in the process.
- A teenage girl uses wild berries and poisonous roots to start subtly picking off members of her broken foster home one by one.
- When his NFL dreams fizzle, a washed up athlete returns home to coach peewee football, reviving his gloom hometown’s spirit.
- Homeless and struggling with addiction in New York City in the 70s, a violin virtuoso still clings to the wreckage of his former musical fame and brilliance.
- After a chef’s wife elopes, he spirals creatively and starts a members only dining club to serve avant-garde dishes to deaden his inner misery.
- During prohibition, a glamorous jazz singer weds a Chicago mobster only to become more ruthless and murderous than her deadly husband could ever be.
- A dancer crippled in a car wreck goes to extreme and ghastly lengths to make her mangled leg beautiful to behold in motion once more.
- After a general loses the Vietnam War, he goes into reclusion only to resurface 20 years later with a secret new mission.
- During WWII, a young girl uses wild berries to fatally poison members of the German army that invade and occupy her small village.
- After his drug plane crashes in rural Mexico, a pilot holds a poor village hostage to force them to grow opium for him secretly.
- A mother shields her son from the truth surrounding his father’s death during 9/11 and creates an elaborate fictional life they shared together.
- A mortician starts experimenting with deadly fungi to give the corpses vivid posthumous dreams to comfort grieving loved ones.
- After a tragic miscarriage, a woman unravels mentally and starts stealing babies she believes were meant for her instead.
- A professor loses his girlfriend during a shamanic ritual and slowly goes insane trying to reconnect with her spirit.
- After his brother’s death overseas, a former soldier trains his PTSD service dog to attack specific military uniforms.
- An eccentric widow believes her home is haunted by the ghost of her famous lover and hosts elaborate séances to commune with him nightly.
- After too many concussions prematurely end his football career, a high school fullback’s spatial reasoning and impulse control begins dangerously deteriorating.
- Obsessed with her ancestor’s role in the Salem Witch Trials, a historian starts imposing disturbing puritan punishments on those she deems modern day sinners in her small town.
- When his brother’s corpse mysteriously appears after 15 years missing, a man reexamines their violent shared past for clues to who may have wanted revenge.
- After too many concussions prematurely end his football career, a high school fullback’s spatial reasoning and impulse control begins dangerously deteriorating.
- A widowed perfumer falls into despair only to create her best scent accidently using the essence of her dead husband collected at his funeral.
- A roadside diner connects the stories of both its employees and customers who pass through its doors over one busy summer in 1969 suburbia.
- Unemployed in Appalachia, desperate locals turn a blind eye to a growing operation that harvests body parts from outsiders unlucky enough to break down along a winding mountain road.
- Homeless and mentally unwell, a man believes he is a time traveler with a mission to stop tragedies only he can foresee, no matter the morally questionable means.
- After too many concussions prematurely end his football career, a high school fullback’s spatial reasoning and impulse control begins dangerously deteriorating.
- Obsessed with her ancestor’s role in the Salem Witch Trials, a historian starts imposing disturbing Puritan punishments on those she deems modern day sinners in her small town.
- A message in a bottle is found washed ashore after over 50 years at sea. Who sent it and what does it say?
- A long lost antique store is uncovered that contains mysterious objects each with a unique story. Write one object’s story.
- A huge storm just knocked out all power and cell service in your area for an unknown amount of time. Where are you and what happens?
- Look at a recent picture of yourself. Imagine it was taken 5 years in the future. What has changed and why?
- Your character opens a locked box they inherited but were told to never open. What’s inside and how does it change things?
- A father and child have grown emotionally distant. Describe a powerful experience they share that begins to heal their relationship.
- Write about a teacher from your childhood who impacted you positively or negatively more than you ever knew. How do you feel about them now looking back?
- Your character discovers some old home videos that reveal a family secret. What do they show and how does your character respond?
- The song that was #1 on the charts the day you were born significantly shaped your life. How so?
- Today is your character’s last day on earth. They received a terminal diagnosis one week ago. How are they spending their final 24 hours? What do they reflect on?
- Your character has synesthesia that causes them to associate letters or numbers with specific colors. How does this impact their life perspective?
- Your character achieves their lifelong dream only to find it’s not what they expected. Why is it unsatisfying and what happens next?
- A time capsule from 1994 was just unearthed in your character’s hometown. What items are inside and what cultural insights do they reveal?
- Your character finds a wallet on the sidewalk outside their apartment. It contains $1000 cash and an unusual grocery list. What happens next?
- Your character has a highly unusual hobby connected to an emotional experience from their past. What is it and what meaning does it hold for them?
- Write a story featuring family members of 3 different generations. What conflicts or moments of connection emerge between them?
- An elderly neighbor your character hardly knows passes away. While cleaning out their apartment they discover something unexpected about them. What is it?
- Your character finally reads a mysterious old journal they discovered as a child in their parent’s attic. What secrets or surprises are contained inside?
- Your character unintentionally overhears a heated argument between two strangers. What are they arguing about and how does it impact your character?
- Your character finds an undeveloped roll of film from the 1990s and gets it developed. What long-forgotten moments do the pictures depict?
- Write a scene about two exes randomly spotting each other on the street 5 years after a bad breakup. How has time changed things between them?
- Your character is leaving their hometown forever. As they take one last walk around, they remember pivotal life moments that happened there. What do they think back on?
- A stranger in a foreign city offers your character a suitcase full of cash to transport “something” across the border. Desperate, they agree. What happens next?
- Your character discovers a forgotten childhood talent of theirs still exceeds the skills of professionals in that area. What happens when they revisit it?
- Your character gets hold of their ex’s old cell phone. It reveals a text conversation they were never meant to see. What does it say and how do they react?
- Write about two friends watching the first moon landing together in 1969. What perspectives, hopes and fears do they share in the moment?
- A fire destroys your character’s home and everything they own except one item they rescued in the nick of time. What was it and why was it spared?
- Your character finds an old baby blanket they used to cherish as a child. It stirs up long-forgotten memories of their early childhood and family. What memories resurface?
- Your character discovers a missing valuable necklace under strange circumstances. Who does it belong to and how did it get there?
- A stranger online claims to have damaging information about your character’s spouse. How does this impact their marriage?
- Your character finds an unmarked VHS tape on their porch with footage taken just outside their window. What does it show and why? How do they react?
- Your character is traveling for the holidays and encounters a stranger who evokes a long-forgotten childhood memory. What is the memory and what meaning does it hold for them now?
- Your character discovers a relative they never knew about. This person’s existence changes family history as they understood it. What happens?
- Your character finds their estranged parent’s long-lost journal revealing troubling secrets about their conception and early childhood. How does it change their self-perception?
- Your character spots someone from their past that they wronged many years ago. A tense encounter ensues reopening old wounds. What happens?
- Your character discovers an ancestor’s diary from an immigrant arriving in the U.S. that contains a valuable traditional food recipe connect to your culture. What food, story and meaning does it hold?
- Your character finds a stranger’s camera full of photos offering cryptic clues about who they are. They try tracking them down based on the clues. What happens?
- Your character receives an unexpected call from their childhood best friend they haven’t spoken to in over a decade. What do they talk about and what warmth or pain does it stir up from the past?
- Your character finds a love letter written by one parent to the other very early in their relationship. It reveals the origin story of their family in a surprising light. What new perspectives emerge?
- Your character takes home a painting from an antique shop that was created by an unknown artist. Some mysterious force about it alters their moods and dreams. What do they experience?
- Your character discovers a forgotten childhood talent of theirs still exceeds the skills of professionals in that area. What happens when they revisit it?
- Your character finds an old baby blanket they used to cherish as a child. It stirs up long-forgotten memories of their early childhood and family. What memories resurface?
- Your character accidentally overhears a private conversation not meant for them revealing a friend’s troubles that were previously unknown. How does this impact their relationship?
- A stranger in a foreign city offers your character a suitcase full of cash to transport “something” across the border. Desperate, they agree. What happens next?
- Your character receives a surprise invitation to their 10-year high school reunion causing them to reflect on who they were back then. How have they changed since high school in positive or negative ways?
- A fire destroys your character’s home and everything they own except one item they rescued in the nick of time. What was it and why was that object spared?
- Your character finds an old music box at an antique shop that triggers vivid memories of their childhood when it plays. What memories does it evoke?
- Your character finds a long-lost loved one living under a new identity. Why did they disappear years ago, what is their new life like, and how does your character respond?
- Your character is given the ability to erase one day from their life and live it over again. Which day would they choose, why, and how would they ensure it goes differently?
- Your character finds an old cell phone at the bottom of a box and powers it on. It still functions and contains text conversations from a previous owner. What do they discover?
- Your character spots someone from their past that they wronged many years prior. A tense encounter ensues reopening old wounds. What happens?
- Your character discovers one of their parents had a secret first marriage years ago that didn’t work out. How does this impact your character’s self-understanding?
- Your character is mailed an anonymous type-written letter from someone claiming to know their future. What predictions does it make and how does you character react?
- Your character finds an old music box at an antique shop that triggers vivid memories of their childhood when it plays. What memories does it evoke?
- Your character discovers an unmarked grave in the old family plot of a cemetery. They start investigating who it belongs to and the cause of their mysterious burial. What do they uncover?
- Your character finds a smartphone full of unusual photos offering cryptic clues about the owner’s hidden criminal life. How do they try tracking down the owner?
- Your character receives a surprise apology from someone years after a friendship ended painfully and regrets things they did. How does your character process this apology? What do they wish they could take back?
- Your character finds old drawings they made as a small child depicting an imaginary friend. The visual details suggest an eerie supernatural link they can’t explain. What do the drawings show? What friend did they have?
- Your character somehow travels 5 years back in time armed with knowledge of how certain choices play out. They have a limited window to alter key decisions. What do they change and what good or harm comes of it?
- Your character discovers one of their parents had an identical twin separated at birth who led a very different life path. Your character tries learning about them to gain self-insight. What do they uncover?
- Your character is compelled to steal an unusual painting from a museum that seems to change each time viewed. They become obsessed with unraveling its hidden meanings that relate to their own life. What do they discover?
- Your character finds a hidden old love note written from one parent to another romantically professing their love in their early courtship. Finding this humanizes their parents in a touching new way. What specific details make your character see their parent(s) differently?
- Your character has a recurring nostalgic memory of their mother singing a certain song from their childhood. One day they rediscover the song and it unlocks powerful emotions. What song, what memories, and what meaning does it hold for them?
- Your character discovers one of their grandparents had an affair that led to a secret child being born. Your character tries locating this unknown aunt/uncle to learn more about why it was covered up. What happens when they finally meet?
- Your character finds an undeveloped roll of film from the 1990s and gets it developed. What surprising forgotten moments do the pictures depict?
- Your character accidentally discovers repressed traumatic memories from their early childhood that start resurfacing. What happened and how does it shift their self-understanding?
- Your character is walking in the forest when they discover a crying lost child with no memory of their identity or home. Your character tries piecing together who they are. What do they uncover?
- Your character spots an old friend going through a bag on a park bench and secretly taking medication. They realize their friend has a serious illness being kept secret. How do they compassionately respond?
- Your character receives a long-lost valuable family heirloom anonymously in the mail they thought was gone forever. Who sent it and what’s the story behind its disappearance/return?
- Your character finds an old abandoned house inexplicably full of items that seem to be connected to their life. What meaning do the objects hold?
- Your character discovers an old prison diary kept by an ancestor. It reveals a great injustice that shaped family history. What’s the story and meaning behind it?
- Your character accidentally damages a stranger’s camera full of photos. While getting it repaired, they glimpse cryptic clues about this person contained in the pictures. What secret is slowly revealed and how?
- Your character goes through an old box of volleyball trophies from high school, reminding them of who they used to be. They decide to dig out their old volleyball to see if they still have the talent. What happens?
- Your character discovers an old novel manuscript in their new home’s attic written decades ago by a previous resident. It mirrors events from their own family’s life in eerie ways. What’s the story behind it?
- Your character finds a smartphone showing a video taken moments before the phone owner’s death. Avenging their death becomes an obsession for your character. What happened to them and what does your character do?
- Your character discovers a mysterious coded letter written by their recently deceased grandfather. Cracking the code reveals a huge secret about their family’s past. What does it reveal?
- Your character finds a hidden old love note written from one parent to another romantically professing their love in their early courtship. Finding this humanizes their parents in a touching new way. What specific details make your character see their parent(s) differently?
- Your character’s father finally reveals the true but unexpectedly dark story behind why he abandoned the family years ago. How does learning the real reason reshape your character’s core memories and self-identity?
- Your character is contacted by the child they put up for adoption years ago who has questions about their birth parents’ lives. What do they talk about and what emotions does this stir up?
- Your character finds an old prison diary kept by an ancestor. It reveals a great injustice that shaped family history. What’s the story and meaning behind it?
- Your character accidentally discovers the old diaries of a relative and learns about mental health struggles in their family history that were previously hidden. How does this reshape their self-understanding? What do the diaries reveal?
- Your character spots an old friend going through a bag on a park bench and secretly taking medication. They realize their friend has a serious illness being kept secret. How do they compassionately respond?
- Your character finds an unmarked VHS tape on their porch with footage taken just outside their window. What does it show and why? How do they react?
- Your character receives a long-lost valuable family heirloom anonymously in the mail they thought was gone forever. Who sent it and what’s the story behind its disappearance/return?
- Your character discovers one of their grandparents had an affair that led to a secret child being born. Your character tries locating this unknown aunt/uncle to learn more about why it was covered up. What happens when they finally meet?
- Your character finds a smartphone showing a video taken moments before the phone owner’s death. Avenging their death becomes an obsession for your character. What happened to them and what does your character do?
- Your character is contacted by someone claiming to be their half sibling from an affair their father had. What ensues when they meet face-to-face?
- Your character discovers an old music box at an antique shop that triggers vivid memories of their childhood when it plays. What memories does it evoke?
- Your character finds an old novel manuscript in their new home’s attic written decades ago by a previous resident. It mirrors events from their own family’s life in eerie ways. What’s the story behind it?
- Your character receives an unexpected call from their childhood best friend they haven’t spoken to in over a decade. What do they talk about and what warmth or pain does it stir up from the past?
- Your character discovers a relative’s old recipe book filled with amazing forgotten dishes from past generations of their family. They cook one recipe that transports them back through memories linked to it. What dish, memories and meaning does it hold?
- Your character discovers one of their parents secretly had a child given up for adoption years before having them. Your character seeks out their unknown older half-sibling to build a relationship. What happens?
- Your character accidentally damages a stranger’s camera full of photos. While getting it repaired, they glimpse cryptic clues about this person contained in the pictures. What secret is slowly revealed and how?
- Your character finds an abandoned building containing unusual remnants from someone’s past life but zero clues to their identity. Your character becomes obsessed with cracking the mystery of who this person was and why they left. What do they uncover?
- Your character is walking in the forest when they discover a crying lost child with no memory of their identity or home. Your character tries piecing together who they are. What do they uncover?
- Your character receives an old blanket anonymously in the mail that they vaguely remember from earliest childhood. It stirs memories of their birth parents who gave them up for adoption long ago as an infant. What memories return?
- Your character finds a smartphone recording a video taken moments before the phone owner died in an accident. Avenging their death becomes an obsession for your character. What happened to them and what does your character do?
- Your character accidentally overhears an argument revealing their parent is gravely ill though trying to hide it. They start noticing subtle symptoms validating this and aren’t sure if they should intervene. What happens?
- Your character finds an old letter from their mother written shortly after childbirth hinting at struggles with postpartum depression that was silenced and never acknowledged. What specifically does it say and reveal? How does your character emotionally respond decades later?
- Your character discovers one of their ancestors was actually adopted long ago. They start digging to uncover the biological family denied to them by history. What do they find? How does this impact their sense of identity
- Your character discovers an old diary revealing their parent struggled with infertility for years before having them. They gain powerful insight into the emotional journey behind their conception. What specifically do the entries say?
- Your character spots two former classmates laughing in a cafe and wonders what inside jokes they must be reminiscing about that exclude them. This stirs up feelings about their lonely high school experience. What specifically hurt back then?
- Your character finds an unsent love letter intended for them over 20 years ago from someone they once knew. It reveals a missed opportunity. Who wrote it? What might have happened if they sent it?
- Your character is startled by a ghostly vision of their estranged father urging them to reconnect before it’s too late. They realize he’s terminally ill, hiding it from everyone. What happens?
- Your character finds their parent’s old middle school yearbook revealing them as a childhood bully. It shifts their perception. What troubling details do they uncover?
- Your character spots their ex on the street, now heavily pregnant. Realizing they almost had a child together overwhelms them with an alternate vision of how life could have played out if they stayed together. What might have been?
- Your character discovers a relative’s WWII love letters they wrote while deployed overseas to their sweetheart back home. One letter hints at a secret baby conceived on leave. What became of this secret child placed for adoption?
- Your character finds an old letter from high school vowing to reach ambitious dreams that never happened. Where did things go wrong? Is it too late to get back on track?
Mike says
Nick was watching tv when the news anchor said, “Nick you really shouldn’t be watching tv. You need to go talk to Carol right now. Call her.”
Scott says
Write a blasphemy.
niamh boyce says
This is one I’ve just made up, would be interested to hear how anyone gets on, might try it myself 🙂 Takes just over 30 minutes to complete
Empty your pocket/purse onto the table.
Pick three random items.
Place them each on a white piece of paper in front of you. (this is to enable you too see them in relative isolation)
Label each piece of paper as I, 2, or 3
You must pick from one of the following –
These items are clues to either
A. A murder
B. The end of an Affair or
C. The last known activity of someone who has dissappeared.
Chose from A,B or C.
Now –
Start with the object you have labelled ‘1’ & write for 10 mins about this.
Repeat for 2 and then 3.
Fit the three sections into a story.
When finished, lob of the ending you have written, and give the story the exact opposite ending 🙂
niamh boyce says
lob ‘off’, as in delete/cut 🙂
admin says
These are great! I will add them very soon. Thank you.
Melissa says
Write a story about a time you were late for now good reason.
Max says
Think of any television, movie, book, or historical character that inspires you. They can be living or dead. Write a journey story with this character as your guide.
Darnell says
Write a story where you have to decide to save the life of one loved one or another. You can only save one.
JD says
You’re reading my mind. Fellow John S. and I sat down three weeks ago and decided that we, too, would write a book of prompts. He had picked up a neat book of prompts at a writer’s conference. We thought that we could create our own. But I like to share, too. So, here are a couple, for what it’s worth.
* Your cell phone rings with an unknown number. You recognize the prefix. You answer and the voice on the other end says, “I’m the sister that you didn’t know you had. Want to know more?”
* You’ve had a really rotten year financially. Your friends give you nice gifts, but you can’t afford it. What do you do?
* You are stopped by law enforcement on a not-so-traveled road. He claims that you were speeding and broke several other traffic laws. He can take you to jail and impound your car. But you can go free without a ticket if you perform oral sex on him. What do you do?
* Describe the perfect meal. Who made it? Where do you eat it? Who’s with you?
admin says
Thank you JD! With the Christmas rush I haven’t been able to add these, but I will.
Gustaf Berger says
It was Christmas morning. The sidewalks were empty except for a lone man walking a kid’s bike to…
Al Parry says
It is good to be alone. I specifically enjoy the sense of being alone, when those about me are engaged; when the streets are crowded and bustling.
Donna B. Comeaux says
So many good memories were overcast by pain and disappointment, like the times . . .
Donna B. Comeaux says
Anguish replaced her brief gush of fury over her missing child. Two days old . . .
Donna B. Comeaux says
Struggling with the eerie sensation of sitting in the same chair as her rapist, she attempted . . .
Donna B. Comeaux says
Sandwiched between ghastly shadows of the mountain, his spirit seem to rise . . .
Donna B. Comeaux says
I felt numb, as if a deafening stillness had covered me, or as if God had placed a mark on me as he had done to Cain, leaving me barren and alone.
C.Spenard says
Write a story about falling in love with Lou. You may reveal your gender but not Lou’s. Include at least one reference to Lou’s ex spouse Chris.
Claudette says
You’re riding the bus on your way home from work one day and decide to skip your usual stop and just keep on going.
Richard says
All of these are great, please keep them coming!
Hassan says
She had her mission completed and was driving back at 160mph. She heard the blow of a siren behind her. With her in the car were….
Emmelie Swan says
This is a great idea!
I have an idea. Use these names of songs as titles, chapter titles or ideas for your writing:
* Comfortably numb
* Where were you last night?
* Doll parts
* Midnight confessions
* Liar, liar
* Accidents never happen
* Crash about to happen
* Does your mother know?
* Anyone for tennis?
Andrew Campbell says
He was only four years old, and he was on his own. He took action based on his childish perspective of reality.
Anna says
The glass smashed against the wall and shattered. They rushed towards eachother.
Young Lee says
He fell from the sky.
They ran through the streets barefoot.
She saw her late husband in the crowd.
The letter was on the floor opened.
He took his time cleaning her wound.
margaret cotter-day says
how about these story prompts
her bicycle was propped against the tree
the soil yielded easily to the spade
going downhill took all the fun away
a blue light flashed
taking it down was the least of my problems
black or white, who really cares?
Every Writer says
Help us out and some day this might be the book of 1000 writing prompts. Either way always wanted to get to 1000.
Josh Senecal says
– The stone was gritty as sand paper and the oxidized pale grey oversaw the…
– I followed until the thickening consumed every bodily sense, it turned…
– It felt like cool putrefied watermelon and I was knees deep, my lungs burned…
– His wondering eyes were too slow for her first, one closed lock tight around that shimmering karat, the other…