How to come up with short story ideas

We get it: writing prompts are an excellent resource, but you want to know how to come up
with your own story ideas. Here are four of our go-to tricks when thinking of interesting things
to write about.

1) People-watch: Hands down, this our favourite way to come up with story ideas. All stories,
even ones about robots or plants, have some element of humanity at its core. There are
therefore a countless number of stories to be found by observing human nature. 90% of the
prompts included in our writing prompts newsletter are inspired by simply staring out a
window and watching people go by.

2) Forget what you already know: Have you ever become trapped in a “but why?” loop with a
child? It’s enough to make your head spin or an existential crisis occur. But if you can return to
this sense of curiosity and wondering you had as a child, you can find a treasure trove of short
story ideas to be found. Take in your surroundings and ask yourself why things are the way they
are. What if they were different? What would that look like and how would it work?

3) Use your day job: If you feel like you have the most interesting job on the planet, well,
perfect! It shouldn’t be hard to use it as plot-fodder for a great short story. On the other hand,
if you find yourself yawning a lot at work, ask yourself: What could happen to make this work
day interesting? Let’s say you work as a receptionist but your real passion lies with art. Write a
story about a receptionist who sees a colleague hang a new piece of art in their cubicle — one
the receptionist recognizes as being famous for going missing a century ago.

4) Read: Imagine walking up to a piano and trying to make beautiful music without ever having
heard it played before. You need to consume great short stories in order to know what you
enjoy about them. Figure out what you like, and you’ll be on the path to great writing topics.
1. He should have never let her into the apartment...
2. It sounded like violin music, and it was coming from the basement...
3. "It's not what you think," he said.
4. I crouched behind the car, trying not to make a sound...
5. There's only one thing in the world I'm afraid of...
6. They sat next to each other on the train, still pretending to be strangers...
7. I knew he'd been there because he'd stubbed out his cigarette in the sink...
8. "Don't you dare come any closer..."
9. She'd imagined this moment so many times, but she never expected...
10. At first, I thought it was the cat, but it was...
11. Inside the envelope was a four-leaf clover...
12. There was only one way to keep her quiet, and it was going to cost us...
13. A babysitter is snooping around her employer's house and finds a disturbing photograph...
14. At a Chinese restaurant, your character opens his fortune cookie and reads the following
message: "Your life is in danger. Say nothing to anyone. You must leave the city immediately
and never return. Repeat: say nothing."...
15. Your character's boss invites her and her husband to dinner. Your character wants to make a
good impression, but her husband has a tendency to drink too much and say exactly what's
on his mind...
16. It's your character's first day at a new school. He or she wants to get a fresh start, develop a
new identity. But in his or her homeroom, your character encounters a kid he or she knows
from summer camp...
17. Your character has to tell his parents that he's getting a divorce. He knows his parents will
take his wife's side, and he is right...
18. At the airport, a stranger offers your character money to carry a mysterious package onto the
plane. The stranger assures your character that it's nothing illegal and points out that it has
already been through the security check. Your character has serious doubts, but needs the
money, and therefore agrees...
19. Your character suspects her husband is having an affair and decides to spy on him. What
she discovers is not what she was expecting...
20. A man elbows your character in a crowd. After he is gone, she discovers her cell phone is
too. She calls her own number, and the man answers. She explains that the cell phone
has personal information on it and asks the man to send it back to her. He hangs up.
Instead of going to the police, your character decides to take matters into her own hands...
21. After your character loses his job, he is home during the day. That's how he discovers that
his teenage son has a small marijuana plantation behind the garage. Your character
confronts his son, who, instead of acting repentant, explains to your character exactly how
much money he is making from the marijuana and tries to persuade your character to join in
the business...
22. At a garage sale, your character buys an antique urn which she thinks will look nice
decoratingher bookcase. But when she gets home, she realizes there are someone's ashes
in it....
a. He wasn't at all what I was expecting...
23. How would we ever get rid of...
24. She was a wonderful liar...
25. He hurled the phone against the wall...
26. The fortuneteller was mistaken...
27. I crouched behind the sofa...
28. It was wrapped like a present, but...
29. I should never have come here...
1. title can be a popular expression. Gone for Good, Something's Gotta Give, The Horse's
Mouth, The Usual Suspects, Good As Gold, The Whole Nine Yards.

2. A title can be a play on words. (Sometimes a "twist" of an existing expression.) Burglars

Can Be Choosers, The Cancelled Czech, You Only Live Twice, Live and Let Die, The War
Between the Tates, A Hearse of a Different Color.

3. A title can have a hidden meaning, later revealed in the story. The Green Mile, Rain
Man, Dances with Wolves, Catch-22, Hearts in Atlantis, Cool Hand Luke, The Shipping
News.

4. A title can come from an existing work. (The Bible, Shakespeare, etc.) The Grapes of
Wrath, The Sound and the Fury, The Sun Also Rises, Absalom, Absalom, All That Glitters,
Something Wicked This Way Comes.

5. A title can be a person's name. Hannibal, Goldfinger, Carrie, Hondo, Rebecca, Doctor
Zhivago, Shane, Forrest Gump.

6. A title can be a place name. Cold Mountain, Cimarron, Peyton Place, Jurassic Park,
Lonesome Dove, Mystic River.

7. A title can be a possessive. Portnoy's Complaint, Angela's Ashes, The Optimist's

Daughter, Charlotte's Web.
8. A title can be an association of ideas. Often these are words that have a "double
meaning," and refer to more than one thing in a story. The Eye of the Needle, The Dead
Zone, Misery, Silver Bullet, Lie Down with Lions.

9. A title can be an "event" or "activity." (Use "ing" in the first word.) Pleading Guilty,
Romancing the Stone, Waiting to Exhale, "Riding the Bullet," Raising Helen, Finding
Nemo.

10. A title can be a memorable line from the story itself. To Kill a Mockingbird, Tell No One,
Sleepless in Seattle, The Eagle Has Landed, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

11. A title (if long) can have a "rhythm." Another kind of "play on words," this makes a
longer title more pleasing to the ear--and easier to remember. The Spy Who Came In
from the Cold, The Sins of Rachel Cade, At Play in the Fields of the Lord, Bring Me the
Head of Alfredo Garcia.

12. A title (if it fits the story) can be simple. Jaws, Shogun, Cathedral, The Exorcist, Ragtime,
Lolita, Deliverance, Airport, "The Swimmer," Roots, Centennial, It, The Godfather.