125 Short Story Ideas & Creative Prompts for Instant Use

Whether you need an idea for a new medium, you are in a writing rut, or are tired of making excuses to find the best idea for a story. One of the following story prompts and ideas may give you the spark that you’re looking for.

1. You can write about a character that has an addiction and happens to discover that they are somebody else’s addiction.

2. Write about a magical object that is teleported to anyone's hand who thinks about it and the difficulties that it starts to cause for the owner.

3. Write about a historical character who happens to travel to the present day and causes chaos when he steals back something that belongs to him initially.

4. You can write about a character trying to seek justice for a murder that was committed but can't prove it.

5. Write a story about an alien species that has landed on earth but can be detected through literature.

6. You can write a story about a Faustian musician who wants to resurrect a dead musician so that they can jam together.

7. You can write about the world where each person is born with wings and write about how it happened.

8. Write about a character who would like to win back the partner who happened to run away with the best friend.

9. You can write a story about a mythical drug at the root of somebody's family tree.

10. A story can be written on the quest of the spirit animal to choose their human.

11. Write about a graveyard that has been besieged by the souls of those people buried outside its walls.

12. You can write about an occultist who happens to develop a sudden interest in science.

13. Write a story on the dragon that is in love with the rain deity and wants to find them the perfect gift.

14. Write about the founders of a town whose residents have an abnormally high IQ.

15. You can write about a magical world where all magic happens to turn out into an elaborate illusion.

16. Write a story on a bookshop with the last refuge of a group of fans who are of a particular and unusual genre.

17. You can write a story of a vintner who happens to man an interplanetary expedition to solve the mystery of grape blight.

18. Write about a guest who starts to suspect that he is not the only guest out there.

19. You can write about a warrior who discovers that his clan has been a war for centuries because of some deliberate typographical error.

20. Write about any teacher who takes attendance in a class and finds out that there is an extra student.

21. Write about a pen collector who has been found murdered, while the fountain pen is the murder weapon that is rumored to have belonged to some famous historical figure.

22. Write a story about a wedding planner who has a secret grudge against happily married couples or engaged ones.

23. You can write about a character who has an obsession with entomology, and this character threatens to unleash a plague of biblical proportions.

24. Write about a knight who happens to spend five years trying to break a spell cast on him by some witch, to fall in love with her slowly.

25. Write about a sailor shipwrecked on an island-kingdom that is artificial and owned by an eccentric billionaire who is presumed dead for ten years.

26. Write a story about a teenage boy who wants to marry an alien princess.

27. Write about the history of a family whose members are committed to resurrecting an ancient art.

28. Write a story about an archeologist group who happen to discover the ruins of Atlantis on a volcanic island that is newly formed.

29. Write about a character whose friends and family think that he is a resurrected mythological figure, even though they don't believe it.

30. Write about a character who is making friends & waiting for a hurricane to hit that hotel where they are staying.

31. Write about a miner who happens to hit a strange rock, and the government agency targets him to keep this discovery a secret.

32. Write a story about the citizens of a country who don't vote for the people; instead, they vote AI into leadership.

33. Write about a character falling in love with somebody from a clan that belongs to enemies to lift a curse.

34. You can write about a character who works to create treasure hunts but finds himself in somebody else's treasure hunt after discovering an old coffin.

35. Write about a character who is afraid to leave the house but would like to travel to see a loved one who is critically sick in the hospital.

36. Write about a florist whose flowers are sent to the wrong address, and a chain of events is initiated that leads two people to meet each other and to fall in love.

37. Write about the character obsessed with perfecting the life story by traveling back into the time to correct any flaws or mistakes.

38. Write about an individual who is a book critic and is writing the first book but is paralyzed because of the fear of receiving vengeful reviews.

39. Write about a knitter who unravels a yarn ball that is stained with blood and happens to help the police investigate a possible murder.

40. Write about a person who steals what he thinks are the questions to an exam but finds out that it is an application form for the scholars' secret and mythical order.

41. Write about an innkeeper who happens to hire a magus, an elf, and a troll to guard a secret recipe, but later finds out that he trusted the wrong people.

42. Write about a psychic tour guide who organizes tours to help people turn their lives around.

43. You can write about a character who discovers a strange calendar that prophesizes the critical events in his life.

44. Write a story about a builder who is specialized in magical doors, passages, and extensions.

45. Write about a character who accidentally discovers the best pencil in the world and spends all his life trying to keep it a secret at all costs.

46. Write a story about a blind date that a guardian angel interrupts.

47. Write about a painter who happens to travel to another planet to search for a rare pigment.

48. You can write about a teenager who is given a choice between two very different schools.

49. Write about a character trapped in some memory palace and needs to find a way out to save somebody else.

50. Write about a goddess who wakes up and finds out that her religion is abandoned, and tries to seek a cause, and covers people back.

51. Write about a character who finds an abandoned baby in a bus shelter and goes on a road trip with a wet nurse to find its parents.

52. Write a story about a detective who has to overcome the fear of flying to investigate a flight attendant’s murder.

53. Write about a character prepared to go through the rite of the passage that doesn't involve resurrection but death.

54. Write a story about a gamer who needs to rescue a real princess.

55. You can write about the rock band that is touring the world to investigate crimes.

56. Write about an antique dealer who travels time and happens to steal the favorite author’s writing desk.

57. Write about a character who is attracted to dangers naturally.

58. You can write about a character whose lover breaks up with him but secretly follows him for a decade.

59. Write about the characters who are leaving to seek their fortunes so that they can get married.

60. Write about a psychologist who is trying to hide his agoraphobia.

61. You can write about a protest that is staged as a cover for a big heist.

62. You can write a story on one of the most valuable dresses in the world.

63. You can write about a peace treaty signed on board over the noman's land and people who have fought for it.

64. Write about two people falling in love, but they come from planets where time runs differently.

65. Write about a society that has been organized according to an ancient symbol that is misinterpreted.

66. You can write about a character who regains sanity through chess.

67. Write about a character who discovers some secret message on a shampoo bottle when showering and is curious to investigate it.

68. Write about a wealthy character who sets on a day trip with the poor, homeless people and switches places with them without even realizing it.

69. Write about a character who is the chosen one and discovers that he was the one who created the prophecy.

70. Write about a character who finds out the omens in life created by the beings trying to guide him from a different dimension.

71. Write about a tattoo artist who helps a detective to solve the murders involving tattooed victims.

72. Write a story about a fortune teller who becomes a murder suspect when he discovered that he unfolds the victim's death.

73. Write about a world where gods have several pantheons join together to eradicate the worshippers.

74. Write about a memoirist whose distinction between the life story and the life he is living starts to dissolve until his friend stages an intervention.

75. Write about the decorator convinced about the house owner to cover up a murder, even when he falls in love with her.

76. Write about two lovers separated by a bridge that cannot be maintained for a much longer time.

77. Write about a retired hitman trying to resolve to atone for his work by saving people targeted by his former employer.

78. Write about a character who is addicted to seeking out the experiences of extreme solitude and eventual healing.

79. You can write about the diplomat to the fairy realm who has to negotiate a trade agreement.

80. Write about a character working on a telephone helpline, develop a relationship with one of the callers, and arrange to meet only to be stood up.

81. Write about a spaceship crew trying to find the way back to the home planet for many centuries.

82. You can write about a private letter that comes into the hand of an influential leader and changes his life outlook.

83. Write about a character living as a recluse for many years and finds out that people of the nearby settlement regard him as a guru.

84. You can write about a character who stumbles upon a strange machine that his science teacher has built-in the school basement, and he decides to help.

85. Write about a character who happens to awaken an ancient mythical beast when scouting for a remote monastery movie location.

86. You can write a story about a vampire who gives blood rather than drinking it.

87. You can write about a character who learns that his parents were guilty of some terrible crime and set out to collect evidence against them.

88. You can write about what Romeo and Juliet get up to in their afterlife.

89. Write about the character who reads his first book at the age of 81.

90. You can write about the space race of another planet.

91. You can write about a doctor investigating some rare disease and finds out that it is engineered artificially, just as he begins to show the symptoms himself.

92. Write about the world where the people do space traveling to communicate with their deities who live on another planet, but find out that they have disappeared mysteriously.

93. You can write a story about a character whose commute lasts for a light year.

94. Write about a character who is fascinated with forgery and how this interest eventually led to his death.

95. You can write about a society encouraging and rewarding mistakes and failures over successes.

96. Write about a character who is to clean up the imagination of the people.

97. Write about a character living in a nursing home, but one day wakes up to find out that he is inundated with fan mail.

98. You can write a story about a character whose fear of missing out drives him to have a surveillance network.

99. You can write a film star which is two film stars.

100. You can write a story about a writer who wants to give up the writing addiction.

101. You can write about a hairstylist who overhears something that she shouldn't when cutting hair.

102. You can write about a sailor banished to a year-long journey to atone for the crimes and have to reconcile with his doings.

103. Write about a character who falls asleep on an abandoned ship but wakes up on a new planet.

104. You can write about a character who wakes up after knowing a new language but forgets the mother tongue.

105. You can write about a character who buys a new coat but finds out that a mysterious message is sewn into the lining.

106. Write about a museum security guard who finds out that someone is stealing a painting, but he lies about it.

107. Write about two villages competing to have the best technology in the country.

108. Write about an older woman who falls in love with a young boy and tries to seduce him.

109. Write about a character whose twin sibling dies, but the twin attempts to fill the shoes.

110. Write about the run-down city attempts to revitalize the area by the introduction of a monarchy.

111. You can write a story about a mermaid who lures a character into a life undersea.

112. Write about a lawyer who gives up practice and moves across the country with somebody half of his age.

113. You can write about a cheater who starts a journal to track his deceit.

114. Write about a computer that threatens the privacy of some big city.

115. Write about a murder that causes one town to turn against the other.

116. Write a story about an ancient society where the roles of gender are reversed.

117. Write about two separate families who happen to unite after a marriage.

118. Write about a character that sets out to sail the river from one end of a country to its other end.

119. Write a story about a character who happens to become a mayor of a town, but the people don’t accept him.

120. Write a story about a girl from India who is struggling to reconnect with an estranged family.

121. Write about three strangers who happen to win a getaway vacation together.

122. Write about a diver who uncovers some government secrets that are buried at the bottom of the ocean.

123. Write a story about a woman who is on a mission to save her lover.

124. Write a story about a family that struggles to endure a heatwave and drought in a long summer.

125. Write about a town that prepares for the election of the first-ever mayor.

Many writers try to find story prompts or short story ideas, but they become easily overwhelmed before they even start. Some people struggle with different ideas, or their list might be so long that they don't know where to start. You should always remember to pick the concept that can excite you the most, and you will start to see a momentum that will conjure up a new story world for you and has fascinating new characters in it.