ideas for fiction essays

151 Fictional Story Ideas to Ignite Your Creative Spark

Every writer, whether seasoned or just starting, encounters the daunting blank page. That moment where ideas seem to elude the grasp, waiting just beyond reach. But fret not, fellow wordsmiths!

Whether you're looking to embark on a novel short story or simply indulge in a writing exercise, I've compiled a diverse list of 151 fictional story ideas to rejuvenate that creative energy. Dive into a reservoir of concepts ranging from magical realms to the challenges of everyday life with a twist.

Let these prompts be your muse, guiding you toward your next narrative masterpiece.

Fictional story ideas

1.  A scientist discovers a portal to a world where magic reigns supreme.

2.  In a city where emotions can be traded, a young woman risks everything to buy happiness for her depressed brother.

3.  A school exists where students learn to speak with animals.

4.  A time traveler accidentally prevents their birth.

5.  A haunted book rewrites itself to trap its reader.

6.  A child befriends a ghost and tries to help them finish their unresolved business.

7.  A detective has the ability to see the final 24 hours of a murder victim’s life.

8.  A society where memories can be bought, sold, or stolen.

9.  An astronaut stranded on an alien planet encounters a long-lost human civilization.

10.  A dragon and a knight team up against a corrupt kingdom.

11.  A technological empire hunts the world's last magician.

12.  A world where shadows have lives of their own.

13.  A retired superhero becomes a detective to find a missing friend.

14.  A clockmaker's creations come alive every night.

15.  A teenager inherits a mansion, only to find it's a portal to various timelines.

16.  A post-apocalyptic society rebuilds itself using music.

17.  A land where dreams can be harvested and sold.

18.  A detective in a world where lies physically scar the liar.

19.  An ancient curse makes a young man age a year every day.

20.  In a world of AI, a child befriends the last remaining human-operated robot.

21.  A circus where the animals are extinct creatures brought back to life.

22.  Twins separated at birth discover they can communicate telepathically.

23.  An artist’s paintings become gateways to the worlds they depict.

24.  A writer's fictional characters start appearing in real life.

25.  A town where, every full moon, one random person disappears.

26.  A cursed mirror shows the viewer's death.

27.  A librarian discovers a book that writes itself based on its reader’s life.

28.  A toy maker's creations become sentient.

29.  An immortal being searches for the meaning of mortality.

30.  A baker's pastries can evoke specific memories in those who eat them.

31.  A pirate ship crewed by the undead seeks redemption.

32.  A world where one's favorite color determines one's status.

33.  A dystopia where love is forbidden, and a pair of rebels fall in love.

34.  A zoo showcasing mythical creatures.

35.  A therapist for superheroes deals with their unique issues.

36.  A dream thief who falls in love with one of their victims.

37.  An antique shop where each item has a supernatural backstory.

38.  Children who play hide-and-seek discover a hidden universe.

39.  A postman delivers letters to the departed in the afterlife.

40.  A reality show where participants live in different historical periods.

41.  A world where one's lifespan is visible as a countdown.

42.  A struggling musician discovers an instrument that controls the weather.

43.  In a society that worships technology, an "analog" rebellion rises.

44.  A world where people physically transform based on their deeds.

45.  An elevator that takes passengers to crucial moments in their past.

46.  A spaceship crewed entirely by clones of one individual.

47.  A city floating on the clouds, hiding a dark secret beneath.

48.  A dating agency that matches people based on their future memories.

49.  An orphan discovers they're the heir to an underwater kingdom.

50.  A detective who can only solve crimes in their dreams.

51. A world where dreams are broadcasted, and a dreamer becomes an overnight celebrity.

52. A mystical forest where every tree represents a person's life.

53. A mirror that reflects an alternate reality version of the viewer.

54. An inventor creates a machine that translates animal thoughts into human language.

55. A planet where shadows are sentient and often mischievous.

56. A detective specializes in solving magical crimes in a modern city.

57. In a post-apocalyptic world, a group discovers an untouched, thriving city.

58. An underground society believes the world above is a myth.

59. A library where each book contains a universe.

60. A couple adopts a pet, which is a mythical creature in disguise.

61. Children playing by the seaside find a message in a bottle from a future version of themselves.

62. A young woman discovers that her grandmother's locket can rewind time only by five minutes.

63. An aging musician plays a tune that unintentionally summons spirits from the past.

64. In a future where emotions are illegal, a black market for genuine experiences thrives.

65. A painter finds that anything they paint becomes real.

66. An old theater is set to be demolished, but the fictional characters from past plays want to save it.

67. A writer's fictional world begins to merge with reality.

68. A necklace that lets the wearer hear the thoughts of those around them.

69. A world where tattoos predict the future, but they're cryptic and challenging to decipher.

70. A town where every inhabitant shares the same recurring dream.

71. A pair of shoes that lead the wearer to whatever they desire most.

72. In a society where age determines status, a teenager discovers a way to stop aging.

73. A child finds a door at the back of their wardrobe, leading to a world ruled by animals.

74. A fisherman reels in a book that tells the story of the world's end.

75. In a realm where stars are sentient, one falls to Earth seeking help.

76. A postman delivers a letter to a house that shouldn’t exist.

77. A toy store where the toys come alive at night, reenacting stories from their child owners.

78. An island where inhabitants can sculpt and modify their memories.

79. A world where people can swap talents.

80. A detective who solves cases by entering photographs and witnessing the events.

81. A society that worships the ancient ruins of an advanced civilization, not realizing they are the descendants.

82. A castle that appears in a town overnight, filled with puzzles and traps.

83. A radio that tunes into the conversations from alternate universes.

84. A child befriends a cloud, which becomes their guardian.

85. An ancient prophecy foretells the coming of a hero, but it turns out to be a misunderstood poet.

86. A coffee shop where every drink grants a short-term superpower.

87. An AI that starts writing its human history.

88. A garden where plants grow memories instead of flowers.

89. An adventurer finds a map where "X marks the spot" keeps changing.

90. A world where reflections have a life of their own and plot against their human counterparts.

91. A necklace that lets its wearer inhabit the lives of their ancestors.

92. A bookstore where the last page of every book is blank, and the reader decides the ending.

93. An old typewriter that writes ghost stories on its own.

94. A town that celebrates a holiday no one remembers the reason for.

95. A mountain that no one has ever returned from but continuously broadcasts strange signals.

96. A society built on floating islands in the sky begins to fall one by one.

97. A child's imaginary friend turns out to be a guardian from another realm.

98. A world where art is the most valued currency.

99. A lake that reflects not the sky but a vast universe.

100. A diary that writes back to its owner, offering advice and wisdom.

101. An old pocket watch that doesn't tell the current time but shows important moments from the owner's past.

102. A world where the northern lights are actually messages from ancient gods.

103. A violinist whose music can heal any ailment.

104. A young woman inherits a ring that lets her breathe life into inanimate objects.

105. In a town where people age backward, a teenager is the oldest and wisest person.

106. A library where books whisper secrets to chosen readers.

107. A city built in the heart of a giant, dormant volcano risks awakening it with its activities.

108. A school for children who can communicate with elements - earth, wind, fire, and water.

109. A street vendor sells peculiar antiques that fulfill the deepest desires of their buyers.

110. In a post-apocalyptic world, the ocean has disappeared, leaving behind only tales of its existence.

111. A photographer captures moments that predict the future.

112. A black cat acts as a guide to a world of magic for a young college student.

113. A traveling circus holds the secrets of the universe.

114. A mapmaker discovers a place that shifts and changes every time they try to map it.

115. A detective finds a crime scene identical to one in a novel they're reading.

116. An ancient board game in an attic starts a real-life adventure for its players.

117. A lighthouse that doesn’t guide ships but lost souls.

118. A tailor’s garments imbue their wearers with unique abilities.

119. A world where rain carries memories, and people collect rainwater to relive past moments.

120. An artist paints murals that predict significant town events.

121. An inventor's newest creation has a mind of its own and seeks a purpose beyond its design.

122. A world where one's life purpose is tattooed on one's wrist at birth.

123. An old storyteller’s tales begin to come true, but not always in the way listeners expect.

124. A bakery where each pastry is infused with a particular emotion.

125. In a world where mythical creatures are commonplace, a young woman adopts an abandoned dragon.

126. A mysterious train arrives at midnight, offering tickets to unknown destinations.

127. A bookshop where the genres change daily, and books disappear at the end of the day.

128. A town where each season lasts only a day and drastically changes the environment.

129. A young writer's fictional city becomes real, and they're invited to rule it.

130. A group of children finds a hidden temple in their neighborhood with challenges that test their friendship.

131. A garden gnome comes to life, recounting tales of the world from his stationary perspective.

132. A mirror maze in an old carnival traps souls, leading them to alternate dimensions.

133. An enchanted forest changes its layout every night.

134. An old radio plays news from the future.

135. A theater where the audience members become characters in the play.

136. A poet's verses alter the emotions of their readers.

137. A universe where constellations tell ever-changing stories.

138. A pair of ancient statues in the town square come to life at night.

139. An annual competition where townspeople hunt for a hidden gem with transformative powers.

140. An underground city is revealed during an excavation, inhabited by descendants of a long-lost civilization.

141. A world where stars are fruits on a cosmic tree.

142. A festival where masks hide not faces but entire identities.

143. A ship in a bottle sets sail when real water is poured in.

144. A detective discovers they're the prime suspect in a crime they're investigating.

145. A cave that amplifies one’s deepest fears or desires.

146. A world where night and day exist simultaneously, divided by a great wall.

147. A painter's artwork becomes a window to the scenes they depict.

148. A mystical tea shop offers brews that can transport drinkers to the memories associated with the tea's origin.

149. A world where people leave behind "memory orbs" after passing, containing their most cherished memories.

150. A maze, when completed, grants the solver a single wish.

151. A street musician's melodies weave spells, enchanting listeners.

The journey of storytelling is both exhilarating and challenging. While the thrill of bringing characters and worlds to life is incomparable, the initial hurdle of finding the right idea can be overwhelming. 

With these 151 fictional story ideas at your fingertips, may you never find yourself staring despondently at a blank page again. Embrace the prompts, alter them, mix them up, or even combine a few.

The world of fiction is vast and limitless, and your unique perspective is its greatest asset. Here's to your next captivating tale! 

Happy writing!

Frequently Asked Questions about Fictional Story Ideas

What are fictional story ideas.

Fictional story ideas are imaginative concepts or premises from which a writer can develop a full-fledged story, novel, or other pieces of creative writing. They are sparks of inspiration that ignite the flame of storytelling.

How do I come up with good story ideas?

Story ideas can come from anywhere. Often, they arise from:

Observing the world around you.

Asking 'what if' questions.

Drawing from personal experiences.

Merging different genres, like science fiction and romance.

Pondering mysteries of ancient societies or imagining futuristic worlds.

What are some examples of creative writing prompts?

A young woman discovers she has magical powers on her 21st birthday.

In a sci-fi world, a college student stumbles upon an ancient device that can control time.

A person gets wrongfully convicted and spends many years plotting an escape, only to discover a deeper mystery.

Two best friends find a map leading to a hidden fantasy world in their local coffee shop.

I'm facing a blank page and have no idea where to start. What should I do?

Every writer, even real writers with published books, faces the blank-page dilemma. Consider using writing prompts, recalling a memory, or even describing a natural disaster. Sometimes, just writing anything down can lead to the birth of a great story.

Are there specific prompts for genres like sci-fi or historical fiction?

Absolutely! There are specialized prompts for every genre. For instance:

Sci-fi writing prompts : In the distant future, every college student is assigned a robot as their best friend. One student suspects their robot is sentient.

Historical fiction : In a small town during the age of the Renaissance, a young artist with the ability to paint the future starts predicting tragic events.

How do I develop my main character?

Developing your main character is crucial for a compelling story. Consider their:

Age, job, and family background.

Relationships, best friends, and enemies.

Personal challenges, dreams, and fears.

Can I blend genres in my story?

Yes, many great stories combine genres. Imagine a romance set in a post-apocalyptic world or a fantasy story with elements of mystery.

How do I determine my writing style?

Your writing style will develop naturally over time. It's influenced by what you read, your life experiences, and your unique voice as a writer.

Do I have to write a story from start to finish?

Not at all! Some writers start with the end or from a pivotal moment in their story. Write whatever scene sparks your creativity the most.

What about short stories? Are they different from novels?

Short stories are like snapshots of characters' lives, capturing a moment or event. Novels delve deeper, exploring characters, settings, and plots in more detail. Both are valuable forms of fiction writing.

I have a book idea. How do I write my first draft?

Start by outlining your story, develop your characters, and dive in. Remember, the first draft doesn't need to be perfect. It's a starting point from which you'll refine and improve.

Can writing prompts help with writer's block?

Absolutely! Writing prompts can act as a Kickstarter, jolting your creativity and getting your pen moving.

How do real writers handle criticism?

Every writer, no matter their level of expertise, faces criticism. The key is to learn from constructive feedback and to remember that every piece of writing can be improved.

Are there any specific prompts for children or young adult fiction?

Certainly! Imagine a group of children discovering magic in their backyard or a teenager realizing their entire life is a simulation.

Do I need to stick to one genre in my entire writing career?

No. Writers often explore multiple genres throughout their careers. Every story idea, whether it belongs to romance, fantasy, sci-fi, or any other genre, has the potential to captivate readers.

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What Makes a Good Storyteller?

101 christmas story ideas to ignite your festive spirit.

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50 Fiction Writing Prompts and Ideas to Inspire You to Write

Hannah Yang

Table of Contents

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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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

Further reading.

Fiction writing prompts are short phrases, sentences, or paragraphs designed to inspire writers and stimulate their imaginations. They can be used to jumpstart a new project or to help overcome writer's block on an existing work. Fiction writing prompts can take many different forms and cover a variety of topics, from character development and dialogue to plot and setting.

If you're new to fiction writing prompts, you may be wondering where they come from and why writers use them. While there's no one answer to this question, it's believed that fiction writing prompts have been around for centuries, with writers using them in various forms to generate ideas and inspire their writing. Some writers use prompts as a daily writing exercise, while others turn to them when they're feeling stuck or need to break out of a creative rut.

To learn more about the history and origin of fiction writing prompts, check out this article on writing prompts from Wikipedia. It provides an overview of the different types of prompts and how they've been used throughout history.

There are many benefits to using fiction writing prompts in your writing practice. Whether you're a seasoned writer or just starting out, prompts can be a valuable tool for unlocking your creativity and generating new ideas. Here are some of the key benefits:

• Boost Your Creativity: Fiction writing prompts can help you break out of your usual patterns of thinking and come up with new and unique ideas for your stories. By forcing yourself to think outside the box, you may discover ideas that you wouldn't have thought of otherwise.
• Overcome Writer's Block: If you're feeling stuck or uninspired, fiction writing prompts can help you get past your writer's block and start writing again. By giving you a starting point, prompts can help you overcome the blank page and get your creative juices flowing.
• Expand Your Writing Range: Using a variety of different prompts can help you explore different genres, styles, and topics. By experimenting with different types of prompts, you may discover new areas of interest or develop new writing skills.
• Practice Your Craft: Writing is like any other skill - the more you practice, the better you get. Fiction writing prompts provide a structured way to practice your writing and develop your craft. By using prompts on a regular basis, you can improve your writing skills and build confidence in your abilities.

If you're interested in learning more about the benefits of fiction writing prompts, check out this article on writing exercises from Wikipedia. It provides an overview of the different types of writing exercises and how they can help writers improve their craft.

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.

Wikipedia Link

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.

• Horror Writing Prompts For Authors
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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 […]
• Cinematic Techniques in Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” The producer used Samurai Swords to help audiences understand that criminal activities are not devoid of conduct and order. He used different camera angles to create variation and jiggle the memory of his audiences. We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 […]
• “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 […]
• 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, […]
• 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 […]
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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, […]
• 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 […]
• 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 […]
• 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 […]
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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, […]
• 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 […]
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• “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.
• 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.
• 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 […]
• 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 […]
• 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.
• Technology and Cyberculture in ‘The Machine Stops’ Fiction The research interprets Edward Forster’s science fiction story, ‘The Machine Stops’, and its relationship with the current overreliance on technology and the increasingly growing cyberculture.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• “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.
• 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.
• 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 […]
• 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 […]
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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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21 thoughts on “ 50 science fiction plot ideas and writing prompts ”.

As much as I love reading and writing books, I’d definitely be interested in interacting with a virtual fantasy world. I’d also like the automatic fitness and mood trackers. I don’t write science fiction, but I’d love some of these to be real someday. Great prompts!

Hi Renea! Yeah, a few of these were wishful thinking. 🙂 Thanks for the kind words!

Hi, what a wonderful list! Thank you. I noticed that there are two #25’s listed so the list is actually 51. 🙂

Hahaha! Hey, I’m a writer, not a numbers gal. 😉 I re-numbered it so #51 is a bonus. Thanks, Laurie!

I like you list as well. “Bryn laughed as she posted her answer for miscounting her plots. Then the total number of characters in her post quickly appeared in her mind. “That’s never happened to me before.” as she smiled to herself. She started to get up to get a bottle of water. As she looked down pressed the keys to lock her computer screen, she quickly counted the pores on the back of her hand. “Wait a minute. What the heck is going on?”

Thanks for all the great sci-fi prompts, Bryn. 🙂 — Suzanne

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34. Is interesting. Outsourcing anything to other civilizations by means of games is a great idea.

Well written and interesting! You should check out my article on the physics of Black Holes: https://therealsciblog.wordpress.com/2018/06/20/black-holes/

Also I will follow anyone who follows me, so please please please follow me!

“In a world where pain and suffering have been eliminated, people pay to experience a variety of negative sensations under safe and controlled circumstances.”

That was actually the plot of a Star Trek: Voyager episode (Random Thoughts) in the 1990s. The only exception is that the trade of negative sensations was illegal, and sanctioned by the government.

Hello! I love your ideas. But what if someone uses one of your story plots and publishes the book? Would you want credit?

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I think you meant to say that Napoleon invades Austria, not Australia?

I have a good plot. the idea itself has been forming and ripening in my mind for 15 years. can i share with you? if so, please contact me by this mail. [email protected]

Science fiction is not just about aliens, mermaids, time travel, and more. Here, you can also write about deep and philosophical stuff, and even tackle societal issues. For example, issues on technological advancement such as the possible takeover of robots and the impending destruction of the planet are commonly emphasized in numerous science fiction novels. These and all the other issues in the society today are tackled in length in science fiction because there is no better place to explore them than in this genre.

Fantastic Plot Ideas! Thanks for sharing. Science fiction stories often illustrate the social reality of the current times. These stories give us a clear picture of how the technologies of today are affecting our daily lives, particularly our interaction and connection with one another. These stories help us understand the things that make up our current reality.

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Thankyou very much! I often write dilemma stories for my ethics class pupils to start or to complement a teaching unit. Fantasy and Science Fiction help us to talk to children even about explosive subjects. But I have less imagination as everyone thinks: Four or five ideas, and that´s it. So I just visited your collection to find more Ideas for my pupils. This was very helpful. Thanx in the name of the children.

Hi Cora! Ow wow, that is so cool! Your class sounds like so much fun. I’m so glad this was useful!

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Fiction Prompts - Ideas for Stories

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 stuck elevator, a pickpocket, and a promise.
• 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.

• He wasn't at all what I was expecting...
• 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...

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

Sign up for our free e-mail group to receive fiction prompts, writing tips , and Creative Writing Now news.

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
• "The Evil Roommate" and other story ideas
• 44 fiction writing prompts
• See a complete list of Creative Writing Now pages with ideas for stories.

Click here to go back to the Creative Writing Ideas Blog .

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100 Fiction Essay Topics

🏆 best essay topics on fiction, ✍️ fiction essay topics for college, 🎓 most interesting fiction research titles, 💡 simple fiction essay ideas.

• Science Fiction as “Literature of Change”
• Perseverance in American Fiction and Non-Fiction: “The Soft-Hearted Sioux” by Zitkala-Sa
• Characteristics and Similarities Between Realistic and Historical Fiction
• Theme of Sexuality from Both Fiction and Non-Fiction Context
• The Movie “Back to the Future”: The Genre of Science Fiction
• Science Fiction Then and Now
• Fiction Analysis: The Exposition in “Avatar”
• Fiction Elements in Chopin’s The Story of an Hour In 1984, Kate Chopin published a short story titled “The Story of an Hour”. The independence of a woman is one of the core topics explored in “The Story of an Hour.”
• Implications of Fiction for Children Fiction is a genre of literature that involves invented characters, usually in prose. This paper discusses the implications of fiction for children, both negative and positive.
• Stranger Than Fiction: Critical Analysis of Film Stranger Than Fiction entertains, educates, and creates awareness of the virtue of fate and the inevitability of death.
• Science Fiction in Literature and Movies This paper argues that science fiction has less to do with science and more to do with an endless reworking of the human condition.
• Compare and Contrast Fiction Analysis Both The Cathedral and A Rose for Emily use characterization and symbolism as stylistic devices to share the positive and negative effects of embracing transformations in society.
• Postmodern Ideas and Realism in Works of Fiction Postmodernism is a broad academic term that came into the limelight in the mid- 1980s. It refers to certain aspects of works done after the Second World War.
• History vs. Fiction of Oroonoko, Inkle and Yarico There are uncertainties as to what is absolute truth or exaggeration within fiction based on stories told centuries ago. That is the case with Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko.
• Decolonization Through Fiction: Indigenous Horror in Canada North American cinema was largely synonymous with Hollywood-made films. Canadian Indigenous films represent a new distinctive branch of independent North American cinema.
• The Novel “Hoot” by Carl Hiaasen: Domestic and Adventure Fiction Traits The paper examines Hiaasen’s novel “Hoot”, determining its features of domestic and adventure fiction, as well as exploring the essentials of this book – plot, characters, ideas.
• Concept of the Fiction in Writing In writing, fiction is a type of story that can be characterized by a specific set of features. Fiction commonly refers to the kind of setting or a scenario that was made up by the author.
• Pulp Fiction as Iconic Gangster Cinema Pulp Fiction is analyzed from the standpoints of genre theory, presenting it as a prominent example of gangster films and describing the work’s design techniques.
• The Future of Artificial Intelligence in Fiction and Science Although there are numerous technological advancements, not many of them have caused such a tremendous controversy as artificial intelligence.
• Summary of “Women in Diaspora: A Study of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Fiction” To survive and compete in the USA, the Indian women retrospect and recognize the requirements of the new culture.
• “Why We Need More Science in Fiction?” by A. Gambis In this speech, Gambis discusses his scientific work. His main intention is to convince the audience that real science can be entertaining and inspiring for filmmakers.
• Newspeak as a Language of Fiction Newspeak can be defined as a language of fiction that was invented by a writer called George Orwell in his book called “Nineteen Eighty-Four”.
• “The Revenge of Babylon”: Historical Fiction Story This paper aims to present a historical fiction story titled “The Revenge of Babylon” – an original own short piece of historical fiction.
• Contrast Between the Women of Fact and Women as Portrayed in Fiction In the “What if Shakespeare Had Had a Sister” article, Virginia Woolf imagines the possibility of a female Shakespeare and the things that would have become of her.
• American Dream as a Symbol of Hopelessness in Gothic Fiction This paper aims to provide evidence that the characters of Lutie Johnson and Robin both failed to fulfill the American Dream.
• Human Behavior Depicted in Science Fiction Works The purpose of this paper is to analyze the situation described in the novels Fahrenheit 451, Night and Things Fall Apart and the changes in human behavior brought out in them.
• Standards of Quality Prose Fiction High quality prose fiction is characterized by several unique features. These features include a properly chosen point of view, precise themes, appropriate stylistic devices.
• Science Fiction in Qaqish’s “Before Arrival” Film In this paper, the elements of science fiction that are displayed in the film “Before Arrival” by Joseph Qaqish will be analyzed.
• Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill Films by Quentin Tarantino The director of the films Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill is Quentin Tarantino. In each Tarantino created an entire universe in which the heroes of his movies live.
• The Definition of the Science Fiction To define science fiction, one should first look more closely at the two parts its name consists of – science and fiction.
• Artificial Intelligence in Scientific and Fiction Works I decided to research what possible benefits can come from cooperation between scientists and science fiction writers regarding the negative image of artificial intelligence.
• The “Criminal Minds” and “Brady Bunch” Fiction Films Schwartz and Thomas produce great movies which are watched worldwide. They are of great importance to society and change the lives of people.
• Ursula Le Guin: Science Fiction Genre Writer Career As one of the most prolific and innovative science fiction writers, Ursula K. Le Guin has definitely left her mark on the landscape of science fiction as a genre.
• Facts From Fiction and From the Internet With the abundance of information that is thrown at Internet users from every corner of every site, the range of false data is huge, and taking this information may cost well-being.
• Artificial Intelligence: Science Fiction Novels Many writers created stories and novels in the science fiction genre in an attempt to predict how the life where robots are not just machines but equal members of society would be.
• The Mix of Race, Ethnicity, and Culture in the Fiction Unit This paper examines the manner in the different authors have embraced the concept of race, ethnicity, and culture.
• Cyber-Science, Fiction or Modern Reality? According to the authors, within the matter of the next twenty years, people will not only be able to enhance their physical existence by becoming increasingly cyborg-like.
• Future in American Science Fiction Short Stories Science fiction is meant to be read with a purpose in mind. Works of this genre provide a nod to realism and present a thoughtful perspective of society’s future.
• Young Adult Fiction’s Influence on the Worldview In “Darkness too visible,” Gurdon discusses the problem of young adult fiction, which often appears to be too brutal and gory to be introduced to young readers.
• Gender in Fiction and Sociological Literature This paper addresses the question of why people study literature from the perspective of gender using three books, “Beloved,” “Bros before Hos,” and “Becoming 100% Straight.”
• Fiction and Human Society
• Chinese and Japanese Similar Fiction Stories
• Language Race and Identity Creative Non-Fiction
• Fact, Fiction, and Perception: Understanding Schizophrenia
• Fiction and Devilish Woman Epithet
• Juvenile and Young-Adult Mystery Fiction Analysis
• Immigrant Fiction: Treading the Narrow Path
• Literature Theory and Gothic Fiction
• Monetary Policy Inertia: Fact or Fiction
• Historical Fiction and Its Importance in Society
• Feminist Science Fiction Analysis
• Popular Fiction and Development Studies
• Dismembering the American Dream: The Life and Fiction of Richard Yates
• African Americans and Their Evolution in Fiction and Nonfiction
• European Stock Market Integration: Fact or Fiction
• Madame Bovary and Techniques in Fiction
• Making Physics More Realistic With Fiction
• Fiction and the Portrayal of Management Leadership
• Imperialism, Colonialism, and Identity in 20th-Century Fiction
• Gothic Fiction: The Representation of Evil in Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto
• Facts and Fiction Regarding John F. Kennedy
• Fact and Faith Within Detective Fiction
• Humor and Science Fiction by Kurt Vonnegut
• Literary Fiction and Self Discovery
• King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table: Fact or Fiction
• Fiction Comparisons Through Symbolism and Settings: “A Pair of Tickets” and “Volar”
• George Orwell’s Fiction Novel 1984
• Facts and Fiction Regarding the Bermuda Triangle
• Nineteen Minutes: Fiction Imitating Reality
• Fact, Legend, and Fiction of King Arthur
• Fiction and Australian Identity
• Film and Broadcast Fiction
• Gender and Sexuality Debates in the Genre of Science Fiction
• Narrative Fiction and the Portrayal of Female Characters
• American Lit: Regionalism, Gothic Fiction, and Naturalism
• Bermuda Triangle: Facts vs. Fiction
• Demonic Possession and Exorcisms: Fact or Fiction
• Facts and Fiction Regarding Jack the Ripper
• Arthur Miller’s The Crucible: Fact & Fiction
• Altered Cognition and the Reading of Fiction
• Dubois and Washington: Realism in Fiction
• Native American Fiction Analysis
• Fiction and Basic Terms
• Monetary Policy and Financial Imbalances: Facts and Fiction
• Japanese Long Fiction Analysis
• Dystopian Fiction Often Paints a Frightening Picture of the Future
• Genre and Narrative Establishment in the Opening of Pulp Fiction, the Krays, and Goodfellas
• Crossing: Fiction and Story
• Combining Fact and Fiction in the Writing of Frederick Douglass’ the Heroic Slave
• American Politics Through Film and Fiction
• Feminism and Gender Bias in Science Fiction
• Literary Fiction and Commercial Fiction
• Henry James and the Art of Fiction Term
• Danielle Steel’s The Ring – A Thin Line Between Fiction and Reality
• French Mystery Fiction Analysis
• Anne Bronte’s Gothic Romantic Fiction
• Fiction and the Depiction of Women
• Fiction Works and Conceiving of Creative Writing in Literature
• Asian Mystery Fiction Analysis
• African American Long Fiction Analysis

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StudyCorgi. (2022, March 1). 100 Fiction Essay Topics. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/fiction-essay-topics/

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StudyCorgi . "100 Fiction Essay Topics." March 1, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/fiction-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2022. "100 Fiction Essay Topics." March 1, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/fiction-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on Fiction were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on January 8, 2024 .

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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!

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Thank you for adding Written Kitten to the list, Bridget! We have bunnies and dogs now!

Thank you for this. Very helpful for a useless person like me

Stfu, you are amazing, and no one in this entire universe is useless, except for me, so love yourself.

This is super awesome & I am so happy to have some new ideas… creative block has been beyond bad. this is what I have needed to start unclogging it!

do you have topics i can write about

This is very helpful!

I am searching for non-fiction writing topics

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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?

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.

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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72. You’ve just learned to fix something in your own house and have saved yourself thousands of dollars.

73. You can’t shake something from your past, but you’re not sure if you even remember it correctly anymore.

74. Your spouse doesn’t seem to really care about what you have to say, and it really bothers you.

75. Your significant other has started writing erotica and is making a nice, steady income with it, but you’re conflicted.

76. You’ve been writing books for years, and then your SO writes a book and sells more copies of his/her first novel than you’ve ever sold.

77. You’ve found the perfect quick remedy for canker sores, and it uses cheap and easy-to-find ingredients.

78. You’ve never really been a hat person until you saw a hat you liked on someone else.

79. You and your SO can’t agree on wall colors for your new home.

80. It all started when someone told you that you needed a professional photo taken.

81. Everyone should take a road trip, because…

82. Of all the superpowers, this would your #1.

83. You found the perfect secluded vacation spot/s with great food, and they’re not crazy expensive.

84. You’ve always had a knack for losing weight — right up until your mid-forties.

85. You have a gift for dismantling and countering other people’s arguments.

86. One of your kids has gotten her first job, and you want to help her budget her earnings without being too controlling.

87. One of your kids has just announced an engagement to a person you don’t particularly like or trust.

88. Your friend has challenged you to spend a week unplugged — no internet, no cable, and no phone.

89. Your in-laws have come over to help with house projects, and since your spouse didn’t tell you they were coming, the place is a disaster.

90. You really do want to lose that weight — really — but your daily wine habit is hard to kick.

91. Oh, the joys of pet ownership! Your new fur-baby has moved right in and claimed the house as his own — with multiple visual tokens of acceptance.

92. Your spouse wants to be intimate, but you’d rather avoid it.

93. Your friend wants to start a business with you. You spend hours talking about this and addressing the main obstacles, and finally, you go for it.

94. You’re so good at writing academic papers that your college classmates start offering to pay you to write their essays and reports for them.

95. Your in-laws vilify you as a traitor because of the way you voted, and their petty attacks even extend to your children.

96. Every time you go to a potluck, people come up to you and beg you for your recipe. You’ve decided to create your own potluck recipe book — with a unique twist.

97. You’ve attended a fascinating seminar about being “limitless,” and while you’re still a bit skeptical, you really want to believe in the speaker’s message. You go all in, and things start changing for you.

98. You’re fed up with your health-obsessed teenage son constantly telling you you’re out of the foods he likes, and when you ask him to try something else, he angrily reminds you that it’s not his fault he can’t tolerate those foods.

99. Your kid wants to eat nothing but croutons and potato chips, and you can’t get him to try anything else (ironically he’s the same child who later grows into the health-obsessed teenager in the previous prompt).

100. You’re out driving and your car has a flat. You call your spouse who basically throws up his hands, sighs dramatically, and tells you to call AAA. You get a tow, and your spouse (who is at home) suggests you learn how to change a tire.

101. After twenty-three years of adhering to your religious beliefs, you have more questions than ever, and no one can answer them in a satisfying way.

102. Your best friend, who never went to college, is earning much more than you are and is loving life more. You meet him for lunch and ask how he’s gotten to where is, and what do you have to do to get there.

103. The staff at your kid’s school have called to tell you they’re having trouble with your daughter again because she just doesn’t seem to respect the authority of her teachers or other school staff.

104. You and your spouse go to an IEP meeting for your son, who has been miserable at school and who is tired of being micromanaged by the staff.

105. You’re at a pre-wedding retreat at your church, and when the leaders announce a break, your fiance heads out the large glass front door and lets it close in your face.

106. Once again, you’ve played the peacemaker at home, and relative tranquility is restored, but your relationships with your spouse and with your kids has suffered, and you’re not sure which has done the most damage: the open arguments or the forced calm.

107. Throwing fancy brunches and dinner parties is one of your favorite things, and people come to you for ideas on how to make theirs better. You’ve decided to write a book on hosting unforgettable brunches and dinner parties.

108. You’ve never forgotten how you loved the food when you lived in, and you’ve collected a variety of recipes, along with the history behind them.

Did you find some nonfiction topics to write about?

We hope our list of writing prompts has primed your creative pump and that one (or more) of them is on the shortlist for your next book.

If you don’t feel confident that your topic is one that readers are looking for, check out our post on tools and resources to help you make the best choice.

Even if you use these prompts only as creative nonfiction writing exercises, you won’t be wasting your time.

You’ll not only have a better idea about possible book topics for the future but also you’ll improve your writing and hone your skills at fleshing out an idea.

All of your efforts contribute to your success as a writer and your sense of confidence as you begin outlining your next nonfiction book.

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Home / Book Writing / Nonfiction Topics to Write About: 30+ Ideas to Get You Started

Nonfiction Topics to Write About: 30+ Ideas to Get You Started

If you're an aspiring nonfiction author or blog writer (or both), you may feel that you don't have as much to write about as fiction authors. After all, fiction writers are only limited by their imaginations, whereas nonfiction writers can't just make stuff up. But if you think about it, that's not quite right. Some of the best nonfiction books take a look at old ideas through a new lens. And that lens is the author's imagination. 

So whether you're struggling to generate new ideas or just want to break away from your current work in progress, we've got a list of great nonfiction topics to write about. 

• Tips for writing great nonfiction.
• How best to pick from the list of nonfiction topics.
• Tips for vetting your nonfiction book idea.

Table of contents

• Use Creative Writing to Generate Emotions
• Keep Your Purpose in Mind
• Bring Something New to the Table
• Informational Writing Prompts
• Memoir Writing Prompts
• Personal Essay Writing Prompts
• How to Vet Your Nonfiction Book Idea

Writing Excellent Nonfiction

For some people, nonfiction writing comes easily, whereas fiction is a little trickier. For others, the opposite is true. The fact is, writing nonfiction is not all that different from writing fiction. With the tips below, you'll see what I mean. 

Whether you're writing a piece of narrative nonfiction or a handbook on becoming an entrepreneur, you'll want to tell a story . After all, anyone can put down words that tell someone how to do something, but this isn't how great writing works. We're story-centered creatures. It's how we relate to the world. 

So use a narrative to get your point across. If your readers feel something as they read your book, it's more likely to stick with them. And that's exactly what you want!

The writing prompts below are split into sub-sections based on the purpose they serve. While a lot of nonfiction is designed to help the reader solve a problem, this is not always the case. Some sub-genres of nonfiction are for readers who want to be entertained or informed. Luckily, it's pretty easy to tell the difference. 

So whichever writing prompt you choose, keep your purpose in mind the whole time. Always ask yourself, as you write, if each sentence is serving the purpose of the piece.  

While the prompts below are fairly broad, they require an ingredient that I can't provide in this article: you. It's your job to bring the prompt or prompts alive with your own experience, imagination, and outlook. There's no use in writing a book, essay, or article that a hundred other people have already written. 

But if you have a unique take on the subject, or can provide a compelling way to deliver the information to the reader, then you have a nonfiction piece worth writing.  

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Easy to use, and and full of amazing features, you can quickly turn your book into a professional book.

Nonfiction Writing Prompts

Pick a prompt below that sounds intriguing to you. Take a moment to think about how you would provide a unique perspective on the subject. Or, simply use them as writing prompts to practice your craft!

First, we'll start with the informational nonfiction writing prompts. In other words, these are designed to solve a specific problem or explain something to the reader. These are often called expository nonfiction prompts.  

1. Write about your health and fitness journey. Have you overcome any obstacles, tried any fad diets, or had any close calls? What can you share about your experience that can help others?

2. Write about your career or industry. How did you get to be where you are? What can you share about your experience that can help others?

3. Write about a skill that you have. How much time did you put into developing it? What practices worked best? What would you tell someone who is just now trying to learn the skill?

4. Explore your spirituality or religious beliefs. Finding ways to maintain your beliefs or practices is hard these days, so share with the reader how you've managed to do it, and how they can do it, too.

5. Write about finances. Are you better off than your peers? Have you been successful, or have you had major ups and downs? What can you share about your experience that can help others?

6. Are you an organized person? If so, write about how you stay organized. Don't skimp on the details of any systems or tactics you've developed!

7. Do you know how to maintain a home or a vehicle? If so, write a guide on how best to stay on top of regular maintenance while still saving time and money. 

8. Have you overcome anxiety or stress? If so, share with readers how you stay on top of it while still functioning in society. 

9. Do you know how to knit or make homemade decorations? If so, share your skills in a book or blog post. 

10. Do you know all the best spots to eat, relax, or pass the time in your city? Write a guide of all the little-known gems to help people visiting for the first time. 

Creative Nonfiction Writing Prompts

Unless you're a subject matter expert, you may be more interested in the writing prompts below. With the creative writing prompts in this section, you have a little more freedom when it comes to writing style. You can rely heavily on personal experience with the following prompts , as well, just make sure you're telling a true story! 

11. Write about the most impactful time in your life. What lessons did you learn that other people would be interested in?

12. What does it mean to be happy? Is it possible to be happy all the time? If so, how?

13. Have you done any traveling, whether foreign or domestic? If so, you could regale readers with travel-writing stories. 

14. Are you a fan of historical nonfiction? This nonfiction genre requires a lot of research, but if you have a unique angle on a moment in our history, it could be well worth the effort. 

15. Write about a person who has influenced you without ever having met you. See if you can find and interview others who've been similarly influenced.

The memoir is a creative nonfiction genre in which everyone can write. Although it's hard to sell these kinds of books unless you're a well-known figure, they're great for developing the writing skill it takes to craft other types of books and stories. 

16. Using a series of cultural or worldwide events, tell the story of your life. Whether it's a historic law that passed or the release of an impactful movie, see if you can weave important moments in your life into an entertaining narrative. 

17. What does truth mean to you? Present times from your own life where the truth was important. 

18. Write about what is important to you now. Has it always been a priority, or has the definition of importance changed over your life? 

19. Write about a trip that changed your life forever. This could be a vacation, a road trip, or a simple trip to the grocery store. 

20. Write about your life by describing the good times you've had with any and all the pets you've had over the years. 

If you want more memoir writing prompts, we have an entire article dedicated to this type of narrative nonfiction here . 

If a full nonfiction book sounds like a bit much for you, a nonfiction essay may just be the best alternative. This is a personal story told from the heart. It can be about almost anything, but most of these essays generally have to do with one specific topic or moment in the writer's life. 

21. Try your hand at literary journalism by writing a series of articles about your life and achievements from the point of view of an impartial journalist. 

22. Write a short story in which you are the protagonist and you're dealing with a real-life scary or difficult situation. What really happened, and what could you have done differently?

23. Everyone's afraid of something. What's the biggest fear you've worked to overcome? And how did you do it?

24. Write a personal essay about how music has impacted your life. What songs were playing at important events in your life? How has music defined who you are?

25. What makes you a unique person? What makes you the same as others? Write an essay on what it means to be an individual in a world full of individuals. 

26. Think about a person you deeply admire. Write about why you admire them, exploring things like their personality traits, goals, philosophies, and other positive qualities. 

27. Write about a location that holds a special meaning for you. This could be a home, a town, or even an entire state. Discuss how this place has impacted your life. 

28. Pick a piece of work that has resonated with you. This could be a book, a movie, or a piece of artwork. Explore the themes it explores and why it has resonated with you. 

29. The search for purpose is tricky for some. Whether you have found a purpose or are still searching for one, discuss what this means to you. 

30. Explore a belief or tradition that is meaningful to you. How has it influenced your life, and why is it important to you? What positive effects have come because of this belief or tradition?

There's a lot to like about being a creative nonfiction writer. In many ways, it requires the same skills as fiction writing, but with narrower parameters to keep you on track. No matter what kind of writing you like to do, the prompts above can help you hone your skills. But what about when you think you have an idea for a potential bestseller? Before you invest the time in writing the whole book (or the book proposal), it's worth vetting the idea. Luckily, this is easy to do with Publisher Rocket. 

You can think of the information you get from Publisher Rocket as the foundation for your nonfiction writing career. You get insights directly from Amazon on:

• Keywords – Metadata to position your nonfiction book on Amazon.
• Competition – Allowing you to see what other nonfiction books are selling well and how stiff the competition is.
• Categories – Allowing you to position your book in the right categories and subcategories to increase your chances of success.
• Amazon Ads – Helping you quickly configure a list of profitable keywords for running ads to your published nonfiction book. 

Check out Publisher Rocket here to learn more about using data to position your book for success on Amazon.

Dave Chesson

When I’m not sipping tea with princesses or lightsaber dueling with little Jedi, I’m a book marketing nut. Having consulted multiple publishing companies and NYT best-selling authors, I created Kindlepreneur to help authors sell more books. I’ve even been called “The Kindlepreneur” by Amazon publicly, and I’m here to help you with your author journey.

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Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing

With a degree in creative writing, students can publish fiction, poetry, drama, memoir, and screenplays, as well as become educators, journalists, and editors for magazines and publishing companies.

Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Programs at Reinhardt University

The creative writing program at Reinhardt University is unique because of its small classes and individual attention from award-winning writers. Whether it’s poetry, fiction, playwriting, screenplay, or memoir, students are guided on creative projects with a rich understanding of literary traditions.

Students work one-on-one with faculty on projects that lead toward a publishable manuscript, en route to becoming stalwart editors. Oftentimes, undergraduate students work with M.F.A. students on projects as editors.

Many of the creative writing students have worked as editors on manuscripts that have gone on to be published, including award-winning books. It is not uncommon for the RU CW students to work on graduate-level projects, including working as an editor on the James Dickey Review, which has a national reputation for publishing the best writers in the world.

Choose from numerous genres: poetry, fiction, memoir, drama, or screenplays for your creative writing degree at RU:

• Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (B.F.A.)
• Creative Writing minor

What You’ll Learn at RU

With one-on-one instruction from award-winning professors, the creative writing student can begin at any level and work toward publishing a manuscript. From the beginning draft and planning, through revision and editing, students are guided through the professional process of writing and publishing.

By the time you graduate with a degree in creative writing, you will understand:

• The major ideas of literary movements and how to apply a study of these movements to the student’s creative work
• How to recognize and understand the value of other’s creative work
• How to properly edit for magazine publication
• How to tap into their creative resources for ideas and inspiration
• How to communicate ideas
• How to publish and where to publish

Creative Writing Classes You’ll Take

All creative writing classes are offered as advanced classes. Here are just a few of the CW classes you will take while pursuing your degree:

• Fiction Writing
• Script Writing
• Literary Editing and Publishing
• Poetry Writing
• Screenplay Writing
• Creative Writing Internship

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Careers in Creative Writing

National average for a novelist, with a potential for more with sales and movie rights.

Possible Careers

• Creative Writer
• Web Designer
• Video Game Designer
• Video Game Content Editor
• Concept Artist
• UX Designer
• Freelance Writer
• Advertising Designer
• Script Doctor

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• Creative Writing
• English Language Arts Education

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Tuition and Fees

Reinhardt’s affordable tuition helps you get the personal attention and real-world experiences that will give you a competitive edge in the creative writing job market.

Based on the 2023-24 RU Catalog, the fee per credit hours is $560. The Catalog includes:

• Convocation of Artists and Scholars
• Creative Writing Club
• English Honor Society – Sigma Tau Delta
• Tutoring in the Center for Student Success
• Editor of the student literary journal, Sanctuary
• Participant in off-campus literary events, such as viewing plays at the Alliance Theatre
• Meeting local, national, and international authors

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Nearly all students at Reinhardt University receive some sort of financial aid or scholarship. Find out what options you may be eligible for.

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Student organizations and activities round out the total educational program at Reinhardt University. And there is something for everyone, from sports and outdoor recreation, to student government and leadership opportunities, to multicultural and faith-based groups.

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Living on campus is an essential part of the college experience and will help you adjust to college life. You’ll have more opportunities to interact with faculty and friends, get involved in activities, and have easy access to classes, the library, performing arts, recreational, and athletic facilities.

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A Rom-Com You Might Have Written

The Idea of You is a modern spin on a Hollywood staple: someone famous falling for someone who’s not.

As far back as 1953’s Roman Holiday , when Audrey Hepburn played a princess who falls for a reporter, Hollywood has drawn on the formula of an asymmetrical romantic union between a celebrity and a regular person. It’s an appealing idea: Celebrities are meant to be pined after, and the prospect of being chosen by them must be uniquely validating. That’s why much of the fan fiction on sites such as Archive of Our Own, where users write their own lengthy tales riffing on pop culture, falls squarely into the domain of “real person” fan fiction, or “RPF.” Such digital spaces may be relatively new, but fantasizing about a celebrity meet-cute isn’t; as my colleague Kaitlyn Tiffany noted , fans have been writing RPF since at least the dawn of Beatlemania.

The Idea of You , a new romantic comedy starring Anne Hathaway, is the latest entrant in this genre. Its source material, a 2017 novel by Robinne Lee, was inspired partly by the former One Direction singer-songwriter Harry Styles, a pop star with an especially prolific and passionate following. Thankfully, the film is more than a fan-fiction fever dream, taking standard rom-com wish fulfillment and dialing it up to unexpectedly charming effect. The gender-flipped Notting Hill kicks into gear when the boy-band front man Hayes Campbell (played by Nicholas Galitzine) tells an amusingly transparent fib: “I have been dying to go to Glendale for the longest time, you have no idea,” he says to Solène (Hathaway), the Subaru-driving divorcée he meets in a chance mix-up at Coachella. His apparent need to be whisked away to the unglamorous Los Angeles suburb is, of course, really about spending more time with her.

After surprising Solène at the gallery she owns—and purchasing every piece in her catalog—Hayes cheekily asks her to help him source even more art, and jumps at the chance to accompany her to a distant warehouse. The young musician’s eagerness to brave L.A. traffic alongside Solène is arguably just as far-fetched as the circumstances of their meeting. But The Idea of You isn’t interested in rationalizing the mega-celebrity’s affections, instead letting audiences bask in the most charming parts of the fantasy. We watch Hayes listen in awe as Solène speaks with enthusiasm and authority about art. Away from the pandemonium of Coachella, the singer relaxes into the role of observer rather than performer. Their banter is easy, fun; Hathaway’s talent for physical comedy shines through, and sets up later moments of vulnerability with surprising depth.

Read: America needs a rom-com bailout

In Michael Showalter and Jennifer Westfeldt’s adaptation of the novel, which Showalter also directs, Hayes is four years older, and Solène’s daughter has aged out of being a superfan of his band. These changes dampen the recklessness of Solène’s decision to embark on their romance, making it far easier to enjoy the chemistry between Hathaway, who is 41, and Galitzine, who is 29. Though Hayes is a more underwritten character, both actors bring undeniable tenderness to their roles while also reveling in the kind of charged, witty repartee that modern rom-coms rarely offer.

The delight of watching these two lead actors essentially just stand around and talk helps set The Idea of You apart from other recent romantic comedies, including Red, White & Royal Blue (which Galitzine also starred in ) and the 2022 J. Lo vehicle, Marry Me , which felt like a thinly veiled attempt at dressing up the star’s real-life romantic woes . In The Idea of You , however, it’s satisfying to see Solène relax into the experience of being desired by a younger man, because the film takes time to show her grappling with mundane, grown-up problems—such as the ex-husband who not only cheated on her with a younger woman but also routinely shirks his parenting duties. (The reason Solène meets Hayes is that her ex bailed on their daughter at the last minute, leaving Solène to chaperone a group of teens to a music festival.)

At their best, classic tropes such as RPF have served as jumping-off points for compelling original stories , or as entry points for fan-fiction writers looking to build community online. In recent years, publishing-oriented influencers on TikTok have introduced a new generation of readers to terms such as only one bed or grumpy/sunshine , which now belong to a broader cultural vocabulary popularized by social media. But this legibility can have uncanny consequences for art outside the fan-fiction realm: A quick scan of popular TikTok tags and Google Trends can encourage writers, publishers, and Hollywood gatekeepers to churn out reductive works that feel algorithmically generated. The Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell–led box-office phenom, Anyone but You , brought in more than $200 million in ticket sales despite never transcending the “enemies to lovers” and “fake dating” formulas that were clearly central to its marketing .

The Idea of You ’s attention to Solène’s anxieties about motherhood, aging, and public scrutiny helps it feel like more than just an idealized depiction of winning a celebrity’s heart. The film is still decidedly earnest, though, which also makes it a welcome departure from They Came Together , the anachronistic rom-com satire that Showalter co-wrote more than decade ago, and that was released during a particularly rough era for the genre . This one doesn’t try to sell its meet-cute as realistic, but the story does feel fully invested in the relationship at its core, not just in serving up Millennial and Gen Z nostalgia bait by having the one-time Princess of Genovia fall for a Harry Styles avatar. The romance is not cloaked in irony; neither protagonist is too cool to embarass themselves in the name of love. Other movies might be adhering to the letter of rom-com law, but The Idea of You really commits to the spirit.

Origin director Ava DuVernay on grief and the Pulitzer Prize-winning author who inspired her latest film

Grief is complicated, says filmmaker Ava DuVernay (Selma; 13th).

"It is its own life journey that most of us will experience, unfortunately, and you know it has sorrowful moments, but there is also beauty in that journey," she says. "It's all intertwined."

DuVernay was grieving when the inimitable Oprah Winfrey handed her a copy of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson's non-fiction book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents in 2020.

"We were in the midst of a pandemic, I had lost some loved ones and we were dealing, in the United States, with the murder of George Floyd , which was a huge cultural and social event here; a tragedy," DuVernay recalls.

"I didn't feel like reading a 500-page book about some pretty heavy subject matter. I just wasn't in the headspace."

Wilkerson's searing treatise – one of former President Barack Obama's favourite books – posits that the great racial rift in America is as much about brutal caste structures as it is about skin colour. Drawing parallels with India's treatment of the Dalits, or "untouchables", and Nazi persecution of Jewish people, it's a confronting read. After two months, DuVernay picked up and was exhilarated by Wilkerson's theories.

"The idea of caste as being the foundational principle of so many of the -isms that we experience in our lives — whether it's racism, sexism, homophobia, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism or whatever — the bedrock of all of that is this very fundamental idea that I'm better than you because of this set of random traits and that I will organise society and I will accrue power and status based on that," says DuVernay

"It sparked a fresh way of thinking about old things."

Blurred lines

Channelling her grief through the momentous text, DuVernay decided to turn it into a film. But she approached the material in a fresh way, crafting an intriguing biopic about Wilkerson's fraught experience writing the book.

"I wanted to tell a story about a woman who was a teacher, who is galvanised by this cultural phenomenon and wants to share these ideas with us," DuVernay says.

Three of Wilkerson's family members died while she tackled the thesis.

"This woman was going through great tragedy, the horrors of losing the three closest people to you in your life within a 16-month period. How do you endure?" DuVernay says.

And yet endure Wilkerson does. The remarkable Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor steps into the author's shoes, towering in the central role. She had worked with DuVernay before, starring as Sharonne, the mother of Yusef Salaam, in the director's powerful Netflix miniseries  When They See Us , about five real-life Black and Latino teenagers falsely accused of raping a white woman.

"I really needed someone who was going to be an intellectual partner with me, because the subject matter is pretty dense," DuVernay says.

"And if there's one word that I think of when I consider Aunjanue, it's rigour. She's a very disciplined actor, highly intelligent and she gives us a superb performance."

As we follow Wilkerson's inquisitive journey through America's south and on to Berlin and New Dehli, her interviews with experts give way to dramatic re-creations.

Origin opens with the goosebump-inducing last moments of teenager Trayvon Martin , played by Myles Frost. We meet Nazi Party member August Landmesser (Finn Wittrock), who fell in love with and married a Jewish woman, Irma Eckler (Victoria Pedretti), and is the subject of a famous photo in which he refuses to participate in the "Heil Hitler" salute.

Caste-confounding Dalit professor Suraj Yengde plays himself.

"As a documentarian, I like blurring those edges," DuVernay says of casting Yengde. "I was working in the narrative form, but there are some documentary-esque textures."

Love stories

Both DuVernay and Wilkerson make sense of the world through their work.

"This time that we're in, it feels intense to us. But there's never been a time when there has not been war, tragedy, sorrow and pain happening somewhere, whether we know about it," DuVernay says.

"Some of my colleagues, like [ Dune director] Denis Villeneuve, are futurists. They're thinking about what's ahead and the worlds to come.

"And I want to learn about what we've done and how we can learn from it."

While much of DuVernay's work tackles difficult material, she sees it from another angle.

"When They See Us is about five boys who Donald Trump relegated to being criminals, by taking out a full-page ad to demonise them when they were innocent. He wanted to throw away the key and at one point said that they should be killed," she says.

"But at the end of the four-part series, you see the triumph of overcoming that. That is a joyous journey, for me as a storyteller. It's not a weight. Selma is not a weight. 13th is not a weight.

"It's telling the stories of the triumph of the people who have survived."

To DuVernay, they are love stories.

"Colin in Black & White [about American footballer and activist Colin Kaepernick's high school years] is a love story between him and his parents. When They See Us is a love story about the families that stood by these boys through thick and thin and were ostracised. Selma is about the love of your tribe. Origin is a love story about human connection and addressing grief," she says.

Art connects us all, DuVernay argues: "Whether it's film, literature, music, painting, sculpture or the culinary arts, going home and whoever is there puts love into what they make for you, or what you make for yourself: That's art.

"Art is just the beauty of life, and these are the things that remind us of our humanity."

Origin is in cinemas from April 4.

• X (formerly Twitter)

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6 facts about americans and tiktok.

Increasing shares of U.S. adults are turning to the short-form video sharing platform TikTok in general and for news .

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to better understand Americans’ use and perceptions of TikTok. The data for this analysis comes from several Center surveys conducted in 2023.

More information about the surveys and their methodologies, including the sample sizes and field dates, can be found at the links in the text.

Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. This is the latest analysis in Pew Research Center’s ongoing investigation of the state of news, information and journalism in the digital age, a research program funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, with generous support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

This analysis draws from several Pew Research Center reports on Americans’ use of and attitudes about social media, based on surveys conducted in 2023. For more information, read:

Americans’ Social Media Use

How u.s. adults use tiktok.

• Social Media and News Fact Sheet
• Teens, Social Media and Technology 2023

At the same time, some Americans have concerns about the Chinese-owned platform’s approach to data privacy and its potential impact on national security. Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a bill that, if passed in the Senate and signed into law, would restrict TikTok’s ability to operate in the United States.

Here are six key facts about Americans and TikTok, drawn from Pew Research Center surveys.

A third of U.S. adults – including a majority of adults under 30 – use TikTok. Around six-in-ten U.S. adults under 30 (62%) say they use TikTok, compared with 39% of those ages 30 to 49, 24% of those 50 to 64, and 10% of those 65 and older.

In a 2023 Center survey , TikTok stood out from other platforms we asked about for the rapid growth of its user base. Just two years earlier, 21% of U.S. adults used the platform.

A majority of U.S. teens use TikTok. About six-in-ten teens ages 13 to 17 (63%) say they use the platform. More than half of teens (58%) use it daily, including 17% who say they’re on it “almost constantly.”

A higher share of teen girls than teen boys say they use TikTok almost constantly (22% vs. 12%). Hispanic teens also stand out: Around a third (32%) say they’re on TikTok almost constantly, compared with 20% of Black teens and 10% of White teens.

In fall 2023, support for a U.S. TikTok ban had declined. Around four-in-ten Americans (38%) said that they would support the U.S. government banning TikTok, down from 50% in March 2023. A slightly smaller share (27%) said they would oppose a ban, while 35% were not sure. This question was asked before the House of Representatives passed the bill that could ban the app.

Republicans and Republican-leaning independents were far more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to support a TikTok ban (50% vs. 29%), but support had declined across both parties since earlier in the year.

Adults under 30 were less likely to support a ban than their older counterparts. About three-in-ten adults under 30 (29%) supported a ban, compared with 36% of those ages 30 to 49, 39% of those ages 50 to 64, and 49% of those ages 65 and older.

In a separate fall 2023 survey, only 18% of U.S. teens said they supported a ban. 

A relatively small share of users produce most of TikTok’s content. About half of U.S. adult TikTok users (52%) have ever posted a video on the platform. In fact, of all the TikTok content posted by American adults, 98% of publicly accessible videos come from the most active 25% of users .

Those who have posted TikTok content are more active on the site overall. These users follow more accounts, have more followers and are more likely to have filled out an account bio.

Although younger U.S. adults are more likely to use TikTok, their posting behaviors don’t look much different from those of older age groups.

About four-in-ten U.S. TikTok users (43%) say they regularly get news there. While news consumption on other social media sites has declined or remained stagnant in recent years, the share of U.S. TikTok users who get news on the site has doubled since 2020, when 22% got news there.

Related: Social Media and News Fact Sheet

TikTok news consumers are especially likely to be:

• Young. The vast majority of U.S. adults who regularly get news on TikTok are under 50: 44% are ages 18 to 29 and 38% are 30 to 49. Just 4% of TikTok news consumers are ages 65 and older.
• Women. A majority of regular TikTok news consumers in the U.S. are women (58%), while 39% are men. These gender differences are similar to those among news consumers on Instagram and Facebook.
• Democrats. Six-in-ten regular news consumers on TikTok are Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents, while a third are Republicans or GOP leaners.
• Hispanic or Black. Three-in-ten regular TikTok news users in the U.S. are Hispanic, while 19% are Black. Both shares are higher than these groups’ share of the adult population. Around four-in-ten (39%) TikTok news consumers are White, although this group makes up 59% of U.S. adults overall .

A majority of Americans (59%) see TikTok as a major or minor threat to U.S. national security, including 29% who see the app as a major threat. Our May 2023 survey also found that opinions vary across several groups:

• About four-in-ten Republicans (41%) see TikTok as a major threat to national security, compared with 19% of Democrats.
• Older adults are more likely to see TikTok as a major threat: 46% of Americans ages 65 and older say this, compared with 13% of those ages 18 to 29.
• U.S. adults who do not use TikTok are far more likely than TikTok users to believe TikTok is a major threat (36% vs. 9%).

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About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

After being insulted, writing down your feelings on paper then getting rid of it reduces anger

A research group in Japan has discovered that writing down one's reaction to a negative incident on a piece of paper and then shredding it or throwing it away reduces feelings of anger.

"We expected that our method would suppress anger to some extent," lead researcher Nobuyuki Kawai said. "However, we were amazed that anger was eliminated almost entirely."

This research is important because controlling anger at home and in the workplace can reduce negative consequences in our jobs and personal lives. Unfortunately, many anger management techniques proposed by specialists lack empirical research support. They can also be difficult to recall when angry.

The results of this study, published in Scientific Reports , are the culmination of years of previous research on the association between the written word and anger reduction. It builds on work showing how interactions with physical objects can control a person's mood.

For their project, Kawai and his graduate student Yuta Kanaya, both at the Graduate School of Informatics, Nagoya University, asked participants to write brief opinions about important social problems, such as whether smoking in public should be outlawed. They then told them that a doctoral student at Nagoya University would evaluate their writing.

However, the doctoral students doing the evaluation were plants. Regardless of what the participants wrote, the evaluators scored them low on intelligence, interest, friendliness, logic, and rationality. To really drive home the point, the doctoral students also wrote the same insulting comment: "I cannot believe an educated person would think like this. I hope this person learns something while at the university."

After handing out these negative comments, the researchers asked the participants to write their thoughts on the feedback, focusing on what triggered their emotions. Finally, one group of participants was told to either dispose of the paper they wrote in a trash can or keep it in a file on their desk. A second group was told to destroy the document in a shredder or put it in a plastic box.

The students were then asked to rate their anger after the insult and after either disposing of or keeping the paper. As expected, all participants reported a higher level of anger after receiving insulting comments. However, the anger levels of the individuals who discarded their paper in the trash can or shredded it returned to their initial state after disposing of the paper. Meanwhile, the participants who held on to a hard copy of the insult experienced only a small decrease in their overall anger.

Kawai imagines using his research to help businesspeople who find themselves in stressful situations. "This technique could be applied in the moment by writing down the source of anger as if taking a memo and then throwing it away when one feels angry in a business situation," he explained.

Along with its practical benefits, this discovery may shed light on the origins of the Japanese cultural tradition known as hakidashisara ( hakidashi refers to the purging or spitting out of something, and sara refers to a dish or plate) at the Hiyoshi shrine in Kiyosu, Aichi Prefecture, just outside of Nagoya. Hakidashisara is an annual festival where people smash small discs representing things that make them angry. Their findings may explain the feeling of relief that participants report after leaving the festival.

• Anger Management
• Social Psychology
• Disorders and Syndromes
• Educational Psychology
• Consumer Behavior
• Anger management
• Social psychology
• Cognitive dissonance
• Self-awareness
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Collaboration

Story Source:

Materials provided by Nagoya University . Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference :

• Yuta Kanaya, Nobuyuki Kawai. Anger is eliminated with the disposal of a paper written because of provocation . Scientific Reports , 2024; 14 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-57916-z

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