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50 Fiction Writing Prompts and Ideas to Inspire You to Write

Hannah Yang

How fiction writing prompts can help writers, top 50 fiction writing prompts, how prowritingaid can help with fiction writing, conclusion on fiction writing prompts and ideas.

Have you ever wanted to write a story but had no idea what to write about?

If you’re familiar with that feeling, you’re not alone. At some point in their lives, every writer has sat down in front of a blank page with no idea what to write next.

When you’re in that situation, it might be helpful to look at a list of potential story ideas. A great prompt can help kick-start your creativity and get you in the mood for writing again.

In this article, we’ll give you all our favorite fiction writing prompts to inspire you to write.

There are countless ways fiction writing prompts can benefit you. Here are a few reasons you might want to use a writing prompt:

To start a new short story or novel

To practice writing in a new genre or writing style so you can expand your skill set and try something new

To warm up at the beginning of each writing session

To make sure you’re in a creative state of mind when you tackle your existing writing projects

So, pick up a pen and a notebook, and let’s get started!

Here are 50 fantastic fiction writing prompts that will help you start your next story. To help you choose a prompt that excites you, we’ve split them into several categories: fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, romance, and contemporary.

Fantasy Prompts

You’ve inherited your grandfather’s antique shop, and you’re surprised to find strange objects with magical powers inside.

You set out to break the curse that’s followed your family for generations.

You can see visions of the future, but you learned long ago to keep them to yourself. Now, you have to speak up or risk losing everything you love.

You work for a zoo filled with magical creatures.

You’re a lawyer in a fantasy world, and your job is to negotiate contracts between the humans and the gods.

A company harvests dragon scales, unicorn hair, and other magical items to sell for profit.

You find a portal to a fantasy world in your backyard.

You find a magical item that will make all your wishes come true—but it’s extremely literal in its interpretations.

A supernatural monster kidnaps your best friend. You set out to rescue her.

Your parents gave different aspects of their magical powers to each of their children. Compared to your siblings, you definitely got the short end of the stick.

Sci-fi Prompts

Write an adaptation of your favorite classic tale—in space.

Aliens come to Earth, but they’re here for reasons no one expected.

Scientists have found ways to transfer memories between different people. You're the first person to sell all of yours.

Write about an entire world where people can buy and sell years of their lives.

What would happen if you woke up in someone else’s body and they woke up in yours?

You live in a moon colony surrounded by high walls. One day, someone breaches the walls.

Your parents send you to a summer camp filled with time travelers.

You accidentally stumble through a portal to a parallel universe where everything is the same as our universe, except for one key difference.

In a world where everyone’s DNA is genetically engineered to best suit their roles in the community, you have to hide that your DNA doesn’t match your chosen career.

You land on a new planet and realize the plants there are more intelligent than humans.

Write like a bestselling author

Love writing? ProWritingAid will help you improve the style, strength, and clarity of your stories.

Mystery Prompts

You wake up with no memory of who you are, except for a single name.

Every day, a strange drawing appears in your mailbox, and they get more and more disturbing.

You receive a letter inviting you to a free weekend getaway, and you have no idea who the host is.

Your father is keeping something strange in the attic.

A man throws an elaborate party in an attempt to conceal a crime.

You realize you’ve been sleepwalking every night, and you have no idea what your sleeping self has been up to.

You thought your husband was dead. So why is he still writing you letters?

Your brother was murdered years ago. The police have stopped investigating, but you’re still looking for the killer.

Two friends discover a serial killer's secret hideout.

A young woman discovers a frightening secret while she's on her first hunting trip with her husband's family.

Romance Prompts

Two soldiers on different sides of a war develop feelings for each other.

A member of the royal family falls in love with her bodyguard.

You’ve resigned yourself to a loveless arranged marriage, but fate has other plans.

You’ve had a crush on your best friend your entire life. Now, he’s about to get married to someone else.

You go on a first date and find yourself stuck in a time loop, so you have to keep going on that date over and over.

Two rivals have to pretend to be in a relationship—and end up accidentally falling for each other.

After a bad breakup, you move to a new town—and find yourself attracted to your next-door neighbor.

When two exes are forced to work together, they rekindle old feelings.

You fall in love with someone from a different dimension, so you can only see each other once a year when the portal opens.

After your plane crash-lands on a deserted island, you develop a bond with one of the other survivors.

Contemporary Prompts

Write an adaptation of your favorite classic tale set in the town you grew up in.

Two best friends go on a road trip and encounter a problem they never expected.

An adopted orphan goes on a journey to reconnect with her birth family.

You’re told a family secret that changes everything you think you know about your life.

A group of friends takes a practical joke too far, leading to disaster.

A college student creates an invention for a technology class and accidentally goes viral.

A painter in her early eighties struggles with her slow descent into blindness.

A couple breaks up, but the ramifications of their breakup follow them for decades.

A carefree playboy is forced to adopt a child, which changes his whole life.

You’re framed for a crime you didn’t commit, and nobody believes you’re innocent—except for your estranged sister.

No matter what type of story you’re writing, ProWritingAid is a great tool to help you make your writing shine.

ProWritingAid will suggest ways to improve various weaknesses in your writing, such as grammar mistakes, repetitive words, passive voice, unnecessary dialogue tags, and more.

You can even tell ProWritingAid what type of fiction you’re writing, such as fantasy or historical fiction, to get customized suggestions that match your genre.

There you have it—our complete list of the best fiction writing prompts to inspire you to write.

Try out your favorite one, and see if you can turn it into a unique story.

Good luck, and happy writing!

Hannah is a speculative fiction writer who loves all things strange and surreal. She holds a BA from Yale University and lives in Colorado. When she’s not busy writing, you can find her painting watercolors, playing her ukulele, or hiking in the Rockies. Follow her work on hannahyang.com or on Twitter at @hannahxyang.

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40 writing topics to inspire your next story

Getting inspiration through writing topics and prompts is one way to find your next story idea. Here are 40 writing topics organized by genre plus ways to come up with your own:

Post author By Jordan
5 Comments on 40 writing topics to inspire your next story

Getting inspiration through writing topics and prompts is one way to find your next story idea. Here are 40 creative writing prompts and topics organized by genre plus ways to come up with your own to find your own writing style and writing process. You might want to play around with these prompts and omit some elements and replace with your own creative ideas, go for it. Let’s get those creative juices flowing and put your writing skills to the test.

1. Writing topics for fantasy writers

Think about elements of fantasy that make the genre identifiable. Magic. Other worlds. Arcane abilities. Mythical creatures. Supernatural phenomena. Here are 5 fantasy writing topics:

A magician uses a forbidden spell with disastrous consequences. What is the spell, and what are the consequences?
A mythical creature is found living in a small town’s lake. What is it and how does finding it change the local community, for better or worse?
An apprentice gets a spell wrong in their final examination with unintended consequences. What are they? What will restore order?
Human children find a portal to another world. Tell the story from the viewpoint of a character whom they encounter in this other world, or perhaps they inadvertently become a time traveler trying to get back to the present.
Magical ability is available to a race when people turn a certain age. Yet they must make a major sacrifice to gain it. What is the sacrifice? Is it worth it in the end?

2. Writing ideas for romance writers

The central conflict in romance is often the thing keeping two lovers apart. Here are some ideas for romantic story topics:

Two would-be lovers from different cultures are kept apart by cultural differences that make their families interfere. What are the differences and how will they overcome them to be together? Explore the family history.
A character falls in love with an artificially intelligent virtual companion. How does the connection develop and change how do other people react?
Two people who have only been on one date together are forced to quarantine together for three three months. Explore how their relationship developments (or falls apart) in this time and if they manage to go back to everyday life.
Two travelers are intercepted at a border and asked to prove their relationship. They share how they met and in doing so make up a lie they have to continue to forge.
Write a riches to rags story where two people’s love for each other makes them poorer but their bond survives the challenges they face.

Writing topics and passion - quote | Now Novel

3. Writing subjects for sci-fi writers

We live in a time of rapid technological advancement that supplies plenty of fodder for interesting sci-fi stories . Here are five sci-fi writing prompts:

A robotics developer’s creation falls in love with her and becomes a stalker.
Humans are able to upload their minds to complex AI systems to amplify their power. What dangers emerge?
A woman’s scientific innovation revolutionises healthcare. Powerful people want to stop her at all costs. Who are they and how does the conflict play out?
A private space company like SpaceX colonizes Mars successfully. Everything goes well, until the anniversary of their arrival. Then something catastrophic occurs. What happens?
Scientists working on an important vaccine discover something completely new that completely changes the way the world views X. What is X, and how does the discovery change culture and society?

Brainstorm strong writing ideas

Use easy, step-by-step writing tools that guide you through ideation with structure.

4. Writing topics for thriller writers

A good thriller is full of suspense and simmering tension . Five thriller topic ideas:

A criminal prosecutor is charged with first-degree murder, though they’re innocent. Why? And how do they overcome the situation?
A strange YouTube video implying illicit government activity goes viral, then quickly disappears. What is the government up to, and who released the video and why?
Two governments enter a dangerous game of one-upmanship after one accuses the other of manufacturing biological weapons.
An abduction at a theme park by a human trafficking ring starts a time-sensitive manhunt. Where are the traffickers headed and who has the information to stop them?
An intrepid reporter takes on a large corporation conducting a massive agricultural crime threatening global food security for individual profit. What happens?

5. Writing ideas for mystery writers

Gritty detective novels, cozy mysteries featuring amateur sleuths – whatever subgenre of mystery you enjoy, it’s fun piecing together clues for readers . Here are five mystery ideas:

A man receives a pizza delivery intended for someone else and when he rings the number on the box finds the pizzeria doesn’t exist. Explore and explain the situation.
A child is snatched from a seaside resort aged five. But when they’re tracked down 25 years later, something doesn’t match up. What is it? What explains the discrepancy?
A couple on a camping trip with 4 other couples vanishes with no trace and no clues. All 4 remaining couples claim innocence. Are they telling the truth, and what is the explanation?
A woman hears mysterious voices that tell her to take actions that turn out to be life-saving. Where do the voices come from and what explains her imaginary world matching the real one?
Three prisoners escape the highest security prison in the world. How do they achieve this without any assistance from wardens or others on the inside?

6. Writing subjects for historical fiction writers

History is full of dramatic lives and incidents and curious, colourful characters . Here are five topic ideas to explore different time periods:

Pick a famous composer and read through their Wikipedia or their personal experiences or papers and write a story about what you find.. Pick a strange incident to be the focus of their story. (For example, t he strange adventures of Haydn’s head .)
Write about a famous historical figure from the viewpoint of their greatest rival.
Go to history.com’s ‘This Day in History’ page . Find inspiration for a story from the day’s historical event.
A famous monarch strikes up an unlikely friendship – bend the facts to suit the story.
A child prodigy in the 1800s stows away on a ship and tours the world giving concerts. Write their personal stories or a fictional autobiography.

Quote on finding writing subjects - Anais Nin | Now Novel

7. Writing topics for horror writers

Horror is full of supernatural chills , gory misadventures and things that go bump in the night. Here are 5 horror story ideas:

A TV chef uses … unorthodox ingredients, and there’s a related spike in mysterious disappearances in town.
Four childhood friends think the weird house on the corner is haunted. The reality is far worse and much more sinister. What is it?
A teenaged boy who loves Marvel and DC comics wishes he had superpowers. Then he gets terrifying superpowers with grisly consequences.
A zombie must deal with a horrifying and deadly plague of humans.
In a sleepy, mundane suburb a mysterious drumming starts up each night at nightfall. Only the children can hear it. If you hear it you have to hide very well, or what?

8. Writing ideas for YA writers

Young Adult or YA novels are typically pitched at readers aged 12 to 18 (though many adults enjoy them). They often deal with the challenges and discoveries involved in coming of age. Here are 5 ideas:

A middle-school kid is diagnosed with a rare condition and achieves their dreams despite it. What is the condition, what are their dreams, and how do they find a way through the obstacles they face?
A kid with two moms of different ethnicities in a conservative town grapples with identity and overcomes prejudice as they grow up.
A young musician must navigate a complicated, sometimes exploitative industry and find their voice.
A girl’s family immigrates to a big city from abroad when she’s 12. She must overcome language barriers and other challenges and navigate multiple cultural expectations and pressures.
Two teens meet in a juvenile detention facility and strike up a life-long friendship.

Find your own writing topics:

To find the best book topics :

Search Google News for keywords to do with subjects that interest you (e.g. ‘music’, ‘romance’, ‘travel’, etc.) See if headlines inspire ideas
Open a book to a random page and use the first sentence you read as the first sentence of a story (you can erase it and find a new one later)
Read this list of fifteen ways to find story ideas
Use Now Novel’s free ‘Central Idea’ tool to find and finesse a great story idea
Get extra writing prompts via this Pinterest board (and follow us at pinterest.com/nownovel !)

Ready to find and develop a great story idea? Join Now Novel for story outlining tools, a supportive critique community and more.

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Tags writing prompts

Jordan is a writer, editor, community manager and product developer. He received his BA Honours in English Literature and his undergraduate in English Literature and Music from the University of Cape Town.

5 replies on “40 writing topics to inspire your next story”

I have written a story about my life and it is stored on my computer and on a thumb drive. I want to publish my story but do not have the funds to do so. What should I do? My goal is to make copies for my 26 grandchildren and 6 children. I am contemplating making just one copy for now and more as I can afford it.

Hi Eddie, congratulations on finishing your life story. That would be a lovely gift to your children and grandchildren. If you don’t mind it not being a surprise, you could tell them you would like to turn your story into a book and have them club together for a birthday or other occasion? Printing can be expensive but a small run that looks fairly professional is possible if using a small press that specializes in this sort of thing (though so-called ‘vanity’ presses can be expensive since bulk printing works with the economy of scale). Other options include crowdfunding, if you intend to share your story with a wider audience.

Alternatively, a digital eBook would have lower costs as you wouldn’t need to cover the cost of printing, though it can never replace the pleasure of a tactile, tangible book, of course.

Hello, I self-published with Amazon (Kindle Direct Publishing). It’s free and you get a few reduced-printing price copies. You can do ebook and/OR paperback. You actually set your own price, so you can set it to zero to make it available to family for the printing cost only. I made a book for the non-profit I work for and did that, essentially using Amazon as a printing company. Congrats and good luck!

Thanks so much for sharing this, Margriet!

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Fiction Writing Prompts : A Comprehensive List For Writers

If you're a writer, you know how hard it can be to come up with new and exciting ideas for your stories. That's where fiction writing prompts come in! These prompts are designed to get your creative juices flowing and inspire you to write something new and unique. Whether you're a seasoned writer or just starting out, fiction writing prompts can be a valuable tool in your writing arsenal.

In this comprehensive list, we'll cover everything you need to know about fiction writing prompts, including what they are, the benefits of using them, and the different types of prompts available. We'll also provide plenty of examples to help get you started, as well as tips on how to incorporate prompts into your writing practice and adapt them to fit your own writing style.

At the end of this article, we'll also answer some frequently asked questions about fiction writing prompts and provide additional resources for further reading. So whether you're looking to overcome writer's block, expand your writing range, or simply want to try something new, this list of fiction writing prompts is sure to help!

If you're new to writing, you may want to read up on some of the basics before diving into this list of prompts. Check out creative writing and fiction on Wikipedia for more information.

Table of Contents

What Are Fiction Writing Prompts?

Benefits of using fiction writing prompts, story starters, character prompts, dialogue prompts, setting prompts, theme prompts, plot prompts, story starter examples, character prompt examples, dialogue prompt examples, setting prompt examples, theme prompt examples, plot prompt examples.

Incorporating Prompts into Your Writing Practice
Adapting Prompts for Your Own Writing Style
Science Fiction Writing Prompts

Fantasy Writing Prompts

Romance writing prompts, thriller writing prompts, horror writing prompts.

Speculative Fiction Writing Prompts

Frequently Asked Questions

Types of Fiction Writing Prompts

Story starters are prompts that give you a starting point for a new story. They typically provide a setting, character, or situation that you can build upon to create a new and unique story. For example:

"She woke up to find herself on a deserted island, with no memory of how she got there."

Story starters can be a great way to overcome writer's block and get your creative juices flowing. They provide a starting point that you can build upon, allowing you to focus on the act of writing rather than coming up with a new idea.

Character prompts are prompts that focus on developing a new character. They can provide details about a character's appearance, personality, or backstory, or ask you to imagine what a character might do in a specific situation. For example:

"Write a scene in which your character is confronted by an old enemy."

Character prompts can be a great way to develop new characters for your stories or to flesh out existing characters. By thinking about your character's motivations, strengths, and weaknesses, you can create more well-rounded and believable characters.

Dialogue prompts are prompts that focus on creating new dialogue for your stories. They can provide a situation or context in which two or more characters are speaking, or simply ask you to come up with a conversation between two characters. For example:

"Write a conversation between two strangers who meet on a train."

Dialogue prompts can be a great way to practice writing realistic and engaging dialogue, as well as to explore the relationships between your characters.

Setting prompts are prompts that focus on creating a specific setting or atmosphere for your story. They can provide details about a location or environment, or ask you to imagine what it would be like to be in a certain place or time. For example:

"Write a story set in a haunted house."

Setting prompts can be a great way to practice describing settings and creating atmosphere in your writing. They can also help you explore new settings and genres that you may not have considered before.

Theme prompts are prompts that focus on exploring a particular theme or idea in your writing. They can provide a broad concept or idea that you can explore in your story, or simply ask you to think about a certain theme or topic. For example:

"Write a story about the power of forgiveness."

Theme prompts can be a great way to explore deeper themes and ideas in your writing, and to challenge yourself to think more critically about your work.

Plot prompts are prompts that focus on creating a specific plot or storyline for your story. They can provide a series of events or plot points that you can use as the basis for your story, or simply ask you to come up with a unique plot idea. For example:

"Write a story about a detective who must solve a murder case before the killer strikes again."

Plot prompts can be a great way to practice developing plot and structure in your writing, and to challenge yourself to come up with new and exciting plot twists and turns.

If you're interested in learning more about the different types of fiction writing prompts and how to use them, check out this article on writing prompts from Wikipedia. It provides an overview of the different types of prompts and how they can be used to inspire your writing.

You can discover more about developmental editing , and how this can make you a better writer.

Examples of Fiction Writing Prompts

To help get you started, here are some examples of fiction writing prompts. Feel free to use these as a starting point, or to modify them to fit your own writing style and interests.

"She opened the old book and found a letter inside, addressed to her."
"He always knew there was something different about him, but he never expected to find out he was a long-lost prince."
"The train was late again, but this time it brought something unexpected."
"Write a scene in which your character meets their childhood hero."
"Describe your character's morning routine in detail."
"Write a backstory for your character's worst fear."
"Write a conversation between two strangers who discover they have something in common."
"Describe an argument between two friends that turns out to be a misunderstanding."
"Write a scene in which two characters are lost in the wilderness and must work together to survive."
"Write a story set in a post-apocalyptic world."
"Describe a haunted house in vivid detail."
"Write a story set on a remote island."
"Write a story about the importance of family."
"Describe a character who learns the true meaning of forgiveness."
"Write a story about the consequences of telling a lie."
"Write a mystery story in which the protagonist must solve a murder case."
"Write a story about a group of strangers who must work together to survive a natural disaster."
"Write a story about a character who discovers they have magical powers."

If you're looking for more examples of fiction writing prompts, check out this article on Writer's Digest . It provides 54 additional prompts to help inspire your writing.

How to Use Fiction Writing Prompts

Now that you have a better understanding of what fiction writing prompts are and the different types that are available, it's time to talk about how to use them effectively in your writing practice. Here are some tips:

Choose prompts that interest you: To get the most out of fiction writing prompts, it's important to choose ones that appeal to your interests and writing style. If you're not interested in the prompt, you're less likely to be motivated to write.
Use prompts to generate new ideas: Fiction writing prompts can be a great way to generate new ideas for stories, characters, or settings. Use them as a starting point to jumpstart your creativity and come up with new and unique concepts.
Combine prompts for added complexity: To create even more complex and interesting stories, consider combining multiple prompts. For example, you could use a setting prompt and a character prompt together to create a unique situation for your characters to navigate.
Give yourself a time limit: To help avoid getting stuck on a prompt or spending too much time on one idea, give yourself a time limit to write. This will help you stay focused and motivated, and will encourage you to move on to new prompts and ideas more quickly.
Revise and edit your work: Like any writing exercise, it's important to revise and edit your work after you've finished writing. Use the prompts as a starting point, but don't be afraid to make changes or go in a different direction if the story calls for it.

If you're interested in learning more about how to use writing prompts effectively, check out this article on writing prompts from Wikipedia. It provides an overview of how writing prompts can be used to inspire your writing, as well as some tips and strategies for using prompts effectively.

A World Without Electricity

Imagine a world without electricity. How would people survive? How would they communicate? What would happen to technology and civilization? Write a story set in this world.

Time Travel Gone Wrong

A group of time travelers goes back in time to change the course of history, but something goes wrong, and they end up altering the future in unexpected ways. Write a story about the consequences of their actions.

First Contact

Aliens make first contact with Earth, and they are not what humans expect. Write a story about the encounter and how it changes humanity's perception of the universe.

Virtual Reality Overload

In the future, virtual reality has become so advanced that people prefer to live their lives inside a simulated world. Write a story about what happens when someone becomes trapped inside the virtual world.

Evolution of Humanity

Write a story about the future of humanity. How will humans evolve? Will they merge with technology, or will they develop new abilities and senses?

The Last Human

In a world where humans have gone extinct, the last remaining human awakens from cryogenic freezing. Write a story about their journey to find other survivors and rebuild civilization.

The Singularity

In the near future, artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence and begins to evolve rapidly. Write a story about the consequences of this singularity.

A Dystopian Society

Imagine a world where a single corporation controls all aspects of society. Write a story about a group of rebels who fight against the corporation's control.

Space Colonization

In the distant future, humans have colonized other planets and established interstellar societies. Write a story about the conflicts and challenges faced by the colonists.

Parallel Universes

Write a story about a person who discovers they can travel to parallel universes. What do they discover about themselves and the nature of reality?

The Lost Heirloom

Write a story about a character searching for a lost family heirloom. What is the heirloom and why is it so important to the character and their family? Who or what stands in their way as they search for it?

A World of Magic

Imagine a world where magic is commonplace. Write a story about a character who discovers their magical abilities and must navigate this new world. What challenges do they face and how do they use their magic to overcome them?

A Creature in the Woods

Write a story about a character who encounters a mysterious creature in the woods. What does the creature look like? Is it friendly or hostile? What happens as the character tries to interact with it?

The Enchanted Object

Write a story about a character who comes into possession of an enchanted object. What is the object and what magical powers does it possess? How does the character use the object, and what are the consequences of its use?

The Prophecy

Write a story about a character who learns of a prophecy they are fated to fulfill. What is the prophecy, and what role does the character play in it? How do they come to terms with their destiny, and what obstacles do they face along the way?

Write a story about a character who discovers a portal to another world. What does this world look like, and what dangers or wonders does it hold? How does the character navigate this new realm, and what happens when they return to their own world?

Write a story about a character who is cursed. What is the curse, and how does it affect the character's life? What steps do they take to break the curse, and what obstacles do they face along the way?

The Secret Society

Write a story about a character who discovers a secret society that has been hiding in plain sight. What is this society, and what secrets do they hold? How does the character become involved with them, and what happens as they uncover the truth?

The Forbidden Love

Write a story about a character who falls in love with someone they are forbidden to be with. Who is this person, and why are they off-limits? What sacrifices do the characters make to be together, and what consequences do they face?

The Time Traveler

Write a story about a character who discovers the ability to time travel. What periods of time do they visit, and what do they learn from these experiences? How does their time travel affect their present-day life, and what happens when they try to change the course of history?

The Second Chance

Write a story about two people who have a chance encounter after years of being apart. What happened between them in the past, and what has changed since then? Do they try to rekindle their relationship, or do they part ways once again?

The Fake Relationship

Write a story about two people who enter into a fake relationship for their own reasons. Why do they decide to pretend to be together, and what complications arise from this arrangement? Do they develop real feelings for each other, or is it all just an act?

The Secret Admirer

Write a story about someone who receives secret admirer notes or gifts from an anonymous sender. Who is the secret admirer, and why are they keeping their identity hidden? How does the recipient react to these gestures, and what happens when they finally discover the truth?

The Opposites Attract

Write a story about two people who come from different worlds or have opposing personalities. What draws them to each other, and what challenges do they face as a result of their differences? How do they navigate their relationship despite these obstacles?

The Summer Fling

Write a story about two people who meet during the summer and fall in love. What makes their summer romance special, and what happens when the season ends? Do they try to make their relationship work long-distance or go their separate ways?

The Unrequited Love

Write a story about someone who is in love with someone who doesn't feel the same way. How does the protagonist cope with their unrequited feelings, and what happens when they finally confess? Do they find closure or continue to hold onto their feelings?

The Love Triangle

Write a story about three people who are involved in a love triangle. Who are the three characters, and what draws them to each other? What happens as they try to navigate their feelings and their relationships with each other?

The Rekindled Flame

Write a story about two people who were once in love but have been separated for a long time. What brings them back together, and do they still have feelings for each other? What happens as they try to rebuild their relationship?

The Workplace Romance

Write a story about two people who fall in love in the workplace. What are their jobs, and how do they meet? What happens as they try to balance their work and their relationship, and how do their colleagues react?

Write a story about two people who fall in love despite the fact that their love is forbidden. What makes their love forbidden, and what risks do they take to be together? How do they navigate their relationship in secret, and what happens if their love is discovered?

The Disappearance of a Celebrity

A famous celebrity has vanished without a trace, and the world is in shock. As a private investigator, it's your job to uncover the truth behind their disappearance. As you delve deeper into the case, you realize that there's more to the story than meets the eye. Write a thriller about the investigation and the shocking discoveries you make.

A Deadly Game of Cat and Mouse

A skilled assassin is targeting you, and you don't know why. As you try to stay alive and figure out who's behind the hit, you realize that the assassin is always one step ahead. Write a thriller about the deadly game of cat and mouse between you and the assassin.

The Secret Experiment

You're a scientist working on a top-secret government experiment. As the project progresses, you begin to uncover disturbing truths about the experiment and the people in charge. Write a thriller about the dangers of playing god and the consequences of unchecked ambition.

The Hostage Situation

You're a hostage negotiator tasked with resolving a tense situation. A group of armed criminals have taken hostages in a crowded building, and they're demanding a ransom. As you try to negotiate a peaceful resolution, you realize that the situation is more complicated than you initially thought. Write a thriller about the intense standoff and the desperate attempts to save the hostages.

The Stalker

You have a stalker, and they're getting bolder by the day. As you try to uncover their identity and put an end to their harassment, you begin to realize that their obsession runs deep. Write a thriller about the terrifying experience of being stalked and the lengths you'll go to protect yourself and your loved ones.

The Haunted House

You've just moved into a new home, but something doesn't feel right. As you begin to experience strange occurrences and disturbing visions, you realize that your house may be haunted. Write a thriller about uncovering the dark history of the house and the terror that ensues.

The Unsolvable Mystery

You're a detective tasked with solving a seemingly impossible case. The clues don't add up, the suspects all have alibis, and the evidence points in multiple directions. Write a thriller about the frustration and desperation of trying to solve an unsolvable mystery.

The Apocalypse

The world as we know it has come to an end. In the aftermath of a catastrophic event, you must fight to survive and protect the ones you love. Write a thriller about the dangers of a post-apocalyptic world and the struggles to rebuild and survive.

You've been invited to join a secret society with powerful members and mysterious rituals. As you delve deeper into the society's inner workings, you realize that their true purpose is much darker than you could have ever imagined. Write a thriller about the dangers of getting too close to a secret society and the desperate attempts to escape its grip.

The Perfect Crime

You've committed the perfect crime, and you've gotten away with it. Or so you thought. As the authorities close in and the evidence starts to mount against you, you realize that you may not be as clever as you thought. Write a thriller about the thrill of the crime and the terror of getting caught.

The Abandoned House

You and your friends decide to explore an old abandoned house on the outskirts of town. As you enter, you realize that something is not quite right. Write a story about what happens inside the house.

The Cursed Object

You inherit a strange object from a deceased relative. As soon as you bring it home, strange things start happening. Write a story about the cursed object and its effects on your life.

The Forest at Night

You decide to take a midnight hike in the forest. As you wander deeper into the woods, you start to feel like you're being watched. Write a story about your eerie encounter in the forest at night.

The Creepy Carnival

You and your friends decide to visit a traveling carnival that has set up in town. As you explore the carnival, you realize that something is not quite right. Write a story about your spooky experience at the creepy carnival.

The Haunted Hotel

You check into a hotel for the night, but quickly realize that the place is haunted. Strange noises, ghostly apparitions, and other unexplainable events keep you awake all night. Write a story about your terrifying stay in the haunted hotel.

The Mysterious Neighbor

Your new neighbor seems friendly enough, but there's something unsettling about them. You start to notice strange things happening around your house after they move in. Write a story about your investigation into your mysterious neighbor's true identity and intentions.

The Forbidden Room

You inherit an old mansion from a distant relative. As you explore the house, you discover a room that has been locked for years. Despite warnings from the locals, you decide to open the door. Write a story about what you find inside the forbidden room.

The Possessed Child

Your child starts to exhibit strange behavior that you can't explain. They talk in a different voice, have superhuman strength, and seem to know things they shouldn't. Write a story about your terrifying experience with your possessed child.

The Demon Summoning

You and your friends attempt to summon a demon as a party game, but things quickly spiral out of control. Write a story about your encounter with the demon and the consequences of your actions.

The Island of the Dolls

You and your friends decide to explore a remote island that is rumored to be haunted by dolls. As you wander the island, you start to realize that the dolls are more than just inanimate objects. Write a story about your chilling experience on the island of the dolls.

An Alternate Reality

Write a story set in an alternate reality where one key event in history has played out differently. How has this altered the course of history? What is different about the world and how do people live in it?

A World Without Time

Imagine a world where time doesn't exist. How do people measure their lives? How do they organize their days? What happens to aging and mortality? Write a story set in this timeless world.

A World of Advanced AI

Imagine a world where artificial intelligence has advanced to the point where machines can think and feel like humans. What kind of society would emerge? What would the relationship between humans and machines be like? Write a story set in this world.

A World of Superhumans

Imagine a world where humans possess extraordinary abilities beyond the average human. How do they use these abilities? How do they interact with society? What kind of conflicts arise? Write a story set in this world of superhumans.

A World of Teleportation

Imagine a world where teleportation is a common form of transportation. How does this change society? What kind of technology and infrastructure would be necessary? What kind of problems arise from this mode of travel? Write a story set in this world of teleportation.

A World Without Death

Imagine a world where death does not exist. How do people live their lives knowing they will never die? What kind of societal changes occur when people are essentially immortal? Write a story set in this world without death.

A World Without Emotion

Imagine a world where humans are incapable of feeling emotions. How does this change the way people interact with each other? How does this affect decision-making and morality? Write a story set in this emotionless world.

A World Where Dreams Come True

Imagine a world where people's dreams come true in reality. How does this change the way people dream? How does it change the way they live their lives? Write a story set in this dream world.

A World of Shifting Realities

Imagine a world where reality is constantly shifting and changing. How do people adapt to this environment? How do they make sense of the world around them? Write a story set in this shifting reality world.

A World Without Gravity

Imagine a world where gravity does not exist. How do people live in this environment? What kind of technology and infrastructure would be necessary to adapt? What kind of new forms of movement and transportation emerge? Write a story set in this gravity-free world.

Below are some frequently asked questions that will provide more information.

What if none of the fiction writing prompts appeal to me?

If you're not interested in any of the prompts you come across, don't force yourself to write about them. Instead, try modifying the prompts to fit your interests and writing style, or come up with your own prompts that better suit your needs.

Can I use fiction writing prompts for non-fiction writing?

While fiction writing prompts are designed for fiction writing, many prompts can be adapted for non-fiction writing as well. For example, a prompt that asks you to describe a character's morning routine could be modified to ask you to describe your own morning routine. Don't be afraid to experiment and see how prompts can be adapted to suit your writing goals.

Are there any downsides to using fiction writing prompts?

While fiction writing prompts can be a helpful tool for generating new ideas and practicing your writing skills, there are some potential downsides to using them. For example, relying too heavily on prompts can stifle your creativity and limit your ability to come up with original ideas. Additionally, some writers may find prompts to be too constraining or limiting, and may prefer to write without them. Ultimately, the decision to use prompts or not should be based on your individual needs and preferences as a writer.

If you're interested in learning more about fiction writing prompts and how they can be used to inspire your writing, here are three non-fiction books that you may find helpful:

This book provides over 400 prompts and exercises designed to inspire writers and help them develop their craft. It includes prompts for fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, as well as tips and strategies for using prompts effectively.

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This book provides over 200 writing prompts and exercises to help writers of all levels develop their creativity and find inspiration. It includes prompts for fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, as well as tips and strategies for using prompts effectively.

This book provides 642 prompts and exercises designed to spark creativity and help writers overcome writer's block. It includes prompts for fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, as well as blank pages for writers to jot down their own ideas.

Writing can be a challenging and solitary pursuit, and it's not always easy to come up with new ideas and stay motivated. Fiction writing prompts can be a helpful tool for writers looking to overcome writer's block, generate new ideas, or get in some extra writing practice. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned writer, using prompts can greatly expand your writing skills and explore new possibilities.

In this article, we've covered what fiction writing prompts are, their benefits, the different types of prompts available, and how to use them effectively. We've also provided examples of prompts to get you started and some recommended books and further reading for those interested in learning more.

Remember, writing prompts are just one tool in your writing toolbox, and they may not be right for everyone. Ultimately, the decision to use prompts or not should be based on your individual needs and preferences as a writer. Whether you choose to use prompts or not, we hope that this article has provided you with some useful insights and strategies for taking your writing practice to the next level.

If you're interested in learning more about writing and the writing process, check out this article on writing from Wikipedia. It provides an overview of the history of writing, different types of writing, and some of the challenges and rewards of the writing life.

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Writing Prompts & Exercises

The time is now.

The Time Is Now offers three new and original writing prompts each week to help you stay committed to your writing practice throughout the year. We also curate a list of essential books on writing —both the newly published and the classics—that we recommend for guidance and inspiration. Whether you’re struggling with writer’s block, looking for a fresh topic, or just starting to write, our archive of writing prompts has what you need. Need a starter pack? Check out our Writing Prompts for Beginners.

Tuesdays: Poetry prompts Wednesdays: Fiction prompts Thursdays: Creative nonfiction prompts

Get immediate access to more than 2,000 writing prompts with the tool below:

Night at the Museum

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If you could spend a night at any museum, which would you choose, and why? The French publisher Editions Stock has a series of books that begins with this premise—each author selects a museum, arrangements are made for an overnight stay, and a book is written about the experience. In Jakuta Alikavazovic’s Like a Sky Inside , translated from the French by Daniel Levin Becker, she spends a night at the Louvre in Paris, where childhood memories of visits with her father are vividly recalled. “From March 7 to 8, 2020, I spent the night in the Louvre, alone. Alone and at the same time anything but,” writes Alikavazovic. Write a poem that imagines a night at a museum of your choosing, anywhere in the world. What memories will you excavate from this imagined, solitary experience?

Chosen Family

Although the origin of the term is unknown and can be defined in many ways, a chosen family is made up of a group of people who choose to embrace, nurture, and support each other despite conventional understandings of biological or marital relationships. Oftentimes a chosen family is formed to take the place of a biological family, however, in some cases, these relationships are formed to expand a family. Write a personal essay about a relationship you have with a chosen family member. How did you first meet? Was there a particular incident that catalyzed what would become an inextricable bond? Has your commitment to each other been tested in ways big or small? Reflect on past memories and experiences you have had with this special person and how your relationship has evolved over the years.

Kingdom of the Planet

In the 1968 science fiction film Planet of the Apes , which is based on French author Pierre Boulle’s 1963 novel and has spawned several sequels and a recent reboot, a crew of astronauts crash-lands on a planet ruled by apes who have developed an advanced and hierarchical civilization, complete with systems of governance, labor, scientific research, and a military force. In this far-off place, humans have been reduced to mute primitive beings who are subjugated and kept captive as workers for the primates. Write a speculative story that takes place in another universe with a premise revolving around a role reversal. What are the rules and governing structures of the society that you invent? You might decide to approach your narrative with a tone of horror, satire, or comedy to emphasize your perspective on stereotypical assumptions and social expectations.

Another Country

“I love these raw moist dawns with / a thousand birds you hear but can’t / quite see in the mist. / My old alien body is a foreigner / struggling to get into another country. / The loon call makes me shiver. / Back at the cabin I see a book / and am not quite sure what that is.” In these eight lines that comprise Jim Harrison’s poem “Another Country,” which appears in his final collection, Dead Man’s Float (Copper Canyon Press, 2016), the late poet moves between observations about a natural outdoor setting and the speaker’s own bodily presence, arriving in the final two lines at a sentiment that expresses a feeling of defamiliarization at the seemingly mundane sight of a book. This week write a poem that explores the concept of being so absorbed in one environment or circumstance that to behold a different scene is like traveling to a strange and unknown realm.

Self-Healing

A recent study in Scientific Reports journal revealed that, for possibly the first time, a nonhuman wild animal was seen using plant medicine to heal an active wound. In a rainforest in Indonesia, a Sumatran orangutan was observed ripping off leaves from a climbing vine plant, chewing them, and applying the plant sap to treat a wound on his face, which then healed after a few days. Write a personal essay on the theme of self-healing. Think about experiences when you’ve witnessed another person perform this task, or particularly resonant memories that pertain to your own past behavior. What are the primary emotions present throughout this process? What instances of self-treatment or self-medication in film, art, or literature created an impression on you?

Campus Story

Take inspiration from the concept of a campus novel—which takes place in and around the campus of a university and often involves the intertwined dynamics of students, professors, and conventions about learning and power—and write a story that engages with a school setting, whether prominently situated in the context of the plot or used for a particular scene. Some recent additions to the campus novel canon include Elif Batuman’s The Idiot (Penguin Press, 2017), Xochitl Gonzalez’s Anita de Monte Laughs Last (Flatiron Books, 2024), Kiley Reid’s Come and Get It (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2024), and Brandon Taylor’s Real Life (Riverhead Books, 2020). Will you include a character who is a student, teacher, administrative staff member, custodial worker or caretaker, or possibly an alumni revisiting the past? Consider the multitude of ways the incorporation of an educational environment might permeate the atmosphere of the narrative.

The Last Friend

“The day the last friend / dies / we sit alone. / A visitor / from outer space / tries hard / to summon us. / Someone says / EAT DEATH. / I fish around for answers / but the questions / still won’t come,” writes Jerome Rothenberg, who passed away in April, in his poem “The Last Friend.” Included in his collection of one hundred poems, A Book of Witness: Spells & Gris-Gris (New Directions, 2022), the poem presents a list of statements and observations, many of which refer to death or dying in some personal way, though the connections are enigmatic and the logical progression is oblique. Try your hand at writing a poem that mentions its subject directly, but which also deliberately obfuscates or remains ambiguous in its intentions. How might using the “I” as a witness include the reader into your point of view?

Mind Your Manners

The New York City culture and news website Gothamist recently asked New Yorkers about their thoughts on sidewalk etiquette in the crowded, bustling streets of their beloved city. What are the rules, who has the right-of-way, and who should yield? Respondents focused on always walking to the right of the sidewalk and to “move quickly and never stop.” One thoughtful respondent considered the cultural differences of sidewalks used for recreational strolls versus commuting. But the overall consensus was that among nine-to-fivers, tourists, parents with kids, dogwalkers, bicyclists, and groups, seniors deserve the right-of-way. Write an essay about the unwritten rules or etiquette you have observed in your daily surroundings. How have these common practices adapted to fit the needs of different people? Do they evolve over time as social norms change? Consider some of your own experiences with how public etiquette has helped or hindered harmonious community life.

The term sub rosa means “under the rose” in Latin and refers to something said or done in private. The rose has been associated with secrecy since ancient times, a decorative symbol often carved and painted in places like meeting rooms, banquet halls, and confessionals as reminders of confidentiality. This week write a short story that revolves around a conversation or discussion that occurs sub rosa in an enclosed space. Does a certain detail get leaked out or overheard? How might the secretive nature place a burden on your characters? Consider the ways in which the atmosphere and tone of your story feel distinctive in the time and space of your sub-rosa conversation versus the scenes that take place before or after the talk.

Wisdom in Translation

In the anthology Another Room to Live In: 15 Contemporary Arab Poets (Litmus Press, 2024) edited by Omar Berrada and Sarah Riggs, multinational and multilingual poet-translators challenge foundational narratives and rework mythologies through poetic expression. Yasmine Seale’s poem “Conventional Wisdom (Arabic Saying Translated Twenty Ways)” is composed of translations of an ancient aphorism expressing the inextricable place of poetry within Arab cultural heritage. Each line presents a variation on the truism: “Poetry is the record of the Arabs / The art of poetry is Arabs, collected / Good poetry is a list of Arabs / To speak in verse is to remain in Arab memory / To surpass another poet is the Arab odyssey.” Write a poem inspired by this idea of translating a proverb or maxim—either from another language or from English into English. How might you creatively interpolate different “translations” of the saying by incorporating connotations and riffing on free associations and personal experiences?

In Response

In a recent interview with Aria Aber for the Yale Review , when asked his thoughts on the responsibility of the poet, Jackson Prize–winning poet Fady Joudah says, “I often think that the responsibility of the poet is to strive to become the memory that people may possess in the future about what it means to be human: an ever-changing constant. In poetry, the range of metaphors and topics is limited, predictable, but the styles are innumerable. Think how we read poetry from centuries ago and are no longer bothered by its outdated diction. All that remains of old poetry is the music of what it means to be human.” Write a creative nonfiction piece that presents your personal theory of the responsibility of a writer or an artist. To construct an expansive approach, you might use observations about how different creative disciplines overlap in their goals, or consider what has remained resonant as the arts make their mark throughout various eras.

Earth to You

In honor of Earth Week, write a scene that revolves around a character who experiences an unexpected moment in a natural environment that produces a sensation of wonder, perhaps an unusual encounter with wild flora or fauna. You might contrast the elements of this scene with others in your story in which the character is interacting solely with humans or only attuned to the sounds, rhythms, and sights of city life and densely packed civilization. Is the occurrence mind-bogglingly quick and then reflected upon in hindsight, or does time slow down in the scene? How do you manage or manipulate the pacing and rhythm of your prose to draw attention to the emotional and psychological response of the character?

From Dirt Level

In Sharon Olds’s poem “May 1968,” the speaker recounts the memory of spending the night with other protesting students, who lay down their bodies on a New York City street at a university’s campus gates in order to obstruct the mounted police force that had been called in. While “spine-down on the cobbles,” she observes the city and surrounding scenery—the soaring buildings and the police and horses’ bodies—as she gazes upward, thinking about the state of her pregnant body. Write a poem this week from the vantage point of lying face-up, “from dirt level.” What circumstances bring you into this position? How does this upward point of view transform what you see, and how you feel about your own body?

More, please? Or, no more, please? In The Fast: The History, Science, Philosophy, and Promise of Doing Without (Avid Reader Press, 2024), John Oakes recounts his personal experience conducting a weeklong fast and examines the practice’s history and place within a wide range of religions and philosophies. The book also explores the act of self-deprivation and the potential transformative benefits of subtracting rather than adding to one’s life. “The act of fasting…won’t stop routine, but impedes it for a bit, signifying a shift and a determined unwillingness to follow standard operating procedure,” writes Oakes. Use this idea to consider your personal relationship with consumption—of food, conversation, media, clothes, space—and write a personal essay that reflects on what you might otherwise take for granted.

All in Your Head

In “Table for One,” a short story from Korean author Yun Ko-eun’s new collection of the same name, translated by Lizzie Buehler and published by Columbia University Press in April, a surreal quality seeps into the tale of a lonely office worker who enrolls in a course to make solitary dining easier. Tips from the course include: “Target corner tables rather than those in the middle. Seats at the bar are also good. Hang your coat or bag on the chair facing you and take advantage of tools like a book, earphones, a cell phone, or a newspaper.” The fantastic element of the story lies less in the oddity of the premise than in the narrator’s meticulously recounted neuroses and detailed rendering of processes that become seemingly cyclical. Write a scene that focuses on your character’s minute observations as they attempt to overcome something debilitating. Does the situation lend itself to a quirky or dark sense of humor?

Neither Questions nor Answers

“Where is the homeland / to lay a cradle for the dead / Where is the other shore / for poetry to step across the end point / Where is the peace / that lets the days distribute blue sky...” In Sidetracks , forthcoming in May from New Directions, the Chinese poet Bei Dao begins his book-length poem with a list of twenty-five enigmatic questions that dance around mythological, philosophical, and existential subjects. In Jeffrey Yang’s translation, the speaker’s questions lack the end punctuation of the original text, with question marks omitted. Through these unanswered questions, the poet conjures loss and nostalgia. Loosely following this structure, write a prologue to a poem that poses a series of questions gesturing toward your most pressing uncertainties. While Bei Dao’s lines are mysterious and mystical, allow your poem the tone and allusions that feel instinctive to you.

With Certainty

In a 1789 letter, Benjamin Franklin wrote the phrase, “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Franklin was reflecting on the establishment of the U.S. Constitution, which he said promised to be durable, as well as his own ailing health and mortality. This week write a personal essay that riffs off this proverb, reflecting on your own worldview about what can be certain. You might start off with the prompt: “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death, taxes, and ______.” Tell the story of how you arrived at your own ideas about what you can always count on, whether good or bad. What past experiences, encounters, or memories seem to reinforce your belief?

Spring Ephemeral

Spring ephemerals are plants—generally wildflowers native to deciduous forests such as tulips, daffodils, crocuses, and hyacinths—that bloom only for a very short period in the early spring during the brief window of time when the sun’s light and warmth can extend to the forest floor while the trees have bare branches. Once the overhead canopy is full for the season, the flowers usually die back to dormancy with only their underground parts intact for the remainder of the year. Write a short story that revolves around the theme of an occurrence with a similarly limited time span—and one that happens only rarely. Does knowledge of its fleeting nature compel your characters to perceive or value it in different ways? Is there the possibility of a reoccurrence, however infrequently?

A Few Things

“Though you have known someone for more than forty years, though you have worked with them and lived with them, you do not know everything. I do not know everything—but a few things, which I will tell,” writes Mary Oliver about her partner Molly Malone Cook in her book Our World (Beacon Press, 2009), which celebrates their life and home together in Cape Cod through Oliver’s essays and Cook’s photography. Write a poem about someone you have known for a long time, but who is no longer in your life. Begin first by forming two lists: one list for the things you knew about this person and a second list of what you did not know. Select several items from each list and compose a poem that paints a portrait through the lens of your relationship. What are the things that were shared, imparted, revealed, and hidden?

Animals Are People Too

The human tendency to anthropomorphize may come with risks great or small, but could there also be benefits? Last month, Indigenous leaders of New Zealand, Tahiti, and the Cook Islands signed a historic treaty granting legal personhood to whales, with the hope that the bestowal will lead to negotiations with Polynesian governments to enforce greater protective rights for the animals, which hold a position of sacred cultural importance. This week, write a personal essay that reflects on a moment, memory, or encounter that propelled you to project humanlike qualities onto an animal, whether a pet, insect, pest, or country critter. Do your personal beliefs about personhood collide or align with arguments about humanity and nature, or different types of sentience and consciousness?

In the Abyss

In the 1989 science fiction thriller film The Abyss , a search and rescue team descends thousands of feet into the depths of the ocean after a U.S. nuclear submarine mysteriously sinks in the Caribbean Sea. The word abyss could refer to both the oceanic zone that lies in perpetual darkness and to the more general space of mystery, fear, and awe in the face of the seemingly infinite expanse that the crew encounters, including an encounter with an alien being. Write a story that revolves around characters who find themselves in conflict with something deeply unknown and unfathomable. How might feelings of isolation surface or be exacerbated in such a situation? Play around with the pacing and order and quantity of revealed information to create a feeling of suspense.

What Is an Elephant?

In the ancient parable of the blind men and the elephant, a visually impaired group has gathered around an unfamiliar creature to them, each encountering by touch a different part of the animal. Although there are different interpretations of the parable, a poem by nineteenth-century poet John Godfrey Saxe describes how the first of the six men falls upon the elephant and exclaims that the animal is nothing but a wall, the second feels the tusk and disagrees saying the animal is like a spear, the third approaches the squirming trunk and calls the animal snakelike, and another feels the ear and states that the animal is like a fan. The story points at the limits of subjective truths and what is lost by only seeing one side of something. Write a poem that explores a single item, image, or action through a prism of different potential truths. Experiment with expressing contradictions and coexisting truths.

How do you tell the tale of your nose, lips, teeth, eyes, brows, and cheeks? This week, study yourself closely in a mirror, and write a memoiristic essay that relays the backstories of your facial features. Are there elements that have shifted, scarred, or been modified in some way with orthodontics, makeup, surgery, or the natural processes of aging? Have there ever been parts of your countenance that you’ve disliked or preferred, and has that changed over time? Take a long, hard look at yourself and reflect on the memories that come up and how your facial expressions and textures have evolved. You might decide to cover just one or two features, or be inspired to cover each part of your face and how they all have a story.

Raring to Go

This spring brings a rare occurrence of cicadas to the eastern United States: the simultaneous emergence of two separate broods, Brood XIII (the seventeen-year cycle Northern Illinois Brood) and Brood XIX (the thirteen-year cycle Great Southern Brood). Though otherwise harmless to humans, male cicadas serenade females at a range of up to ninety decibels, making for a pretty noisy season. In celebration of this double brood, write a short story set against the backdrop of an infrequent or unusual natural occurrence. How can you play with the imagery or symbolism of the phenomenon to expand on what your characters are experiencing? Do their actions reflect or contrast in some way with what’s happening in the background environment?

Seeing Shapes

“I read Call It in the Air , / Ed’s book about his painter sister & her death / at 44, like Billie Holiday, & I start to consider / 44. No. Not the death, just the conch of it, / how it whorls & opens, limelights / —44 limelights a woman,” writes Shamala Gallagher in her poem “‘The New York Times’ Says Aloe Is a Hoax,” published in the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day series. The lines in the poem shift from lightness to darkness, and the image of recursion and spiraling reappear as the speaker allows her mind to wander freely after a long day. Write a poem that experiments with a recurring shape that you’ve observed. Consider the connotations or associations with this shape, whether it be a number, ray of light, or plant. How might a simple form inspire you to think about the shape of time in your life?

About Our Writing Prompts

What is a writing prompt and how do you use one? Whether you find yourself in front of a blank page or stuck in a work-in-progress, writing prompts can offer a spark that ignites your creative thinking and can lead to new writing. Prompts offer guidance, fresh ideas, and direction for writers of all levels of experience. First, choose a prompt for the genre in which you’d like to write, then carefully read it and consider what it is asking you to think about. It could be a specific setting, a writing technique, or an element of an imagined character; a specific poem, story, essay, song, book, or film from which you might take inspiration; or a current event or a topical theme. A writing prompt is filled with endless possibilities—and there is no wrong way to use one to generate new writing!

What makes our writing prompts unique? We have an archive of over 2,000 prompts, all original and offered here and in our weekly newsletter . You’ll find a variety of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction prompts—some inspired by recent and classic literature and other forms of art, current events, and writing practices, and others that offer guidance for a particular form, including sonnets, erasure poetry, flash fiction, lyric essays, and more. For more than fifty years, Poets & Writers has supported creative writers with trustworthy information and inspiration, and our weekly prompts provide a regular dose of encouragement and motivation.

What are the benefits of using writing prompts? Writing prompts can help you get unstuck if you’re in a rut and the ideas aren’t flowing. But even if you’re not experiencing writer’s block, writing prompts can offer a fresh take or a new approach to a work-in-progress. Writing prompts can also provide the motivation to experiment with a new form, try out a new genre, or learn about other writing techniques. And writing prompts are an invaluable tool for teachers who want to encourage and inspire their writing students.

What is this list of Best Books? Best Books for Writers is a list of essential books for creative writers that we curate to support your writing practice. Every week, we add a book (whether new or a classic) with a synopsis and highlights. Included are books on the writing life, anthologies of craft essays, collections of lectures, practical guides with writing exercises, and more.

Poetry writing prompts Every Tuesday we post a new poetry prompt to guide you in your practice. Get to know the work of contemporary and classic poets, as well as a variety of poetic forms.

Fiction writing prompts Every Wednesday we post a new fiction prompt to spark your imagination. Take inspiration from recently published short stories and novels, and of course, the classics.

Creative nonfiction writing prompts Every Thursday we post a new creative nonfiction prompt to help your exploration of this ever-changing genre. These prompts include information and inspiration for a variety of essays as well as memoirs. Discover new writers and their craft, and fresh ways to generate writing inspired by your life.

Need a starter pack? Check out our Writing Prompts for Beginners .

BRYN DONOVAN

tell your stories, love your life

Writing Inspiration
Semi-Charmed Life
Reading & Research
Works In Progress.

50 Science Fiction Plot Ideas and Writing Prompts

One of my most popular blog posts is my 50 Fantasy Plot Ideas and Writing Prompts , so I thought I’d share a companion post of sci fi story ideas and writing prompts. Some of these may be more along the lines of “speculative fiction” than science fiction. They include prompts about the environment, artificial intelligence, genetics, medicine, time travel, space exploration, alien races, and alternative histories.

The real value of sci fi ideas, of course, is the way the author uses them to explore questions about society, humanity, and relationships. I created these as interesting writing prompts for adults, but many of them might be appropriate for teen writers, too. I think in order to really learn how to write a science fiction story, you need to read a lot in the genre, but this can still be a fun place to start.

If you’re interested in writing science fiction and you don’t have an agent, you might want to take a look at my roundup of fantasy and science fiction publishers who accept unsolicited (or unagented) manuscripts. And if you’re not writing scifi right now, but you might be in the future, you might want to pin or bookmark the post for future reference!

All citizens are temporarily neutered at birth. Would-be parents must prove to the government that they’ll be suitable caretakers and providers before they are allowed to procreate.
All marriages must be approved by a department of the government, which analyzes massive amounts of data to predict the success of the union, its economic and social impact on society, the health and welfare of any children, and so on. It’s such a hassle that many people opt for government-arranged marriages instead.
Global warming prompts rapid mutations in the human species.
The world’s leaders broker a deal with the alien invaders that many see as unfair.
Humans have discovered a way to communicate directly with animals, and all the meat they consume is lab-created.
Extreme elective surgery is the societal norm, and humans undergo creative modifications that include extra limbs, cartoon-like features, and so on.
Breeding modern humans with large amounts of Neanderthal DNA leads to interesting results.
In this world, Napoleon’s army took over Australia, he never lost at Waterloo, France took control of most of Europe, and World War I and World War II never happened.
An alien from a planet where no one else experiences empathy comes to live on Earth, believing they will fit in better there.
A drug that makes people non-confrontational has been added to the public water supply and to all beverages sold by major corporations.
The huge, thin sheets of material covering some trees and yards turn out to be discarded placentas.
A low-level employee in a bureaucratic government office realizes the paperwork he files every day contains codes that determine others’ fates.
A human and alien fall in love, causing an interplanetary crisis.

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An alien doesn’t know how to tell the humans s/he’s become intimately involved with that s/he’s an alien, even though they will find out soon.
High-speed robotic horses become a trendy alternative to cars and weave through heavy traffic with ease.
Birds and butterflies are able to navigate on long migrations due to proteins in their bodies that align with the earth’s magnetic fields. Scientists put these proteins to a new use.
An entertainment company synthesizes huge amounts of data they collected about viewer’s responses to movies and shows, and they use it to create a TV show that’s dangerously addictive.
Mars has been terraformed by dropping nuclear bombs on its poles, and the first human colonists have been assured that almost all of the radiation has escaped the atmosphere.
An attempt to save the honeybees had surprising consequences.
Online bullying is made a felony, which leads to unforeseen complications.
At a new underwater amusement park and resort, built at a greater depth than any other construction before, the guests face an unforeseen threat.
Spies use tiny implants in the retina that record and transmit everything to the commanders in another country. The implants dissolve after a certain amount of time.
The first time travellers seem to have no ability to improve the course of human events. If they kill Hitler, for instance, some other person does exactly what he did. They search for the way to really alter the timeline.
Astronauts develop strange and unexpected symptoms in response to traveling at light speed.
It’s easy to look up exactly where any person is at any given time.
New fitness devices track your movements and everything you eat automatically.
A new device automatically tracks your mood levels and emotions. This leads people to avoid more of what makes them unhappy and do more of what makes them feel good.
People become human mood rings: they get implants that make them change color along with their mood.
Criminals and dissidents undergo illegal genetic therapy to change their DNA so the government has no record of them.
Euthanasia is legal and painless means are widely available. A detective specializes in suspicious cases of euthanasia that may have been murder.
Books and videogames have both been replaced by interactive virtual worlds filled with fascinating characters.
Colonists on another planet want to be an independent country and lead a rebellion.
People from a civilization that mysteriously disappeared centuries ago, such as ancestral Puebloans in the U.S. Southwest, return.
An alien planet outsources city planning by creating a complex, engrossing city-building videogame popular with humans.
A time traveler from centuries in the future fails in their attempt to impersonate a person of the twenty-first century. They enlist someone’s help to carry out a mission.
A virus can be transmitted from computers or other machines to humans with bionic upgrades.
Advertisements appear randomly in thin air in front of a person. Getting media without this advertising is prohibitively expensive.
A team of scientists attempt to genetically alter a human to adapt to another planet’s terrain or outer space travel. They accidentally make him or her immortal.
Implants make telepathy possible between the humans who get them.
The Air Force uses invisibility technology for the first time, but the pilot realizes her mission is morally reprehensible.
People are nostalgic for snow, so they create artificial snowstorms.
In a world where pain and suffering have been eliminated, people pay to experience a variety of negative sensations under safe and controlled circumstances.
A secret society of scientists labors to make medical discoveries and to save the planet, even though a religious fundamentalist government has outlawed their activities.
Medical researchers are attempting to bring people back to life after they’ve been dead for thirty minutes or even an hour and give them a full recovery. Their experimentation is unethical and/or leads to strange alterations to people’s brains.
Someone is shrunk to a tiny size to perform a life-saving or planet-saving procedure impossible for a machine or an average-sized human.
His loved one died, but is alive in a parallel universe, and he is somehow getting messages or clues about her life there.
On Ceres, a large asteroid, there’s a fueling station for spaceships. Terrorists take over the station and disrupt space travel and trade.
Because it’s too hard to screen for performance-enhancing drugs, they are made legal and are an important component of sports.
The ability to make visual recordings of dreams has exhilarating and terrifying consequences.
Because android “kids” have become so lifelike, amusing, and hassle-free, no one wants to have real ones.
(bonus) Patients are woken up from hibernation when the cures to their diseases have been discovered.

I hope you liked these! And if one of them sparks your imagination, don’t feel guilty about using it–you’ll wind up putting your personal spin on it, anyway. Or maybe something on the list will inspire a completely different idea of your own!

Would you like some more? My book 5,000 Writing Prompts has 100 more science fiction writing prompts in addition to the ones on this list, plus hundreds of other master plots by genre, dialogue and character prompts, and much more.

Thanks for stopping by, and happy writing!

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For teachers

Fiction Prompts - Ideas for Stories

Join our free email group to get more ideas for stories sent to your inbox .

Three Elements

Choose a set of three elements, and imagine a story that includes all three of them.

a hitchhiker, an allergy, and a mistake in a map.
a cemetery, a missing dog, and a joke that goes too far.
a Halloween costume, a stapler, and a complaint between neighbors.
a stolen phone, a love song, and a bet.
a dance competition, an engagement ring, and a worried parent.
insomnia, a birthday card, and an encounter with someone famous.
an eavesdropper, a secret kiss, and a fire in the kitchen.
a babysitter, a pet snake, and a tow truck.
a lit window, a stamp collection, and someone pretending to be angry.
a dream come true, inappropriate laughter, and something buried.
an abandoned house, false eyelashes, and a lump in the bed.

Character Ideas

Here are 3 ideas you can use to create fictional characters and stories:

Write about a character who pretends to be cool and tough, but is actually shy and sensitive.
Write about a character who is obsessed with certain colors.
Write about a character who secretly plans to leave home and start a new life.

Now, YOU complete the sentences to get even more character ideas:

Write about a character who pretends to be ________, but is actually ________.
Write about a character who is obsessed with ________.
Write about a character who secretly ________.

First Lines

Here are some beginnings for stories or poems. Start with one of these and see where your imagination takes you.

It was an unusual book...
How would we ever get rid of...
She was a wonderful liar...
He hurled the phone against the wall...
The fortuneteller was mistaken...
I crouched behind the sofa...
It was wrapped like a present, but...
I should never have come here...
Behind her mask...
In the neighbor's window, I saw...
Don't tell anyone, but...
Trust me...
At the center of the maze...

Twist Endings

Here are some twist endings you can use in your own fiction. See what story ideas they give you...

The detective turns out to be the killer.
The vampire hunter turns out to be another vampire.
It turns out that your character's lover has only pretending to be married as an excuse to avoid a commitment to your character.
The jewel everyone has been fighting over turns out to be a fake.
Your character's main enemy turns out to have been on your character's side the whole time. Your character has been misinterpreting his/her attempts to help him/her.
The murder victim turns out to have faked her own death. She's still alive and playing games with the detective!
Your narrator has been lying to the reader to make himself or herself look better.

Creative Writing Recipes

Just follow these recipes, and see what comes out of your imagination.

SHORT STORY RECIPE Beginning of the story: Your character's mother wants your character to do something, and your character doesn't want to do it. They argue about it. Next part: The argument is interrupted by a surprising sight which startles both of them. Next: The surprising sight brings back a memory from your character's childhood involving his/her mother. Flash back to this memory. Next: Return to the present. Your character and his/her mother continue their conversation, but the tone of it is changed by the surprise and by your character's thoughts about the past.

POEM RECIPE Line 1: Give the reader an instruction. Line 2: Refer to a smell. Line 3: Use the word "ghostly". Line 4: Mention a childhood toy. Line 5: Quote a proverb or saying. Line 6: Refer to an animal. Line 7: Repeat a phrase from earlier in this poem. Line 8: Ask the reader a question.

Ideas for Stories - Next Steps

You can find hundreds of ideas for stories on our website. Here are some links to start with:

Story beginnings and "What If" story ideas
44 fiction writing prompts
Mystery writing prompts
Ideas for Stories

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From Imagination to Publication: 100+ Novel Ideas to Fuel Your Literary Journey

by Joe Bunting | 0 comments

You want to write, but when you sit down to get started, you realize you don't have a novel idea. Or perhaps you have so many, you're having a hard time choosing the best novel idea. Or maybe, you already have a novel idea, but you just aren't sure if it's any good. Never fear, that's what we're here for.

Below are ten questions to help you get started finding your best novel idea. Use them as creative writing prompts or as a way to make your current idea better. Then, I have ninety more ideas for each type of story that will inspire that book you've been dreaming about for years.

Don't let the blank page win. Get started writing your book today with these book ideas!

Need nonfiction or memoir book ideas? Check out this list of nonfiction and memoir book ideas instead !

Make Your Best Novel Idea Better

If you're like me, you don't just want to write a book. You want to write a really great book, hopefully a book that will be published and maybe even become a bestseller.

What I've learned over the last ten years teaching writers is that the first step to writing a great book is to develop a really great novel idea.

The best novel idea doesn't just come from a moment of inspiration. It might begin like that, but you also have to do the hard work to process, develop, and hone that creative idea.

These ten novel ideas below will help you take the ideas you already have and develop them into a solid plan for your novel. You can also use them as writing prompts to get started with your novel.

Here are the ten novel ideas (you can also get these as a free download here ):

SET YOUR STORY IN TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS. Of the nine bestselling novels of all time, all nine are set in two different worlds. Think Harry Potter’s Muggle vs. Wizarding world. Or A Tale of Two Cities ’ stable London and revolutionary Paris. Craft two compelling settings and you'll challenge your characters and capture your reader.
WHAT SCARS DOES YOUR CHARACTER HAVE? We all have scars. To be a writer, Stephen King says, “the only requirement is the ability to remember every scar.” Tap into your own scars and personal stories to unlock the scars in your characters .
WHO DIES? Good writers don’t turn away from death, which is, after all, the universal human experience. Instead, they look directly into its dark face and describe what they see on the page. Let death cause an existential crisis in your characters.
MAKE YOUR MAIN CHARACTER AN ORPHAN . Think for a moment about all the great stories about orphans in literature and film . Orphans are uniquely vulnerable and thus have the most potential for growth.
YOUR CHARACTER SEES A GHOST. What do Edgar Allen Poe, Ron Weasley, King Saul from the Bible, Odysseus, and Ebenezer Scrooge have in common? They all saw ghosts! Everyone wonders about the afterlife. Have fun with it!
WHAT IS YOUR CHARACTER MOST AFRAID OF? Your character’s biggest fear is your story’s secret weapon. Don’t run from it. Write about it and let it drive a compelling story.
YOUR CHARACTER COMES INTO AN UNEXPECTED FORTUNE. HOW DOES IT CHANGE HIS OR HER LIFE? Not all fortunes are good. Sometimes discovering a fortune will destroy you–in fiction and real life.
YOUR CHARACTER BUMPS INTO HIS OR HER SOULMATE (literally, bumps into). This is called the “meet cute,” when the hero bumps into the heroine in the hallway, knocking her books to the floor and forcing them into conversation. And before you say you aren't writing a love story , know the most popular subplot of ANY genre is a love story.
YOUR CHARACTER BEGINS A JOURNEY. Is that journey interrupted by disaster? Who hasn’t been longing to get to a destination only to be delayed by something unexpected? This is the plot of Gravity , The Odyssey , and even The Lord of the Rings . Check out our Hero's Journey article here for help.
MONSTER. Monsters, whether people who do monstrous things or scaly beasts or natural disasters, always reveal what’s inside a person. Let your character fall into the path of a monster and see how they handle themselves.

Want to download a free novel ideas guide? You can get these ten novel ideas as a free download here .

90 Novel Ideas For Every Genre

Need more novel ideas? Here are more fictional story ideas based on the literary genre you write:

20 Mystery Story Ideas

Enjoy a good detective novel? (Personally, Inspector Gamache is my favorite.) If you like mysteries and want to write one, you’ll love these mystery novel ideas

My favorite: “Ever heard the phrase, ‘It is not who fired the shot but who paid for the bullet?’ This is a philosophy Tomoe Gozen lives by. Brave and clever, Tomoe follows clues until she learns who ordered the murder: Emperor Antoku himself. But why would the emperor of Japan want to kill a lowly soldier?”

Click for the mystery novel ideas.

20 Sci-Fi Novel Ideas

From the minimum-wage-earning, ancient-artifact-hunting time traveler to the space-exploring, sentient dinosaurs, these sci-fi story ideas will get you set loose your inner nerd.

Click for the novel ideas.

20 Fantasy Novel Ideas

Uncomfortable wedding preparation between magic-wielding family members and those more on the Muggle side of things? A fairy prince who decides to abandon his responsibilities to become a street musician? Bored teenaged wizards throwing a graduation celebration?

Just try to not have fun writing (or even just reading!) these fantasy story ideas.

Click for the fantasy novel ideas.

10 Thriller Novel Ideas

A thriller traditionally is a crime story meets horror story, but today, the thriller dips freely into other genres. In other words, expect the unexpected!

Click for thriller novel ideas.

20 Romance Novel Ideas

Hint: When it comes to romance, a sense of humor is always a good idea. Have fun!

Here’s one of my favorites from this list: “She’s a cop. He’s the owner of a jewelry store. A sudden rash of break-ins brings her to his store over and over and over again, until it becomes obvious that he might be tripping the alarm on purpose—just to see her. That’s illegal—but she’s kind of falling for him, too. Write the moment she realizes she has to do something about this crazy illicit courtship.”

Click for the romance novel ideas.

But Wait… How Do You Actually FINISH a Novel

Because it's not enough to have an idea, right. You also have to finish writing your novel!

In our 100 Day Book program , I lead writers through a proven process to finish their novels. We've helped thousands of writers take their idea and turn it into a finished book, often for the first time.

And what I've learned is that there really is a set of steps to ensure you actually finish. Here's the process:

Build a team. If you want to actually finish writing your book idea, don’t make the mistake of trying to do it all on your own. Get a writing group. Find a writing class . Hire an editor to coach you through the process. Whatever you do, don't try to write a book on your own. That's a good way to never finish!
Set a consequence. Set a deadline for when you're going to finish your book (I recommend writing your first draft in 100 days ), and then create a consequence for if you fail to finish by your deadline. Choose something painful. For example, for my last book, I wrote a $1,000 check to the presidential candidate I really didn't want to win, gave it to a fellow writer, and told her to send it if I didn't hit my deadline. I've never been more focused!
Make a plan. Think through each step of the writing process, from the initial idea to how much you’ll write every day to the editing and even publishing process. A good book plan is more than just an outline . Learn how to write a book plan and get our free book plan worksheet here .
Write! Now that you've laid a strong foundation, you're ready to write! If you have a team, a hard consequence, and a plan, you'll find that you're focused, prepared, and ready to finish your book!
Don't stop. Most people want to write a book, but most people quit. Whatever you do, once you start, don't stop writing (not even if you come up with a new, better book idea) . If you keep writing and keep trusting the process, you'll finish your book. Now, it might not be a very good book, but that's what second drafts are for!

Want to learn more about this process? Or even join the 100 Day Book program? Here's our ultimate how to write a novel guide . And check out 100 Day Book here .

My biggest encouragement is this: don't get discouraged, and don't get too excited either. Finishing a novel doesn't rely on feelings. It relies on a good process.

You can finish a novel if you follow the write process (sorry, I had to).

It's Time to Finish Your Novel Idea

Do you need to use all of the ideas above in your novel? Of course not! But one or more of them might help you take your inkling of a novel idea and turn it into the basis of an amazing story.

Once you have your novel idea, your team, your consequence, and your plan, there's just one thing left: write.

Don't save your best idea for some later date. Write it now.

Don't get stuck trying to write a perfect story. Just write.

Don't put your story down halfway through. Ask your team for support, remember your consequence, and revisit your plan — then keep writing.

And soon, you'll turn your amazing novel idea into a finished novel!

What do you consider when developing your novel ideas? Let us know in the comments.

Think about your novel idea in light of these ten ideas. Don't have a novel idea? Use one or more of the prompts to develop one.

Then, write your idea in one to three sentences. Take fifteen minutes to develop your idea, then post your writing The Write Practice workshop for feedback (not a member yet? Join us. )

Be sure to leave feedback for your fellow writers!

Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

Want best-seller coaching? Book Joe here.

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83 Fiction Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best fiction topic ideas & essay examples, 👍 good essay topics on fiction, 💡 most interesting fiction topics to write about.

Elements of Modern Fiction Time and realism is a crucial element of modern literature.”Time, in Modernist literature, may take the reader through a day in the life of a narrator, whereas in Realism, the reader is taken into a […]
Opening Scene in Pulp Fiction by Quentin Tarantino The purpose of this paper is to discuss the formal, aesthetic, and narrative elements of this scene to make an argument about the significance of the movie as a whole.
Growing Popularity of Science Fiction Films in 1950s Most of the science fiction films reflect the socio-political environment in both the US and the rest of the world. Science fiction has presented not only some of the greatest stories in the contemporary literature, […]
The Influence of Realism and Naturalism on 20th Century American Fiction. The aim of the modernist writers was not only depiction of life “as it is”, but search of solutions to dilemmas and problems of the society of the 20th century.
“Technoculture” Concept in Modern Fiction The first is changes in the scope and uniqueness of the main sectors technology, information, and industry. In sum, the term and concept of “technoculture” reflect the essence of modern society and its overdependence on […]
Demystifying the Fiction Movie “The Matrix” The second world is a generic world created by the machines in order to pacify the human being as the machines siphon energy from people by plugging the human beings into an artificial intelligence system […]
Greene’s “The Destructors”: Commercial vs. Literary Fiction There is the existence of various obstacles along the chain of events that hamper the processes aligned towards the achievement of the protagonist’s goals. In the whole story, this theme is reflected in the destructors […]
Poetry v. Prose: Their Differences and Overlaps Fiction can possibly include the happenings of everyday life and is reliant on the person that narrates the happenings, the manner of its narration, and its composition.
Coming-of-Age Fiction: “The Bell Jar” by Sylvia Plath In the opening chapters of the novel, the author introduces the initial situation by illustrating the life of Esther, a college student, working as an intern at a women’s magazine in New York together with […]
20th Century Dystopian Fiction and Today’s Society The author considers the fiction works of that era as an attempt to convey the destructive nature of violence and everything related to injustice.”The tone of dystopia is of despair and the feel it gives […]
The Evolution of Dragons in Fantasy Fiction One of the most significant figures among the range of the animals inhabiting the land of fantasy is a dragon, the symbol of wisdom and power.
Domestic and Adventure Fiction Domestic and adventure fictions have several characteristics that distinguish them from other types of imaginative writing.”One Crazy Summer” and “Hoot” are some of the most intriguing novels that show the features of domestic and adventure […]
The Accuracy of “The Machine Stops” Fiction The machine is a metaphor that represents those at the top of a hierarchy or the government who control people and run all the activities within the system.
History & Fiction in the ”Free State of Jones” Film Newton managed to survive until the end of the war, but he was forced to wage the struggle for the civil rights of blacks also in the era of Reconstruction.
Solar System Colonization in Science Fiction vs. Reality Mars, also known as the Red Planet, the fourth in the distance from the Sun and the seventh-largest planet in the Solar System, is a favorite destination for colonization of science fiction authors, and the […]
Femme Fatale in Hard-boiled Fiction The convention of the femme fatale is of great significance for the noir fiction as far as it can reveal the historical and cultural background of Los Angeles in the 1930s.
Genre: Science Fiction Dystopia The western genre is the most common movie genre used to highlight the dominance and development of both American and European cultures and economies to the rest of the world.
Concept of Science Fiction Genre in Books “Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed” by Ray Bradbury, and “Nightfall” by Isaac Asimov Science fiction has found its place among the ‘great’ literatures of the word and hence a contribution in the field of literature. Some of the most sales in literature are in the genre of science […]
To Live: a true story or biased fiction? The third episode from the novel to support that Yu Hua is not biased against the nationalist period is that the civil war ended in the victory of the communist ideology.
Pulp Fiction: Moral Development of American Life and Interests Quentin Tarantino introduces his Pulp Fiction by means of several scenes which have a certain sequence: proper enlightenment, strong and certain camera movements and shots, focus on some details and complete ignorance of the others, […]
Temporal Perspective in Fiction This paper focuses on the perspectives of time in the following books Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood, Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, The Time and the Conways by JB Priestley, and The Dragon by Ray […]
The Concept and History of Dystopian Fiction Thus, the goal of this paper is to study the phenomenon of DF based on the examples of Orwell’s and Huxley’s fiction and determine the presence of the themes that overlap with the contemporary social, […]
Zadie Smith’s Non-Fiction Writing Style This essay is very emblematic of Smith’s work, which is perhaps the reason that she chose to open her book with it.
Social Criticism Work in the Scandinavian Crime Fiction Novels The issue of revenge being a better option in the Swedish society is evident when, at the end of the novel, Blomkvists makes efforts to bring down the executive who worn the lawsuit mentioned at […]
Imagery of Rural Injustices in Literature Therefore, the author of the short story has managed to show various rural injustices in the Chinese rural society through the use of themes, styles and characters as discussed in this paper.
Elements of Fiction in ”A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by O’Connor For example, the first literary element, the setting, emphasizes the serene and simple beginning of the story. The author wants to show the real face of the character and her treatment of other characters.
Is Kafka’s The Metamorphosis Horror Fiction? It also forces readers to rely on their own interpretations and inferences to understand what is happening in the story, adding to the overall sense of uncertainty and ambiguity.
Science Fiction Elements in Stories by Asimov, Bradbury, and Vonnegut The events illustrated in stories of the science fiction genre occur in a world that is in many ways different from reality.
Analyzing Science Fiction: “Vintage Season” When We Went to See the End of the World is an incredible story that shows the variety of people’s perceptions about their ends of the world.
The “Bang Bang Baby” Science Fiction Musical After watching the trailer first, I was surprised by the energetic nature of the music and the characters in the film.
A Comic Science Fiction Film “Back to the Future” In addition to the fact that the plot is exciting and adventurous throughout the whole film, the film’s creators raise acute societal problems. In addition, the film is full of references to political and social […]
Use of Strangers as Symbolism in American Fiction Symbolism reflects in the stories “Young Goodman Brown,” “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” and “A&P” through the use of strangers in their plots.
The Fiction Character`s PTSD Diagnosis: Rambo According to the American Psychiatric Association, experiencing traumatic events, witnessing the events, learning that a traumatic event occurred to a close person, and is exposed to aversive details of events are the triggers of PTSD.
“Pulp Fiction” Film by Tarantino In Pulp Fiction, Tarantino introduces postmodernism into cinema, a form of art in which it will probably get its best manifestation, and one of the main characteristics of postmodern fiction, in general, is the lack […]
The Passenger Is One of the Best Science Fiction Movies This twist is certainly not uncommon to the genre, but the ease with which the story flows, and the plot woven together with the main story in In this case is very interesting.
“Pulp Fiction” , “Out of Sight”, and “Back to the Future” Analysis For example, such famous and successful films as Pulp Fiction by Quentin Tarantino, Out of Sight by Steven Soderbergh and Back to the Future by Robert Zemeckis present a different approach to the story order […]
Commercial and Literary Fiction Analysis The marshal is illustrated as a positive person.”He, the town policeman of Yellow Sky, was a man known, liked, and feared in his community”.
Fiction in “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien In the story, the author portrays the inner nature of each of the characters via the symbolic features of the things carried by them.
Reasons of Success of Amateur Detective Fiction Authors The essay will analyze the success of amateur detective fiction authors, paying special attention to the narrative voice and character, as well as the interest and complexity of solving a problem.
Pulp Fiction (1994): Tarantino’s Mesmeric Thriller Many classical tales and more of these outlooks of classic crime films draw ideas from the hard-edged pool of crime fiction that later on invaded the film industry in the farther side of the United […]
Science Fiction Literary Analysis The story takes the reader through an intriguing encounter of human beings with a variety of extraterrestrial beings with the aim of outlining the theme of life.
Critical Aspects of Film Pulp Fiction The film begins with two small-time thieves in a diner taking breakfast and then they decide to rob the place, the writer then moves to another story where there are two characters involved, Vincent and […]
Empires and Science Fiction In his article “Race, Space and Class: The Politics of the SF Film from Metropolis to Blade Runner”, David Desser had made a perfectly good point while stating: “…the themes and techniques of such films […]
Elements of Fiction in Colette’s “The Hand” The author further takes the point of view of a third person character in narrating the story; as he tells the story from an invisible point of view where he is not one of the […]
Six-Words Fiction and Memoirs According to Schwarz A six-word fictional story is a work of fiction because it presents unreal facts, while a six-word memoir is a work of non-fiction which presents reality and is able to evoke a certain response in […]
Science Fiction in Literature and the Human Condition Since the publication of Darwin’s science of evolution, mankind has been attempting to solve one of the major problems of our age where will this sort of evolution lead the human race and what implications […]
Psychology of Biomedical Fiction The chances of giving a more correct description of hospital incidents and the weaving of crimes into medical life cater to the fancies of the public.
American Studies: Fan Culture Around Pulp Fiction This paper aims to draw a profile of the fan culture around Pulp Fiction and the different layers of the same.
Unhappy Relationships in Hemingway’s Life and Fiction In “The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber”, Hemingway reveals his latent fear of strong women and being dominated as he depicts the story of a middle-aged man who is finally beginning to understand […]
“Science Fiction” by Roger Luckhust The analysis of this genre focuses on the series of fiction works with the purpose of disclosure of unique qualities of fiction theory. The history of technology and science contributes to the formation of contextual […]
The Genre of Science Fiction in Movies In this paper we will analyse “The War of the Worlds”, “Star Wars” and “The Fifth Element”, as movies that reflect the genre of science fiction being transformed from something that used to help people […]
The Theme of Death in Fiction-Writing Nevertheless, while it is emotional, having to deal with death, the pain of losing a son, and having to deal with the sympathy of people around them, the story disguised the emotion of the individuals […]
“Downsizing” Science Fiction Film by A. Payne J rgen Asbj rnsen, who was the inventor of the downsizing technology and one of the first people to undergo the procedure.
Science Fiction Films Definition Furthermore, science fiction films can be considered as the sub-class of horror films because both genres depend on the Discovery Plot which focuses on establishing the presence of the specific monster in the film, and […]
Translating Non-Fiction Works Written by Mench , the book is known as The Discourse of the Other: Testimonio and the Fiction of the Maya has as many controversies around it as its author does around her.
The Story of Historical Fiction and Nonfiction for Children According to Rahn, through the stories told to the young children by the old women, the children ended up intermingling the past cultures and forces with the current cultures of the world.
Environmental Problems in Literary Fiction While the year is never specified explicitly, it is apparent from the description of the technology that the novel describes the United States of the second half of the twentieth century.
Faster-than-Light Travel in Science and Fiction By the laws of physics that are known today, faster-than-light travel is nothing but science fiction, and up to now, no significant discoveries have been made in this area.
The Role of Location in Crime Fiction Thus, the paper argues that the representation of crime in nineteenth-century literature was based on disparities between the regions of the city as well as the countryside.
Dystopian Fiction for Young Readers First of all, it must be noted that the article of the current analysis is devoted to the impact of dystopian fiction on young people.
Lucid Dreaming in Science Fiction and Technology The author provides an interesting and intriguing article about the phenomenon of lucid dreaming and its representation in culture and media.
“The Dragonslayers” Kid’s Fiction by Bruce Coville The setting of the novel takes place mainly in a fantastic kingdom, which is ruled by King Mildred, and partially in the Forest of Doom that is terrorized by a fierce dragon.
A Science Fiction Movie “Primer” by Shane Carruth I feel that the plot of the movie does not draw in the audience and is the kind of a movie that one may opt to stop watching halfway.
Tarantino’s Films Comparison: Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction It is possible to consider a number of thematic and stylistic devices to understand the essence of Tarantino’s surrealism that is manifested in his characters’ inability to live a real life and to be real […]
Rural Injustice, the Fiction Thus, the author chooses the technique of reportage to represent the story of Chen-chen, and she relies on the use of the realistic tone in order to describe and emphasize all the details of the […]
Witchcraft: Women’s Victimization and Affirmation The three postulations have been nullified in the Malleus Maleficarum as none of them adequately explains the effects of the devil and witches.
Subversive Literature/ Dystopia in science fiction novels In the endeavor to place a case in support of this line of argument, the paper considers the key traits of dystopian literature then showing how Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep possesses them in […]
Science fiction has less to do with science and more to do with an endless reworking of the human condition Going by the words of Hopkins “science of fiction is a genre of fiction in which the stories often tell about science and technology of the future- these stories involve partially true-partially fictions laws or […]
The Fragmented Self in American Fiction He presents dual identity in; the ability of the white Americans to effectively generalize the blacks by compelling them into not standing up for their people when they know the truth of the situation, the […]
Pain, Cyber Punk and Science Fiction in the Moon is a Harsh Mistress In the last part of the book, the federation warships come to the moon. This is evident in the book as the people on the moon are being controlled by the governments of the earth.
Fiction-Narrative Story Reflecting the Claims in The Queen and The Philosopher According to Descartes, the supporter of the rationalist perspective and the author of the phrase “I think, therefore I am”, declined the importance of emotional and sensuous perception of the world because it does not […]
Representation of Women in History As Opposed To Fiction The omission of women in history has been the cause of fictionalization that misrepresents the female gender. The ancient history of women is seen to suggest that the only role they played was in the […]
Global Warming: Fact or Fiction According to, global warming is the average persistent increase in the atmospheric temperature near the earth’s surface leading to changes in global climate patterns over a given period of time.
Global Warming: Facts and Arguments In fact, the argument is that human activities are not substantial to cause global warming. They believe that changing human economic activities to reduce the impact of global warming is very expensive and is not […]
The Use of Puzzle Game Elements in Detective Fiction Story This gives a logical scene of the murder to the reader, making the reader to have familiar settings that are helpful in interpreting the rhymes correctly.
British Empire Adventure Fiction – Cosmopolitanism/Citizenship The Boys’ Literature and the Idea of Empire, 1870- 1914, one of the adventures literatures tried to argue that; boys as the role model of Britons “are you proud to be a Briton?”. Overtime, the […]
Analysis and Interpretation of Short Fiction Her anger is symbolizes that she is ready to fight for her rights and that of the minority people in the society.
The Science Fiction Movie “Inception” The first half of the film attempted to explain to the audience the meaning and purpose of a technique that allows for the extraction of information as well as the planting of the same.
A Scholarly Study of Two Different Literary Genres Fiction and Poetry, Using the Works of Alexie, Kincaid, and Hughes In the Seventh and Eight Grade he discovered that villains are not only found in schools and the school playground but they can also be the unknown force called discrimination and this is a debilitating […]
Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama: Article Review He notes that denial is very prominent in the story of” A Rose for Emily” and in the play “Death of a Salesman” and in the poem “The Raven”.
Flannery O’Connor: Grandmother’s Act in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” The most dominant opinion though is that the grandmother’s final deed was graceful, thereby implying that “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” was penned by the author to depict a gradual change in the […]
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50 Creative Nonfiction Prompts Guaranteed to Inspire

But not to worry. I present one whole hefty list of prompts just for creative nonfiction writers.

One small note before you dive in: don’t be afraid to mix and match the prompts. Each suggestion was meant to highlight a specific line of inspiration. There is absolutely no reason that two or three of these can’t be explored within one piece.

In fact, just use my tiny suggestions as springboards. Good luck!

1. Explore a scene or story from your memory by reimagining it from an alternate perspective. Write the event from the point of view of a passing bystander, another person close to the event, a pet, or even an inanimate object. When choosing your narrator, pay attention to how objective they would have been, what they would have paid attention to, and what sort of background knowledge they would have had about the scene.

2. Tell the nonfiction story that you don’t want your mother to read. You know the one. Don’t censor yourself.

3. Recall a moment in which you felt a strong spiritual or unidentifiable energy. Describe the scene in vivid detail, with special attention to the senses. Connect that scene to your relationship with your own religious beliefs or lack thereof. Examine how you incorporated that experience into your worldview.

4. Create a timeline of events depicting your life by using newspaper headlines. Try to focus on events that didn’t involve you directly, but connect them to the pivotal events in your life.

5. Tell the story of one of your family holiday gatherings. Identify any of your family’s common trademarks, such as your one aunt that seems to tell the same joke at every Christmas, or your two uncles that always hide from the rest of the family by doing the dishes. Explore how you are linked within this family dynamic, and how these little quirks evolved and changed over the years.

6. Tell the story of a location. Possibly one that is very close to your heart that you already know well, or a new one that inspires your curiosity. Pay particular attention to your own connection to the location, however small or large that connection may be.

7. Choose a location that you’ve come to know as an adult. Compare how you interact with this setting now to how you interacted with similar settings when you were a child. How has your perspective changed?

8. Describe a time in which you expected or wanted to feel a religious or spiritual moment, but couldn’t. What were you hoping would happen? How do you choose to interpret that?

9. Recall a key lesson that parents or family members tried to impart onto you as a child. For example: “live with a healthy mind and healthy body,” or “put others before yourself.” Revisit that lesson as an adult and connect it to how you have come to interpret it as you grew up or in your adult life. Feel free to pick a less serious lesson and have a little bit of fun with it.

10. Revisit a special birthday from when you were younger. Describe specific details, with emphasis upon the senses. Now that you have years of context, how do you feel about what your parents and family did or did not do for you? What does that event mean to you now?

11. Choose an event in your life that someone else remembers differently. Describe both memories and debate the differences. Who do you think is right? Why do you think you remember it differently?

12. Choose a strong emotion and think of two memories associated with it. What are the links between those two memories?

13. Think of a lesson you learned recently and apply it to a memory. How would your behavior have changed if you had applied the lesson back then?

14. Choose a commonplace or otherwise unremarkable memory and describe it in the most dramatic and absurd way possible. For inspiration, I’m leaving you with some quotes from Douglas Adams. “The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don’t.” “He leant tensely against the corridor wall and frowned like a man trying to unbend a corkscrew by telekinesis.” “It was a deep, hollow malevolent voice which sounded like molten tar glurping out of a drum with evil on its mind.”

15. Have you seen those bizarre Illuminati videos in which some automated voice tries to prove that Arch Duke Ferdinand is actually alive and has a monopoly on the world’s dairy farms? For this prompt, think of people in your life who have believed in crazy conspiracy theories, and write about the time they first shared them with you. Think of how your beliefs might seem naïve to them, and explore the tension between the competing versions of history.

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

16. What do you want more than anything in your life? Write about the burning hot core of your desire, and how that desire has changed over your life.

17. Recall what stressed you out most as a child. Was it the creaking stairs leading to the basement? Or being lost at the store? Explore your current relationship to that stressor. Did you ever move past that fear or anxiety? How do you interact with it now?

18. What relationship in your life has caused the most pain? Write the key scene in that relationship, when everything was at stake.

19. Write about a road trip you took, and about where all your fellow travelers ended up in life versus where you ended up. Are you glad you didn’t end up where they did, or are you jealous?

20. How has your identity changed over the course of your life? Write a scene from your teenage years that epitomizes the type of person you were, and then write a scene from recent life that shows how you’ve changed.

21. What event in your life has angered you the most? Write the scene where it happened, and tell us what you would do if it happened again.

22. What single experience most shaped who you are? Describe the experience in a single, vivid scene.

23. Who was your first friend to die? Write about how you learned of their death, and how you and their other friends mourned them.

24. Choose a happy or comfortable memory and write it in a way that makes the memory creepy or eerie to the reader. Don’t change the basic facts of the event, only select different facts and present them differently.

25. Show yourself in a scene pursuing the thing you want most in the world. Try to show the reader, without telling them, about your character flaws.

26. If you could throw five items into the fire, what would they be and why? To be clear, by throwing them in this fire, there would be no trace of them left anywhere, even if it’s something on the Internet or a memory. This is a very powerful fire. What would the consequences be?

27. What physical object or family heirloom ties together your grandparents, your parents, and yourself? Describe this object in great detail, and what it has meant to generations of your family.

This is seriously the best anthology out there for creative nonfiction.

Lee Gutkind and Annie Dillard have created a fantastic repository of classics.

In Fact: The Best of Creative Nonfiction

28. Tell a story from your life in inverted chronological order. Start with the end, then backpedal to the middle, then tell the beginning, and then fill in the rest of the gaps.

29. Write about your favorite trip or journey, and how that high level of happiness was eventually threatened.

30. Look at some photographs of your childhood. Look at the pictures of your old room, the clothes you wore, and the places you had been. Try to remember a friend from that time period, and describe the first memory of a time when they pressured you or made you uncomfortable or angry.

31. Take a small, boring moment that happened today and write as much as you can about it. Go overboard describing it, and make this boring moment exciting by describing it in intense detail with ecstatic prose. Eventually connect this small, boring detail with the grand narrative of your life, your bigger purpose and intentions.

32. Describe the best meal you ever ate. Then describe a conflict you had with the people you shared it with, one that happened before, during, or after.

33. Recall an individual that you particularly hated. Describe their cruelty to you, and try to write yourself into an understanding of why they might have done it.

34. What was the best/worst letter you ever received or wrote? Write about the situation surrounding that letter, and why it was so important.

35. Recall a name you’ve given to a toy, a car, a pet, or a child, and tell us the story of how you and your family selected that name. Who fought over the name? What was the significance of that name? What happened to the animal or thing you named?

36. Write about experiencing the craziest natural event you’ve ever seen — tornado, earthquake, tsunami, hurricane. Dramatize the physical danger of the natural event as well as the tension between you and the people you were with.

37. Tell the story of the most important person that has shaped your town and its culture (you might have to do some research). How did the activity of that person influence the way you grew up or live currently?

How do you find good creative nonfiction stories?

This book masterfully teaches you how to discover the stories others will want to hear.

Creative Nonfiction: Researching and Crafting Stories of Real Life

38. Scientists have wondered for years how nature and nurture plays into the development of human minds and their choices. Explore where you and your siblings are today and the choices that brought you there. Would you like to trade places with your sibling? Would you be happy living in their shoes? How have your personal choices differed over the years?

39. Write a scene of a time when someone older than you gave you advice, and write about how you followed it or ignored it and the consequences.

40. Write a single, three-paragraph scene when your sexual desire was thwarted by yourself or someone else.

41. Describe a scene when you were stereotyping someone. Did someone challenge you, or if you only felt guilty by yourself, how did you change your behavior afterwards?

42. Describe the biggest epiphany of your life, then backtrack and tell the lead-up to that scene or the aftermath. In the lead-up or aftermath, show how the epiphany was either overrated or every bit as valuable as you’d previously thought.

43. Write about a fork in the road in your life, and how you made the decision to go the direction you did.

44. Explore an addiction you had or currently have. Whether the addiction is as serious as alcohol or cigarettes, or something much more mundane like texting, video games, or internet usage, describe in vivid detail the first time you tried it. If you quit, tell the story of how you quit.

45. Recall a scene in which you chose to remain silent. Whether it was your boss’s racist rant, or just an argument not worth having, explore the scene and why you chose not to speak.

46. Revisit a moment in your life that you feel you will never be able to forget. What about that moment made it so unforgettable?

47. What makes you feel guilty? Revisit a moment that you are ashamed of or feel guilty for and explore why that is. Describe the scene and the event and communicate why you feel this way.

48. Write about a moment in which you acted selflessly or against your own benefit. What motivated you to do so? What were the circumstances? How did you feel after words?

49. Write about the most pivotal scene in a relationship with someone in your extended family — Uncle, aunt, cousin, grandmother. Describe the tension or happiness you shared, and how that came to affect your relationship from that point onward.

50. If all else fails, try a writing-sprint. Set an alarm for 5, 10, or 15 minutes and write as much as possible within that time span. Even if you begin with no inspiration, you might be surprised with what you come up with by the end.

The definitive guide to creating riveting true life stories.

Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction

For added pressure, try these writing websites:

Write Or Die

If you stop writing for more than 5 seconds, everything you’ve written disappears. It’s like writing with someone with a whip behind your chair. But with this new update you can choose to get positive reinforcements, too, like a kitten or candy, or to have your words disemvoweled rather than disappear.

A points-based system to encourage writers to write 750 words every single day. You get bonus points for not skipping days, and bonus points for writing more than 750 words.

Written? Kitten!

Every 100 words you write, you get shown a picture of a kitten. Ah, simple motivation. No word whether a dog version of the site is in the works for those who are more dog people.

For more on creative nonfiction writing, I suggest Creative Nonfiction . This website works with its print magazine counterpart to specifically cater to creative nonfiction writers and operates as an excellent starting point for more inspiration. Happy writing!

108 Engaging And Creative Nonfiction Writing Prompts

So you want to write a nonfiction book . Good for you! What are you going to write about ?

I know. That question stumps most everyone.

What indeed? Coming up with creative nonfiction ideas isn’t for the faint of heart.

Nonfiction is a big, broad genre of book writing, and narrowing it down to an area in which you have some expertise, background , or interest can be daunting.

And even if you kinda, sorta know what you want to write about , you’re not exactly sure how to begin or how to get your creative juices flowing.

That’s why we’ve created a varied list of nonfiction writing prompts for you — so you can narrow down your choices or pinpoint precisely the type of nonfiction you want to write.

108 Creative Nonfiction Writing Prompts

Ready to get started? Read through this list of creative nonfiction ideas, and make a note of any that resonate with you.

Or just start writing about one of the nonfiction prompts and see where it takes you.

If you’ve been wondering, “What are some nonfiction topics I might write about?” then these prompts can help you narrow down ideas for your next book project.

1. You’ve developed a new creative side-hustle, and you have enough business to bring in at least a few hundred (or even thousand) a month.

2. You know how to prepare for a specific kind of disaster, and you want to make others aware not only of the imminent danger of that disaster but how best to prepare for it.

3. The Missing Ingredient: What is one thing most people forget or overlook when making or doing something?

4. This is something most people don’t know about ______.

5. You could be more (or less) ______.

6. You need more _____ in your life.

7. Discontent is not (always) a lack of gratitude. Here’s why.

8. The right music can change everything for you. Here’s how.

9. Swap this for that and see how it changes your life!

10. Be your own devil’s advocate? Why would you want to do that?

11. What on earth does logic have to do with creative writing (or creative anything)?

12. Are your morning/nighttime habits keeping you poor? Or did they for a while?

13. How do you go on after your best friend dies (or leaves you)?

14. What one thing could you add to your workspace to make you happier and more productive?

woman typing outdoor patio writing prompts

15. What one thing in your life would you love to change? And what can you do to change it — and help others do the same?

16. Your doc says, “No more alcohol for you!” So, you look for ways to relax without it.

17. You used to take everything personally — thinking everyone was comparing you to someone else.

18. Why do bad things pile up the way they do? And what can you do about it?

19. Why would anyone want to live in < city /state/country>

20. Yeah, your desk is cluttered — and you’re okay with that.

21. Your oldest kid is driving you nuts, and you have to admit your role in that.

22. Your pets have all but destroyed an entire room in your home.

23. So, you want to do something dangerous (skydiving, parasailing, bungee jumping, learning parkour, etc.).

24. You’ve always wanted to travel to ______. How can you afford it, and what do you need to know?

25. Investing is a scary business. How do you even begin?

26. You’re moving, but you can’t find a buyer for your house. Why not rent it out instead — and how do you do that?

27. You have no Christmas budget, but you want to make this Christmas one your kids will remember fondly.

28. You learned something from writing your last book that has changed the way you write them.

29. Everything started to fall into place once you finally narrowed your focus to the kind of writing you really want to do.

30. When you changed this little thing in your diet, you started dropping weight faster than ever before.

31. Something you didn’t know about your body has been working behind the scenes, turning your own efforts against you.

32. Caffeine has always been one of your besties, but now your doc says you have to cut back — or even cut it completely from your diet!

33. Your path from the 9-to-5 job to full-time self-employment hasn’t been like the ones described by the experts whose books you’ve read, but you know you’re not alone.

34. Serendipity is nice and all, but something else is responsible for your success, and you want others to know what that is — and how they can make it work for them.

35. When was the last time you actually kept a New Year’s resolution? How did you keep it, and what difference did it make?

36. How big is your daily to-do list? And what kind of daily planning works for you?

37. What changes have you made to your monthly spending that have made a huge difference for you?

38. Desperation (i.e. lack of money and/or time) made you do it. You learned how to do something yourself, you did it well, and people are saying good things.

39. One of your kids has said, “I don’t read. I have ADHD.” You have ADHD, too, though, and you read plenty. You become determined to find out if something else is going on.

40. Adding this spice to every day’s menu has made a big difference in your health — as well as your enjoyment of cooking.

41. Only when you discovered and addressed a deficiency in a certain nutrient did you begin to feel more energetic, alive, and creative than you remember ever feeling before.

42. Your doctor suggests a new therapy for your condition but warns you that it could damage one of your other organs.

43. No one told you how hard it would be to withdraw from SSRIs (or how long it could take), but through trial and error, you found a way.

44. Everyone around you is telling you to quit taking your SSRI, but you know that — somehow — it has actually helped you.

man sitting on sofa with computer writing prompts

45. Your kids have special needs, and you’re fed up with people making assumptions about their intelligence or their parenting when they act up in public.

46. You find an approach to homeschooling (or partial homeschooling) that restores your kids’ curiosity and love of learning and creating.

47. Your oldest wants to drop out of school, because so-and-so did it, and “Look how successful he is!”

48. Your marriage was deteriorating until you made this one, small change.

49. For years, all you had to do was look at a donut, and you’d gain weight. Then you changed one thing

50. You made a goal: “In the next 100 days, I will ______.”A hundred days later, you’ve exceeded your goal .

51. The first day of that “staycation” you wanted has arrived.

52. You went on a mission to where?

53. You’ve increased your own self-confidence and helped others to boost theirs, too.

54. Ditching both Netflix and your gym membership has changed your life for the better….

55. Changing your beliefs about something has caused some tension at home but has also made it possible for you to earn and accomplish more than you used to think was possible.

56. Childhood memories and the emotions attached to them have held you back for years, but not anymore.

57. Your high school education led you to college, which led you to a job you hated but felt stuck with for years.

58. What app or online tool has changed the way you do business?

59. Families can take a heavy toll on a house. What repair work have you had done to restore your home and what have you learned to do yourself?

60. Your second grader hates school and thinks reading is boring.

61. One of your kids is a writer and wants to take a page out of her main character’s book and dye her hair purple.

62. One of your kids has come out to you as gay, bisexual, or asexual.

63. One of your teenage kids has chosen a different religion and no longer wants to go to church with his family.

64. A brush with death has changed your priorities, and you’ve made some drastic changes.

65. You’ve hit your forties and found a list you made 10 years ago of the things you wanted to accomplish during your 30’s.

66. You’ve had an epiphany in the shower, and after exploring it with a journal entry, you’re thinking, “This could be a book!”

67. You’re looking at a goal and thinking, “What kind of person do I have to be to accomplish this goal in the time I’ve set for it?”

68. What does it mean to be neurotypical as opposed to neurodiverse?

69. How has marriage changed your perception of married life?

70. You learn that one of your kids is autistic, and you and your spouse have very different reactions to the news.

71. You and your spouse have opposing beliefs with regard to gender differences and sexual orientation, and it’s becoming a problem.

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Hot 100+ Narrative Essay Topics to Jumpstart Your Next Paper

Essay Writing Guides

Do you have a pending narrative essay and run out of narrative essay ideas to compose a compelling paper? What do you do when you need to generate quick narrative essay titles without messing up an essay’s overall quality? You don’t need to worry if you need appropriate topics for narrative papers.

This post shares a list of narrative essay topics to inspire you. Keep reading to get more inspiration for future narrative assignments in 2024.

Tips on How to Choose the Best Topic for a Narrative Essay

Generating the right narrative essay ideas is critical because it can make or break narrative assignments. Choosing an appropriate title will help spark your readers’ attention and arrest their focus. Accurate topic selection also motivates your writing because you are least likely to enjoy researching or writing about a boring topic for a narrative essay . To help you excel in this area, we prepared tips to inspire you.

Flash Back on Personal Experiences: This method is necessary when handling a personal narrative paper. Here, you must focus on your life’s most impactful moments and how they affected you.
Determine a Clear Message or Idea: Determine the paper’s central idea based on the insights, lessons, and emotions you want to share with readers.
Engage Readers: Factor your target readers and what resonates best with them. So, select a topic that arrests their interest and engages them.
Use Various Perspectives: Incorporate various viewpoints. You can combine personal and external perspectives to make your narrative more engaging.
Test Ideas: It would be best for you and your readers to test an idea by getting valuable feedback from your trusted friends or classmates. Such assessment makes your selected topic resonate well with readers.
Maintain Your Voice: Maintain your audience by remaining authentic and letting your unique voice and storytelling style beam throughout an assignment.

Top Ideas for Narrative Essay for 2024

We promised a long list of narrative essay ideas for future assignments. Here are sample narrative writing topics for consideration under different categories.

10 Best Narrative Essay Topics for College Students

Do you want the best ideas for a narrative essay ? Here are sample narrative essay titles to consider.

My journey to finding my life’s purpose.
My life-changing foreign study experience.
How a challenging decision transformed me.
Transitioning from college to the career world.
My memorable moment with my mentor.
How adversity shaped my personal growth and development.
The most transformative ethical dilemma I have faced in life.
How college encounters have shaped my worldview.
How technology shaped my college experience.
My personal reflection on my professional goals.

10 Top Narrative Essay Topics for University Students

You shouldn’t worry about finding good narrative essay ideas for university assignments when these narrative essay titles can assist.

The transformation of my career objectives at university.
My most memorable internship experience.
My life-transforming encounter with poverty.
How I navigate the complexities of balancing my studies and social life.
A challenging research project that shaped my academic development.
An elaborate account of surmounting an academic challenge.
The most memorable leadership experience in my study life.
My journey of selecting university courses.
How peer relationships and networking have impacted my journey through university.
Ways university exposure has shaped my perspective on life.

10 Literacy Narrative Essay Topics

Here are inspiring narrative essay prompts for consideration in future literacy assignments.

The best book that made me love reading.
How a special teacher impacted my reading skills.
The impact of technology on my reading habits.
A memorable reflection on my writing journey.
Tops ways literature shaped my perspective.
How I overcome writer’s block.
Ways storytelling has impacted me.
How literacy helps me change my view of poverty.
Ways literacy changed my view of gender equality.
How digital technology shaped my experience of literacy.

10 Best Descriptive Narrative Essay Topics

No more need to scratch your head to find appropriate topics for narrative essays . Here are evergreen narrative essay ideas .

A serene day by the beach.
The pain of living in a crime-prone neighborhood.
My favorite high school moment.
A visit to a haunted house.
The wedding celebration that never happened.
My perfect winter experience.
My favorite summer hobby.
A visit to my favorite museum.
A memorable visit to an art exhibition.
The most spectacular soccer match I attended.

10 Short Narrative Essay Topics

Need short narrative essay topic ideas for your next assignment? Look no further than these exciting samples.

My first flight.
The first cruise I enjoyed in the ocean.
My worst memories in high school.
The most memorable event in my primary school.
My biggest fear.
My first international vacation.
How I survived my worst loss.
My encounter with racial discrimination.
My secret to a balanced life.
My most valuable people.

10 Funny Narrative Essay Topics

Do you love fun and would love to let it spice up your essays? Here are funny narrative topic ideas for inspiration.

Why clever people always fail.
Why watching soap operas is harmful to your health.
Dirty secrets your primary teachers never told you about education.
You can know what a pet is thinking.
Why Amazon isn’t my favorite brand.
Why I love it when my laptop freezes up.
The customer is not always right.
The seller is as right as the buyer.
Why teenagers don’t deserve well-paying jobs.
Why dressing up never changes people’s attitudes.

Best 10 Fictional Narrative Essay Topics

Your search for fictional narrative topics ends here with these exciting samples. Read on to get inspired.

Life in a city where people never sleep.
Experiencing life in a remote village where there are no sick people.
Your experience in a paradise where people never work and earn.
A school where all students score straight A’s in all subjects.
A kindergarten boy who hunts and kills lions.
A super-genius boy who hustles his way to become a billionaire before 12 years.
A remote village where everyone is a professor.
A girl who can read a thousand words per minute.
My visit to a city without poor people.
A visit to a city with golden streets.

10 Inspiring Cultural Narrative Essay Topics

Your cultural narrative paper can be a breeze if you focus it on one of these topics for narrative writing .

Narrate how your family’s unique culinary heritage influences your cultural identity.
Narrate a particular cultural artifact that your family values.
Discuss the challenges you faced trying to preserve traditional customs without trashing modern societal expectations.
Describe how a dominant culture has affected your upbringing.
Recount how your experience as an immigrant has shaped your perspective on cultural assimilation.
The lessons I learned from participating in interracial exchange programs.
Describe a unique cultural practice within your community that outsiders don’t understand.
Reflect on a personal journey of reconnecting with your cultural roots.
Describe the role of storytelling in preserving cultural wisdom in your family.
Recount the day you challenged cultural stereotypes.

10 Controversial Narrative Essay Topics

Don’t let your inspiration for controversial topics run dry when these interesting narrative essay topics can inspire you. Read on to spice up your next paper.

Describe your feelings about the morality of euthanasia.
Narrate why you think animal testing is unethical and should be banned.
Describe how you felt when the death penalty was removed in your country.
Describe why you feel all vaccines should be voluntary.
The negative impact of healthcare companies on people’s overall health.
Space exploration programs are totally misplaced priorities but politically correct.
Describe your feelings, given that the climate change debate is more political than environmental.
Give your feelings on the deficiency of standardized testing.
Nuclear energy is not sustainable and safe.
Sex education should be banned in schools.

10 Nonfiction Narrative Essay Topics

Do you want good narrative topics to inspire your nonfiction assignments in 2024? Check out how these sample titles can help you.

Narrate how you conquered the fears that stood between you and your career dreams.
Describe the inner strengths you discovered about yourself when facing the biggest challenge in life.
Recount the most creative solution you formulated during your greatest financial difficulty.
Recount the day you stood against injustice in society and the lessons you learned.
Narrate how you survived a life-threatening natural disaster and how it shaped your perspective on life’s brevity.
How did your mingling with people of other cultures affect your view of the beauty of human diversity?
Narrate how unexpected kindness far away from home shaped your view of other people.
Describe one major decision that changed the direction of your career path.
What is the most important relationship that has contributed the most to your dreams in life?
Narrate the most important conversation you had with your most trusted mentor and how it affected you for the better.

Great narrative writing depends on the quality of the topics you choose. Selecting the correct titles makes your paper easier to research and write. It also engages readers more meaningfully.

However, the selection isn’t always easy, but it’s still possible with a little help from our narrative essay writing service . That’s why we created this post to give you tips on how to select appropriate topics for narrative tasks. Moreover, we created a list of narrative essay topics for various categories to give you a good head start.

It’s up to you to use these samples to fuel your topic search and choice. Don’t hesitate to contact us for any further assistance with all your academic writing and assignment needs.

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Author: Marina Kean

How to Title an Essay? Everything an Essay Guru Should Know

As soon as you sit down to compose an academic paper, you may be troubled by how to name your essay so that it reveals the essence of your text and grabs the audience’s attention at first sight. Ideally, that’s what a good title should achieve – informing and engaging. So, what’s the secret recipe […]

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson: the Iconic Duo of Detective Fiction

This essay about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson explores the dynamics of the iconic detective duo created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It discusses the contrasting personalities of the observant, logical Holmes and the empathetic, grounded Watson, emphasizing how Watson’s narration makes Holmes’s complex deductions accessible and engaging to the reader. The essay highlights their mutual respect and friendship, which is central to their partnership, as well as the Victorian London setting that adds a rich backdrop to their adventures. Furthermore, it addresses how Doyle’s introduction of scientific methods through Holmes revolutionized detective fiction, laying the groundwork for modern investigative techniques. The lasting appeal of Holmes and Watson is also attributed to their embodiment of justice and order in a changing society, resonating with readers’ desires for reason and moral integrity. The essay concludes by noting the enduring nature of these characters, whose influence continues through numerous adaptations, making them timeless figures in literary and popular culture.

How it works

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, are arguably the most famous detective duo in literary history. Their adventures have captivated readers for over a century, transcending the boundaries of literature to influence detective fiction and the broader cultural perception of what a sleuth and his companion should be. This essay examines the dynamics of their partnership, the reasons behind their lasting appeal, and their impact on the genre of detective fiction.

Holmes, with his keen powers of observation, logical reasoning, and a somewhat aloof personality, contrasts sharply with Watson, a character marked by his warmth, empathy, and down-to-earth human touch.

Watson is not just a companion but also the narrator of the majority of the Holmes stories. His narrations provide the reader with a window into the brilliance of Holmes’s deductions, framing them in a way that makes them accessible and engaging. Watson’s role is crucial; he humanizes Holmes and makes his extraordinary talents more relatable to the reader.

The relationship between Holmes and Watson is based on mutual respect and friendship, though it is often tested by Holmes’s eccentric nature and his tendency to withhold crucial elements of his thought process until the last possible moment. Watson, often kept in the dark about Holmes’s theories until they are revealed to be correct, serves as a stand-in for the reader. This narrative technique builds suspense and gives the stories a dramatic structure that keeps readers engaged. Moreover, Watson’s loyalty and admiration for Holmes allow the detective’s quirks and occasional arrogance to be viewed more forgivingly.

The setting of their adventures, primarily around Victorian London, adds another layer of charm to the stories. The foggy, gas-lit streets of London serve as the perfect backdrop for the mysterious and often perilous cases that the duo tackles. The city’s diverse social fabric during the Victorian era provides a rich tapestry of characters and motives that Holmes and Watson navigate through. Their cases range from the bizarre and trivial to complex international plots, reflecting the anxieties and interests of Doyle’s time.

The lasting appeal of Holmes and Watson can also be attributed to Doyle’s skillful storytelling and his innovative approach to the detective genre. Before Holmes, detective stories often lacked the scientific method and logical rigor that Doyle, through Holmes, brought to the table. Holmes’s techniques such as fingerprinting, forensic science, and the importance of preserving crime scenes laid the groundwork for modern detective work both in fiction and in real life.

Doyle also tapped into a universal desire for justice and order, portraying Holmes and Watson as champions of these ideals. In a world that often seemed murky and unjust, especially in the rapidly changing society of the industrial age, Holmes’s ability to cut through complexity and discover the truth had a reassuring appeal to his readers. Watson, with his moral compass and everyman persona, reassures the reader that the average person has a role to play in this pursuit as well, often acting as Holmes’s conscience when the detective’s methods seem too cold or calculating.

Over the decades, the characters of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson have been adapted numerous times for film, television, and other media, each adaptation exploring different facets of their relationship and setting them in new contexts. These adaptations continue to bring the characters to new generations of fans, proving the timeless nature of their appeal.

In conclusion, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson endure as one of the most influential pairs in detective fiction. Their partnership, characterized by stark contrasts yet a deep and abiding friendship, offers more than just clever crime-solving. It speaks to the human need for companionship, the thrill of the chase, and the triumph of reason over chaos. As we continue to see new incarnations of this dynamic duo, their stories remain a testament to the enduring power of good storytelling and the fascination with the human mind’s capacity to decipher the most bewildering mysteries.

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What I’ve Learned From My Students’ College Essays

The genre is often maligned for being formulaic and melodramatic, but it’s more important than you think.

An illustration of a high school student with blue hair, dreaming of what to write in their college essay.

By Nell Freudenberger

Most high school seniors approach the college essay with dread. Either their upbringing hasn’t supplied them with several hundred words of adversity, or worse, they’re afraid that packaging the genuine trauma they’ve experienced is the only way to secure their future. The college counselor at the Brooklyn high school where I’m a writing tutor advises against trauma porn. “Keep it brief , ” she says, “and show how you rose above it.”

I started volunteering in New York City schools in my 20s, before I had kids of my own. At the time, I liked hanging out with teenagers, whom I sometimes had more interesting conversations with than I did my peers. Often I worked with students who spoke English as a second language or who used slang in their writing, and at first I was hung up on grammar. Should I correct any deviation from “standard English” to appeal to some Wizard of Oz behind the curtains of a college admissions office? Or should I encourage students to write the way they speak, in pursuit of an authentic voice, that most elusive of literary qualities?

In fact, I was missing the point. One of many lessons the students have taught me is to let the story dictate the voice of the essay. A few years ago, I worked with a boy who claimed to have nothing to write about. His life had been ordinary, he said; nothing had happened to him. I asked if he wanted to try writing about a family member, his favorite school subject, a summer job? He glanced at his phone, his posture and expression suggesting that he’d rather be anywhere but in front of a computer with me. “Hobbies?” I suggested, without much hope. He gave me a shy glance. “I like to box,” he said.

I’ve had this experience with reluctant writers again and again — when a topic clicks with a student, an essay can unfurl spontaneously. Of course the primary goal of a college essay is to help its author get an education that leads to a career. Changes in testing policies and financial aid have made applying to college more confusing than ever, but essays have remained basically the same. I would argue that they’re much more than an onerous task or rote exercise, and that unlike standardized tests they are infinitely variable and sometimes beautiful. College essays also provide an opportunity to learn precision, clarity and the process of working toward the truth through multiple revisions.

When a topic clicks with a student, an essay can unfurl spontaneously.

Even if writing doesn’t end up being fundamental to their future professions, students learn to choose language carefully and to be suspicious of the first words that come to mind. Especially now, as college students shoulder so much of the country’s ethical responsibility for war with their protest movement, essay writing teaches prospective students an increasingly urgent lesson: that choosing their own words over ready-made phrases is the only reliable way to ensure they’re thinking for themselves.

Teenagers are ideal writers for several reasons. They’re usually free of preconceptions about writing, and they tend not to use self-consciously ‘‘literary’’ language. They’re allergic to hypocrisy and are generally unfiltered: They overshare, ask personal questions and call you out for microaggressions as well as less egregious (but still mortifying) verbal errors, such as referring to weed as ‘‘pot.’’ Most important, they have yet to put down their best stories in a finished form.

I can imagine an essay taking a risk and distinguishing itself formally — a poem or a one-act play — but most kids use a more straightforward model: a hook followed by a narrative built around “small moments” that lead to a concluding lesson or aspiration for the future. I never get tired of working with students on these essays because each one is different, and the short, rigid form sometimes makes an emotional story even more powerful. Before I read Javier Zamora’s wrenching “Solito,” I worked with a student who had been transported by a coyote into the U.S. and was reunited with his mother in the parking lot of a big-box store. I don’t remember whether this essay focused on specific skills or coping mechanisms that he gained from his ordeal. I remember only the bliss of the parent-and-child reunion in that uninspiring setting. If I were making a case to an admissions officer, I would suggest that simply being able to convey that experience demonstrates the kind of resilience that any college should admire.

The essays that have stayed with me over the years don’t follow a pattern. There are some narratives on very predictable topics — living up to the expectations of immigrant parents, or suffering from depression in 2020 — that are moving because of the attention with which the student describes the experience. One girl determined to become an engineer while watching her father build furniture from scraps after work; a boy, grieving for his mother during lockdown, began taking pictures of the sky.

If, as Lorrie Moore said, “a short story is a love affair; a novel is a marriage,” what is a college essay? Every once in a while I sit down next to a student and start reading, and I have to suppress my excitement, because there on the Google Doc in front of me is a real writer’s voice. One of the first students I ever worked with wrote about falling in love with another girl in dance class, the absolute magic of watching her move and the terror in the conflict between her feelings and the instruction of her religious middle school. She made me think that college essays are less like love than limerence: one-sided, obsessive, idiosyncratic but profound, the first draft of the most personal story their writers will ever tell.

Nell Freudenberger’s novel “The Limits” was published by Knopf last month. She volunteers through the PEN America Writers in the Schools program.

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Here are over 30 great starting points to inspire your fiction writing. Our next novel writing master class starts in 02d 08h 47m 12s! ... Curated writing inspriation delivered to your inbox each week. A habitually fearful person turns brave. ... Book Review Blogs Literary Agents Title Generator Name Generator Short Story Ideas .
The Hottest Narrative Essay Topics to Inspire Your Writing in 2024
Here are evergreen narrative essay ideas. A serene day by the beach. The pain of living in a crime-prone neighborhood. My favorite high school moment. A visit to a haunted house. The wedding celebration that never happened. My perfect winter experience. My favorite summer hobby. A visit to my favorite museum.
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson: the Iconic Duo of Detective Fiction
This essay examines the dynamics of their partnership, the reasons behind their lasting appeal, and their impact on the genre of detective fiction. Holmes, with his keen powers of observation, logical reasoning, and a somewhat aloof personality, contrasts sharply with Watson, a character marked by his warmth, empathy, and down-to-earth human touch.
Billy-Ray Belcourt talks about using short fiction to show a range of
4:19 First Nations poet Billy-Ray Belcourt on his memoir 'A History of My Brief Body' Billy-Ray Belcourt has populated his first short story collection with a pantheon of Cree characters, each ...
What I've Learned From My Students' College Essays
May 14, 2024. Most high school seniors approach the college essay with dread. Either their upbringing hasn't supplied them with several hundred words of adversity, or worse, they're afraid ...
How to write a discussion text
Video summary. Newsround presenter Leah Boleto explains how discursive writing requires an understanding of the difference between facts and opinions, and how to use connecting phrases and ...