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539 Best Short Story Ideas for Authors in 2026

Showing 539 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.

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Write a story that takes place over the course of a house party.

Teens

Everyday, you sit at your window to watch a neighbor play a musical instrument. You can't hear the music, but you're transfixed by the musician's expression.

Dramatic

You are the only person who has to go into work on a public holiday.

Holiday

A forgotten object is found in an attic during spring cleaning.

Fiction

Time travel is real and time tourists show up in large numbers around major historical events. One day, thousands of time tourists are in ships above the earth, quietly waiting.

Science Fiction

Write a story that takes place entirely in the dark.

Dark

Write a story about an ongoing rivalry between a vampire and a werewolf for supremacy over Halloween.

Halloween

Write about a time that you were challenged in a belief that you had.

Narrative

Write a story that's set at a ski resort during Christmas.

Christmas

You woke up and all seemed normal. Little did you know that before you'd even had a chance to get out of bed, you would become the subject of a prank.

Funny

You left cookies on the table on the day before Christmas. When you wake up the next day, the cookies are gone, and in their place is a note. What does it say?

Christmas

In a series of letters to Santa, write a story about growing up.

Christmas

Many action movies involve the hero jumping into a vehicle and demanding the driver to "follow that car!" Write from the perspective of the driver.

Funny

539 Best Short Story Ideas for Authors in 2026

Write a story that takes place over the course of a house party.

Everyday, you sit at your window to watch a neighbor play a musical instrument. You can't hear the music, but you're transfixed by the musician's expression.

You are the only person who has to go into work on a public holiday.

A forgotten object is found in an attic during spring cleaning.

Time travel is real and time tourists show up in large numbers around major historical events. One day, thousands of time tourists are in ships above the earth, quietly waiting.

Write a story that takes place entirely in the dark.

Write a story about an ongoing rivalry between a vampire and a werewolf for supremacy over Halloween.

Write about a time that you were challenged in a belief that you had.

Write a story that's set at a ski resort during Christmas.

You woke up and all seemed normal. Little did you know that before you'd even had a chance to get out of bed, you would become the subject of a prank.

You're on a train when someone sits across from you and begins to cry.

Write about the origin of April Fools' Day.

You hear a scream and it's coming from inside your own home.

You left cookies on the table on the day before Christmas. When you wake up the next day, the cookies are gone, and in their place is a note. What does it say?

In a series of letters to Santa, write a story about growing up.

Many action movies involve the hero jumping into a vehicle and demanding the driver to "follow that car!" Write from the perspective of the driver.

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