Let's Write a Short Story!

Articles October 4, 2023

10 Short Story Ideas to Write Your Next 10 Stories

Most writers have too many short story ideas, not too few. However, therein lies the problem, because the more ideas you have, the harder it can be to choose the best one.

10 Short Story Ideas

Here’s my advice: If you’re in the mood to begin a new short story, stop trying to find the best short story idea. In an interview with Rolling Stone, George R.R. Martin said, “Ideas are cheap. I have more ideas now than I could ever write up. To my mind, it’s the execution that is all-important.”

The best short story idea in the world won’t help you if you don’t write it, and a mediocre idea can be made into an award winning story if it’s written well. Stop worrying about finding the best idea and choose one that’s good enough (or even an idea you’ve already started). Your goal isn’t to have the best ideas, it’s to have the best short stories.

That’s why this list is so short. Some websites give 44 story ideas, 100 ideas, or even 1,000, and while that can be fun, it kind of defeats the purpose. More ideas won’t help you if you don’t write them, and they might just distract you from your true purpose.

Short Story Ideas

With that in mind, why not use these ten short story ideas to write your first ten stories, one per week, over the next ten weeks? I promise you, your life will look totally different if you do it.

Here are the short story ideas:

1. Tell the story of a scar, whether a physical scar or emotional one.

To be a writer, said Stephen King, “The only requirement is the ability to remember every scar.”

Good writers don’t cover up their wounds, they glorify them. Think for a few moments about a moment in your life when you were wounded, whether physically or emotionally. Then, write a story, true or fictional, involving that wound.

2. Your character discovers a dead body OR witnesses a death.

In 2011, 20 short stories were published in Best American Short Stories. Half of them involved a character dying. That same year, all 13 of the novels shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize involved the theme of death.

Think about your favorite films or novels. How many of them either show a character die or have the character’s dealing with the death of another.

Write about death
Image by The Slow Journalism Company

Good writers don’t turn away from death, which is, after all, the universal human experience. Instead, they look it directly into its dark face and describe what they see on the page.

3. Your character is orphaned.

Pop quiz: What do Harry Potter, Superman, Cosette from Les Miserables, Bambi, David Copperfield, Frodo Baggins, Tom Sawyer, Santiago from The Alchemist, Arya Stark, and Ram Mohammed Thomas from Slumdog Millionaire have in common? Beside the fact that they are characters in some of the bestselling stories of all time?

They’re all orphans.

Writers love orphans, and statistically they appear in stories far more often than in the world. Orphans are uniquely vulnerable, and as such, they have the most potential for growth. It’s time for you to write a story about one.

Read more about why you should be writing stories about orphans here.

4. Your character discovers a ghost.

One more pop quiz: What do Edgar Allen Poe, Ron Weasley, King Saul from the Bible, Odysseus, and Ebeneezer Scrooge have in common?

Each of these characters* from literary classics saw ghosts!

Even if you don’t believe in ghosts, they make great stories. Have your character find one.

Need more reasons to write about ghosts? Check out our article, 3 reasons to write about ghosts.

*Edgar Allen Poe was not exactly a character, but he was the narrator of “The Raven.”

5. Your character’s relationship ends.

Whether it’s a friendship or a romantic relationship or even the relationship between a parent and his or her child, write about the end of a character’s relationship.

As you write, be sure to keep this in mind:

“Every story has an end, but in life every ending is just a new beginning,” says Dakota Fanning’s character in Uptown Girls.

While it might feel like you’re writing an ending, remember that this end is the opportunity for a new beginning, both for your character and your story.

More Short Story Ideas

Ready to get writing? Get our workbook 15 Days to Write and Submit a Short Story for a step-by-step guide through the process.

6. Your character’s deepest fear is holding his or her relationship OR career back.

“Why bats, Master Wayne?” asks Alfred in Batman Begins.

“Bats frighten me,” Bruce answers. “It’s time my enemies shared my dread.”

We all have pieces of ourselves we’re trying to hide. You do, and so do the characters in your short stories. However, your characters’ secret fears and insecurities are actually the source of their power. Dive into them and you’ll unlock a captivating story.

For more, read our article When You Don’t Know What to Write, Write About Your Insecurities.

7. A character living in poverty comes into an unexpected fortune.

This storyline is one of the seven basic plots, and it describes the plot of some of our favorites stories, including Cinderella, Aladdin, Great Expectations, several of the parables of Jesus, and even Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

However, not all fortunes are good. As Tolstoy’s short story How Much Land Does a Man Need? and John Steinbeck’s novella The Pearl illustrate, sometimes discovering a fortune will destroy your life.

8. A character unexpectedly bumps into his or her soulmate, literally.

In film, it’s called the meet cute, when the hero bumps into the heroine in the hallway, knocking her books to the floor, and forcing them into conversation. In another story, they meet on a bus and her broach gets stuck on his coat. In another, they both reach for the last pair of gloves at the department store.

What happens next is an awkward, endearing conversation between the future lovers.

First, setup the collision. Then, let us see how they handle it.

9. Your character is on a journey. However, they are interrupted by a natural disaster OR an accident.

This is the plot of Gravity, The Odyssey, and Lord of the Rings. It’s fun because who hasn’t been longing to get to a destination only to be delayed by something unexpected.

10. Your character runs into the path of a monster.

In Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” a family is on a road trip to Florida when they get into an accident beside the hideout of a murderer who had just escaped from prison. What happens next is one of the most famous encounters with a monstrous criminal in short fiction.

Monsters, whether people who do monstrous things or scaly beasts or a monster of a natural disaster, reveal what’s really inside a person. Let your character fall into the path of a monster and see how they handle themselves.

Want more story ideas? Want to learn how to execute those ideas better, and get your short stories published? Check out this book Let’s Write a Short Story, a guide that will get you started writing and publishing short stories. Get it here.

Testing Your Short Story Ideas

Spend a few minutes today thinking about these 10 story ideas and coming up with a few of your own.

But before you start writing, try testing out your idea by sharing it with a friend, your writer’s group, or even our online community Becoming Writer.

If the people you share it with aren’t very excited about your idea, consider reworking it or even starting over. If they start getting visibly excited about the story, on the other hand, then you know you’re onto something.

I recently combined idea #7, the unexpected fortune, along with idea #5, end of a relationship, to create this idea:

A writer who is inexperienced with women suddenly gets the courage to date not one but two women—the old friend who had twice rejected him and a barista he’s long been attracted to—but after several months of balancing them, both relationships end leaving him alone.

I then posted the idea for feedback in Becoming Writer. And the feedback I got not only helped me see I had a promising idea, I got more ideas from members of the community about how to make the story even better.

As I wrote the story, I was more confident because of the feedback I had gotten, and when I finished, the story turned great.

Once you have your idea, join Becoming Writer to test them out. Oh, and if you join, here’s the link to mine if you want to share your feedback! I’ll be there ready to check it out.

Then, when you’re ready to publish your short story, check out Sarah Gribble’s awesome guide on how to publish a short story.

How about you? Do you have any short story ideas?  Share them with us in the comments section!

15 Days to Write and Submit a Short Story, by Joe Bunting

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After only two weeks and a day, you will have written and submitted a short story.

The workbook takes you through 15 days, from finding your idea to pressing submit, one small step a day.

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324 comments

          1. Lol ummmmm I think I’m Tessa Brooks
            But I’m happy that u watch my vlogs

          9. Yo, It’s Nessa Brooks. The competition sHoOK! These girls up on me, I got’em with a hook.

          6. Thank you so much for this
            I have to write 4 short stories for my interview for a school a want to attend that has creative writing class and I am not prepared so this definitely helped

          18. These examples helped so much. They inspired me to mix some up a bit for my English homework.

          1. I am suppose to write 3 short stories and found this website, thanks for making it! 🙂

          4. OK, I have an idea for a story. I already have the world and some characters done, I just need a driving force. Some sort of conflict to get things going. Any suggestions?

        7. Thanks joe. Beautiful tips and topics to begin for a hesitant writer like me. Believe it or not, I would love to read your barista love story.

      11. I guess but try taking about 3 or 4 stories u have read and the changing the characters you combing them together and boom perfect storie

      12. Subscribe to my youtube channel Zacharyzaichik!!! It’s a cool gaming channel that I created 8 days ago.

      2. I’m trying to become an author, so I took three of the ideas and combined them together. I am almost finished with the book, which is called Final Frontier.

        P.S. Yeah, the ideas are great!!!

        2. wow i hope it turns out, i love writing to, maybe one day if we both become famous authors we can write one together 🙂

    6. I know. I was so lost for ideas after getting a new notebook, but now I’ve got some good story ideas. Thank you to the person who made this page.

    11. the story lines are stupid you need to think up real story line that matter or is believable

      1. If your gonna say something bad then don’t say anything at all Antoinette. Are you saying that orphans aren’t real?

      2. No, we don’t. Maybe you think we should, but don’t be mean about it. Having ghosts or monsters that don’t exist in real life are for fictional stories. You don’t believe in fictional stories? That’s great! But hating them and shouting that out in unnecessary. So, please, just, don’t be mean.

      3. well Antoinette your on this website for ideas and the ones posted are very good
        By the way these are ideas for Fiction stories and I didn’t see you post any better ones
        I agree with Jas!

    20. I’m a young writer, and these idea’s really shook me, and got me to writing. Thank you, i hope you will give more idea’s soon.

    26. I guess but try taking about 3 or 4 stories u have read and the changing the characters you combing them together and boom perfect story

  2. Great ideas. I hope I’ll be able to submit something every week on the Writing Practice. Although not easy to do, it’s a great incentive. Talking about writing means nothing, if it’s not put down on pages, and shared with others.

      1. The one rule I use when writing a short story is the always entertaining ‘ordinary people in extraordinary situations’, Morgan.

      1. – Story about a Spy who’s life had been rough before due to all of his/her spy work and now there is one final assignment that could mean that they could have a new life.

  4. I really agree with your first statement. It’s not that I lack ideas, but it’s another thing to devote the precious time it’s going to take to develop them into stories. I feel like I have to envision a good end before I start.

    I believe there are lots of lumps of colorful clay out there but which one should I take into my hands today, work with, and mold into into pottery? It won’t just happen. However, as you say, maybe it really doesn’t matter as much as I think.

  6. All awesome ideas. I wanna write something magical and imginative and these are all great ideas for the story of my characters, but i need like a concept still????? But i guess i cant get that from anyone else except me.

    1. How about a group of people divided into different faction based on the type of magic they can do.
      Eg. Like different climates or components of nature
      And there is one girl or boy who stands out from the others like have to do more than just one like??

      1. I love that idea!!!I hope you don’t mind if i use it!
        (I write code for an animated story thing called episode)

  8. For long many years now,I’ve been working on my novel. I’m fully convinced to tread the short story route as many successful writers did. That means I have to get my stories into the open for critique.
    I wish to join Becoming Writer. I have sent my e mail.Now I am on waiting list. What next?

    1. I love your passion, Ohita. If you can I always recommend people finish what they’ve started. If you think you can finish your novel, do it. But if your stuck, try writing a short story on the same topic as your novel, or with the same characters. It might be a great way to get unstuck. As far as Becoming Writer, we’ll send you an email soon with more info. Thank you!

        1. Thanks for the help,even though I am 10 I want to write short story that everyone will love to read.

  9. I definitely know what you mean by having more ideas than you can write about. For me, at least, I think it is a good idea to have all the ideas, for I am one of those people whom has trouble keeping my mind on one thing and jump around from one topic to the next. When I get writer’s block on one story, I go to another idea, and start composing that story, until an idea for the first story emerges. Also, if I need help trying to find an angle that my story needs to go in, I daydream about what my characters may or may not do.

    For example: Chris is a boy, who has a birthday the night of his senior prom. If I am stuck as to what he does, then I daydream…1st scenario, he goes to the birthday party thrown by his parents, and has a good time…In the 2nd scenario, he goes to the prom, and gets to dance with the girl of his dreams….The 3rd is where I try to combine the 1st two, so everyone is happy.
    (Anyone that wants to can use that idea.)

    But if you have tried to unsuccessfully to urge your writer’s block to disappear…The best thing you can do is not try to force it…Just simply do nothing, but go out and enjoy life…Inspiration will show itself when you least expect it.

    Also, dreams are good for story ideas, albeit a lot of mine are weird 😀

    The idea for the wounded character, is a great one and the one that really caught my eye. Everyone has their faults, pains, phobia’s and tragedies. I want other’s to know they need not have to make up some disease none have ever heard of. I use my own for the traits of my characters. Also, I believe if the author injects humor into the equation and can get the reader laughing with them about what they think of those wounds, then just maybe, the story will help to heal the wounds of all.

    1. as far as ideas go for me, i get inspiration for story ideas from little things- like a sentence. I could build a story from a sentence; but big things, like somebody’s parent dying, I get inspiration for simple conversations etc. from things like that.
      also, about letting inspiration come- Jack London said ‘you can’t wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club’ (not verbatim) – just playing the devil’s advocate:)

  11. I need weekly practice. I had the goal this year of writing one short story a month and submitting it. I have written four, as of June. It takes me so long to figure out the outline. If the real thing I need is more practice, then I need to get working at it.

    1. Every writer is different in their approach to a story. I find it easiest if I come up with the first and last line in a story in my head. Then I need to construct a road that leads from point A to point Z on paper and usually that road is a twisting, meandering stretch of blacktop on paper that I never saw coming, Chantal. Best of luck to you…

    1. I also have a wattpad. It seems to be a very good way to get your work out there. This becomes a very handy place to put stories such as; short stories, novels, and fanfiction. This not only helps you develop your writing especially if your best work currently is just fanfiction, but to get an understanding of what you can work on and grow with to become a better writer.

      1. I have a wattpad too. I agree totally, its a really good way to get books out there and get people reading them.

  14. Thank you for the information, Joe. I plan on writing 10 short stories in the next two months and I am going to use 1 of your points for each story. I have the ideas in my head, but your article gave me a blueprint to follow. Thanks again.

  16. I have an idea of a story but should we make up muthical creatures or is would it be more likely people would enjoy it with creatures already made. Even if it was just the name I was going to make up. What’s your opinion guys?

  19. I love writing novels and have started quite a few in the past few years. The problem is, most are fan fiction and include characters from other stories, because I can’t seem to really make up my own story lines. I have a couple of novels that are my own ideas, but otherwise I just can seem to make anything up. I have a couple of short stories and did a short story workshop at my school, but I can’t figure out the story line I want to use for my next one. I like stories with a lot of drama, like kidnapping and all that sort of stuff, but I just can’t work out what to do! And I would love to send in chapters of my novels and my short stories if possible to. It would be great to get some professional feedback!

    1. U can do a throw back 90’s where an American teenage girl or boy gets kidnapped during a graduation party. Or maybe even walking home from school. Throughout time the characters family lies in grief and anger waiting for their loved one to be found. If they’ll ever be found

      1. That actually sounds really cool. I never would have thought of the teenage girl getting kidnapped at a graduation party 🙂 Thanks!

  20. Okay, I need someone’s opinion. I am thinking about writing a story about the mirror realms; Assia and Gehenna. Assia being the human world, and Gehenna being Hell/Demon world. What do u think?

    1. what is the purpose for having Gehenna being below the ground and Assia being earth? And what would be the outline of the story?

    2. I think maybe it would be better if you had the human world Assia be slightly different than our world and Gehenna be different than the Hell that is generally known; when you say demon world that sounds more interesting to me because- I dunno- the thought of a place full of demons is creepy.

      1. you need to read “the last lecture” by randy pausch if you haven’t already. it was written by a professor who was terminally ill with cancer at the time, and is all about fulfilling your childhood dreams.

  22. I have so many good stories, but with no endings, can’t seem to get to that point. I know what the ending is going to be, but can’t get it on paper. My pen and computer literally fight me, anyone else with this problem??

  24. I am 14 years old and in the 9th grade. I needed something fun to write about for a creative writing report. I found this website and fell in love! I have now gotten a 100% on three of my reports!

      1. it’s really amazing. it will definite enhance the power of thinking in writing short story. congralulations.

      2. it’s really amazing. it will definitely enhance the power of thinking in writing short story. congralulations.

  25. I have so much idea for stories. I begin to notice the similar in them. If you have great idea for start of story and end of story then you will have great story by connecting them up from begin of story toward the end. That is what i get so many good ideas.

    1. I’m a writer and looking for some long term ideas, These look they could help even though they’re meant for short stories. I’m about 13 years old and and plan to finish my first book by 2020. If you have any tips or ideas, I’d really appreciate it. Thanks again, -Adrian
      🙂

  28. I myself am a 12 year old girl and I love to write and I am writing a story about a heroic act and hope to someday get it published

  30. I myself am 11 and I love to read and write. When it comes to suspense in a story I get triggered to keep on reading to find out what happens next! 🙂 This helped me think of ways to brainstorm easily and I am currently doing a scary story which will be due by Monday (Halloween) Wish me luck! 😀

  32. Lean on each other during this time of difficulty. Remember the good times you had with her. This will honor her. Don't try to make sense of the why. God has a time and a reason for everything and most of all turn to God and pray. He is there for you. (((HUGS)))

  33. I’m loving all of the prompts. Thank you.
    I just started writing. Well, not really, I have been writing my whole life but I just decided that this is going to be what I want to do for the rest of my life. I am going to go through them one at a time and use it as more of a challenge. Write a story for each one, once a week. I’m working on the first one. Tell the story of a scar, whether a physical or emotional one. We will see how it goes.

  37. Thank you so much for these wonderful ideas, they really helped me. I am trying to write a story on every idea. I’ve done a story on ‘your character is orphaned’ and it turned out really good, check it out on my blog mulzz.WordPress.com

  44. I feel very much encouraged in this, honestly i am not a writer but through this kind of discuss i see myself writing such an interesting short story,, thank you.

  46. I love writing and when I’m older I want to be an author yet sometimes I get writers block and thanks to this website I can finally start writing with confidence again , with these amazing ideas to help me.

  47. Wow! thanks, that really helped me with my essay, and my novel “Inside darkness”! it has a total of 1046 pages all because of no. 9 😀