Welcome to our February Daily Writing Prompts: Greetings readers! We’re excited to provide you with a brand new list of 28 writing prompts to help inspire your works of fiction this February.
We’ve put together a prompt for every day this month, covering a wide range of genres from romance to sci-fi to fantasy and more. Whether you’re working on a short story, novella, novel or flash fiction piece, you’re sure to find an idea to kickstart your creativity.
We tried to include something for all tastes – from vampire-human forbidden love to space adventures, cozy mysteries, historical fiction, and even superhero graphic novels. So scan the full list of prompts and see which ones immediately grab your attention as a writer, or do them in order as a February writing challenge if you’re feeling ambitious!
As always, our goal is to support and bolster this writing community. These prompts are just meant as inspiration, so feel free to take them in your own direction or mash up elements from different prompts into something new. We can’t wait to see the fresh new writing pieces brewing in your imagination thanks to these prompts. Share them proudly with the community when ready!
Let us know if any of these daily writing prompts proved particularly fruitful for you. And if you have a story concept you think would make a great prompt for other writers, feel free to submit it on our site. Happy February writing to this talented community! May your pens, keyboards and minds overflow with magical new stories this month.
February 1
Sci-Fi: After waking from cryogenic sleep, an astronaut discovers the spaceship is completely deserted and she must figure out what happened to the crew.
February 2
Mystery: An amnesiac washes up on shore with nothing but a scrap of strange material and a distant memory of flames on the ocean surface.
February 3
Fantasy: A peasant girl realizes she can control fire but struggles between using her powers to help or destroy the corrupt king.
February 4
Romance: An engaged businesswoman falls for her wedding planner and debates leaving her stable boyfriend for the romance and passion of an uncertain future.
February 5
Literary Fiction: A retired couple rediscovers the complexity of long-term marriage when a health crisis causes them to move out of their home of 35 years.
February 6
Thriller: Home alone when intruders attempt to break in, a teenager must outwit the burglars and stay alive using only household items as defending weapons.
February 7
Historical Fiction: Pioneering the Oregon Trail in 1845 with her invalid husband, a woman must find the strength to lead her family West when he passes away mid-journey.
February 8
Horror: Students on a weekend retreat arrive at a secluded lodge to find it inhabited by a sinister presence that means to do them harm.
February 9
Memoir: Going through boxes of old family photos and mementos after her grandmother’s death, a woman pieces together the inspiring story of how her grandmother secretly became an accomplished journalist in WWII Europe.
February 10
Young Adult: At a new high school, a shy girl tries to avoid the popular kids who bullied her in middle school only to find the star quarterback is in her advanced classes and needs her help.
February 11
Satire: A bumbling angel and equally incompetent demon are assigned as TEMPtations to judge a deceased billionaire’s worthiness for Heaven or Hell. Hilarity ensues.
February 12
Poetry: Raw reflections on a loved one’s terminal cancer diagnosis lead to greater understanding of the temporality of existence.
February 13
Flash Fiction: Dystopian future where weather is controlled by two mega-corporations—until a brave analyst discovers their data models are falsified for profit, imperiling all human life.
February 14
Romantic Comedy: After a meet cute at a speed dating event, two commitment-phobes struggle with their instant attraction and debate leaving the single life behind.
February 15
Fanfiction: Set after the Deathly Hallows epilogue, Rose and Scorpius meet on Platform 9 3⁄4 and become friends despite their family rivalry and sorting into rival Hogwarts houses.
February 16
Magical Realism: Each year on her birthday, a woman can see one year into her future. After glimpsing an unhappy marriage in next year’s view, she has 365 days to change fate.
February 17
Slice of Life: Over the course of an ordinary Wednesday, a burnt-out middle manager realizes he feels trapped in the corporate job that was supposed to be temporary.
February 18
Western: In 1870s Texas, a US Marshal must track down his outlaw older brother without blowing his cover when he goes undercover in the gang he rides with.
February 19
Graphic Novel – Superheroes: A retired superhero’s teenage daughter manifests even greater powers than her parents possessed and gets recruited by a government agency to fight crime under their watch.
February 20
Paranormal Romance – A hunter who kills rogue vampires fights his attraction to a centuries-old vampiress he’s unable to kill or capture.
February 21
Cozy Mystery – While volunteering at the local library, a baker teams up with her book club to investigate the murder of a visiting novelist almost killed by a poisoned pie from her shop.
February 22
Narrative Nonfiction: An investigative journalist recounts the story of exposing a popular self-help guru as a fraud by revealing his fabricated backstory and credentials.
February 23
Sci-Fi Thriller: Mutated survivors of an alien plague outbreak must stop the spread of contagion off planet by a madman willing to infect new worlds to mutate inhabitants in his image.
February 24
Dystopian Fiction – A generation ship astronaut wakes from stasis to discover the captain dead and ship severely off course. As critical life support systems fail, can he trust the mysterious woman who claims it’s already been 200 years adrift?
February 25
Women’s Fiction – A 40-something wife starts an anonymous blog about her loving but lifeless 20 year marriage, garnering viral popularity. But when her husband begins to drastically change in response, she must own her secret words and decide if their relationship is worth fighting for.
February 26
Historical Fantasy- Joan of Arc is given magic powers from a divine entity which she must wield carefully while disguising them to unite factions in the Hundred Years’ War and drive English forces from France.
February 27
Humor – After angering a disgruntled fairy godmother, a prince is “blessed” with invincibility to harm – but the catch is anything that touches his skin becomes hopelessly stuck to it, leading to chaotic hijinks.
February 28
Sweet Romance – Seven years after their one magical dance and first kiss at senior prom, long lost sweethearts get a second chance encounter and discover the spark remains.
We hope you enjoy using these daily writing prompts as inspiration for your February writing projects. Don’t forget to have fun with the process and make the story ideas your own! Part of the joy for writers is getting to create and explore new worlds, characters, and scenarios.
If you craft a tale using one of these prompts that you’d like to share, consider posting an excerpt on the site for others to enjoy. It’s fantastic motivation for writers to read pieces sparked from the same initial concept.
Best of luck conjuring up captivating new fiction! May these prompts help you flex your creative skills and produce writing you feel proud of by month’s end. Keep chasing inspiration in 2023 and know this community stands ready to support, encourage, offer feedback, and applaud your accomplishments every step of the way. Happy writing!
If you enjoyed this list, we have many other writing prompt lists on our site!
Connections nyt says
Explore the concept of love in a non-romantic context. Write about the things you love beyond relationships.