free creative writing prompts

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WEEKLY WRITING PROMPTS

Join (probably?) the world's largest writing contest. Flex those creative muscles with weekly writing prompts.

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Endings & beginnings with david restaino, write a story that starts and ends in the same place..

LIVE – Short Story

Write a story set in a world of darkness where light is suddenly discovered.

Write a story where someone who has done something wrong seeks a fresh start..

LIVE – Dramatic

Write a story where a character relives the same event over and over again.

Write a story that begins with an apology..

Introducing Prompted , a new magazine written by you!

🏆 Featuring 12 prize-winning stories from our community. Download it now for FREE .

Write a story that includes the line “Be careful what you wish for.”

Set your story during the coldest day of the year., write a story from the pov of a non-human character., start or end your story with someone receiving a strange — and possibly sinister — gift., write about a mysterious guest who arrives at a party — but no one knows who they are., subscribe to our prompts newsletter.

Never miss a prompt! Get curated writing inspiration delivered to your inbox each week.

Write a story that includes someone (or something) saying, “No, don’t!”

Center your story around a character who overhears others talking about them., write a story in which two or more people have a conversation — without using any quotation marks., start or end your story with a character asking a question., write a story that solely consists of dialogue. (no dialogue tags, actions, or descriptions. just pure dialogue), write a story about a character who’s lost., center your story around a person who believes they’re the last human on earth., write a story about someone confronting their worst nightmare., follow a character who’s looking for someone or something., write a story from the pov of a zombie, mutant, or infected creature., win $250 in our short story competition 🏆.

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

Contest #282 LIVE

Enter our weekly contest.

This week's theme: Endings & Beginnings with David Restaino

Prize money

Contest entries, closes at 23:59 - dec 27, 2024 est, recent contests ✍️.

#281 – The Fright Before Christmas

#280 – Talk That Talk

#279 – Embrace the Unknown with IndieReader

#278 – All Apologies with Daniel Penny

Recent winners 🏆

Jay Wayne – read

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Leaderboard 🥇

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32519 points

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28897 points

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10020 points

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Creative Writing Prompts

When the idea to start a weekly newsletter with writing inspiration first came to us, we decided that we wanted to do more than provide people with topics to write about. We wanted to try and help authors form a regular writing habit and also give them a place to proudly display their work. So we started the weekly Creative Writing Prompts newsletter. Since then, Prompts has grown to a community of more than 450,000 authors, complete with its own literary magazine, Prompted .  

Here's how our contest works: every Friday, we send out a newsletter containing five creative writing prompts. Each week, the story ideas center around a different theme. Authors then have one week — until the following Friday — to submit a short story based on one of our prompts. A winner is picked each week to win $250 and is highlighted on our Reedsy Prompts page.

Interested in participating in our short story contest? Sign up here for more information! Or you can check out our full Terms of Use and our FAQ page .

Why we love creative writing prompts

If you've ever sat in front of a computer or notebook and felt the urge to start creating worlds, characters, and storylines — all the while finding yourself unable to do so — then you've met the author's age-old foe: writer's block. There's nothing more frustrating than finding the time but not the words to be creative. Enter our directory! If you're ready to kick writer's block to the curb and finally get started on your short story or novel, these unique story ideas might just be your ticket.

This list of 1800+ creative writing prompts has been created by the Reedsy team to help you develop a rock-solid writing routine. As all aspiring authors know, this is the #1 challenge — and solution! — for reaching your literary goals. Feel free to filter through different genres, which include...

Dramatic — If you want to make people laugh and cry within the same story, this might be your genre.

Funny — Whether satire or slapstick, this is an opportunity to write with your funny bone.

Romance — One of the most popular commercial genres out there. Check out these story ideas out if you love writing about love.

Fantasy — The beauty of this genre is that the possibilities are as endless as your imagination.

Dystopian – Explore the shadowy side of human nature and contemporary technology in dark speculative fiction.

Mystery — From whodunnits to cozy mysteries, it's time to bring out your inner detective.

Thriller and Suspense — There's nothing like a page-turner that elicits a gasp of surprise at the end.

High School — Encourage teens to let their imaginations run free.

Want to submit your own story ideas to help inspire fellow writers? Send them to us here.

After you find the perfect story idea

Finding inspiration is just one piece of the puzzle. Next, you need to refine your craft skills — and then display them to the world. We've worked hard to create resources that help you do just that! Check them out:

• How to Write a Short Story That Gets Published — a free, ten-day course by Laura Mae Isaacman, a full-time editor who runs a book editing company in Brooklyn.
• Best Literary Magazines of 2023 — a directory of 100+ reputable magazines that accept unsolicited submissions.
• Writing Contests in 2023 — the finest contests of 2021 for fiction and non-fiction authors of short stories, poetry, essays, and more.

Beyond creative writing prompts: how to build a writing routine

While writing prompts are a great tactic to spark your creative sessions, a writer generally needs a couple more tools in their toolbelt when it comes to developing a rock-solid writing routine . To that end, here are a few more additional tips for incorporating your craft into your everyday life.

• NNWT. Or, as book coach Kevin Johns calls it , “Non-Negotiable Writing Time.” This time should be scheduled into your routine, whether that’s once a day or once a week. Treat it as a serious commitment, and don’t schedule anything else during your NNWT unless it’s absolutely necessary.
• Set word count goals. And make them realistic! Don’t start out with lofty goals you’re unlikely to achieve. Give some thought to how many words you think you can write a week, and start there. If you find you’re hitting your weekly or daily goals easily, keep upping the stakes as your craft time becomes more ingrained in your routine.
• Talk to friends and family about the project you’re working on. Doing so means that those close to you are likely to check in about the status of your piece — which in turn keeps you more accountable.

Arm yourself against writer’s block. Writer’s block will inevitably come, no matter how much story ideas initially inspire you. So it’s best to be prepared with tips and tricks you can use to keep yourself on track before the block hits. You can find 20 solid tips here — including how to establish a relationship with your inner critic and apps that can help you defeat procrastination or lack of motivation.

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Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

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Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

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Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢

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365 Daily Writing Prompts

How to use daily writing prompts.

Press the GENERATE button above. (If it doesn’t work, refresh the page.)

The text box will generate a short creative writing prompt or topic you can write about today. (If you can’t see the whole line, use your cursor to highlight the text and keep scrolling to the right.)

Bookmark this page and write at least 500 words each day (or on your writing schedule .)

There are 365 story starters here, enough for a whole year. I update it every year, but it’s random—you might get the same creative writing prompt twice or even three times. If you do, I’d suggest you keep doing the prompt. Sometimes magic strikes the second time around. Or even the 15th.

Bonus writing prompts!

Sign up for our newsletter and get your FREE writing guide with bonus prompts and writing tips.

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More Writing Resources

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Children's Section

• Privacy Policy

Welcome to Writing Exercises and Prompts.

This site provides (completely free) creative writing prompts and exercises to help you get started with creative writing and break through writing blocks - as well as some fun anagram vocabulary games.

Generate random story ideas, plots, subjects, scenarios, characters, first lines for stories and more. Did I mention it's all free? Have fun :-)

- Update March 2024: Random First Line - lots of new prompts and you can now choose a genre Creative Writing - First Steps - dive right in with some practical tasks to get you started.

- Update November 2023: New 'Guess The Word' game

- Update August 2023: Bite-size Writing Tips and Tricks. 3-minute reads

Random List of Contents:

Random first line prompts.

Generate a random first line for a story.

Random Subject

Prompts to encourage freewriting.

Generate a plot-line at the click of a button.

Random Plot Generator

Generate two characters, a setting, a situation and a theme. Change the elements until you are happy with your plot.

Generate elements for a murder plot. Change the elements until you get an interesting mystery to solve.

'Take Three Nouns'

Another freewriting exercise. Make connections between random nouns.

Random First Line of Dialogue

Writing prompts to help with dialogue writing.

Random Scenario

Create a 'What If?' scenario to write about.

Random Writing Exercises

Browse my random list of writing exercises.

For poets and songwriters. Enter a word to find rhyming and similar-sounding words.

Generate a selection of words and use the suggestions to kick-start your writing.

Story Title Ideas

Create your own story title.

Create a character outline.

Create some interesting aspects to your character.

There's now a section dedicated to writing prompts for children of primary/elementary school age.

Generate a fictitious,'English-sounding' town name.

Get plot ideas for your own story-writing by looking at the plots of over 100 popular films.

Random Image Generator

Use images to help you write.

Random Character Traits

Generate random traits for your characters.

Random Jobs

Generate an occupation for your character.

Random Name Generator

Choose first and last names for characters.

Develop your character into a well-rounded person, quirky habits and all.

Anagram Puzzle Game

Exercise your brain and keep your vocabulary in good shape with this free anagram game.

Anagram Puzzle Game 2

Another anagram game - each word must contain the middle letter.

Enter a list of letters and discover all the words you can make with them.

Scrabble Trainer Game

Have fun improving your Scrabble vocabulary.

Because every aspiring author needs a back-up plan...

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