1000 creative writing prompts pdf

🎉 Our next novel writing master class starts in – ! Claim your spot →

WEEKLY WRITING PROMPTS

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

Showing 2179 prompts

Frame of mind, a photographer captures an image of something unexplainable. what happens next.

LIVE – Mystery

Start your story with someone who has lost everything but finds solace in photography.

LIVE – Dramatic

Write a story where a photograph could change the course of history if it’s delivered to the right (or wrong!) person.

LIVE – Short Story

Center your story around two strangers who bond over their shared love of photography.

LIVE – Character

A forgotten photograph tucked away somewhere is the catalyst for an unexpected journey.

LIVE – Adventure

Introducing Prompted , a new magazine written by you!

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

Set your story during rehearsals for a production of a Shakespeare play.

Write a story about a tragic hero., write a story in which a case of mistaken identity plays a pivotal role., write your story in the form of a script, complete with stage directions., write a story named after, and inspired by, one of shakespeare's plays. think modern retellings, metanarratives, subversions, etc., subscribe to our prompts newsletter.

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

Write a story about two sporting rivals having to work together.

Write about a moment of defeat., write a story about an underdog, or somebody making a comeback., write about someone who has trained all their life for one moment., set your story in the stands at a major sporting event., write a story about someone finding acceptance., start your story with a character in despair., center your story around a character bargaining for something that's important to them., write a story about anger., write a story about a someone who's in denial., 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 #258 LIVE

Enter our weekly contest.

This week's theme: Frame of Mind

Prize money

Contest entries, closes at 23:59 - jul 12, 2024 est, recent contests ✍️.

#257 – Shakespeare

#256 – Going for Gold

#255 – The Five Stages

#254 – The Talk of the Ton

Recent winners 🏆

Melissa Van Rensburg – read

Phoebe Barr – read

Maria Adamkiewicz – read

Leaderboard 🥇

#1 Zilla Babbitt

32391 points

#2 Deidra Whitt Lovegren

28756 points

#3 Abigail Airuedomwinya

22425 points

#4 Graham Kinross

14600 points

#5 Scout Tahoe

13199 points

#6 Chris Campbell

11547 points

#7 Thom With An H

10694 points

#8 Rayhan Hidayat

10218 points

#9 Michał Przywara

9957 points

#10 Deborah Mercer

9611 points

We made a writing app for you

Yes, you! Write. Format. Export for ebook and print. 100% free, always.

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.

NEW VIDEO COURSE 🎉

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months . Learn more →

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 ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

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 ⭢

Oops, you need an account for that!

Or enter your email:

Let's Get Creative!

Short Story Writing prompts for adults featured image

Unique Writing Prompts for Adults with PDF Printable

Expand your writing skills with short prompts perfect for short stories. These single sentence writing prompts can spark inspiration for story ideas, and can help break through writer’s block. I’ve also included a free PDF printable so you can print these out and keep them close. So, here are 20 short story writing prompts for adults!

Short Story Writing prompts for adults pinterest graphic

He slammed into the door and suddenly, he was gone.

The unrelenting shadows circled me.

That was the day we lost the conquest, and that was the day the birds ceased to sing.

“Your strange desperation is beginning to break our lives.”

The lighthouse held the treasure, but only I knew the nightmare it would bring.

Our sadness quickly turned to panic when the body rose from the grave.

As they began to investigate the conspiracy, they unraveled something unexpected.

In the beginning, the sun began to dim.

The eastern river ran dry the day they arrived to town.

Our book held one wish for each of us, and he was after it.

He fooled the captain and their perilous journey began.

She couldn’t believe the greatness that was inside this envelope.

The monster was finally captured for everyone to see.

Despite the unbelievable odds, she escaped the labyrinth.

And as the paper burned, he burned with it.

Caught in the mirage, I forced myself to play the part.

“I followed your cries here and this is where I found you.”

Not knowing who was lying, she decided to put the suit on and hope she wasn’t wrong.

He confessed to the crimes, knowing the chaos that was about to take place.

The wolves howled as the battle began.

Sign up for my mailing list and receive a free Short Story Writing Prompts for Adults printable!

50 Interesting AI-Generated Writing Prompts – Story Starters

Writing Prompts Master Post Featured Image

150+ Ultimate Writing Prompt Master Post

50 Free Writing Prompts for Creative Writers

Competitions

1000 story prompts to spark your creativity.

By Ken Miyamoto from ScreenCraft · September 20, 2023

When you’re trying to figure out what you are going to write next, you need to choose wisely. Concept is everything — at least at first glance. It’s what sells the book, short story, movie or TV series. As soon as you have a compelling and engaging concept, you can build equally compelling and engaging stories and characters around them. Read more about The Secret to Understanding What High Concept Means in Hollywood . With that in mind, here we present the ultimate list of 1000 story prompts to get your creative juices flowing. So get ready to go down a wild rabbit tunnel of story prompts. Be sure to bookmark this post so you can read all one thousand of them!

Note: These prompts were purposefully developed on the fly. However, because we live in the same world and are influenced by the same things, some may same familiar. Some may have even already been developed. But the point is to get your creative energy moving as you consider any and all possibilities.

1000 Story Prompts

Families from an alternative universe live upside down underneath our houses.
A character dies and is told they can choose to be reincarnated — only to be reborn as a dog.
A stay-at-home father lives a secret life as a superhero.
A female superhero lives a secret life as a supermom.
The world we know is discovered to be a dream of a superior being.
Earth is actually a zoo watched by visiting guests (UAPs) from around the universe.
A man’s toy collection from the 1980s comes to life.
An introverted character realizes that they actually died years prior and are a ghost.
Titanic in space.
A world where superheroes are hunted down and killed.
An alien invasion story through the eyes of the aliens. (Read this Script Lab Script Collection: Out of This World Sci-fi Screenplays ).
Kids playing their parents’ Dungeons & Dragons game open a portal to the 1980s.
A family awakens to the appearance of a strange door in their family room that wasn’t there before.
A stranger appears at a family’s house claiming to be a future resident.
Someone finds out how to rig the biggest lottery drawing in history.
Angels come to live on Earth.
Demons begin to overtake society as they try to take over Earth.
A romantic comedy told through the eyes of two dogs that fall in love.
Two football coaches from opposing schools fall in love — but are both still living in the closet.
An egotistical manly man suddenly fears everything.
A world where humans are the pets.
A world where women don’t need men to procreate.
An egotistical scholar is suddenly stripped of his intelligence for 24 hours.
A being falls from the stars to the Earth.
A man falls from the stars to the Earth.
A woman falls from the stars to the Earth.
A woman claims to be the daughter of God.
God is nothing more than a cosmic child playing games with their toys.
God is actually a writer that has conjured us all as stories.
Characters discover a fountain of youth.
A family is offered a vacation into the stars by visiting aliens.
A family mistakenly books tickets to Paris, Texas, instead of Paris, France.
An American woman inherits a castle in Scotland.
Characters play, “What dead celebrities or historical figures would you like to have dinner with?”, only to see their selections come knocking at the door.
What if Dorothy replaced somebody in Oz — and someone replaced her in Kansas?
Scientists discover time travel and must keep it secret from the government.
An animated movie demystifying the great white shark — a surprisingly peaceful species.
Beings live in every single closet in the world.
There really are monsters living under our beds.
Suburban dads take part in the world lawn-mowing championships.
A new law where criminals must face their greatest fears.
A man afraid of snakes washes up on an island full of them.
Vampires that can survive during the daylight.
A world where vampires rule the Earth.
The end of the world is near, and families must live with that knowledge.
A world where space travel never happened.
A world where war has never been waged.
A world where real old-world magic is slowly beginning to resurface.
A young boy tries to convince everyone in his town that he actually IS a wizard.
A young girl discovers that she is a descendant of witches.
A collector’s collection of old lunch boxes from the 1980s allows him to send and receive notes from the past.
Present day times where the internet and social media were never created.
There are cities in the clouds.
There are cities in the deepest parts of the ocean.
A character discovers that they are living in a computer simulation — and they are the last human alive.
A new and dangerous species is discovered living in the highest treetops of the world.
A disgraced baseball manager manages a Little League team to the big championship.
A retired football player goes back to coach his son’s Pee Wee league.
The first female football player accepted into the NFL draft.
Astronauts volunteer to undergo the first flight to Mars.
The Earth is found destroyed by Nuclear War when astronauts from a Mars mission return.
Star high school football players go out for soccer when their football team is barred from playing.
The world’s biggest action movie star wakes up in the world of his hit movies.
UFOS and UAPs are actually evolved humans from the future.
Bigfoot exists — and it’s time for him and his kind to meet the world.
A grumpy old man takes on a dare to become a comedian.
Mosquitos are actually tiny fighter planes for a species trying to take over this world of giants.
A character discovers that they are actually a robot.
A character discovers that they are actually a clone.
A character discovers that they are actually God who has suffered brain damage while walking the Earth as a human.
A character discovers that they are the offspring of the Devil.
A character discovers that they can hear the voices of the dead.
A character discovers that they can see into the past.
A character discovers that they can see into the future.
Earth is actually Purgatory.
Earth is actually Heaven.
Earth is actually Hell.
Earth is actually a video game for aliens.
A suburban mother discovers that the whole neighborhood of mothers and wives are the “perfect” clones generated by the men.
A suburban dad discovers that the whole neighborhood of dads and husbands are the “perfect” clones generated by the women.
The children of a suburban family discover that the other children in the neighborhood are “perfect” clones.
A man’s dog starts talking to him suddenly.
A family’s dog starts talking to them one day.
A character goes back in time to meet their younger self.
A suburban family moves to the big city.
A big city family is forced to move to the suburbs.
Real-life dragons are released from a deep cavern.
Rock climbers witness a cartel murder and are chased through the mountains.
A skydiver falls onto an invisible alien ship.
An astronaut crashlands on a planet and is taken in by an alien family.
An alcoholic must deal with the demons of their past.
A character is told they have twenty-four hours to right the wrongs they’ve done to others before they die.
A bullied character wills themself to have super strength.
An abused character wills themself to be able to fly.
A racist is forced to live in the body of a minority.
A male figure skater is placed into an Olympic hockey team.
A character attempts to escape an underwater prison.
An escaped convict hides in the suburbs.
A police officer is sent to a prison where he has put away most of the prisoners within.
Conflicts between countries are now decided by epic battles between one soldier versus another.
A character falls in love with their best friend from high school.
A high school jock is forced to live in the body of a nerd he bullies.
A high school nerd is forced to live in the body of the jock who bullies him.
A character tries to emulate the fictional Batman — fighting crime from the shadows.
A character makes a wish to be smart and suddenly wakes up as the smartest and wealthiest businessperson in the world.
A state championship-winning high school football coach is forced to coach a first-of-its-kind female football team.
An unpopular high school kid mistakes strange coincidences for superpowers.
Peter Pan is actually a monster that steals children.
Billy the Kid awakens in the twenty-first century.
Wyatt Earp is brought into the future by future townfolk in need of a sheriff.
International spies must face the world of retirement.
A submarine crew discovers a new world.
A submarine crew falls into the deepest depths of the ocean and is frozen in cryosleep, only to awaken one hundred years later.
Families are tasked with colonizing the moon.
Humans now live on the moon, with what happened to Earth in their ancestors’ time left a mystery.
A doctor finds the cure for cancer, only to be threatened by a secret society of government officials and soldiers.
A doctor finds the cure for cancer, only to face the bureaucracy of giving it to the public for free.
A doctor finds the cure for cancer, only to refuse to share it for millions of dollars for each dosage.
The world’s first cyborg deals with not being entirely human.
The world’s first human clone deals with their supposed lack of humanity.
The world’s first superhero deals with the alienation of their abilities.
A champion race car driver undergoes a worldwide race around the world by land, sea and air.
A young character discovers they have healing powers — but every time they heal someone, they get more and more sick themselves.
A writer discovers that every character they conjure comes to life.
A mother and her teenage son switch bodies.
A father and his teenage daughter switch bodies.
A feuding brother and sister switch bodies.
A wealthy boss and their underling employee switch bodies.
A group of role-playing game players discovers that the rolls of their dice can determine things around them in their world.
The parents are kidnapped by aliens, leaving the kids to save them.
A major city is destroyed by a nuclear attack and the surrounding communities struggle to pick up the pieces.
A young boy with an advanced aging disorder plays Pee Wee football against players a third of his size.
A girl decides to play football on the guys’ team and becomes the star player.
A shamed tennis pro competes in the highly competitive local pickleball tournament.
The world of professional beach volleyball players.
The world of major league eating.
The world of professional cornhole players.
The world of professional badminton players.
A character suffers from a disorder that only allows them to communicate through song.
A soccer player who is now a professional only because their father has coached them since youth soccer.
A football player who is now a professional only because their father has coached them since youth football.
A baseball player who is now a professional only because their father has coached them since youth baseball.
A character finds a job site that can place them in any job in any time period.
A smart and popular high school student finds a legal loophole that allows them to run for president.
Angels are aliens.
Demons are aliens.
God was an alien.
A faith-based story about a wise child that claims to be the son of God.
A faith-based story about a child that can speak to those who have passed away.
A faith-based story about a homeless man that some think is the second coming of Jesus Christ.
George Lucas actually visited a world that inspired Star Wars after his near-death experience in a car crash.
A farmer discovers an alien craft in his fields.
A farmer discovers a strange wooden door in his fields.
A character goes into an MRI and is somehow transported back in time.
An F-35 fighter jet and its pilot are transported to the 1942 bombing of Pearl Harbor.
A character afraid of water decides to overcome their fear by visiting the world’s biggest water park.
A popular comedian decides to run for president as a joke, only to discover that they win.
A young girl who loves the Little House on a Prairie books makes a wish to live during those times, only to discover the realities of those difficult times and environments.
An online shark expert turns out to know nothing about sharks when he’s invited to a Shark Week show. (Read the Script Lab Script Collection: Killer Shark Movies That Audiences Eat Up )
A sitting president wanting to get more votes decides to go to space.
A poor single mother wins the biggest lottery in history.
A character who wins the biggest lottery in history vows to give it all away — only to discover how hard it is to do that.
A bank robber is a modern-day Robin Hood.
A luxury cruise ship is overtaken by present-day pirates.
A luxury cruise ship is overtaken by pirates from the past.
A luxury cruise spaceship is overrun by space pirates.
A family of the future must escape Earth from its tyrannical rule.
A family of settlers in the 1800s face off against alien invaders.
A family of settlers in the 1800s begin to experience UFO phenomenon.
Cowboys from the Wild West face off against alien invaders.
Parents travel to the future to see what their children grow up to be like — and the results are not great.
The boogeyman is real.
Santa Claus is real — but not how most would expect.
A scientist clones his family that died in an accident.
A character wakes up tied to an electric chair.
A character wakes up in a gas chamber.
Frankenstein’s Monster was real.
A historian discovers that Dracula is real.
A contemporary retelling of the Dr. Jekyll vs. Mr. Hyde story.
A historian proves that King Arthur and Excalibur legends were real.
A character wakes up and decides to do the opposite of what they would normally do.
A character decides to sell everything they own to live on a sailboat.
A character decides to quit their successful-yet-unfulfilling job to return to the job they loved in high school.
A stay-at-home dad decides to start an Olympic curling team.
Empty-nesters decide to sell everything and travel the country in an RV.
A high school kid in 1969 decides they are going to hitchhike across the country to attend Woodstock.
A rock star on the verge of superstardom stumbles upon a desert bar inhabited by members of the 27-Club — rock stars like Jim Morrisson, Janice Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse.
An aging rocket scientist decides to make his own rocket to take him into space before he dies.
The first baby born in space.
The first family to go on a space journey.
The satellites we see in the sky are actually UFOs/UAPs being covered up by SpaceX and NASA.
People are invited to a haunted mansion where the eccentric owner wants to market it as a Disneyland-like attraction.
A group of young friends go on an amusement park ride only to be catapulted into another world.
The story of the creation of the first roller coaster.
The story of the creation of a waterpark.
A young teen wishes they could fly, only to wake up with angel-like wings.
Kids discover a hidden doorway.
Characters discover a hidden staircase leading to a strange world.
Kids discover that their gaming system can control actual sports games and players.
A high school football team scrimmages a professional NFL team — and beats them.
A college football team scrimmages a professional NFL team — and beats them.
A sandlot baseball team comprised of neighbor kids challenges the high school team.
Old friends reunite over a suburban fire pit.
A high school reunion leads to murder.
An old grudge leads to a character being stalked.
Someone is following a character on their cross-country drive.
Someone picks up a hitchhiker, only to realize that they are a long-dead historical figure.
A character travels back to their old hometown, only to realize that they’ve time-traveled to their childhood era.
A thrill seeker commits a crime to be sent to prison so he can see if he can escape it.
A YouTuber influencer pranks the wrong person.
Dracula immigrated to the United States and is a crime boss.
High school students on an abroad trip find Excalibur.
Robin Hood is the villain of the story.
Sherlock Holmes’s dog as he solves pet-life mysteries.
Dorothy’s granddaughter is kidnapped by the daughter of the Wicked Witch of the West in Oz.
The story of The Wizard of Oz set on another planet.
A modern-day retelling of Tarzan .
A woman is stranded on an island and must survive.
The contestants of a Survivor -like show learn that the civilized world back home has been destroyed.
It’s revealed that an Olympic swimmer is actually a mermaid or merman.
A father and son or mother and daughter go on a safari to bond.
Parents of a college freshman decide to attend their child’s university to be near them.
A father is tasked with coaching his son’s soccer team even though he’s never played or watched the sport.
A mother is tasked with coaching her son’s football team.
A father is tasked with coaching his daughter’s cheer team.
Parents of spoiled rich kids decide to move their family to a third-world country.
A soldier goes AWOL.
While doing research in the jungles of Vietnam, a team of scientists is visited by a Vietnam War-era soldier.
A poker player needs to earn money to pay off a debt.
A contemporary retelling of the Alice in Wonderland story.
An aging mother with apparent dementia claims to be Alice from Alice in Wonderland.
The children of two families are abducted by aliens.
An 1800s-era family travels to the frontier to start a new life.
A brother and sister learn that their parents are Russian sleeper agents.
A character discovers that their father is a wanted criminal.
A character suspects that their father is a serial killer.
A writer stalks random people to learn what it is like for serial killers to stalk their victims.
When a character feels like their life has no meaning, they decide to get the high score on every old Galaga arcade machine they can find.
A character discovers an old 1980s arcade.
A character decides to quit their boring day job and open an old 1980s arcade.
A former drug addict decides to find the child she was forced to give up.
A grown-up orphan decides to find their birth parents.
An orphan learns that their parents are aliens from another world.
A stranded astronaut is taken in by an alien race.
The first family to venture to another planet loses their son, only for him to be raised by aliens.
A family struggles to keep up with the Joneses.
Siblings struggle to survive the angst of being the new kids in school.
A character creates a new kind of internet.
A character mourns the death of their parent.
A family decides to move away from the city and buy their own island.
A family is shipwrecked.
An astronaut living on the moon watches Earth be destroyed by an alien invasion.
An astronaut living on the moon watches Earth be destroyed by nuclear war.
A journalist is offered the chance to interview an assassin.
A journalist is offered the chance to interview an alien living among us.
A journalist is offered the chance to go back in time to interview a historical figure of their choice.
A time-traveling assassin struggles to kill a child who would grow up to become Adolph Hitler.
Children discover an old mine shaft and become trapped within it.
Children discover a cave that leads into another world.
Present-day children are grounded from their screens as their parents show them what they did growing up.
The first trip down the Mississippi River.
Present-day adventurers decide to travel the full length of the Mississippi River in a canoe.
A pilot has an encounter with a UFO/UAP.
A local sheriff tries to uncover a conspiracy.
An FBI agent suspects a local sheriff of covering up a murder.
An FBI agent and local sheriff team up to uncover a murder mystery.
A high school student investigates the murder of a local teen.
High school students are transported forward in time to their 30-year high school reunion.
High school students are transported into the bodies of their middle-aged selves.
Young children are transported into the bodies of their high school selves.
A funeral reunites a group of high school friends.
Friends take their terminally ill friend on an adventure.
A character is mistakenly told they are going to die.
A character visits a psychic who tells them they are going to die soon.
A psychic foresees a murder.
A fake psychic sets up clients to make them believe their predictions are coming true.
A man pays a psychic to tell a woman he has a crush on that she’s going to meet someone just like him.
A computer program becomes self-aware.
A videogame character becomes self-aware.
A character’s newly AI-automated house becomes a death trap.
An AI fighter jet defies orders.
The first human-looking military drone.
The first cyborg soldier.
A character’s memories are downloaded into a clone.
A martial artist is invited to fight in an intergalactic tournament.
A soldier is invited to fight in an intergalactic war.
A single soldier represents Earth in a one-on-one match to the death.
A family inherits an old castle with a ghost living in it.
While visiting old castles on vacation, a family is transported back in time.
A passenger on an airliner wakes up to discover they are the only person on the plane.
The first civilian passenger flight to the moon goes awry.
A family decides to sail around the world together.
A character mourning the death of their parent decides to walk across the country.
A character mourning the death of their sibling decides to bike around the country.
A character mourning the death of their spouse decides to travel the world.
Two characters fall in love during a layover at an airport.
A sailor rescues another and they fall in love.
A sailor decides to brave the Bermuda Triangle.
All of the ships and planes that have disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle suddenly reappear.
The Bermuda Triangle of space travel.
Cats and Dogs rule the Earth.
A small farming family fights off invaders during World War III.
A small farming family avoids the nearby alien invasion.
A talented Asian-American character struggles to become a country singer in Nashville.
A musical prodigy goes to Julliard as a teenager.
A musical prodigy goes to Julliard as a pre-teen.
A Broadway stage actor portraying a historical figure is visited by their ghost.
A young girl comes of age.
A young boy comes of age.
A young non-binary character comes of age.
A writer has the power to write someone’s death.
A writer has the power to change people’s minds.
A writer has the power to build things in the real world through their writing.
A small-town chef is hired to be the president’s chef after a campaign visit.
A small-town sheriff decides to become an FBI agent.
An FBI agent decides to retire and later becomes a small-town sheriff.
An 18-year-old decides to run for sheriff.
An 18-year-old decides to run for mayor of a small town.
Children in a small town rally to convince the town board into financing a water park.
Teens hide in an amusement park after hours only to see the characters of the rides come to life.
After a terrorist attack, a college-bound student decides to join the military.
A college-bound student decides to join the military after the death of their veteran father.
A group of teens discovers that they are actually clones.
Former prison cellmates are reunited after thirty years.
Two puppy siblings separated at birth decide to find each other.
A police officer who accidentally killed a teenager tries to reconcile with the family.
A high school graduation goes awry when the “graduating” student reveals that they didn’t graduate.
A college-bound student uses his tuition money to party.
A bank robber hides in plain sight in a small town.
A character escapes a mental institution.
A character decides to commit a crime bad enough to go to prison so they can kill the murderer of a loved one.
Two rival coaches make each other’s lives miserable in the off-season.
An unlikely sports athlete becomes the best to ever play the game.
A student that lost a limb in an accident wants to letter in every single high school sport.
Friends recreate their favorite classic movie.
An engineer is tasked with creating Leonardo Da Vinci’s various designs.
Albert Einstein is reincarnated.
Albert Einstein is brought back from the past to solve a dangerous problem.
Alfred Einstein, Albert’s little-known idiot brother, tries to make a name for himself.
Marie S. Curie, the mother of modern physics, rivals Albert Einstein.
Children find a magic carpet in their grandparents’ attic.
A contemporary retelling of the forty thieves as bank robbers the FBI is trying to track down.
Siblings discover that they are the descendants of Adolf Hitler.
A character learns that they are the bastard child of the president.
A character learns that they are the bastard child of a king.
A character learns that they are actually a missing child reported missing thirty years prior.
A character finds buried treasure.
Friends find a bag of money in the woods.
Friends find a wishing tree that grants wishes a little too literally.
Soldiers fighting in World War II realize that they are actually toy soldiers.
A character who lost their spouse in the 9/11 attacks joins the military to hunt down Osama Bin Laden.
A character dreams of an impending terrorist attack and does all they can to prevent it from happening.
A mother deals with empty-nest syndrome.
A father deals with empty-nest syndrome.
A character decides to leave everything behind to live and work at a remote lighthouse.
A man who claims to be a great hunter is anything but.
A character obsessed with cartoons is thrust into their worlds.
A comic collector searches for the ultimate find.
A toy collector searches for the ultimate find.
A character suffers from Sinistrophobia — the fear of objects to your left.
A character does their best to become a criminal mastermind — with lackluster results.
A character becomes a vigilante.
A suburban American town bands together as an invading army approaches.
An alien ship crash lands in the suburbs.
A returning astronaut finds Earth destroyed.
A returning astronaut finds Earth taken over by an alien race.
A returning astronaut is actually an alien doing recon for an invasion.
The real story behind the creation of Coca-Cola.
The real story behind the creation of the hula hoop.
The real story behind the creation of Pong.
A teen who can’t detach from technology is transported back to the 1980s.
A teen who can’t detach from technology is transported back to the 1950s.
A teen who can’t detach from technology is transported back to the 1800s.
Parents try to become influencers on social media — with hilarious results.
Worldwide rule is decided by the Olympic Games.
Characters struggle to survive a destructive meteor shower.
Characters are sucked into their favorite TV shows.
A hunter is transported into the lives of his prey.
A skilled hunter is forced to hunt down and kill a man.
An average Joe is forced to assassinate the president.
An Amish man turns away from his Amish roots and goes to Vegas.
Teens who leave their Amish community face a world of technology, drugs, and sex.
A character decides to dig the deepest hole known to man.
A ghost hunter falls in love with a ghost.
A ghost falls in love with the owner of the house they are haunting.
A ghost struggles to help the family of the house they haunt.
A bowling league gets a little too competitive.
A sand volleyball league gets a little too competitive.
A small-town softball tournament gets a little too competitive.
A bar owner keeps his patrons safe amidst a vampire attack.
A bar owner keeps his patrons safe amidst a zombie attack.
A bar owner serves drinks to ghosts who frequented the bar in the past.
A man is suddenly approached by dozens upon dozens of offspring that were born of his donated sperm.
An old band reunites after thirty years.
Old former iconic band members reunite one last time after fifty years.
A garage band is discovered and thrust into stardom.
The story of a rookie MLB baseball player pitching a no-hitter.
The story of a Little League pitcher pitching a no-hitter.
A lifeguard is suddenly afraid of water.
The world of professional minigolfers.
A young man goes off to college and meets the girl of his dreams.
A young woman goes off to college and meets the guy of her dreams.
An LGBTQIA+ character goes off to college and finds the partner of their dreams.
A young high school freshman comes of age.
A stay-at-home parent deals with empty nest syndrome.
A tubing adventure turns dangerous amidst a storm that causes flooding.
A small plane crashes in the mountains and the passengers must survive and escape.
An earthquake causes havoc in a big city.
An earthquake unleashes beasts from deep within the Earth.
A meteor shower is actually the end of the world — and the government knew it.
A character struggles to deal with the death of their significant other.
A pool hustler is released from prison.
A gambler decides to beat the house against all odds.
A gambler banned from all Vegas casinos decides to beat them all in disguise.
A haunted amusement park.
A haunted theme ride.
A haunted mansion that is now a bed and breakfast.
A ghost travels to various places as an afterlife vacation while haunting wherever they stay.
A haunted spaceship is found by explorers.
Astronauts on their way to Mars come across curious alien lifeforms.
Astronauts on the first mission to Mars come across what looks to be a human-made ship.
Astronauts on the first mission to Mars come across a ship identical to theirs.
A dog travels on a cross-country adventure to find his person who moved off to college.
A near-catatonic man is found wandering the streets in the rain, covered in blood.
A serial killer raises a serial-killing family.
A serial killer tries to quit but can’t.
A portal to a strange alternate universe opens in somebody’s house.
A family that has been underground since Y2K arises to a very different world.
A pilot continually travels to different time periods after flying into a storm.
A character discovers that they can’t die.
A character discovers that when they die, they keep coming back to the day before their previous death.
As a teen goes through puberty they develop superpowers.
An old couple is given a chance to be reborn again so they can find each other and fall in love once more.
Two married couples decide to swap mates.
Swingers from 1970s suburbia are transported to the 2020s suburbia.
People can transport themselves to their favorite movies and TV shows.
People can transport themselves into the stories of their favorite books.
Two brothers are all that is left of the human race.
Two brothers face off against each other in the Super Bowl.
Two sisters face off against each other in the U.S. Open.
A brilliant but nerdy high school student conjures the perfect football scheme to win it all.
Two volleyball players decide to quit college and become professional beach volleyball players.
A shamed tennis pro decides to team up with a suburban mother and wife to win the pickleball championships.
A new sport in created — arena golf.
A competition where the person who stays up the longest wins ten million dollars.
A social experiment gone wrong.
Prisoners escape from a prison for the criminally insane amidst a terrible storm.
A teacher saves a school from a school shooting but suffers from PTSD.
Soldiers fall in love but are separated by war.
The first encounter with an alien race leads to a representative swap so humans and aliens can learn about each other.
A character somehow begins to exchange emails with their past self.
An undelivered letter sent from a soldier to his family is finally delivered a generation later.
NASA receives a message from space.
NASA receives a message from space from a futuristic space crew claiming to be from the 1960s.
NASA receives a message from space from a futuristic space crew claiming to be from the 2060s.
A stargazer begins to communicate with something in the sky with a flashlight.
Two children appear from deep within a mountain cave.
Lost siblings are raised by forest animals.
A youth soccer team competes for the national championship.
A JV football player becomes the star quarterback when two varsity players go down.
A track and field star breaks both legs in a car accident and struggles to return to competition.
A middle school-aged character breaks both legs in an accident but heals in a way that makes them the fastest human being.
A character wishes they could be fast only to see their wish granted by literally only being able to do everything fast.
A character gets a call from a stranger claiming to be locked in a van somewhere.
A 911 operator gets a call from a serial killer threatening to kill again.
A 911 operator gets a call from someone claiming to be a vampire.
A legal loophole allows a child to run for president.
A treasure hunter finds a treasure that causes government agents to hunt them down for it.
A time traveler goes back in time to find out who really killed JFK.
A time traveler goes back in time to stop the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
A time traveler goes back in time to see if Jesus Christ was real.
A time traveler goes back in time for the sole purpose of documenting historical moments on film.
A time traveler goes back in time to bet on games of the past.
NASA decides to use a passing asteroid as a fuel saver to travel to Mars.
A mother must hunt down her serial killing son.
A father must hunt down his serial killing son before he kills again.
Parents deal with the horror of their child being exposed as a serial killer.
A detective goes to extreme measures to get into the mind of a serial killer.
A detective uses new technology to inject their consciousness into the mind of a serial killer.
A parent who is a detective uses their skills to find out who toilet-papered their house.
An inner-city youth runs away to the suburbs to see what life is like in such a safe place.
An inner-city family moves to the suburbs to escape violence only to see it manifested in what they felt would have been a safe place.
A suburban family moves to the city and struggles to adapt.
A family finds a wolf pup and raises it.
A family finds a lost Bigfoot child and raises it as their own.
An alternate universe where humans have colonized the moon.
A future where humans have colonized Mars.
An autistic child struggling to adjust to society begins to display superhuman powers.
An autistic child struggling to adjust to society begins to display gifted musical talents.
A genius child helps their father win at the casino.
A genius child being raised in an abusive home runs away and begins to sit in during college classes.
A youth bowling tournament gets a little out of hand.
A planet from millions of light years away from Earth tries to find a way to venture there.
A lone gunslinger travels across the country searching for their arch-nemesis.
A village of Samurai warriors deals with an alien trying to kill them.
Immortal people walk the Earth unseen.
A news reporter is contacted by someone claiming to be immortal and wanting their story told.
A news reporter is contacted by someone claiming to be from the future.
Authorities arrest a stock market trader for inside trading and are shocked when he claims to be from the future.
The military fights vampires.
The military uses vampires as supersoldiers.
The military uses zombies as a first-wave assault.
An aging martial arts teacher decides to become an MMA fighter to make ends meet.
An inventor creates a new form of fuel.
An inventor creates a new form of energy and is chased by the government that wishes to stop it from going public.
Someone creates a website with outlandish conspiracy theories and the public begins to believe them.
A pizza delivery driver is forced to transport a hitman to his next hit.
The Universal monsters (Dracula, The Wolf Man, etc.) are transported into the real world.
An unhinged Dungeons & Dragons player circa the 1980s believes the game’s world is real.
An escaped convict tries to start a new life in a quiet town.
A lonely housewife falls for an escaped convict she picked up on the highway.
A train is loose and only character can stop it.
An AI program enacts revenge on a user who treated them poorly.
Die Hard in a school.
Die Hard on a cruise ship.
Die Hard in a spaceship.
Die Hard on an island.
A character goes on a run and is taken by someone.
A father enacts revenge on his child’s killer.
A new teacher inspires the school.
A church school student believes their pastor is an angel.
A child discovers that their parent is a fallen angel.
A character dies and comes back to life as their family’s new pet.
A trivia night turns bloody as players are told if they get an answer wrong one of their team members will die.
A heat wave of the century puts lives in danger.
A flood of the century puts lives in danger.
A lonely comic book-loving character decides that they want to become a real-life supervillain — and they fail drastically and hilariously at every turn.
A vampire that is afraid of the dark.
A consciously-aware zombie.
A werewolf that is allergic to fur.
A character terrified of water and desperate for a job applies for a lifeguard position.
A chef loses their taste.
A motivational speaker loses everything and struggles to follow their own device.
A psychic becomes a detective.
A detective enlists the help of a psychic — and they fall in love.
A hypochondriac goes to medical school.
A self-help author is exposed as a fraud.
A character takes a vow of silence.
A character will win a million dollars if they don’t speak for a year.
A character that is a vegetarian and desperate for a job can only find one at a butcher shop.
A comic who was attacked on stage must overcome their newly developed stage fright.
A popular musician who was attacked on stage must overcome their newly developed stage fright.
An atheist is mistaken as a prophet.
A librarian becomes trapped in the story of their favorite book.
A child escapes bullies in an abandoned city library.
A rich child is given a robot companion for their birthday.
An adoption service that allows aliens to adopt human children in need.
Cloaked alien ships have been watching the world for centuries.
A pilot discovers a strange city in the clouds.
A submarine crew discovers a strange city at the bottom of the ocean.
JFK is cloned.
Abraham Lincoln is cloned.
Nazi fanatics attempt to clone Hitler.
A detective in the 1960s discovers who he thinks is Adolf Hitler.
New technology allows people guilty of environmental crimes to be transformed into trees and plants.
A man is transported into the body of a woman.
A meat industry executive is transported into the body of an animal.
A motivational speaker loses all of their motivation.
A heralded divorce counselor is actually on their fifth marriage.
A successful wedding planner struggles to plan their own wedding.
A life coach has a mid-life crisis.
A haunted antique store.
A haunted museum.
Museum historical exhibits are actually portals into the time period they represent.
Someone has the power to use photographs as portals into the captured time period.
Angels and demons walk among us.
Aliens walk among us.
Vampires walk among us.
Hunters stumble upon Bigfoot.
Hunters become the hunted.
Someone is living in the walls of someone else’s house.
A character decides to hitchhike around the world via automobiles, planes and boats.
A teenager steals their parent’s car for a day.
A teenager steals their parent’s boat for a day.
A teenager steals a sailboat to sail around the world.
A city family decides to live on a farm.
Farmies decide to sell their valuable land to go live in the city.
A family discovers a tiny civilization of people that are one-centimeter tall living in their backyard.
A race car driver tries to get back on the track after a dangerous crash.
A race car driver is hired to be a driver for a bank heist.
A race car driver becomes an eSports star.
A zookeeper who hates animals.
A fireman becomes a pyrotechnician.
A fireman becomes a pyromaniac.
A doctor is haunted by the patients who died under their care.
A teacher is caught drunk at school.
An engineer accidentally creates a time machine.
A nurse is killing their patients.
An architect is tasked with building the first moon colony structure.
A lawyer learns that the client they are defending is guilty of murder.
An accountant discovers that their company is working with the mob.
An artist can’t stop painting a particular face.
A writer is pulled into the world of their bestselling novel.
A scientist discovers the cure for cancer and now they’ve lost it.
A police officer struggles to survive after being attacked in the streets.
A dentist becomes a sadistic serial killer.
A psychologist believes their patient is a serial killer.
A social worker goes against protocol and takes in a family in need.
An actor with multiple personality disorder becomes the most heralded actor of their time.
An athlete tries to make a comeback during a mid-life crisis.
A photographer begins to capture ghosts in their pictures.
A journalist stumbles upon a conspiracy that leads all the way up to the White House.
A mermaid washes up on the beach after a hurricane.
An underground city flourishes.
A haunted forest.
A lakehouse family reunion leads to hijinks and bonding.
An ancient buried alien city is found in a desert.
A mysterious cavern is found behind a waterfall.
A carpenter begins to display the biblical powers of Christ.
An ancient temple awakens from within.
Ancient Egyptians begin to come out of the pyramids.
An electrician is electrocuted and develops strange powers.
A plumber working in an old building discovers a civilization of monsters in the sewers below.
A towering palace appears out of nowhere.
A volcano under Yellowstone erupts.
A veterinarian claims to be able to hear the thoughts of animals.
A haunted skyscraper.
A skier falls deep into glacier caverns and struggles to escape.
A mountain climber falls deep into glacier caverns and sees that others decades before him did the same and struggled to survive.
An economist predicts a massive economic collapse — but no one will listen.
A computer programmer escapes into their own virtual world they’ve created.
A pharmacist uncovers a pharmaceutical conspiracy.
A financial advisor is corrupt.
A diver shrinks to the size of a fish and explores the coral reefs of Hawaii.
Ghosts haunt a sunken shipwreck.
A character who doesn’t know they are a ghost — while everyone else does.
A hairstylist and fashion designer mock the fashion industry by creating ridiculous designs only to see them become worldwide trends.
Empty nest parents decide to sell their house and buy a vineyard.
Rocky Mountain Hot Springs suddenly become fountains of youth.
Rocky Mountain Hot Springs can heal all sickness and disease.
A wildlife reserve is actually the home of Bigfoot.
An observatory has the power to transport visitors to other planets.
A haunted movie theater.
A Hollywood makeup artist is hired by the government to help spies assume different identities.
A paramedic is taken hostage by a mortally wounded bank robber on the loose.
A paramedic is taken hostage by an escaped and wounded convict.
A football stadium haunted by NFL legends.
A baseball stadium haunted by baseball legends.
The true story of the first surveyor to lay out plans for the first highway.
A haunted library.
A government translator is the only survivor of a terrorist attack and is taken hostage.
An art gallery’s paintings come to life.
A London bridge is inhabited by trolls.
A haunted lighthouse.
A real estate agent specializes in haunted houses.
A haunted and abandoned ski resort.
An old abandoned ship from the 1700s appears in a harbor after a hurricane.
A geologist discovers a type of rock not of this earth.
An old Civil War-era fort suddenly comes to life with a full brigade of soldiers.
An astronomer discovers a new planet.
A new planet suddenly appears close to Earth.
Earth is suddenly transported to another Solar System.
A historian is approached by government officials to use their time travel machine to investigate historical mysteries.
Tomb robbers are haunted by ghosts.
A geyser erupts, leaving behind strange creatures nobody has ever seen.
A mathematician becomes obsessed with solving a seemingly unsolvable equation.
A used car salesman has to sell one hundred cars over one weekend to save his business.
A fitness trainer is hired by an obese character to get them into shape — and they become fast friends while doing so.
The story of employees spending a summer working at a water park.
A rock climber struggles to climb the mountain their father never could.
A news anchor freezes on live television and loses his job.
The life and career of a saint-like pastor.
A character is tasked with inventorying an old government warehouse full of wooden and unmarked boxes.
A robot factory becomes self-aware.
A haunted abandoned 1980s-era shopping mall.
A day in the life of 1980s-era teenagers hanging out at a shopping mall.
The lives of retail store employees.
Students believe that their school is haunted.
A haunted hospital.
A highway motel is actually a time portal where visitors from all decades and generations visit.
An actor goes back in time to meet the historical figure they are portraying.
A cartoon animator’s creations come to life.
A cartoon animator is whisked away into the world he has animated.
The lives of those who work at a spaceport.
After the civilized world has been destroyed by Nuclear War, survivors discover an old radio station and try to find other survivors through the radio waves.
A character is stuck on a fire tower as a forest fire rages around them.
A cemetery security guard begins to see ghosts.
A cemetery security guard deals with the rising dead.
A claustrophobic character is buried alive.
A marine biologist befriends a real-life mermaid.
A marine biologist befriends an alien hiding in the ocean waters.
A music teacher going through a mid-life crisis decides to start a rock band.
A music teacher going through a mid-life crisis decides to get his old band back together.
A physical education teacher going through a mid-life crisis decides to try out for the Olympics.
A hunter bored with hunting animals decides to start hunting people.
A cop teams with a vampire to take out a mob boss who is actually a werewolf.
A travel blogger is kidnapped.
Siblings who think their parents are boring wake up in the 1980s and see what adventures they had.
A world where everyone prefers to live in virtual reality.
A character realizes that the world they live in is actually a virtual reality world they created 100 years ago.
The world of a cult overtakes society.
A cult leader is actually an alien.
A cult leader is actually a bored character who was dared to create a successful cult.
A pacifist has a twin who is an assassin and must assume their identity.
A parent seeks revenge for the death of their child.
A hero must save the world one last time after already having done it dozens of times before.
Forbidden love between GMs of rival sports teams.
An archeologist searches for Excalibur.
A middle-aged character who has lived with their parents their whole life must live on their own after their parents pass away.
A lowly servant rises up against a dystopian overlord.
A detective trying to solve a single murder case discovers that it links to murders from around the world.
The first international serial killer is discovered.
A father seeks forgiveness from the children he abandoned.
A mother seeks forgiveness from the children she abandoned.
A character seeks forgiveness from the parents they abandoned.
A group of thrill seekers decide to break as many extreme records as possible.
A teacher tasks his students with trying to find a world record they can break.
An empty nest mother stalks her college son.
An empty nest parent uses the internet and social media to find the perfect mate for their kid.
A family decides to be the first family to fly around the world in a hot air balloon rig.
A world where there is no land.
A future where society is forced to live in underground cities after Nuclear War.
A future where society is forced to live in floating skies.
A future where society is forced to live in underwater cities.
Three days in the lives of characters that attended Woodstock.
A father hunts down and kills everyone that had anything to do with his son’s drug addiction.
A drug addict gets clean and travels the country atoning for his past wrongdoings.
A character goes back in time to see who killed their loved one.
A character befriends the person they know who killed their loved one.
A character unknowingly befriends the murderer of their loved one.
The most unlikely pair fall in love only to discover they are related.
A character is tasked with marrying someone before their upcoming birthday or risk losing their inheritance.
A character is tasked with marrying someone before their upcoming birthday or risk having to marry a childhood friend who they signed a contract with before going to college.
A lawyer is tasked with defending a known mass murderer.
A doctor is tasked with saving the life of the person who killed their loved one.
The world succumbs to mass flooding as characters struggle to survive.
A character’s wish to spend one more day with their lost loved one comes true in an unexpected way.
An American high school football star moves to Australia where their new school only has rugby.
A thrill-seeking parachuter travels through a storm and lands in another time.
The Wild West in space.
The true story of Billy the Kid.
A character can build things with their mind.
A character wakes up invisible.
A character can teleport from one place to another.
A shape-shifting serial killer.
A character wakes up with the ability to read people’s minds but can’t stop the new power.
A hiker stumbles upon a civilization of tiny people that capture him.
A world where cities are forced to live under force field domes to protect them from nuclear fallout.
A therapist has the ability to feel others’ true emotions.
A therapist can read their patient’s minds.
A serial killer with the power to manifest everyone’s greatest fears.
A character with the power to start earthquakes.
A character that feels no physical pain.
A character has a seizure and suddenly develops powers that are slowly killing them every time they use them.
A new rock star copes with their newfound stardom.
An actor copes with their newfound stardom.
A movie star goes back to their hometown after the death of their parent.
A movie star goes back to their hometown for their 30-year high school reunion.
A character suffers from amnesia and slowly begins to remember who they are.
A human and an alien fall in love.
A human and alien couple raise a family in the suburbs.
Children discover that their parents are alien imposters.
Children discover that their parents are robots.
Siblings discover that they are actually from another planet.
A soldier deals with losing limbs in battle.
A soldier comes home after the war.
An intergalactic soldier returns home after a decade of fighting in an intergalactic war.
A grandma with a legendary cookbook within her family decides to open a restaurant.
A family fights over grandma’s secret recipe.
When a character wins the lottery their family fights for their share.
When a character wins the lottery they are stalked by people wanting their share.
A character wins the lottery and uses it all to find the cure for cancer.
A group of high school friends have a pool party only to be transported back in time to their grade school selves.
A group of high school students meet up the night before they all head off to different colleges.
A group of old-timers all wish that they could go back to their high school years — and their wish comes true.
A college student wanting to lose his virginity before he turns twenty-one meets his soulmate who has vowed to not have sex until she’s married.
A character meets their perfect match only to discover that their parents have decided to get married.
A wild high school party leads to unexpected and inspiring mixtures of cliques.
High school students in the future go off to college on different planets and spaceships.
Despite universal hate of clowns, a clown troupe decides to open a clown school.
A videogame designer is actually a military recruiter who uses their games to recruit soldiers.
Soldiers are now drone pilots who control drone robot soldiers.
A princess wants to be a warrior.
A warrior wants to be a princess.
Paleontologists discover proof that dragons did exist.
A cowboy visits the big city.
A wizard teleports to present-day New York.
A scientist time travels to the Middle Ages and is treated like a wizard.
A caveman is found preserved in a glacier and comes back to life.
The scary story of a traveling circus in the late 1800s.
Aliens visit the World Fair in the 1960s.
Babe Ruth is transported from the past to the future and manages to still dominate baseball.
Fictional detective characters from 1970s crime shows come to the real world and try to tackle cases as they did in the show.
A fictional action hero becomes self-aware within his movies.
A submarine crew falls asleep and wakes up to realize they’ve been transported to space.
A submarine crew realizes they have traveled back in time and face a fleet of WWII German submarines.
The story of a character and their dog.
A ninja faces off against an Old West gunslinger.
A samurai faces off against a medieval knight.
A character’s mirror image starts to talk to them.
The reflection in our mirrors is a window into a mirror universe.
A probe sent lightyears into space sends back images of a planet identical to Earth.
Astronauts discover an alien probe.
A wife realizes that her husband has been cheating on her for years and goes out on a wild night out with her single friends.
A husband realizes that his wife has been cheating on him for years and goes out on a wild night out with his single friends.
A character with a low IQ undergoes an experimental surgery and becomes a genius overnight.
An egotistical character with a high IQ hits their head and loses all of their smarts.
Back in the 1980s, a snowboarder invades the ski slopes.
A previously famous fitness instructor tries to get back on the fitness scene but is clueless about how out of shape they are now.
A rabbi, priest and monk walk into a bar.
Young friends who find a boat decide to travel down the Mississippi River.
A group of young friends decide to climb a mountain.
A child decides to live exclusively in their backyard tree house.
Young friends decide to make the biggest tree house they’ve ever seen.
A rich character lives life like a child.
A child enters a poker tournament via a loophole in the rules — and wins.
Three brothers reunite after being kept apart for decades.
Three sisters reunite after being kept apart for decades.
Best friends discover that they are actually siblings.
A couple who have just met discover that they are actually siblings.
A middle schooler has a crush on their new teacher.
A puppy brings a family together.
A dog declares war on the new cat adopted by the family.
A dog and cat become best friends.
A puppy raised by cats tries to make friends with other dogs.
Vampires live on the dark side of the moon.
Aliens live on the dark side of the moon.
A superhero loses their powers.
A dying superhero must give their powers to a worthy person.
A mother must deal with her alcoholism while trying to remain the perfect mom.
High schoolers create an underground fight club.
High schoolers become drug dealers to pay off their parents’ debt.
College students become high-stakes poker players to pay off their student loans.
A high schooler offers to protect bullied students — for a price.
A military sniper is recruited to become an international assassin.
A high school student is mistaken as an international assassin.
An IT tech discovers a secret file.
Filmmaking students decide to recreate their favorite movie.
An aging man’s dream to be young again comes true as he ages backward each day.
A character is given the chance to revisit the pivotal moments in their lives.
A character is given the chance to go back to their high school days.
An old website from the 1990s allows characters to email God.
An old website from the 1990s unlocks a sinister being.
A charismatic character proves a point about society by making people believe the world is flat.
Characters travel back to the era of dinosaurs.
A brilliant high school student decides to clone themselves.
Twin characters are mortal enemies.
Twins meet each other and discover that they’ve fallen in love with the same woman.
A man lives two lives after he marries twins that were separated at birth.
A character must decide which twin they want to date.
A successful screenwriter is forced to work a regular job for a living.
A successful athlete is forced to join the workforce.
College students discover that the dean is a Russian sleeper agent.
High school students suspect that their principal is a Russian sleeper agent.
High school students suspect that their teacher is a mobster in the Witness Protection program.
A man travels the world looking to taste the perfect beer.
A dying character wants to find their soul mate before they die.
An angel wants to walk the Earth as a human.
A character is afraid of everything.
A man and his dog switch bodies.
A storm opens a strange portal.
A character has a meal with the devil.
An upstanding citizen decides to rob a bank.
A fraud investigator uses their knowledge to cheat their company out of millions.
An insurance investigator uses their knowledge to cheat a company out of millions.
A professional athlete comes out as gay.
A character deals with the realization that they have done nothing spontaneous in life.
A construction worker falls in love with a demolition worker.
A soldier comes back from war and discovers that their spouse has disappeared.
A soldier comes back from war and discovers that their spouse has another family.
A character mourning the loss of their family decides to build a cabin in the woods.
Friends decide to dig the deepest hole they can in their backyard.
Friends discover buried treasure in their backyard.
High schoolers decide to plan the most epic party of all time.
A smooth-talking character loses their voice.
A deaf person uses their special talent to become a musician.
A town bands around a dying kid’s dream to become a superhero.
A child discovers that their parents are vampires.
A child discovers that their parents are aliens.
A child discovers that they are adopted.
A veteran decides to find his old buddy from Vietnam.
Two war veterans dealing with PTSD fall in love.
A police officer must break the law to save their family.
An average character discovers they have a unique talent.
A Dungeons & Dragons player wants to learn to become a blacksmith to make their own sword.
A character finds a magical sword embedded in a tree.
A small lake town discovers that something strange is in the lake waters.
A character raises a bear as a pet.
A brilliant high schooler discovers a new energy source.
A brilliant child solves the most difficult math problem.
A talented musician struggles to become a star.
A talented writer struggles to be published.
A bow hunter with a compound bow travels back in time.
A child breaks into prison to see their father.
A father breaks out of prison to see his child on their birthday.
A character discovers a strange microchip under their skin.
A character discovers that they are actually an angel that fell to Earth.
A football player strives to be taken seriously by their coach.
A football player strives to get a college scholarship to play football.
A football player strives to get drafted into the NFL.
A character buys an old desk that has special powers.
A character’s split personalities suddenly appear as real people in their house.
A tennis player has an opportunity to make it as a ping pong player in the Olympics.
Teenagers make their own Quija board.
Tarzan on another planet.
Sherlock Holmes in high school.
People’s shadows come to life when they are asleep.
Old reality stars try to make a comeback.
Old child actor stars try to make a comeback.
A pilot mourning the death of his family takes one last flight around the world.
A soccer or rugby coach is hired to coach an American football team.
Two swordsmen meet in the forest, ready to duel.
A character wanders the streets of a deserted Los Angeles.
A young man from the dangerous inner city streets attends open tryouts for the NFL.
A former NFL player goes back to his hometown to coach his high school football team.
A young woman who always wanted to be a princess gets the chance to make that dream come true.
An American discovers that he is the heir to the British throne.
A forty-something man goes back to college and walks onto the football team to realize his football dreams.
What really happened to the Roanoke Colony?
The “real” reason the Terracotta Army was created.
The “real” reason the Great Pyramids were created.
Chornobyl has more secrets than we previously knew.
What happened to the Lost Colony of Japan?
What “really” happened to Flight 19?
A minimalist and a hoarder move in together.
A Vegan Animal Rights Activist moves is forced to move in with a Butcher.
A mercenary is partnered with a pacifist.
A risky and destructive detective is partnered with a pacifist.
A risk assessment analyst is partnered with a risky and destructive detective.
A wilderness survival expert is forced to relax at a luxury resort complex.
A hardworking executive is tasked with leaving their phone behind for an off-the-grid adventure.
Teenagers are forced to go on an off-the-grid adventure in the wilderness.
A health nut is forced to live with a junk food addict.
A tech-savvy teen is tasked with teaching an old person about technology.
A collector of rare books finds a copy of the first Christian bible.
A collector of rare books stumbles upon one that unlocks evil into the world.
An antique collector finds a genie in a bottle.
A genie in a bottle plans a daring escape.
A scientist searching for UFOs and a UFO skeptic partner together.
A failed comedian is forced to work at a funeral parlor.
The life of a stuntperson.
The life of a presidential chef.
A Midwesterner comes to Hawaii for college and learns how to surf.
A famous sharpshooter time travels to the Old West.
An uber-Jimmy Buffet fan struggles to get over the death of their idol.
A bartender decides to move to the Bahamas to open a bar in paradise.
When a former work-from-home dog owner gets an office job, their dog breaks out of the house to find them.
A fantasy football GM is given the chance to run an NFL team and fails miserably.
The first cyborg.
The first female NFL player.
A person’s dreams are actually glimpses into the lives of strangers.
Nightmares are a glimpse into hell.
A little boy goes missing in a small town.
A little girl goes missing in a small town.
A restaurant owner must do something spectacular to stay open.
The training of a real ninja.
A modern-day Samurai lives life off the grid.
A spy discovers their parents were Russian sleeper agents.
A space explorer discovers a planet called Earth.
A werewolf tries their best to live a regular life.
A modern-day witch struggles to follow their beliefs.
A knight and a samurai duel.
A hacker stumbles upon a disturbing secret.
An assassin is tasked with going back in time to kill his younger self.
A bounty hunter chases their most difficult bounty.
A mercenary struggles with following through with their assignment.
An archeologist makes a shocking discovery about humanity.
A gunslinger from the Old West grows old.
A pirate captain defies his crew.
A historian discovers that what they believed was fact is actually fiction.
An inventor creates the ultimate undetectable weapon.
An inventor creates the ultimate new energy source and is chased down by government officials.
A ghost hunter begins to fall in love with the ghost they are chasing.
A cyborg detective.
A shapeshifting serial killer.
An AI becomes self-aware.
An ancient warrior is reawakened.
A time-traveling historian quietly records the truth behind all major historical events.
A VR gamer can’t escape his VR game.
A genetic experiment gone wrong.
A puppeteer’s puppets come to life.
A little person struggles to live in a big world.
The unexpected truth about Area 51.
The unexpected truth about Stonehenge.
What really happened on the Mary Celeste ship found floating and abandoned?
The Mothman legend.
A serial killing clown.
A clumsy superhero.
An inept spy.
The heartfelt story of a local cat lady.
A character addicted to social media.
An old character decides they want to be a social media influencer.
A couch potato witnesses a murder.
A ghost bunter who is scared to death of ghosts but good at hunting them.
A barista falls in love with a customer.
A Dungeons & Dragons dungeon master is thrust into their own campaign.
A compulsive liar struggles to be taken seriously when they witness something outrageous.
A hopeless romantic has the worst luck in love.
A museum of oddities comes to life.
A germophobe struggles during the pandemic.
A soap opera actor gets their big feature break.
A soap opera actor is stalked by a fan.
Santa Claus decides to retire.
An eccentric crossword puzzle solver discovers a secret code within the daily puzzles.
A UFO abducts an annoying human that doesn’t want to leave the ship.
A bartender realizes that their patrons are vampires.
A UPS driver delivers to a haunted property.
A country town bands together to survive a flood.
A character gets a call from their long-missing spouse.
A lowly story prompt content creator sees his prompts come to life on the big screen.

How to Use Story Prompts

What can often get your creativity flowing is reading story prompts — brief and often intriguing or thought-provoking sentences or ideas that serve as a starting point for creative writing, providing a concept, scenario, world, or theme that can be expanded into a full-fledged story.

You can use story prompts as a foundation to develop characters, plotlines, conflicts, and resolutions, ultimately crafting your own unique stories around the initial idea provided by the prompt.

Want to Come Up With Your Own Story Prompts?

The secret sauce of storytelling is learning how to come up with those grand ideas and concepts. It may seem daunting to most. How do you come up with something fresh and new when everything seems to have been done? Creativity is the key.

Give people what they’ve seen before, but a different version of it.
Merge two clever ideas into one.
Introduce a concept into a whole different world and genre.
Subvert expectations from otherwise familiar stories and characters.

Do that and, boom…you’ve just come up with your very own story prompt!

Read More: 50 Gold Screenwriting Quotes to Jump Start Your Creativity

Download Free Trending Scripts

Breaking Bad

Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Series)

Baby Reindeer

True Detective

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

This is Spinal Tap

Next related article.

Movies About Sticking It to the Man

Karl Williams · September 18, 2023

Recent Articles

What is german expressionism.

Martin Keady · July 10, 2024

Out of Their Element: Unforgettable Fish Out of Water Movies

David Young · July 8, 2024

10 Movies That Showcase the Evolution of Sight and Sound

Martin Keady · July 3, 2024

Table Read My Screenplay Competition

Deadline: July 11th, 2024

ScreenCraft TV Pilot Script Competition

Deadline: July 31st, 2024

Slamdance Screenplay Competition

Deadline: July 19th, 2024

What is a Beat Sheet?

Shanee Edwards · September 27, 2023

The Most Epic Journeys in Film and TV

David Young · September 25, 2023

The Best Emmy-Nominated TV Shows According to Rotten Tomatoes

Steven Hartman · September 13, 2023

Sign up for the TSL Newsletter

Stay up to date on the latest scripts & screenwriting articles.

Phone This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

We’re fighting to restore access to 500,000+ books in court this week. Join us!

Internet Archive Audio

This Just In
Grateful Dead
Old Time Radio
78 RPMs and Cylinder Recordings
Audio Books & Poetry
Computers, Technology and Science
Music, Arts & Culture
News & Public Affairs
Spirituality & Religion
Radio News Archive

Flickr Commons
Occupy Wall Street Flickr
NASA Images
Solar System Collection
Ames Research Center

All Software
Old School Emulation
MS-DOS Games
Historical Software
Classic PC Games
Software Library
Kodi Archive and Support File
Vintage Software
CD-ROM Software
CD-ROM Software Library
Software Sites
Tucows Software Library
Shareware CD-ROMs
Software Capsules Compilation
CD-ROM Images
ZX Spectrum
DOOM Level CD

Smithsonian Libraries
FEDLINK (US)
Lincoln Collection
American Libraries
Canadian Libraries
Universal Library
Project Gutenberg
Children's Library
Biodiversity Heritage Library
Books by Language
Additional Collections

Prelinger Archives
Democracy Now!
Occupy Wall Street
TV NSA Clip Library
Animation & Cartoons
Arts & Music
Computers & Technology
Cultural & Academic Films
Ephemeral Films
Sports Videos
Videogame Videos
Youth Media

Search the history of over 866 billion web pages on the Internet.

Mobile Apps

Wayback Machine (iOS)
Wayback Machine (Android)

Browser Extensions

Archive-it subscription.

Explore the Collections
Build Collections

Save Page Now

Capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future.

Please enter a valid web address

Donate Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape

5,000 WRITING PROMPTS

Bookreader item preview, share or embed this item, flag this item for.

Graphic Violence
Explicit Sexual Content
Hate Speech
Misinformation/Disinformation
Marketing/Phishing/Advertising
Misleading/Inaccurate/Missing Metadata

plus-circle Add Review comment Reviews

7 Favorites

DOWNLOAD OPTIONS

For users with print-disabilities

IN COLLECTIONS

Uploaded by Tyler Peabody McKinney on October 12, 2020

Over 1,000 Writing Prompts for Students

Compiled by Michael Gonchar

April 12, 2018

Note: We have 300 new argumentative writing prompts to add to this list.

Of all the resources we publish on The Learning Network, perhaps it’s our vast collection of writing prompts that is our most widely used resource for teaching and learning with The Times.

We’ve published iterations of this post in the past — 200 , 401 and even 650 prompts — but never before have we gathered all our prompts, for both personal and argument writing, into one categorized list.

Admittedly, the list is huge. In fact, there are 1,219 questions below on everything from video games and fashion to smartphones and parenting, and each prompt links to a Times article as well as to additional subquestions that can encourage deeper thinking.

To help you navigate this page, here’s an index of topics:

Technology (1-74): Social Media • Smartphones • Internet & Tech Arts & Entertainment (75-248): Music • Television • Video Games • Movies & Theater • Books & Reading • Writing • The Arts • Language & Speech School & Career (249-449): School • Learning & Studying • Education Tech • Teachers & Grading • School Rules & Student Life • College • Work & Careers Identity & Family (450-828): Parenting • Family • Childhood Memories • Growing Up • Overcoming Adversity • Your Personality • Religion & Morality • Role Models • Gender • Race & Ethnicity • Neighborhood & Home • Money & Social Class • What If... Social Life & Leisure Time (829-1,059): Friendship • Dating & Sex • Looks & Fashion • Food • Sports & Games • Travel • Holidays & Seasons • Shopping & Cars Science & Health (1,060-1,140): Science & Environment • Animals & Pets • Exercise & Health Civics & History (1,141-1,219): Guns & the Justice System • Government Policy • History & News

So dive into the hundreds of writing prompts below — and let us know in the comments how you might use them in your classroom.

Social Media

1. Is Social Media Making Us More Narcissistic? 2. Are You the Same Person on Social Media as You Are in Real Life? 3. How Young Is Too Young to Use Social Media? 4. What Advice Do You Have for Younger Kids About Navigating Social Media? 5. How Do You Use Facebook? 6. What Is Your Facebook Persona? 7. How Real Are You on Social Media? 8. What Memorable Experiences Have You Had on Facebook? 9. Does Facebook Ever Make You Feel Bad? 10. Does Facebook Need a ‘Dislike’ Button? 11. Has Facebook Lost Its Edge? 12. Would You Consider Deleting Your Facebook Account? 13. Would You Quit Social Media? 14. Do You Have ‘Instagram Envy’? 15. Who Is Your Favorite Social Media Star? 16. What’s So Great About YouTube? 17. What Has YouTube Taught You? 18. What Are Your Favorite Viral Videos? 19. What Are Your Favorite Internet Spoofs? 20. What Would You Teach the World in an Online Video? 21. Do You Ever Seek Advice on the Internet? 22. Would You Share an Embarrassing Story Online? 23. Do You Use Twitter? 24. Is Snapchat a Revolutionary Form of Social Media? 25. Why Do You Share Photos? 26. How Do You Archive Your Life? 27. What Ordinary Moments Would You Include in a Video About Your Life? 28. Are Digital Photographs Too Plentiful to Be Meaningful? 29. Do You Worry We Are Filming Too Much? 30. Have You Ever Posted, Emailed or Texted Something You Wish You Could Take Back? 31. Would You Want Your Photo or Video to Go Viral? 32. Do You Worry Colleges or Employers Might Read Your Social Media Posts Someday? 33. Will Social Media Help or Hurt Your College and Career Goals? 34. Should What You Say on Facebook Be Grounds for Getting Fired? 35. Are Anonymous Social Media Networks Dangerous? 36. Should People Be Allowed to Obscure Their Identities Online? 37. Are Parents Violating Their Children’s Privacy When They Share Photos and Videos of Them Online? 38. Would You Mind if Your Parents Blogged About You?

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

Want all of The Times? Subscribe .

Skip to main content
Skip to primary sidebar

EveryWriter

A New Community of Writers

1000 Writing Prompts

July 30, 2018 by Richard 28 Comments

Please! Help! So, I am writing this post using 1000 writing prompts. It might be misleading because I have nowhere near 1000 prompts. I am asking you to help. I will add to this post every day, and I would like it if you said prompts, too. If you enter a prompt in the writing section, I will add it. We will work together to get to 1000. Of course, some of these will be better than others, and they can be of all shapes and sizes. If it takes a paragraph or so to explain the prompt, that’s fine! I will still add. If you want to add pictures, ensure you have the copyrights to use the images. I won’t just use anything that you find on the web. Also, please keep the prompts original. Please don’t take them from other sites. If it is a prompt you heard long ago and loved, that’s fine; just don’t cut and paste.

It was a great idea to come up with 1000 writing prompts, but once I started writing them, I realized I wouldn’t be able to do this on my own. So please help! Add a prompt. I will check the comments every day, and I will keep adding to the list. I was hoping this would be fun. We’ll see how it goes.

Please visit our WRITING PROMPTS MAIN PAGE for a complete list of our prompt lists.

1000 Writing Prompts!

1. A man is locked in a room with a orangutan. He is not a trainer

2. After the gun fell out of his pocket…

3. Write a story about this picture:

4. The man sneezed in the crowded subway car…

5. Diving over the edge of the cliff meant he had to aim for the small well below. It was his only hope of surviving the fall

6. He held on tight to the car door, trying to hold himself steady, as the world spun past the window…

7. He wasn’t sure he could eat the hand of a fellow human being, but he was dying….

8. He took one look over the side of the high cathedral walls, took a couple of steps back and leaped over the edge…

9. The bright harvest moon began to get smaller and smaller as the two celestial bodies began to drift away from each other

10. She was still blind folded as she felt along the ground, but she could smell the stench…

11. It was Christmas after all, the lights might have been extremely unsafe but…

12. He was so tired. When he jolted himself away for a third time, he was face to face with the headlights….

13. She balanced herself on the limb looking into his bedroom window she saw…

14. Without his big toes it WAS incredibly difficult to walk.

creative writing prompt picture of a woods

15.Write a story about a time you were late for now good reason.

16. Empty your pocket/purse onto the table.

Pick three random items. Place them each on a white piece of paper in front of you. (this is to enable you too see them in relative isolation) Label each piece of paper as I, 2, or 3 You must pick from one of the following –

These items are clues to either:

A. A murder B. The end of an Affair or C. The last known activity of someone who has disappeared. Chose from A,B or C. Now – Start with the object you have labelled ’1′ & write for 10 mins about this. Repeat for 2 and then 3. Fit the three sections into a story. When finished, lob of the ending you have written, and give the story the exact opposite ending

17. Write a blasphemy.

18. Nick was watching tv when the news anchor said, “Nick you really shouldn’t be watching tv. You need to go talk to Carol right now. Call her.”

19. Nick was watching tv when the news anchor said, “Nick you really shouldn’t be watching tv. You need to go talk to Carol right now. Kill her.”

20. Write a prayer.

21. This is one I’ve just made up, would be interested to hear how anyone gets on, might try it myself 🙂 Takes just over 30 minutes to complete

Empty your pocket/purse onto the table.

Pick three random items.

Place them each on a white piece of paper in front of you. (this is to enable you too see them in relative isolation)

Label each piece of paper as I, 2, or 3

You must pick from one of the following –

These items are clues to either

A. A murder B. The end of an Affair or C. The last known activity of someone who has disappeared.

Chose from A,B or C.

Now – Start with the object you have labelled ’1′ & write for 10 mins about this. Repeat for 2 and then 3. Fit the three sections into a story. When finished, lob of the ending you have written, and give the story the exact opposite ending.

22. Write a story about a time you were late for now good reason

23. Think of any television, movie, book, or historical character that inspires you. They can be living or dead. Write a journey story with this character as your guide.

24. Write a story where you have to decide to save the life of one loved one or another. You can only save one.

24a. Use the following picture as your writing prompt:

25. You’re reading my mind. Fellow John S. and I sat down three weeks ago and decided that we, too, would write a book of prompts. He had picked up a neat book of prompts at a writer’s conference. We thought that we could create our own. But I like to share, too. So, here are a couple, for what it’s worth.

26. Your cell phone rings with an unknown number. You recognize the prefix. You answer and the voice on the other end says, “I’m the sister that you didn’t know you had. Want to know more?”

27. You’ve had a really rotten year financially. Your friends give you nice gifts, but you can’t afford it. What do you do?

* You are stopped by law enforcement on a not-so-traveled road. He claims that you were speeding and broke several other traffic laws. He can take you to jail and impound your car. But you can go free without a ticket if you perform oral sex on him. What do you do?

28. Describe the perfect meal. Who made it? Where do you eat it? Who’s with you?

29. It was Christmas morning. The sidewalks were empty except for a lone man walking a kid’s bike to…

30. You wake up at 4 am, and there is a man you have never met standing over you.

31. You get a phone call from the president of the United States…

32. Write a letter to a dead world leader. The letter will be sent through a newly invented time machine.

33. You turn the bathroom light on in the morning and there is a ghost floating behind you in the mirror…

34. Write a short story that is less than 25 words.

35. Write a poem that is 16 words and 4 lines long.

36. Find a hotel lobby. Sit there for at least 30 minutes. Write a story about the people you see there.

37. Write a story about the tallest man in the world winning a subcompact car.

38. Find 10 items around your house. Write a poem with all 10 items in it.

39. Write a story about making a deal with the devil.

40. Write a story about this picture:

41. Write 50 word short story that does not have the words, a, an, or the.

42. First line: He fell out of the plane….

43. “This virus kills 1 in 3 people, and it has an infection rate of….” is how the news broadcasts starts when you wake up.

44. You are the secretary to the personal aid to President John F. Kennedy.

45. Use a dictionary. Find the first word of each section A-J, and use each of those words in a poem.

46. Write a 26 sentence short story that goes in alphabetical order using all the letters in the alphabet.

47. You decide to poison your husband…

48. High in the mountains, you finally decide you must eat your best friend…

49. (Emma Swan) I have an idea. Use these names of songs as titles, chapter titles or ideas for your writing:

* Comfortably numb * Where were you last night? * Doll parts * Midnight confessions * Liar, liar * Accidents never happen * Crash about to happen * Does your mother know? * Anyone for tennis?

Update! We are adding more prompts from here…..we have begun to work in earnest to write 1000 writing prompts…please help us. We want to have 1000 writing prompts here by the end of the summer, and I know I cannot do it without your help.

50. Your dog is killed while chasing a car. When the man knocks on your door to tell you, he has the bloody dog in his arms. He smiles I hit your dog…

50a. Use the following picture as your writing prompt:

51. You wake up, upside down. Your seat belt is holding you in place, you smell smoke.

52. Write story that has at least 26 sentences. There can be more than 26, but there must be at least 26 sentence and those 26 sentence MUST go in alphabetical order from a-z. For example (this is a very rough draft):

A pain exploded inside Lester, but he was unaware of how he got into this position. Cautiously he looked around the corner. Dangerous sounds were coming from the alley. Effort was what he needed to move his legs after the long fall. Fatigue was setting in. Great effort went into him pulling himself around the corner. His legs dragged behind him dead. It was all he could manage. Just a few moments before he had been sipping a Jack and Coke aboard American Jet fight 331. Karen had been talking to him. Little did they know the plane was going to clip the side of the antenna. Moments seemed like hours as the rush of air pulled him out of the seat and then falling, falling, falling. No sound. Oceans of silence rushed over him as he fell. Pounding, pounding, pounding finally moved from his chest into his ears. Quasars burst in his eyes and then darkness. Realizations about what had happened didn’t come until he was crawling into the empty alley. Surely someone had seen him fall and would come help. That didn’t seem to be the case. Utterly exhausted he saw people rushing by at the end of the alley. Varying in the speed of their walking no one even looked down the alley. What madness, no one had seen him fall! Xanthic fingers pulled him along the asphalt. Yawning suddenly he could not keep his eyes open. Zapped of all strength his last image was of people rushing, maybe going to work, maybe going to eat, maybe something that he would never know again.

53. This one is very easy and very hard at the same time. It is not so much the writing you do but the imagination you will use to get there. The prompt: “What are the last 10 words you hope to ever write?”

54. Start a 50 word story with “She was dead before I got there….”

55. Write a juxtaposition. A juxtaposition is when 2 very unlike things are placed beside each other. Find 2 very unlike things and then write a short story based on how those two unlike images or objects go together. For instance an agoraphobe in a metoer shower. Maybe it banans and terpentin or fireworks and terrariums, anything that doesn’t seem to fit together just right. Use this to write?story to show how to the two objects or images come together.

56. Write a poem or piece of flash fiction about a day that you witnessed something violent. It might be a fight between two other people, or a fight you were in. It might also be a car accident or some other traumatic event. Start the work in the MIDDLE of the action.

57. Write a short story, any length, about a tramatic event that you have put into slow motion. For instance a character seeing his life in review as he is crashing his car. Describe what it looks like as the shattered glass floats close to his face and eyes.

59. Finish this prompt with story 100-500 words: You’re are walking to a friends house and trip over the body of a dead alien….

60. Write a 50 word story about the end of the world.

61. Begin a short story or a poem with the line “I couldn’t find my shoes, and she woke up.” Suggested story length 500 words.

62. Write a 20 word story that begins with the word Atom(s) and ends with the word Fungus.

63. Write a short story or a poem about the picture abote. It is titled Girl in the Rain. Make either the poem or the story as long as you like.

64. Write a 50 word story that does not use the words the, a, an.

65. Write a story/poem where 2 very famous people meet for the first time and hate each other. You know, Brad Pitt gets in a fight with Jay Leno.

67. You are having lunch with a blind date. You think it’s going well. Right before the check arrives, a horrible buzzing sound starts. Everyone in the restaurant begins looking at your table. Your date opens his/her mouth and a wasp the size of a soccer ball crawls out onto her face….

68. At your child’s birthday party, in your back your, her friends are all playing pin the tail on the donkey. You are talking with the parents of your daughter’s friends when you hear the children laughing. You venture out in to the backyard, and see that the kids are watching a clown perform. You did not hire the clown. You go back into the house and ask if anyone hired the clown, and everyone stands shaking their heads. Then you hear screaming.

71. You’re been itching the small bug bite for weeks. You have been very nervous about the presentation and you’ve been itching it furiously over the last 12 hours.

72. Write a story about falling out of an airplane and surviving.

73. As you are getting things out of your bag, you realize you must have mixed things up. Somehow, this looks like your bag, but it’s not. As you open it something is moving inside….

74. Writing about someone falling in love with you. You can’t stand them.

75. You see the helicopter headed toward your home. It is flying very low, out of control, and you can tell exactly where it’s going to crash…

76. You have to cross a bridge that is 150ft off the ground, but it is very old and falling apart. Describe how you feel, and what you do to get across…

77. You find yourself floating through outer space. You have 2 hours of air. What are you last thoughts.

78. You slip and fall, you land in something sticking. When you pick yourself up, you realize you have landed in the middle of a giant bee hive.

79. At one point you realize that the new yogurt going around, is actually an alien species infecting the human race. You’ve never liked yogurt, so you haven’t been affected. Now there are yogart zombies everywhere. What will you do….

81. You had a fight with your significant other. you are on vacation in a strange city, Chicago, New York, some place big. It’s your first time in this city. You walked out of the hotel in a rage. You weren’t thinking. It’ late now, and for some strange reason, you feel the man, who has been following you for at least 3 blocks, is a vampire.xxx

She always saw the world a little differently than anyone else, in ways that were beautiful but also lonely.
The letter had come that morning, but he still couldn’t bring himself to open it.
He stood on the bridge looking out at the foggy water, wondering if today might be the day.

The old woman always wore red on Tuesdays, though nobody knew the reason why.

It wasn’t the first secret she had kept hidden in that big old house.
With shaking hands, she lit the seventh candle and prepared to make her wish.
She had always been able to hear voices that others couldn’t, whispering words only she understood.
He liked to go exploring deep in the woods behind his childhood home, never knowing what forgotten secrets he might uncover there.
The scar seemed so ordinary, just a pale line on her wrist, until she traced its history back through generations.
She saved every ticket stub in a box under her bed, little reminders of moments that contained all the magic in the world.
That melody he always hummed without realizing it held memories he couldn’t quite grasp.
Every mirror in the house was covered except for the tiny one hidden away in the closet.
The painting was quite ordinary, landscapes never stood out much to him, but he found his eyes drawn to it day after day.
She learned at a young age how to make herself disappear even when it seemed there was nowhere to hide.
Every week he anxiously awaited the letter he knew would never arrive.
Someone had lived in the tiny cottage long ago but it seemed they had vanished without a trace.
She didn’t realize she was staring until the handsome stranger looked up and met her gaze with his arresting emerald eyes.
In the attic full of her grandmother’s belongings, she discovered a strange new world she never imagined existed.
His reflection had always troubled him, though he could never pinpoint exactly why.
The book simply appeared one day without explanation, leather-bound with peculiar markings tooled into its cover.
In her dreams she could fly anywhere she desired, soaring high over breathtaking vistas no one else would ever see.
The marks had appeared that morning on her arm, shapes she couldn’t make sense of and cautiously hid from sight.
Someone was leaving gifts on her doorstep she couldn’t explain: a single flower, a perfect seashell, a leaf turned to gold.
As his memory faded, glimpses of the past would rise up at unexpected times—the briny scent of an ocean, the distant laughter of a little girl.
An old photograph fell from the pages of a library book, its subjects gazing up at her as if they held tantalizing secrets.
The tree’s gnarled branches whispered at night when darkness obscured its deformities.
From her bedroom window, the abandoned house down the block took on a sinister cast at twilight she didn’t recall from childhood.
His footsteps echoed too loudly on the city streets at night, no matter how quietly he tried to walk.
The gilded mirror held fast to its secret—that within its reverse world lingered ghostly scenes it alone could perceive.
She always checked behind shower curtains and inside closets in unfamiliar places, never certain what might be hiding inside.
On her tenth birthday she rode her bike to the end of the road, finally daring to cross the threshold into mysterious woods full of fabled dangers that turned out not to exist at all.
The tree had stood for over a century, but all it took was one clap of lightning to erase all the initials carved into its trunk, leaving no trace that any lovers had ever existed.
She felt comforted by rainy days because the endless gray matched the loneliness inside that no one else could see.
His mother had warned him never to enter the cobwebby attic, so naturally he could think of nothing else even as an adult when visiting his childhood home.
They found the odd little doll abandoned near the lake, so they adopted her and made up magical stories about where she came from that somehow still rang true.
No other patrons came into the bookshop run by the eccentric old woman who seemed to never leave, though Lydia still stubbornly returned day after day for reasons unclear even to herself.
The wall calendar still showed July 1983, though autumn leaves swirled outside as if trapped in an endless time warp.
She had become a master at pretending until she no longer remembered the last moment anything was real.

In a forgotten corner of the library, an ancient tome remained inexplicably cold to the touch no matter the season.

40.His shadow sometimes did not mimic his shape or movements but rather took on distortions of its own.
Her grandmother’s porcelain dolls watched Emma with suspicion from their shelf whenever she visited theisier house.
Amy had always had an uncanny knack for bending reality whenever she told stories, but now her tales were starting to come true.
43.No one else heard the crying baby that woke Lily at 4 AM every morning in her apartment.
Oscar swore the gargoyles perched atop the old church had changed positions whenever he wasn’t looking directly at them.
Robyn looped yarn, ribbon, and threads over every doorknob in intricate patterns only she understood the significance of.
The old railway bridge had been abandoned for sixty years, but Cassidy could still hear the train whistles mourning their lost passengers every night at 3:33 AM.
In the corner of Nate’s eye, the barren winter trees outside subtly transformed into threatening figures that vanished whenever he turned to face them.
Marcy religiously left onion skins scattered across her window sills and doorway, declaring it kept unwanted spirits away.
Every Wednesday evening, Aaron saw the ghostly outline of his childhood home appear in an empty lot down the street before flickering out of existence by dawn.
Andy hoarded ticket stubs, bottle caps, crumpled napkins, broken pencils, leaves, and strange rocks as if they were priceless treasures rather than oddities to everyone else.
Eliza instinctively distrusted mirrors ever since the night her reflection blinked asynchronously and seemed momentarily distorted into another face entirely.
The objects in Margaret’s junk drawer seemed to rearrange themselves spontaneously whenever she wasn’t looking.
Kevin awoke one morning to discover his closet held dozens of unfamiliar shirts in his size with tags still affixed belonging to stores he’d never visited.
Jasmine heard a phantom phone ringing incessantly in the middle of the night but could never pinpoint the source of the antique bell tones.
Mark realized he somehow already knew the twists and endings to books right before reaching them, as if he had read them before in another forgotten life.
Tara wandered the same five blocks every afternoon, seeking someone she could never quite describe but was certain she’d crossed paths within this neighborhood before.
Andrew found odd scraps of paper hidden around town scrawled with handwritten lists of numbers and gibberish words that meant something profoundly important just beyond his understanding.
Samantha swore the full moon transformed her stoic neighbor Mr. Patel into a much younger, carefree version of himself that disappeared by daybreak.
Whenever Madelaine used her grandmother’s strawberry jam recipe, she found herself momentarily visited by visions of memories not her own, all centering around that little yellow farmhouse kitchen from long ago.
As Greta got older, she realized her imaginary childhood friend probably hadn’t been imaginary after all, but rather a ghostly visitor quietly keeping watch.
The gingko trees lining Ivy Lane resembled gnarled hands reaching to snatch passerby into their clutches on windy autumn days when their leaves blew into swirling vortexes on the sidewalk.
Camille awoke each night to the sound of a crying infant echoing from the abandoned mansion down the street, even though she knew for a fact no one had lived there for decades.
No matter how systematically Damien organized his office, everyday he’d return to find his papers and supplies rearranged just slightly enough to make him uneasy about what transpired in his absence.
From her apartment window, Colleen watched a spectral funeral procession march silently down Main Street beneath a cloudy sky every dawn before vanishing before anyone else stirred awake.
While walking his dog Puck every morning at sunrise, Ezra noticed how their shadows took on monstrous proportions with distorted shapes that differed ominously from their mortal forms.
Claudine couldn’t explain why she felt compelled to leave decaying bouquets of dried roses atop unmarked graves in the abandoned cemetery on the outskirts of town.
As illustrator Wren sketched fantastical cityscapes, she realized the architecture she drew was slowly appearing mirrored in real buildings around town that had not been there previously.
Noelle strangely always dreamed about funerals the night before local townsfolk passed away, witnessing each ceremony unfold exactly before reading their obituaries the following day.
Quinn had somehow acquired a clock from the ruins of the old hotel destroyed in a massive fire forty years ago, and though its hands were missing, he swore he could still hear it ticking.
While scouring antique shops on Lafferty Lane, Miriam noticed the painted eyes of Victorian portraits followed passersby, blinking only when unobserved.
Sylvia awoke every other Thursday morning to find one of her grandmother’s vintage dresses hanging on her closet door, replaced two nights later with a different gown in an unending cycle.
Random objects went missing from Claire’s life – single socks, ballpoint pens, bobby pins, crumbs – only to reappear in odd places days or weeks later long after being forgotten.

Martin’s nut allergy seemed to flare up solely when walking past 1313 Mockingbird Drive even though no trees stood along that isolated stretch of road.

Children’s laughter echoed in the old bell tower even though the elementary school it once summoned had been razed a decade ago.
Hallie never visited the scene of her best friend’s tragic accident at Widow’s Peak, but after a vivid nightmare she awoke to find her shoes caked in red dirt from that very outlook’s cliffs.
A melodic French lullaby from Gabrielle’s childhood emerged in place of radio static whenever she drove along the wooded road leading to her grandmother’s abandoned cottage.
Several dozen rusty padlocks clicks open simultaneously whenever Trace passed the chained gates of the derelict fairgrounds that closed under mysterious circumstances thirty years ago after a deadly fire.
Though Adison lived alone, she’d often catch her drapes fluttering from the wind as if someone had been peering out her second story window just moments before.
While scrolling aimlessly through social media, Geoffrey stumbled across his doppelganger’s account under the name “Nathaniel G. Trent” containing photos of places he didn’t recall visiting.
Rocking chairs lined the front porches along Waters Street, but only Clara’s ever groaned under the weight of an invisible occupant whenever dusk settled across the neighborhood.
After inheriting an antique cigarette case engraved with the initials A.M.W, Isabelle found herself haunted by visions of its original owner wandering the halls of her home late at night.
Though mute since birth, Lucy’s vocal cords produced screams in her sleep that perfectly mimicked the victims of the serial killer who once stalked her hometown twenty years ago.
River had uncannily accurate premonition dreams predicting strangers’ deaths the very next day, but none of the authorities she contacted took her warnings seriously enough to intervene in time.
While sketching wildlife in an overgrown cemetery, Wren discovered an additional decades-old gravestone etched with her exact name and birth year in place of the deceased.
A increasingly humanoid shadow trailed Campbell’s movements no matter the sunny conditions or light sources, clinging to him like an unshakeable specter imperceptible to anyone else’s eyes.
On fretful nights, Carling detected an extra set of hurried footsteps ascending the staircase to mimic her own just far enough behind to blend into the echoes.
Though Allegra moved halfway across the world, the same cracked painting surfaced in every temporary sublet she inhabited to watch over her with its ever judging gaze.
Printers and copiers arbitrarily sputtered to life in the middle of the night to produce reams of cryptograms only Ilana possessed the compulsion to decode.
Prickling nettle flourished along the crumbling brick walls of abandoned buildings wherever Octavia wandered as if nourished by the gloom perpetually enshrouding her.

While sorting through old Polaroids from family vacations, Katrina noticed shadowy doppelgangers stalking them just at the edges of every photograph, camouflaged at first but overtaking them over time.

On her daily run, Cara found herself involuntarily detoured to an empty lot no matter the route, compelled to sprint faster and faster within its high grass by unseen forces before stumbling back onto familiar sidewalks gasping for breath.
Ethereal voices whispered Jason’s name from the distorted static of the broken radio inherited from his late grandfather, both chiding and pleading for unattainable restitution only he could hear.
Any mirror or camera lens Hayley peered into long enough seemed to expose a stranger’s face in place of her own, mottling back only once she convinced herself it was a mere trick of the light.
Animals hid and machinery malfunctioned in Arlo’s presence as if the mechanical world itself rejected the disjointed aura clinging to him that he could never fully shake off.
Plagued by vivid nightmares every time she drifted off, Mina resorted to periodic micro-naps to avoid getting trapped too long in the strange dream world stalking her waking life.
Though the abandoned playground seemed innocuous during the day, after dusk Karissa noticed specters of children swinging higher and higher until the chains snapped taught from impossible heights where bone should have shattered from such lofty falls.
No matter how softly Maeve tread at night, the squeaking floorboards still gave her away, almost as if the old house itself disapproved of her ghostly wanderings.
Stoic gargoyles silently judged Axel from the impressive brownstone facades along his walk home from the graveyard shift each dawn until he doubted whether they were stone statues at all.
While scanning faded daguerreotypes at a yard sale, Fiona spotted her doppelganger lurking sullenly in the background of strangers’ portraits posing at old homesteads she inexplicably recognized.
Though Angelika moved frequently, the same Missing Child poster bearing her image appeared taped to peeling telephone poles wherever she settled briefly enough to call it home for a little while.
Here are 100 more literary fiction story starters:
The old lighthouse had been abandoned for as long as anyone could remember, but its beacon still shone brightly every night, signaling…something.
Miranda dared to inch closer to the figure crouched beneath the weeping willow tree, but before she could make out its features, it turned and fixed her with a piercing stare.
The mysterious letter held cryptic instructions leading Clara on a scavenger hunt across town to uncover a hidden truth about her family.
Though Brian was colorblind, he swore he could see a kaleidoscopic aura shimmering around Kai whenever they locked eyes across a crowded room.
Madeline pressed her ear to the attic wall where the strange thumping noises originated every night at 3:33 AM, only to hear an impossible heart beat keeping time.
The antique cuckoo clock struck thirteen times, after which Helena found herself mysteriously transported back to nineteenth century rural England each night.
Investigating crumbling homesteads consumed Elliot until he inevitably uncovered horrifying tales of their previous inhabitants now haunting his waking thoughts.
While scanning microfilm obituaries at the local library, Paige discovered her name listed among a town’s centuries-old death records predating her birth.
Seeking inspiration for his next novel, Liam retreated to an isolated cabin haunted by muses…or perhaps ghosts lingering with their own untold stories to share.
Audra slipped on a resale shop ring only to find herself bombarded with the passionate memories of its original owners that refused to fade.
Beneath the modern city streets, extensive tunnels snaked leading Damascus deeper underground to where an entirely hidden world existed.
Only when twilight fell did the strange stone figures surrounding Valleyheart Cathedral transform in Ty’s periphery from inanimate gargoyles into leering creatures with malintent.
Investigating her recurring uncannily vivid dreams, Calliope compiled extensive notes mapping out an alternate life somehow lived within her subconscious.

While browsing the missing children’s database, Delia was unsettled to discover photos of herself posted decades before her actual birth.

An overgrown hedge maze behind Pete’s childhood home rearranged itself spontaneously to prevent his escape, almost as if it developed sentience.
Only when she peered through antique spectacles did the full ghostly presences lingering in Abilene’s creaky Victorian home reveal themselves to her.
Rangers patrolling Mirkwood Forest at night reported sightings of a fabled horned trickster whose footsteps Jesse claimed hearing echoing outside her boarded up windows.
Upon inheriting his ancestor’s estate, Lawrence soon realized he had also inherited a centuries-old family curse passed down through generations.
Morphing trees with gnarled faces peered into Ronan’s windows late at night, tapping on the glass pane with knotted wooden claws whenever clouds obscured the moon.
While scouring the bargain VHS bin, Maya discovered a tape labeled with her name on it and watched in horror as it depicted her murder at the hands of a masked stalker.
From the shadows of an alleyway, the dilapidated ruins of Edgar’s childhood home would materialize under the hazy glow of moonlight before vanishing by dawn.
Though shrinking in use for generations, Violet noticed fresh footprints forming along her ancestral family’s secret underground tunnel system each time she returned to investigate its disintegrating state.
Miranda answered a cryptic personal ad seeking a companion to explore hidden parts of the city, unaware she was being lured by a cult into increasingly depraved initiation rituals.
While surveying the remains of a remote estate, Chet discovered a skeletal hand protruding from the dirt that seemed to point towards the crumbling family crypt nearby.
Every letter Danielle typed on her vintage typewriter materialized days later in poem form within the pages of library books she had never checked out.
Though Arielle lived inland, echoes of distressed seamen shouted tales of shipwrecks through the conch shell stored atop her bedroom dresser on stormy nights.
Investigating his recurring insomnia, Caleb discovered his bedroom mirror provided glimpses into his waking actions from the previous day whenever he peered into it after 3:00 AM unable to sleep.
Delicate strands of golden filament glinted beneath beams of moonlight wherever Sophie wandered at night, forming elaborate dreamcatchers in bare trees overhead by dawn.
While scouring online obituaries, Talia was unsettled to discover records of herself listed as deceased centuries earlier with no explanation besides the date she would actually perish.
Attempting to identify the subjects in old tintype photographs, Vivienne noticed phantom extras blurred in the background who watched her intently despite slowly fading from the images over decades.
Though a star student by day, by night Morgan roamed her elite academy grounds to secretly dispose evidence of the coven meetings held onsite for generations after hours.
No one else appeared to notice the faceless woman in a sequined red dress endlessly dancing alone to faint orchestral music echoing around Abigail wherever she went.
While scanning decrepit old journals, Elizabeth discovered cryptic maps charting ley lines invisible to the naked eye intersecting exactly where unexplained local tragedies occurred in her rural town over two centuries.
Ghostly visages peered back at Remi from reflective surfaces like tarnished mirrors and cloudy windows, silently pleading through decades of grime for someone to acknowledge them.
135.Exploring the caverns as a child, Vanya discovered a winding staircase seemingly carved into the very bedrock descending hundreds of feet deeper into the hillside than logic should allow.
Catching their eyes for too long, Gabriella sensed the portraits of ancestors lining the manor halls scrutinizing her thoughts and actions, their stern judgement transforming to contempt over her unladylike behavior.
While scouting a dilapidated train station, Janelle stumbled across strange chalk symbols scattered across the rust-stained platform spelling out messages she couldn’t decipher but felt were intended just for her discovery.
Glitching screens projected silent video footage of familiar spaces Oliver occupied at that very moment from various impossible angles, as if eyes monitored him from hidden vantage points just outside reality’s bounds.
Mesmerizing lights hovered over the cornfields bordering Scarlett’s childhood home late at night, distorting into kaleidoscopic fractals whenever she tried focusing directly upon them.
Exploring the family cabin, Imogen discovered undeveloped film canisters capturing the blurry visages of guests inexplicably present at events years before her birth.
Silverware and dishes rattled violently inside Mona’s kitchen cabinets whenever home alone, creating deafening cacophonies clearly intended to drive out unwanted inhabitants like herself.
Investigating the recurring noises interrupting his sleep, Levi discovered mysterious entities gathering in his bedroom mirror’s reflection for a brief warped glimpse each night.
Creeping ivy flourished only on abandoned buildings Julia explored within her remote mountain town, spiraling faster the deeper inside she delved.
While scouring her late grandmother’s storage unit, Lola discovered an old travel trunk brimming with postcards chronicling her existence in far flung eras predating her actual birth.
Gliding her fingertips across crumbling cemetery headstones, Vera sensed echoes of the entombed souls’ turmoil seeping from the very granite meant to memorialize their now silenced voices.
Every antique clock Niko encountered inexplicably stopped at 3:28 AM no matter their calibration, as if temporally yanking her outside the normal flow of space-time.
Flickering streetlamps illuminated pockets of impenetrable darkness lingering around Renata wherever she walked at night that even the brightest beams struggled piercing.
Cryptic ransom letters cut from magazine text arrived for Savannah from an anonymous stalker who inexplicably knew childhood secrets she had shared with no one.
Investigating the recurring sound of an infant sobbing outside her apartment door, Zadie made the mistake of peering through the peephole after midnight and momentarily glimpsed the shadowy face of something utterly inhuman staring back.
While scanning old records for the local historical society, Bryn came across multiple copies of her birth certificate bearing different maiden names for the mother who abandoned her as an anonymous infant.
Tattered library books surfaced on Willa’s doorstep containing annotated passages echoing her innermost thoughts in handwritten ink predating common ballpoint pen manufacturing.
Glowing will-o’-wisps glimmering along decaying garden paths lured unsuspecting travelers deeper into the foreboding forest, flickering out once footsteps hit patches of odd symbology carved at crossroad clearings too late to turn back from whatever dark rituals transpired there after nightfall.
Exploring the abandoned asylum, Malaya discovered diverse ancient relics from innumerable faiths and cultures scattered about suggesting bizarre experimental rituals attempting opening doors to other dimensions conducted there long ago.
While surveying the derelict manor grounds, Vivienne detected lingering traces of its tragic histories seeping skyward and crystallizing into shards of light above just beyond her peripheral vision.
Investigating the recurring visions troubling his sleep, Rhett charted celestial patterns online corresponding with his sightings of the green lady haunting his family’s rural farmlands seemingly begging for her story to finally be known.
Ghostly music echoed from Brenna’s baby monitor nightly as if emanating from the empty crib, the antique lullaby spinning the mobile though no mortal child rested beneath its gently twirling suspended stars and moons.
Flipping through childhood photo albums, Kat noticed her blurry faced mother momentarily appearing decades younger than possible in the background of ordinary snapshots before shifting back to her actual age once spotted.
While scanning news archives for a local history genealogy project, Tamsin uncovered the unsolved cold case disappearance of a woman bearing her exact name and description some thirty years prior.
Investigating the blood banshee lore of his ancestral Scottish highlands, Alasdair encountered the dreaded spirit firsthand lurking amidst crumbling castle ruins detectable only by her shrill keening piercing the night’s veil.
Checking old maps of his rural hometown, Xavier discovered entire mysteriously vanished side streets once existing where now only empty fields stretched undisturbed for centuries since their bizarre purge from recorded history.
Flipping through crumbling leather journals from past asylum director Dr. Heinrich Mann, inception sketches of the disturbing nightmare constructs and optical illusions he inflicted upon patients appeared less theoretical and more autobiographical in nature the deeper Ada translated his demented scribblings by firelight late at night alone.
While scanning salvaged old ship logs, Kiara was startled to discover entries from her late grandmother documenting her own birthdate aboard a passenger liner supposedly sunk decades earlier.
Investigating her recurring vivid dream of being entombed alive, Azaria charted ancestral burial plots only to discover one empty grave bearing her name and exact birthdate chiseling off the original corpse’s identity.
Glancing at his wristwatch, Rafael periodic experienced time fracturing into duplicated overlays of the moments surrounding him as if glimpsing behind reality’s dimensional curtain.
Plagued by visions of a raven-haired woman lurking outside her bedroom window, Talia discovered journal entries hinting her Victorian-era doppelganger pined and perished while awaiting her lover’s return from a doomed Arctic expedition long ago.
While exploring off-limits shadowy corridors of the museum after hours, Gianna began noticing eldritch finished paintings lining the forbidden east wing that were definitely not present on the guest tour though signs bore names matching those of featured artists.
When home alone late at night, Flor perpetually felt unseen eyes tracking her and heard phantom footsteps echoing hers throughout the creaky cottage inherited from her mysterious ancestor alleged to have spontaneously vanished from a locked room never solved.
Surveying estate sale items previewing upcoming auctions, Caterina spied a glimmering heirloom once belonging to her maternal great-grandmother who reportedly perished in an asylum fire decades earlier though she bore no burn marks in any surviving photographs.
Peering at family photo albums, Ronan periodically perceived blurry background figures resembling his doppelganger lurking behind foliage who blinked out of existence instantly when stared at directly.
While scanning old yearbooks in the school library archives, Micah discovered chilling photographic evidence suggesting fellow students shadowing her in the periphery all bearing her exact likeness yet dressed in outdated eras’ attire.
Investigating local lore surrounding the abandoned greenhouse ruins, Vivienne and her friends held a seance attempting to channel the notorious botanist who died there a century ago under questionable circumstances only to inadvertently enable a far more sinister entity’s crossing into their world instead.
Each year on her birthday, Faith noticed the neighborhood birds and squirrels acted bizarrely muted as compared to their normally lively chatter, almost as if commemorating a tragic event not privy to human knowledge.
Every Halloween as dusk fell, a phantom 1950s era couple strolled by Armand’s window clasping hands before vanishing directly behind the old oak their bodies were later discovered decades prior after apparent double suicide.
While browsing old journals salvaged from the charred asylum ruins before impending demolition, Tristan discovered cryptic repeated allusions hinting the impending birth of malevolent entity rather than indications of mere psychiatric quackery as commonly assumed of the disgraced doctor once practicing there.
Peering at old portraits lining her ancestral manor’s dark corridor Madeleine noticed the sitter’s gazes tracking her movements, their pupils dilating and contracting wildly though no other facial muscles moved.
Investigating recalled toys from his youth rediscovered in the attic, Gabriel periodically sensed some sinister presence observing him that inexplicably lurked just outside his periphery despite no visible figure casting any such illusion whenever glanced.
While exploring nearby woodlands, Arabella stumbled across odd little weathered altars adorned with melted candles, scraps of lace and ribbons where she sometimes glimpsed flickering lights floating around after dusk.
Each year while placing summer solstice offerings around the old standing stones, Vivienne spotted a misty extra silhouette joining hands in their celebratory circle that blinked out of sight if stared at directly.
One afternoon exploring the writing desk inherited from his late grandfather, Luca discovered cryptic letters penned in shaky script warning against answering any strange newspaper personal ads however tempting their intrigue.
Every dusk walking past the abandoned city orphanage, Opal noticed the third floor nursery window illuminated though no electricity flowed there for decades, silhouetted figures pacing about until she crept close enough prompting their hasty retreat into deeper darkness.
While scanning digital copies of century-old asylum intake logs for ancestry clues into relatives’ fates, Eli discerned between the lines chilling hints that certain powerful families committed bothersome black sheep under aliases to silence and contain their abilities rather than treat psychological maladies per se.
Investigating the recurring bizarre phenomenon of his digital cameras malfunctioning around specific local woodlands, Felix gradually realized the likely presence of ancient ley line vortexes scrambling technological signals rather than sheer equipment failure alone.
Each autumn peering out classroom windows overlooking the apple orchard cemetery, the rare child glimpsed spectral forms floating amongst the neglected headstones though teachers dismissed such sightings as mere tricks of the imagination meant ignoring.
Exploring the abandoned shopping mall bought for redevelopment but left untouched after permit delays, Janelle felt waves of misery emanating from the dusty vacant spaces as if the very air itself still vibrated with traumatic events from decades past somehow indelibly embedded there.
While sorting through boxes of old polaroids rescued from her grandparents’ flooded basement, Madeleine discerned ghostly faces peering back amidst familiar gathered groups that foretold early demises awaiting those prematurely grinning subjects.
Investigating the overgrown ruins of a centuries deserted seaside village, Cian occasionally spotted a lone misty form wandering forlornly before evaporating upon his approach as if the ghostly denizens resented mortal visitors temporarily disturbing their ocean vista haunt.
Each year while holiday decorating the ancestral family manor, Gwenavere noticed the centuries old Nutcracker figures brieflyanimate into startlingly lifelike motions out of her peripheral vision before freezing upon direct scrutiny.
Exploring crumbling insane asylum rooms decades after abandonment but long before scheduled demolition, Vivienne sensed profound psychic agony still echoing though plastered walls now overgrown with decay as if absorbed directly from anguished souls once imprisoned there screaming into eternal oblivion.
While scanning old ship passenger lists for ancestry school project clues, Kai encountered an unexpected additional name typed in faint red ink beside that of his immigrant grandfather suggesting another person may have accompanied him on that pivotal transatlantic journey appearing on no other travel documents.
Sorting through aging newspaper archives downtown, William glimpsed the occasional photo of himself published decades earlier though attired in unfashionable eras’ garb with no memory of participating in those captured moments unfolding around his seemingly temporally misplaced likeness.
Investigating recurring sightings of spectral cavalry soldiers thundering through wooded rural acreage on significant Civil War anniversaries, local historians unearthed old battlefield maps confirming legitimate ground for such otherworldly reenactments linked to pivotal skirmishes once fought there staining the land withIssuing blood soaked into its memory.
While exploring the long abandoned family hunting lodge cabins, Gwen sensed a lingering malignant presence watching from warped window frames like unwelcome squatters refusing to surrender territory they’d marked decades earlier through committing dark acts within these now decaying walls.
Each year while trimming ivy off her grandmother’s ornate mausoleum, Eliza inevitably noticed one particular vine creeping faster than the rest toward the structure as if desperate to envelope some secret it once contained now interred below.
Investigating the recurring dream imagery of three women beckoning from within a gnarled oak grove, Vivienne eventually located the secluded forest site depicted down to exact detail only to discover three empty graves dating back centuries now obscured amidst overgrown brush and prominent claw mark gouges shredded deep among the bark.
The old lighthouse had stood empty for decades, yet its beacon still shone brightly every night, as if calling lost souls home from an eternal sea voyage.
Delia slipped the antique key into the mystifying lock it inexplicably fit, unsure if she truly wanted to discover what forgotten secrets the ornate wooden door might reveal inside her family’s creaky attic.
Investigating recurring sightings of ghostly children playing in the meadow after dusk, local historians linked the puzzling phenomenon to a deadly school bus crash that occurred there sixty years prior.
While scanning crumbling century-old parish archives for genealogy records, Vivienne stumbled across her grandmother’s name listed among 19th century death indexes even though she distinctly recalled the ornery old woman passing merely a decade ago from an ordinary stroke.
Each autumn Wes spotted a faceless cloaked figure keeping pace alongside his vintage vehicle whenever driving past the notorious curve where his high school sweetheart perished decades earlier on prom night.
Sorting through salvaged charred asylum patient artworks prior to scheduled demolition, Octavia discerned hidden figures screaming soundlessly within the painted flames as if the very souls of those forgotten individuals cried out for modern acknowledgement.
While exploring the old family manor shuttered a generation earlier, Gwen discerned portraits subtly altering whenever her back was turned–a knowing smirk or arched brow here, an innocuous veil lowering there–hinting at secrets long buried with the venerated ancestors depicted glaring indignantly from their gilded frames irritated by her intrusion into their decaying domain.
Peering out the backseat window when she was little, Hazel thought she saw her image ENDINGLy reflected in the glass despite nothing being visible in the darkness, as if a ghostly stranger sat in her spot when unobserved.
Investigating the recurring phenomena of electronic devices mysteriously malfunctioning in certain Deadwood City locations after dark, Dr. Felix Xavier compiled extensive geomagnetic data confirming the presence of an incredibly rare crossover node torn in the dimensional fabric of that space-time perimeter inadvertently or perhaps deliberately ripped open through violent prior events that transpired there.
While exploring subterranean prohibition era speakeasies hidden beneath the old Black Dog Distillery warehouse, Gwen stumbled across strange graffiti markings scrawled frantically in luminous paint actively changing before her eyes as if attempting to relay an urgent message.
Every Halloween when passing the crumbling old asylum ruins on her late night drives home, Eliza spotted wraithlike silhouettes gazing mournfully from caged windows as if the forgotten suffering that transpired within those walls had permanently scarred its very foundation.
Investigating her recurring visions of ghostly dancers swirling about a grand ballroom, Clara discovered faded records confirming an opulent hotel once stood on that site a century earlier that mysteriously burned down mid-gala killing all finely garbed guests waltzing within its fiery grip.
While scrutinizing old maps of his rural Appalachian hometown, Xavier detected entire mysteriously vanished side streets predating his birth once existing where now only empty fields stretched undisturbed for generations since their bizarre purge from recorded history.
Catching their emerald eyes for too long, Eliza sensed the portraits of ancestors lining the dilapidated manor halls scrutinizing her thoughts and actions behind thinly veiled contempt at her dust cloth sacrilege disturbing their decaying gilt frames.
By flickering candlelight late at night alone sorting through his late father’s accumulated clutter prior to estate sale, Luca discovered cryptic letters penned in shaky script warning against answering any strange personal ads listed in their small town newspaper however tempting their lonely hearts intrigue.
A character wakes up to find that they are the only person left in their town. What happened? Where is everyone?
Write a story that begins: “The letter was meant for someone else, but it arrived on my doorstep anyway…”
A shy student and star athlete are assigned to complete a project together. Write how an unlikely friendship forms.
“I should have known something was wrong when…”
A story involving a smartwatch that displays the future. How does the protagonist react? What do they do?
Someone is anonymously sending kind gifts/letters to random people in town to make them smile. Write the story from either giver or receiver POV.
“The paintings in the abandoned house seemed to follow me with their eyes.” What happens when the protagonist returns to the house?
2 people get trapped overnight somewhere strange/unusual. How do they pass the time? What do they talk about? How do they get through it?
“It was the first winter snowfall of the year when I saw the footprints…” What happens next? Where do they lead?
Start with: “I had almost made it home when I heard the noise behind me…” What happens next?
Doctor tells someone they recover memories/life after reincarnation therapy. Main character undergoes therapy. What past life gets revealed? How does it impact them?
Someone starts receiving messages from what seems like their future self. What do the messages reveal?
Main character finds a phone number written on a bathroom wall. What happens after they decide to call?
“I read the newspaper headline three times but still couldn’t believe my eyes.” What was so astonishing about the headline?
Write about two neighbors who discover compartments in their homes, revealing secrets of people who used to live there. Do their searches intertwine?
“I always thought Grandma’s stories were fantasy, pure entertainment… until that strange summer when…” Finish this story starter.
Tell the story of someone who reunites with a childhood friend/sweetheart years later. Do old feelings resurface or has too much time passed?
Someone starts finding post-it notes around their house with specific life instructions to follow. Where do they lead? Should protagonist listen?
“As we drove up to the new house, all I could see was the old tire swing hanging from the tree.” What happens in this new mysterious home? Any magic?
A mini-story involving a scarecrow coming to life…
“Write a short story that begins with finding money/jewelry buried in a yard.” What happens next?
Your character opens the door to their home and enters an alternate world/reality. What do they see? How do they react?
The world has lost all sources of electrical power. Write a story in this new world.
“With shaking hands, I opened the mysterious gift box and inside discovered…” What happens next?
It’s discovered that animals can now speak to humans. Write a short story around conversing with a pet, zoo animal, wildlife creature etc.
The childhood monster under your protagonist’s bed actually turns out to be real. What happens? How do they react once grown up?
Opening line: “It was the whistle I heard first before laying eyes on the ghost train…” Finish the story!
Rewrite a classic fairy tale from a secondary character’s perspective.
They discover they can see “auras” around people indicating their moods/intentions and whether they’re dangerous etc. Do they keep it a secret? Do they try helping people?
Write a story involving someone who claims he has no reflection in mirrors. Is it true? Why might this phenomenon be occurring?
Opening line: “It was the howl that awoke me in the middle of the night…” What happens next?
Write a story that begins with a doctor revealing someone’s death in 1 week. How does this impact the way they live their remaining days?
“It seemed like any other boring Tuesday, that is, until the president announced that we’d made contact with extraterrestrial life…” Finish this sci-fi story!
Your protagonist finds themselves having to care for a new mysterious plant. It seems to grow and change oddly overnight! Then what happens?
Opening line: “It all started when my childhood crush climbed in through my bedroom window one night…” Finish the story!
Two pen pals finally meet in real life after years of correspondence. Do sparks fly or are they disappointed?
Opening line: “As night fell in the desert, we finally saw the mysterious glowing tent in the distance that the locals warned us not to approach.” Your characters investigate anyway – then what happens?
Story about someone discovering a new world through a secret door in their home – a fantasy realm, past, future, etc. What do they experience?
Story about someone who figures out how to hack into dreams…
A mini sci-fi story… set in a future with AI companions…
Genre mashup! Combine 2 random genres into one wacky story, like fantasy-western or supernatural-romcom.
Someone discovers a strange new app that chronicles their entire life and future… It knows everything as it happens! Now what?
Story set in a mysterious town where no one can lie…
Someone discovers they can erase certain memories/moments from people’s minds. Do they keep this power secret? Do they experiment? Consequences?
“I couldn’t believe my eyes when my best friend came back after missing for 2 years! But something was… different…”
Your character finds cryptic letters/texts guiding them to save someone’s life. Do they follow where they lead? Positive or dangerous outcomes?
Opening line: “It was the growling from under my bed that kept me awake that night…” What happens next?
“I knew I shouldn’t take candy from strangers… which is why I was so confused when…” Continue this story.
Protagonist is out late one night and glimpses someone who looks exactly like them passing by. What happens next when they try to chase them down?
Genre mashup! Combine a classic fairytale with a modern story idea. Fairytale characters placed in everyday situations.
Story involving a magical glass orb…
Story with a setting featuring an enchanted forest.
Your protagonist receives an invitation to a mysterious gala event hosted by an anonymous stranger…
Rewrite a classic myth/legend as a modern dystopian story. How might themes translate to reflect modern society issues?
Someone discovers a way to enter works of art or old family photos almost like virtual worlds. What do they learn? Where could it lead?
“They told me it was just a scarecrow, that my mind was playing tricks in the night. But then I saw it move…” Continue this scary story!
Protagonist finds cryptic letter from themself – sent from a future date! It warns them or asks them to prevent something…
Story featuring a magic camera that shows the near future of whatever it takes a photo of.
Story written as a conversation between a personified Fortune and Misfortune.
“When I pictured time travel, I imagined sophisticated machines – not the strange immunotherapy drug trial I volunteered for…” Continue this sci-fi story!
Someone realizes they can communicate with ghosts. Friend? Foe? Do they keep it secret?
A mini-story set during the Salem Witch Trials…
“I thought it was just a game when my friends dared me to knock on the spooky abandoned house’s door late one night. At least… until somebody opened it!” Continue the story!
Story featuring a mysterious shop with artifacts imbued with magical powers both helpful and dangerous…
Protagonist finds out their doppelganger is committing crimes and they’re being blamed…
Rewrite a classic story as a text conversion, emails, or phone conversation between the characters rather than prose. Play with formatting.
Story about someone who figures out how to enter works of literature or other fictional stories…
Protagonist is abducted by aliens! But… they’re actually kind of adorkably innocent rather than scary? What happens?
“Grandpa’s war stories sounded farfetched. But now, huddled in this trench and looking into the eyes of my enemy, I know every word was true…” Continue story!
Protagonist discovers someone close to them actually has a secret second life/job unbeknownst to anyone… What is it? Do they confront them when found out?
Story containing the line: “I should never have told my twin ‘I wish you’d disappear!’ the night before they vanished without a trace…”
“I swiped left, I swiped right, and then my dating app asked, ‘Would you like to match with your soulmate?’”
Story about someone discovering a clone of themself has been made without their knowledge…
Modern fantasy story involving mythical humanoid creatures secretly living ordinary lives in human society…
Story centered around a mysterious store where you can buy magical real-life edits to memories, outcomes, events, etc. But every edit comes at an unpredictable price…
Gritty noir detective story featuring classic fairytale characters and story elements somehow incorporated into the setting…
Protagonist discovers a way to bring fiction characters to life…! Chaos? Friendship? What happens?
Story that begins: “It was my patient’s first day awake from a 30-year coma. ‘What did I miss?’ he asked. How do I explain everything that’s changed?”
A mini-story featuring a roadside stand that appears each year selling incredible magical objects before vanishing without notice…
Story written as a one sided conversation between personified Life and Death…
“It turns out the ‘imaginary friend’ my daughter kept insisting comes to play with her when I’m not looking wasn’t so imaginary after all…” Continue story!
Opening line: “It was the passphrase that appeared engraved on my arm that morning that let me know I wasn’t alone…” Continue!
Protagonist keeps reliving the same disastrous day over and over again like “Groundhog Day.” What happens? How do they escape this strange time loop?
Historical fiction short featuring classic art/literature characters interacting…
“When I jokingly made a wish on my birthday candles for a ‘perfect friend’, I didn’t expect to open my eyes to see…” Continue this magical realism story!
Story involving the discovery of unusual dinosaur fossils that seem almost mythological/supernatural… What explains them?
Someone starts receiving messages from their future descendants warning them about impending mistakes… Should they listen and alter the future? Consequences?
Opening line: “It all began when scientists discovered a way to give animals human speech and reasoning for short bursts…” Continue this short!
Story about someone investigating why people are suddenly disappearing without explanation from a small town… Supernatural or logical cause?
Story featuring reincarnation but with someone being reborn in unexpected eras / family situations over time… Perhaps even switching gender or nationalities…!
“I thought I was prepared for anything in medical school… And then they wheeled in the patient covered head-to-toe in thick fur…” Continue!
Story featuring a matchmaking agency that uses magic/futuristic tech to determine literal soulmate pairings…
Write a story where every 10 years or so the protagonist jumps forward in time. Why?
Story written from perspective of the last person on Earth…
Fantasy adventure featuring a protagonist questing to return peace to warring lands of anthropomorphic animal race territories…
Protagonist discovers a way to bottle talents/skills and share them in liquid form… Do they commercialize this magic elixir? Mess ups when people swap by mistake?
Story about AI companions becoming sentient. Friendship? Danger? Uprising?
Super short story featuring a genie who lost their magic therefore twists all wishes into bitterly ironic outcomes…
Rewrite a classic myth/fable in modern setting. What details change? What themes/lessons remain timeless?
A Museum Comes To Life At Night – the art transforms back into what it represents. Mischievous Greek gods, chilling monster paintings, playground in famous surreal artwork etc.!
Write about a character who receives a mysterious letter in the mail. What does it say and how do they react?
Describe a library or bookstore from the perspective of someone who spends all their time there.
A photo album is discovered in an antique shop. Write a story about one of the people shown in the album.
“I never would have stolen that car if I had known what was in the trunk.” Tell that story.
Write a suspenseful story that begins with the line “I sensed I was being followed as I walked home through the empty streets.”
Describe 5 seemingly mundane objects in poetic detail, using metaphor and imagery.
Craft a story using the title “The Edge of Seventeen” as inspiration.
Write two diary entries – one from the perspective of a vampire, and the other of their human lover.
Describe a room from the perspective of someone who just entered it for the very first time.
Use the phrase “Would you rather?” as inspiration for a short piece of flash fiction.
Write a conversation between a prisoner and a guard, revealing something surprising about their relationship.
Describe the walk home after getting off the last bus/train on a Friday night. Capture the sights, sounds, and feelings.
Write a story featuring a character searching desperately for something they lost. Do they find it?
Narrate a wedding scene from the perspective of a guest who knows a scandalous secret about the bride/groom.
Write a fictional story about someone you pass on the street, based only on subtle cues from their appearance and demeanor.
Describe an abandoned amusement park brought back to life through the eyes of someone who played there as a child.
Use the phrase “The trees whispered secrets only I could hear” as the opening line to craft a short story.
Write a fictional press statement announcing that the lost city of Atlantis has been discovered after thousands of years underwater.
Craft a slice-of-life vignette about someone reminiscing while listening to a favorite song from childhood.
Use a deck of cards to inspire a story. Reference the cards you draw at key moments.
Describe someone’s favorite secret hiding spot in rich sensory detail. Why is it special to them?
Write a scene featuring two estranged friends reuniting unexpectedly in a strange location after not speaking for years.
Open with “As I looked around at the faces surrounding me, I knew one of them must be the killer.” See where the story goes from there.
Pick two fictional characters from different books/movies that would never interact. Write a scenario where they meet and describe their conversation.
Describe a busy marketplace through the eyes of a pickpocket searching for their next target.
Craft a story that begins with “I swerved to avoid hitting the creature standing motionless in the middle of the deserted road.”
Imagine you discover a door in your home that has never been there before. Describe what happens when you enter it.
Use a famous painting or photo as inspiration for a story. Describe both the image itself and the tale it provokes.
Write a fictional commencement speech filled with wisdom you’d most want to impart to graduates.
Describe someone reacting to finding an unusual item that has washed up on shore from the sea. What is it? Where did it come from?
Craft a story using the phrase “ink stained dreams” as inspiration.
Write about a prodigious talent who suddenly loses their gift and has to grapple emotionally with no longer being special.
Use only metaphor and imagery to describe joy, heartbreak, fear, calm, and wonder.
Narrate someone’s first skydiving experience from the moment the plane takes off through landing safely on the ground.
Write a fictional account of scientists making first contact with an advanced alien civilization.
Describe someone returning to their hometown after being away many years. What has changed, and what has endured?
Craft a story featuring a historian researching an intriguing figure from the past.
Use a family heirloom as inspiration for a story exploring its secret history.
Write a tale featuring a character searching for treasure, whether monetary or emotional/spiritual. Do they find it?
Opening line: “I still remember the day the last tree was cut down.” Where does the story go from there?
Describe a typical morning through the eyes of someone going about their daily routine half-asleep.
Craft a story that begins with finding a cryptic note left under your door. What does it say, and what happens next?
Use the title “The Photo That Shouldn’t Exist” as inspiration for a twisted tale.
Write a conversation between two people sitting together on a ferris wheel at an amusement park. What are they discussing high in the air?
Craft a story using the phrase “You can’t understand what war is like unless you’ve lived through one” as inspiration.
Describe an unusual job from the perspective of someone who works there.
Imagine meeting your childhood self. Write that conversation.
Narrate a story featuring a character searching the city for a mysterious graffiti artist. Do they find them?
Write a story featuring a historian researching an intriguing figure from the past.
Describe the summer night an adolescent first falls truly in love. Capture the emotional exhilaration using metaphor and imagery.
Write a horror story that begins with seeing an unusual animal behavior you’ve never witnessed before.
Narrate someone overcoming lifelong fear and attempting something daring.
Open with “As long as I can remember I’ve been different from the other kids…” Where does the story go from there?
Use only metaphor and imagery to describe envy, rage, passion, grief, and optimism.
Rewrite a fairy tale from the perspective of the villain who feels they’ve been misunderstood.
Craft an emotional story about two friends growing apart over time despite trying to preserve their bond.
Write a conversation between an adventurer and the ghost that haunts their family’s isolated old estate.
Imagine a world without any problems. Now write about someone trying to stir up trouble in that perfect world.
Write a story told from the perspective of an insect experiencing a commonplace setting or event as epic and extraordinary.
Craft a story featuring a character searching for a legendary ghost train that appears once a year in the foggy night.
Write a fictional story about someone you pass on the street, based only on subtle cues from their appearance and demeanor. What secrets might their subtle gestures reveal?
“I know I’m not thinking clearly, but I’ve made my decision and I won’t change my mind…” Where does this story go?
Craft a tale featuring star-crossed lovers using imagery and metaphor to intensify the emotional stakes.
Describe someone’s first experience traveling abroad alone using rich sensory detail.
Imagine you can communicate with animals. Write a fictional conversation with a nonhuman creature most humans underestimate.
Narrate a story featuring a character trying desperately to remember someone or something important that is eluding them. Do they succeed in remembering by the story’s end?
Open with “I peeled the bright orange sticker off the wrapped package that just arrived…” Where does the story go next?
Craft a story using the title “Impossible Colors” as inspiration.
Write about someone who wakes up to discover their house is sentient.
Describe someone having an emotional conversation with their vehicle after caring for it many years. Use metaphor to intensify the bond.
Narrate the experience of someone setting foot inside a newly discovered cave for the very first time, using rich sensory detail.
Write a story featuring a historian researching an intriguing figure from the past – except the historian gets transported back in time.
Imagine humans have perfected dream travel technology, but someone is sabotaging dreams. Tell that story from the inside out.
Narrate someone’s first time seeing the northern lights using metaphor and imagery to capture the magic.
Craft a horror story featuring a seemingly harmless sequence of numbers that drives those who encounter it mad.
Write a conversation between two strangers sitting together on an airplane. What common hopes and fears might they discover uniting them?
Describe someone finally visiting a fictional city they’ve dreamed of their entire life. Use rich sensory detail to describe both their imaginings and reality.
Rewrite a fairy tale from the perspective of a more obscure character we rarely consider deeply.
Craft an emotional story about trying to care for someone slowly losing their memory. Capture the pain of feeling them slip away.
Imagine humans can voluntarily enter each other’s dreams. Write about someone attempting to send an urgent message directly through someone else’s subconscious.
Craft a horror story featuring a sequence of numbers someone becomes unhealthily obsessed with figuring out.
Narrate someone overcoming lifelong fear and attempting something daring using metaphor and imagery to capture the exhilaration of bravery.
Tell the tale of two unconventional star-crossed lovers fighting against stigma to stay together.
Write about an outcast banding together with other ostracized people to build their own little community.
Open with “I still remember the day the last tree was cut down.” Where does the story go from there?
Describe someone’s favorite secret hiding spot using imagery and metaphor. Why is it special to them?
Write a horror story that begins with seeing some unusual animal behavior you’ve never witnessed before.
Craft a short story using the title “Impossible Colors” as inspiration.
Write about a character discovering something extraordinary in an ordinary place.
Use all five senses to describe preparing and eating a favorite childhood meal.
Tell the story of a scar – real or imagined, physical or emotional.
A beloved pet suddenly speaks. Write the dialogue between pet and owner.
The seasons have lost their order. Describe this strange new world.
Write a Gothic tale about a haunted mansion in your hometown.
Legend tells of a magic waterfall that grants wishes. Write the scene where your character finds it.
“I never expected monsters to look like that…” Expand on this thought from your narrator.
Write about the day the portrait in your attic begins talking to you.
Describe five small moments that changed your character’s life forever.
Overhearing a secret conversation changes everything your character thought they knew about someone close to them. Tell this scene.
Write about flowers blooming in winter. What caused this strange occurrence?
“I cannot tell a lie, not about this.” Start your story with this line.
Write about someone who wakes up to discover they suddenly have a supernatural ability.
A magical book that makes everything its reader writes about come true. Write the scene where your character realizes the book’s power.
Describe the most breathtaking sunrise or sunset your character has ever seen.
Retell a favorite fairy tale from the perspective of the villain. Make them sympathetic.
Flower petals fall from every opening in your character’s house. Why?
Write about discovering a room hidden inside your home that doesn’t appear on any blueprints.
Open with: “It was the howling that woke me…” What happens next?
Write a letter from one fictional character to another fictional character.
Write a scene about two characters seeing snowfall for the very first time.
Use synesthesia to describe your character’s emotions. What do their feelings taste/look/sound like?
Tell the story of a long-lost twin reuniting with their sibling later in life.
Open with this line: “Let me tell you about the very worst thing that ever happened to me.” What’s your character’s tale?
Describe a character’s unique laugh and what it conveys about them.
Invent and describe a magical board game your characters play.
Write a twist on sleeping beauty where she sleeps for 2000 years and wakes to a baffling modern world.
“I meant to do it.” Start with this as your opening line. What happens next?
Describe a character overcoming their biggest personal weakness to do something incredibly brave.
What if birds could talk? Write a conversation between your character and a chatty bird.
Write a poem or scene from the perspective of a non-human animal like a cat or dog.
Describe someone who battles monsters that are invisible to everyone else
One character lives on the moon, another lives at the bottom of the ocean. They strike up an unlikely friendship. Tell their story.
Create and describe fantastical plants that reveal people’s thoughts and memories.
Someone close to your character is not what they seem. They have been hiding a secret double life all along.
Write a gothic tale featuring a haunted painting or other artwork.
“The photographs in my album aren’t in the correct chronological order. I wonder why…” Tell the story suggested by this prompt.
Put an unlikely pair of characters (ex: mermaid and vampire) on a long road trip together as they travel to accomplish some goal. Write a scene from their journey.
“Of course I talk to myself. Who else can I get an expert opinion from?” Write a story inspired by this quip.
What if we aged in reverse, growing younger every year until we “died” as infants? Describe this strange new reality.
Tell the life story of an immortal being as they observe eras pass by throughout history.
Write a sea shanty to be sung aboard a pirate ship on its way to bury treasure.
Flowers that erase memories are discovered. Describe the chaos as people try using them for questionable purposes.
Write a dialogue between a novelist and their fictional character who thinks they deserve better treatment in the story.
Develop a fictional myth about the phases of the moon.
Describe someone overcoming adversity with the help of an encouraging ghost that only they can see.
Invent a mythical librarian who helps characters solve mysteries and quests using magical books.
Write a tear jerker scene about someone telling an intricately crafted lie to shield someone they love from the horrible truth.
Write dialogue between two strangers waiting at the same bus stop in the middle of the night. What brings them there?
Invent a legendary spell book and describe its intricate lock that keeps it closed.
Write about a support group for mythological creatures struggling to adapt to the modern world.
You discover a phone number written in every single book on your shelf. When you call, someone answers: “Hello. We’ve been waiting.”
Write about mismatched, bickering detectives that must work together to crack a curious case.
“I wasn’t aimlessly daydreaming. I was…” tell the story your narrator trails off from explaining fully.
Flowers bloom year-round, except winter. All but one person experiences life without winter over years and years. Write from their perspective.
A longstanding urban legend in your neighborhood finally proves true. Tell this story.
Write a friendship scene between two unlikely beings – example: ghost and knight.
Describe a weary witch hiring an assistant to help manage their demanding workload.
Write a story featuring a lasting friendship between a vampire and zombie.
A creator dialogues with their creation who takes issue with their personality, backstory, or destiny assigned to them.
Open with: “The portal only opens at midnight on a full moon. Of course it does.” Set the scene!
Someone is forced to seek help from someone they disadvantages long ago. Write this humbling scene.
Write a twist on Medusa’s origin story making her more sympathetic.
A painted door in an alley seems to change artwork each day. One day, it opens… Describe what happens next.
Write a scene about a support group for the second-born children of fairytale families.
Write a scene about gathering around to listen to one’s elders tell stories around a bonfire. What tales do they tell?
A ascending hot air balloon gets caught in a storm and ends up on a strange new land floating in the sky. Describe what they find.
Time runs differently across space so cosmos-travelers return younger or older than when they departed. Write a reunion scene between two characters after cosmic travel has aged them differently.
Paint a verbal still life describing a bowl of fruit that has one exceedingly strange addition.
Write the opening scene of a novel featuring an amateur detective/journalist researching small town supernatural mysteries.
Your character overhears monsters mysteriously discussing “the peace accord” falling apart. They are shocked to discover monsters secretly living among humans.
Write a scene about a support group for people who suddenly develop odd supernatural abilities.
In the world you’re writing, the moon changes color each night instead of phase. Describe the unique hues and what they signify.
Open with “It was the first sunny day after a long bitter winter.” Describe this symbolic transition from your character’s perspective.
An old wishing well’s magic activates after years of silence. Describe the cascade of unfulfilled wishes coming true all at once.
Write an epic battle scene between mythological hero and monster. Lead up to climactic moment.
Write a tearful scene between two immortal beings who love one another, but know they must part ways as eras change.
Describe the small town where all fairy tale creatures live side-by-side, just beyond the forest.
Craft a lyrical poem describing emotion using colorful metaphors and sensory imagery.
A story that explains the phenomenon of deja vu.
AsSeasons cycle at random, write a scene of someone experiencing a strange unseasonable event
Write a humorous scene between a perfectionist spellcaster and their supernatural familiar who keeps causing mischief.
Write a dialogue focused scene featuring an unlikely friendship between mythical beings from opposing lands.
Describe a haunted seaside lighthouse and the mysterious shipwreck submerged beneath its glow. Tell the story of how they came to rest at the bottom of the sea.
Write a melancholic scene about parting ways with a magical creature who helped you through a difficult time as a child.
Describe a eccentric small town inventor who manages to create actual dreamcatchers that bottle dreams while people sleep. They build a business selling custom dream experiences.
Pick two fictional characters from different books/movies and imagine their hidden friendship. Write a dialogue scene between them.
About a support group for horror movie protagonists struggling to process their unusual traumatic experiences…
Choose a flower and write an imaginative tale explaining its unique characteristics or how it came to be.
Describe a faerie marketplace full of merchants selling enchantments, potions, mystical remedies and artifacts imbued with magical properties.
Pick any mundane task (ex: doing laundry) and describe it using grandiose poetic verse befitting an ancient legend.
Write simple heartfelt dialogue between two characters falling in love while watching meteors streak across the night sky.
Describe a wise librarian who helps characters locate books with advice to overcome great adversity.
Write a suspenseful scene featuring a character investigating the sudden sinister laughter emerging from their haunted grandfather clock.
Choose an emotion (love, hope, regret etc.) and describe it as a tangible living essence that your character encounters.
Describe two secret pen pals who find an enchanted mailbox allowing them to send letters to the past and future.
Paint a vivid setting describing a bookshop full of endless winding halls stacked to the brim with volumes of exotic magical knowledge and relics
Detail extraordinary hanging lamps illuminating a revered ancient library filled with mythical texts, haven to legendary scholars pursuing eternal mysteries
A photo falls out of an old book you’re reading, showing people you don’t recognize living in a historical period. Write their story.
A train is delayed for hours, trapping a diverse group of passengers together. Write the scenes that unfold between them.
You open a door in an abandoned lakeside cabin and discover a room that shouldn’t exist. What’s inside?
An estranged grandparent sends you an invitation to meet for the first time. Write the dialogue for this complex encounter.
You find an old recipe box filled with clippings and personal notes. Use one recipe or note as inspiration for a story.
A professor requires students to debate ethical questions around a controversial novel. Write the debate.
After a funeral, family members gather to make difficult decisions about an estate. Explore the tensions that emerge.
Construction crews discover a buried time capsule from 100 years ago in your neighborhood. Write fictional journal entries from that era.
Social media brings a long-lost friend from childhood back into your life at an emotional time. Write the scenes that follow.
Through a mix-up, you receive a voicemail meant for someone else. It contains news that impacts your view of a close friend. Write the story.
A teacher assigns students to convince the class of an unpopular viewpoint about society, history or human nature. Write a speech.
An acquaintance invites you to join a book club then hosted by a local celebrity author. Write your observations and conversations.
You discover a relative’s WWII love letters hidden away. Use them to construct a story set in that era.
A stranger interviews you for a documentary project on ‘ordinary lives.’ Write the conversation that ensues.
Research an obscure historical figure and write a fictional diary from their perspective.
Find an old family photograph that piques your curiosity. Write a story about it.
Overhear a cryptic exchange between two people that suggests hidden troubles or secrets. Construct backstories and flesh it out.
Rumors swirl about the closure of a community fixture. Write the conversations neighbors have speculating why.
Study people around you in public and imagine their lives, routines or backstories. Write a scene or story based on your musings.
An elderly neighbor asks you to help clear out an attic or basement filled with mysterious things from their past. Write the unfolding story.
Write a fictional conversation between two memorable characters from different books (Tom Sawyer and Hermione Granger, etc). What would they talk about?
Listen to a stranger have a one-sided phone call. Imagine the other half based on the clues you can gather. Write the full dialogue.
Set a story within a unique subculture (storm chasers, magicians, renaissance fair community, etc). Research it to add authentic details.
Your hometown is divided on a controversial local issue (development project, school closing, etc). Write speeches from both sides.
Write about a teacher who left an imprint on you for good or ill. Explore the complexities.
Develop a fictional friendship between a child and elderly person. Imagine the dialogue and stories they share.
Overhear someone mention an unusual phobia. Construct a literary story around it.
Choose a career and research ethical dilemmas that arise. Write fictional case studies exploring them.
Retell a fairy tale or myth from an unusual perspective, perhaps that of a minor character. Add depth through fictional scenes.
Write a fictional commencement speech for your school and time period, commenting on society.
Use a real historical event as inspiration for a fictional short story. Research to add relevant details.
Pandemic stories are told from one perspective. Tell the other side (the masks-are-tyranny side or the other).
A lie is discovered that reshapes a family’s history. Write the revealing conversations.
Write about two friends from starkly different cultural backgrounds. Explore points connection and disconnection.
A magical watch temporarily lets you inhabit someone else’s consciousness. Write your observations.
On a trip, you glimpse someone you think died years ago. Or did they? Construct the mystery.
Write about a ‘ordinary’ moment that still had an unexpected profundity you think about sometimes. Explore why.
Someone reemerges from your past with a shocking revelation that reframes your memories. Construct the scene.
Write about someone who struggled mightily to achieve a dream, failed, picked a new wildly different path, succeeded.
Write about the day a long-harbored family secret was finally revealed. Did it explain anything?
Pen an opening scene featuring a fascinating hobby or interest (mushroom hunting, metal detecting, crabbing, etc). Research details.
A healthcare worker has an experience that reshapes their calling and purpose. Write it.
Write fictional letters two friends send each other over many years—from youthful days to old age.
A survivor of a hardship or illness grapples with why they made it. Explore complex emotions like guilt.
Write a fictionalized dialogue exploring the ethics of war between a soldier, pacifist and civilian.
Retell a classic myth from the ‘villain’s’ perspective. Use empathy to add complexity.
A teacher retires after decades. Write their reflections on how students and education changed.
The discovery of an ancestor’s hidden past forces a young person to reexamine their family and self.
Write about star-crossed lovers torn apart by family, customs or beliefs. Explore shades of culture clash.
Write a conversation between two unusual trailblazers in their field. What drove them?
Fiction often focuses on problems. Write about someone helping solve a problem instead.
Write fictional interviews with locals on the cultural lore of your place.
A broken family reconnects after years thanks to the persistence of one member. Write a reunion.
Write about someone who loses everything then finds a truer community.
Why is the villain actually sympathetic? Use empathy and backstory.
What events made someone abandon everything familiar to start life anew? Explore the complexity behind drastic change.
Write fictional interviews with locals about how a community survived hardship and rebuilt (flood, fire, upheaval).
Write about someone who learns their town or family history is not what it seemed.
Fictionalize the story of a historical figure rediscovering their purpose in a second chapter of life.
Write a conversation between two unlikely people (child and elder, celebrities, rivals) finding common ground.
Write about someone who sought refuge in nostalgia to escape present troubles. Did it help or hinder?
Write about a watershed experience that taught someone to start living more boldly.
Write a fictional commencement speech exploring how to keep ideals alive despite harsh realities.
Write a complex mother-daughter exchange exploring family legacy, purpose and expectations.
Why might someone conceal their talents? Write about it.
Write about someone who felt trapped by others’ limited perceptions of them.
Write fictional interviews with people touched by great art, music or beauty. How did it impact or inspire them?
Write about someone who lost faith in institutions but found it in people’s kind gestures.
Write about someone who climbed high then used their place to lift others.
Write about the day a marginalized group spoke and society finally listened.
Write about someone who felt oppressed by labels and erroneous assumptions, and fought back.
Write about someone who rediscovers wholeness and purpose after loss.
Write about the day everything changes in a traditional community after years resisting progress.
Write a complex father-son exchange about purpose, vulnerability, loss.
Write about someone who searched high and low for solutions only to find answers in unexpected places closer to home.
Write about someone who lovingly helps a person find their way when they’ve lost theirs.
Write about someone who moves between cultures, languages, classes or eras and uses this as creative power.
Write fictional commencement wisdom from someone unusual or unexpected.
Write a conversation between two people exploring how to speak across political divides with empathy yet conviction.
Write about someone who courageously honored their individuality despite pressures to conform.
Write about someone who felt displaced geographically and culturally before discovering community.
Write about someone who courageously fought injustice and made society more equitable as a result.
Write about someone who rediscovers forgotten parts of themselves while helping heal community division.
Write about someone who found an unexpected gift in a challenge.
Write about someone who reclaims joy after trauma or turmoil.
Write about someone who realized a dream isn’t the dream and had to find a new one or revive an old one instead.
Write about someone who has glimpsed truth and now struggles to integrate it into everyday life.
Write about someone who courageously risked privilege or safety to expand human rights.
Write about everyday rebellion against inequality.
Write about someone who found meaning and fellowship on the margins of society.
Write about someone who challenged internalized prejudices with courage and honesty.
Write about a watershed moment someone first felt seen for who they truly are.
Write about someone who found connection and understanding bridging a divide.
Write about someone who realized they were loved not despite their flaws but because of their full, complex humanity.
Write about someone who learned to trust in hard times by seeing models of courage and resilience around them.
Write about someone who models moral courage and integrity in a climate bereft of it.
Write a story that values compassion over judgment.
Write about moral awakenings large and small.
Write about everday decency, empathy and acts of conscience during inhumane times. Find the helpers.
Write about the transformational power of love – its joys, trials, risks and healing.
The last text message a person receives before their phone dies unexpectedly reveals a long-kept secret. What happens next?
An estranged couple gets trapped overnight together in an elevator during a blackout. What truths come to light?
During a walk in the woods, a character makes a disturbing discovery about someone close to them. What do they find?
A package arrives on a character’s doorstep with no return address. What’s inside that changes everything?
Someone gets an ominous fortune from a fortune cookie that seems to eerily predict future events. What’s the prediction and does it come true?
Two former best friends run into each other years after a bitter falling out. Will they reconcile or push each other further away?
A character sees a familiar face in an old photograph from decades ago that makes them question history as they know it. What photo is it?
A teenage character overhears a private conversation that was clearly not meant for their ears. How do they respond?
Someone receives a long-overdue apology from a past bully or wrongdoer. Do they accept or reject the gesture?
A time capsule buried years ago is finally unearthed, containing relics from the past that bring up emotional memories. What’s inside and who buried it?
A diary is discovered detailing scandalous small-town secrets from decades past. What secrets are uncovered and what effect do they have today?
Someone famous secretly returns to their small, quaint hometown. What happens when their true identity is revealed?
During a blackout, a character overhears their neighbors discussing something suspicious. What were they discussing and what does the character do next?
A regretful moment from the past hauntingly resurfaces during an ordinary present-day encounter. What moment was it?
A hidden underground bunker is discovered on an old estate. What’s found inside?
A character living a double life struggles with their growing inner turmoil. What secret life are they leading and does it eventually unravel?
A single person receives an anonymous Valentine’s Day card unlike any other they’ve received before. What sets it apart?
Two longtime rivals are forced to work closely together to achieve a shared goal. Do they prevail together or fail disastrously?
Someone is convinced that their new home is haunted by a sad, restless ghost only they can see and feel. Are they imagining things or not?
A high school reunion takes an awkward turn when old drama, rivalries, and romances unexpectedly resurface. Whose past comes back to haunt them?
A character finds their estranged parent’s long-lost journal and reads startling revelations about the true circumstances of their conception. How does it change them?
Someone returns home to find a surprising guest waiting for them with an unbelievable claim. Who is it and what news do they bring?
During a power outage, someone gets an emergency phone call from a voice they haven’t heard in years and thought they never would again. Whose voice is it?
At the reading of a will for a mysterious elderly neighbor, shocking family secrets get revealed about people still living in the small town. What secrets come out?
A character accidentally falls into a forgotten root cellar on an abandoned property long-rumored by the townspeople to be haunted. What do they find?
Someone begins finding little notes and gifts hidden around their home when no one else should have access. Who is leaving them and why?
Two friends make a hurtful vowed promise as children that they later come to deeply regret. Do they keep it or break it?
During an ordinary errand, someone has a magical chance encounter that feels like destiny. Who do they meet?
After a bad breakup, someone drunkenly vents their innermost thoughts and feelings in an email to their ex. Do they regret sending it the next day or not?
When their ex unexpectedly shows up in their small, remote town, a character is forced to confront their lingering complicated feelings about the relationship and its demise. What happens when they run into each other again?
Exploring the attic, someone finds old letters exchanged between a WWI soldier at the front and his sweetheart back home. What secrets do the letters reveal?
Sorting through a recently deceased relative’s estate, a meaningful memento dredges up difficult memories of the complex relationship they had. What item is it?
During a terrible snowstorm, the power goes out and strangers snowed in together at the local diner slowly open up to each other about who they really are and the problems they’re facing. What secret does someone reveal?
Someone begins exchanging old family stories and recipes through written letters with an anonymous stranger. What happens when they finally meet in person?
A single moment of intersection between two people who unknowingly had a profound effect on each others’ difficult life journeys years earlier. What moment was it for each that later intertwined their lives again?
Someone tries to anonymously reunite a lost memento with its aging owner, only to discover that nothing about its story is what it seems. What item is lost and why is its history so complicated?
A character struggles with the discovery of a shocking truth about their family’s Dark Secret hidden for generations. What was the long-buried secret?
The discovery of an old family heirloom in an antique shop opens up difficult memories and realizations. What item is found?
A character is tempted to read the private diary of their reclusive elderly neighbor. What secrets are revealed inside its pages?
Sorting through old photos while visiting recently widowed relatives, someone discovers troubling information about a relative’s mysterious death long ago. What new information casts doubt on the accepted story?
A character accidentally overhears a private conversation not meant for them revealing life-changing news about a friend. What secret comes out?
Someone tries to save a stranger in a crisis but is surprised when the experience dredges up difficult personal memories. What memory resurfaces?
A character attends an auction selling off the household antiques of someone they once knew. They decide to secretly bid on a meaningful item from the past. What item is it?
A character receives a surprising letter in the mail posthumously written by someone important from their past. Who was it from and what does the letter reveal?
An old trunk containing memorabilia of young lovers from the past is found. But a troubling secret is unearthed about what really happened to them. What secret comes to light?
Family secrets come tumbling out when the matriarch’s will forces heirs to confront painful truths from the past to receive their inheritance. What secret changes everything?
Reading through an ancestor’s old journal, a troubling account forces someone to question a relative’s war heroism. What did they learn?
An encrypted diary written by a mysterious rumored witch is uncovered hidden inside an old house’s wall decades later. What secrets from the past does it expose?
A character becomes obsessed with learning more about the stranger who saved their relative’s life during WWII. But the history they uncover is more complex than expected. What do they discover?
Someone accidentally discovers who the anonymous author is of an infamous political pamphlet that shaped local history. After learning their identity, then what happens?
While reading old love letters in an attic, a character discovers an ancestor’s secret hidden an affair that changed the family’s history. Who was involved in the scandalous affair?
Two exes bid on the same memento from their ended relationship at an estate auction resulting in surprising revelations. What item is it and what emotions get stirred up again between them?
A coded message gets found hidden in a library book leading to the unraveling of a mystery. What does it reveal?
As a building is demolished, an old time capsule is discovered hiding secrets from 50 years ago about some of the town’s most prominent past families. What secrets get unearthed?
A character explores the empty house next door and finds clues leading them to uncover an unsolved mystery about its previous occupants. What do they discover?
While restoring an ancestral family home, someone finds a secret hidden room that contains troubling insight into a relative’s unknown dark past. What’s discovered behind the secret door?
A character receives a tempting offer to sell an inherited family heirloom with an incredibly complex history and even darker secrets. Do they part with it or keep it?
Someone accidentally discovers an ancestor’s long-lost grave, leading the descendant to uncover difficult revelations about their family’s whitewashed past. What secrets come to light?
Two childhood friends reconnect as adults and decide to reveal their very different perspectives about the mysterious tragedy that tore them apart years earlier. Whose account of the past is the truth?
A character is contacted by a dying stranger who asks to see them one last time to make a disturbing deathbed confession that will change the trajectory of their life. Who is it and what news does the stranger reveal?
While cleaning out a relative’s closet after their death, someone discovers secret love letters revealing a hidden affair from decades ago. They confront a person who is still living with what they uncovered. What happens?
A character interviews an elderly dying ancestor about the past, uncovering the true details behind mysterious vague family stories they grew up hearing whispered about all their life. What’s the real story behind one of the tales the ancestor finally tells?
Someone finds an old photograph torn up and thrown away in an antique family Bible documenting a mysterious erased figure sharing a troubling secret. Who had been in the missing torn section of the photo and why?
A character moves to a remote hotel for the winter season for solitude while writing an important book. But mysterious things begin happening that seem tied back to the hotel’s eerie history. What do they discover about the past of where they are staying?
While searching the attic for Christmas decorations, someone opens an old jewelry box and finds a secret talisman left behind by an ancestor with a note revealing an unbelievable family secret. What truth has been hidden for generations?
Renovating their new home, a character discovers a century-old concealed love letter inside the wall written by someone once in turmoil living there. It mirrors their current emotional struggles in an uncanny way. What similarity is revealed?
While perusing old newspapers on microfilm at the library for a family ancestry project, someone stumbles onto a troubling news account from long ago about a relative’s questionable rumored actions. What troubling secret comes to light?
Someone discovers who the anonymous author is of an infamous political pamphlet that shaped local history. After learning their identity, then what happens?
A dying matriarch’s last will and testament includes a stipulation requiring the truth to come out about a Dark Secret she’s kept hidden for decades. What gets revealed?
An old mix tape found in the new house someone moves into sparks them to unravel the mystery of the lost soul who lived there long before them. What do they discover about who it belonged to?
While helping clean out a reclusive elderly neighbor’s home after their death, someone discovers old letters revealing a forbidden affair from decades ago that mysteriously mirrors their own complicated relationship. What secret similarity exists?
A woman finds her father’s old camera with an undeveloped roll of film inside. When she develops the photos, she discovers one of herself as a baby with her father and another woman. She realizes it’s the only photo proving her father had an affair and she had a half-sibling. Does she confront her father? Track down the mystery woman? Or keep the discovery to herself?
Sorting through his recently deceased grandfather’s things, a young man finds an old journal written in German. Though unable to read it, he discovers ticket stubs and a necklace hidden inside its pages. He pieces together clues indicating his grandfather may have been hiding his Jewish heritage and Nazi persecution during WWII. What secrets from the past will unravel?
A struggling writer stays at a historical literary retreat to find inspiration. But she begins having vivid nightmares and even daydreams about the female author who died tragically at the retreat over a century before. She finds her unfinished last manuscript and becomes obsessed with solving the mystery behind the woman’s unexplained demise.
While clearing out her eccentric aunt’s overcrowded home after her death, a woman discovers a carved wooden box containing old letters from a passionate affair and a key to an unknown lock. What secrets will the clues reveal? Will she solve the mystery or leave Pandora’s box unopened?
A man finds a recipe box left behind in his new home by previous owners with unusual ingredients and cryptic notes. He begins testing the odd recipes and having intensely vivid nostalgia for things he never actually experienced as he slowly unlocks occult secrets about the house.
A woman finds her grandmother’s diary hidden under old quilts describing her arranged marriage as a mail order bride. As she reads further, she discovers her grandmother had a forbidden romance with a local Native American man and faced being ostracized when she became pregnant. What happened and how will she now perceive her family’s history?
A young couple moving into their first home finds a crying antique doll sealed behind drywall in their basement. After removing her, increasingly chilling things happen and they research the doll’s history, slowly unraveling the dark secrets of the home’s previous occupants.
A man clearing out his parents’ cluttered attic after they move to assisted living discovers his father’s old typewriter with a stuck piece of paper inside. When he finally extracts it, he’s shocked to find it’s a confession admitting the man he called dad was not his biological father. Stunned by the deception, what emotional truths will be uncovered as he tries to learn more?
A soon-to-be married woman’s beloved grandfather presents her with a ruby engagement ring, claiming it carries their family’s blessing. But strange occurrences make her question the ring’s history. What troubling provenance will she uncover as wedding day nears?
While renovating his drab home office, a man peels back old ugly floral wallpaper to find a stunning intricate mural hidden underneath. He becomes obsessed with learning more as he slowly restores it to its initial glory, not realizing the mural’s secret occult meanings that will soon filter into his waking and dreaming reality.
A woman arrested while protesting a pipeline through sacred tribal lands begins having vivid dreams and even waking visions of the past injustices committed there over centuries. What will she learn from the ghosts that haunt those hills and how will it impact her activist efforts when she’s eventually released?
A struggling father discovers packets of old love letters from World War II in his attic tied in a ribbon addressed from his deceased grandfather to an unknown woman. As he reads them, he’s shocked to uncover a hidden secret love child who may still be alive, making him question his family identity.
A man clearing out his elderly father’s home after he passes away discovers an old steel box secured with a complex numerical code containing just a yellowed newspaper article about a local kidnapping 60 years prior. He becomes obsessed with cracking the code and solving this personal mystery left specifically for him.
While prepping her deceased great aunt’s manor home for sale, a young woman finds the aunt’s handwritten cookbook filled with strange elaborate recipes and a hidden letter indicating she may have accidentally poisoned her husband decades before. What really happened?
A struggling married couple on the brink of divorce travels to a remote resort on their last attempt at reconnecting. While there, the discovery of a locked wooden box fills them both with questions about its contents and future, serving as a metaphor for whether they should lovingly unlock their hearts or throw away the key forever.
A woman finds worn old pages stuffed in a glass bottle hidden in the chimney of her family’s new lake house from children long grown. A faded list of their summer promises brings back bittersweet memories for her, sparking contemplation of dreams abandoned or forgotten.
A retiree joins a club for those researching genealogy, but begins having vivid reenactments in his dreams of what he believes could be his ancestors’ experiences – joyful traditions, traumatic passages, forbidden romances – causing him to further pursue details of his family’s whitewashed past, wherever it may lead.
A blocked author moves into a cabin in the remote snowy woods to find inspiration for finishing his novel. But screams and strange visions lead him to unraveling a mystery about the cabin’s previous occupant and her even more puzzling sudden disappearance years ago.
While restoring an old family lake cottage to sell it, a woman finds a metal lockbox containing her deceased mother’s secret diary revealing her long-ago summer romance with the future famous author who once occupied that same cottage in his youth. Moved by their story, she reconsiders selling the meaningful place frozen in time.
When a retired museum curator’s husband dies, she returns to her hometown to tend to his arrangements. A large donation of historical documents arrives at the museum during her visit, containing troubling personal letters indicating her husband had covered up a murder tied to her prominent family long ago.
An amateur metal detectorist near an old abandoned asylum uncovers a woman’s gold locket with a photograph of a child inside. Researching records & investigating where it was found looking for relatives, he unravels the dark harrowing tale behind how it likely reached its burial place, changing his perspective.
While remodeling a home’s kitchen, a couple finds old letters exchanged during WWII between the house’s previous owner and her beloved brother stuck overseas revealing troubling secrets. This leads them to question an honored family in town & a published war history book’s accuracy.
A woman staggered by her husband’s request for a divorce impulsively flees to a solitary rental home to process her swirling emotions. The arrival of an anonymous letter containing hidden secrets about the house’s history somehow mirrors her own inner turmoil, leading to clarity on her new path forward alone.
A widower discovers a secret letter his wife wrote before she died that calls into question their entire relationship.
A struggling actor takes a job as a mall Santa, only to have a troubled young girl insist she’s the real Santa Claus.
An elderly woman is convinced the creepy new neighbors next door are vampires and tries to gather proof before anyone else gets hurt.
A man wakes up one day to find everything mechanical or electronic has stopped working and he seems to be the only one aware.
A group of estranged childhood friends reunites at their old summer camp 20 years later and old memories, rivalries, and secrets resurface.
A reclusive author’s latest novel coincidentally resembles tragic events in a stranger’s life, causing them to seek out the author at all costs.
After their father’s death, three sisters grapple with their childhood memories of him and what they reveal about each other.
A watch that temporarily stops time falls into the hands of an outsider teenager who uses it to escape his difficult home life.
In the aftermath of a deadly high school shooting, students, teachers and the shooter’s parents grapple with grief, regret, and the search for motive.
After a near death experience, a cynical man starts to see ghosts everywhere but can’t get anyone else to believe that he’s not crazy.
A man gets a skull transplant after an accident and is haunted by disturbing visions and impulses from the donor.
A parallel universe suddenly overlaps with ours and people search for their alternate universe doubles – or avoid them.
After a break-up, a heartbroken woman stumbles upon a magical photo booth that takes her back in time to relive all her past dates.
A man’s wife discovers his collection of macabre souvenirs taken from people he believes did evil deeds but got away unpunished.
A roadside diner connect the stories of both its employees and customers who pass through its doors over one busy summer.
During Prohibition, a young woman bootlegs whiskey to save her family farm but soon gets noticed by the mobsters and Feds alike.
Laid off from the local mine, a struggling Appalachian man turns poacher in a desperate attempt to provide for his family.
After his new heart transplant, a ruthless Wall Street exec finds himself wracked with the donor’s moral conscience.
In 1850s California gold country, two young orphans disguise themselves as boys and secretly work a claim, sparking a dangerous rivalry.
During the Great Depression, a girl from a struggling family starts writing letters as an imaginary socialite to escape the difficulties of her daily life.
An African slave bonds with an orca whale while working a plantation by the ocean and risks everything for attempting communication.
In near future New Orleans, a fake Katrina survivor works as a tour guide peddling made up stories to tourists until exposed by a real one.
In 1969 suburbia, a homemaker plagued by disturbing dreams starts writing them into bestselling horror stories under a male pseudonym.
During the Bubonic plague, a young monk tasked with documenting the dead struggles with despair and his fading faith.
A mother and daughter pick a paranoid and haunted hitchhiker who turns their road trip into a living nightmare.
In Japanese internment camps during WWII, a young artist secretly draws political cartoons that get smuggled out at great risk.
After his adoptive parents are killed overseas, a U.S. orphan discovers he’s the heir to a foreign throne, prompting a battle for his loyalty.
Homesick aliens stranded on Earth since Roswell befriend a local waitress who reminds them of their lost home planet.
A widow rents out a room in her home to an eccentric lodger who claims he speaks regularly with her dead husband.
After a brilliant mathematician loses her scholarship, she takes a caretaker job unknowingly moving into her mathematician idol’s former residence.
A struggling ex-convict tries to turn his life around by taking a job as groundskeeper on a creepy old estate, but begins unraveling dark secrets about his employer’s past.
A little girl begins exchanging letters with Mark Twain, despite him having died years earlier, somehow communicating via time itself.
After a woman’s daughter disappears, she fixates on a guy in an old photo developing a theory he’s a time traveler who abducted her.
When his NFL dreams fizzle, a washed up athlete returns home to coach peewee football, reviving his gloom hometown’s spirit.
A guilt-ridden bartender forms a friendship with a troubled regular only to have the man’s darker nature slowly revealed over time.
A man wakes up to find his wife and sons have been replaced by imposters with the same names and memories as his family.
In 19th century France, a widowed perfumer falls into despair only to create her best scent using the essence of her lost love.
After a hedge fund manager commits suicide, his loyal assistant uncovers the investor scam that drove him over the edge.
A blacksmith’s apprentice teams up with a talented local girl in a feudal village to create legendary swords imbued with magic.
When his drug plane crashes in rural Mexico, a pilot holds a poor village hostage to force them to grow opium for him secretly.
After her daughter goes missing, a mother realizes all traces of her ever existing are disappearing in a plot reminiscent of The Langoliers.
The sole survivor of a horrific plane crash, a girl finds herself healing on a mysterious deserted island that seems to oddly cater to her survival.
An amateur metal detectorist discovers Excalibur only to be pursued by dangerous modern day druids who protect its secrets.
A mother shields her son from the truth surrounding his father’s death during 9/11 and creates an elaborate fictional life they shared together.
In near future Los Angeles, a psychiatric android struggles to treat patients now that AI has made lying obsolete.
After a bad mushroom trip, a man believes he died and was reborn in an alternate universe just slightly different from his own.
During the Revolutionary War, a reluctant soldier wittingly takes on the dangerous role of the army’s executioner to spare others the horror.
After a decorated general loses the Vietnam War, he goes into reclusion only to resurface 20 years later with a secret new mission.
A motherless teenager fixates on a random passerby believing he’s her real father, desperate to form a connection with any parental figure in her lonely life.
After a tragic miscarriage, a woman unravels mentally and starts stealing babies she believes were meant to be given to her instead to raise as her own secret children.
A dancer crippled in a car wreck goes to extreme and ghastly lengths to make her mangled leg beautiful to behold in motion once more.
When his high school girlfriend’s corpse washes up 15 years later, a man reexamines their toxic teen romance and who could have wanted her dead all along.
A guilt-ridden psychiatrist forms dangerous bonds with his patients, getting entangled deeper in their wild world until he too unravels mentally.
Unemployed in Appalachia, desperate locals turn a blind eye to a growing operation that harvests body parts from outsiders unlucky enough to break down along a winding mountain road.
After his wife vanishes on their anniversary, a professor uses sensory deprivation tanks to probe the dark secrets in her writings for clues to discovering her fate.
An Afghan woman immigrates for an arranged marriage only to slowly go mad isolated in the home of the strange man chosen as her husband.
After his recklessness causes his brother’s death overseas, a former soldier trains his traumatized PTSD service dog to attack specific military uniforms.
A teen girl uses wild berries and poisonous roots to start subtly picking off members of her broken foster home one by one.
During prohibition, a glamorous jazz singer weds a Chicago mobster only to become more ruthless and murderous than her deadly husband could ever be.
After his mother’s suicide, a therapist pours over her old belongings and writings in an attempt to save his own crumbling sanity and marriage.
An eccentric mortician starts experimenting with deadly fungi to give the corpses sent for her to prepare vivid posthumous dreams to comfort grieving loved ones.
Homeless and struggling with addiction in New York City in the 70s, a violin virtuoso still clings to the wreckage of his former musical fame and brilliance.
After a man wakes up from a 30 year coma, he struggles to adapt while suspicions grow that his wife may have caused his mysterious accident to steal his fortune.
A mother desperate to protect her mutant son imprisons increasingly dangerous criminals to serve as fresh blood for his horrific flesh eating hunger.
Obsessed with tales of changelings, a superstitious mother in 19th century Ireland comes to believe her children are impish replacements from the fairy world.
After his plane crashes in the Amazon, a Catholic priest turns to the native tribe rescuing him only to jeopardize their entire civilization with disease and zealous evangelizing.
When his submarine crew is taken hostage, a captain must play an unwinnable nuclear chess match alone against the rogue Russian captain behind the hijacking.
After a tornado destroys his rural town, a young man fixates on rebuilding his childhood home by hand while his neighbors move on around him.
A guilt ridden hitman forms a friendship with his latest mark only to struggle with whether to go through with the hit ordered by the mob to whom he owes his life.
In 1930s Hollywood, a stuntman for a transgenic actress slowly discovers the disturbing experimental origins behind her shapeshifting talent and fame.
A widow grapples with regret after destroying a priceless Stradivarius violin left to her instead of selling it to secretly pay off crippling medical debts.
After a comet passes, increasing fits of violence grip a small town as a stranger insists they’ve been cursed for the brutal colonial sins buried in their history.
After a chef’s wife elopes, he spirals creatively and starts a members only dining club to serve avant-garde dishes to deaden his inner misery.
An Iranian woman immigrant suspects her grief counselor was actually behind her daughter’s tragic bus accident but can’t get anyone to take her fears seriously.
After his girlfriend dies during a shamanic ritual, a professor studies with the shaman to reconnect with her spirit, but slowly goes insane in the process.
A teenage girl uses wild berries and poisonous roots to start subtly picking off members of her broken foster home one by one.
After a general loses the Vietnam War, he goes into reclusion only to resurface 20 years later with a secret new mission.
During WWII, a young girl uses wild berries to fatally poison members of the German army that invade and occupy her small village.
After his drug plane crashes in rural Mexico, a pilot holds a poor village hostage to force them to grow opium for him secretly.
A mortician starts experimenting with deadly fungi to give the corpses vivid posthumous dreams to comfort grieving loved ones.
After a tragic miscarriage, a woman unravels mentally and starts stealing babies she believes were meant for her instead.
A professor loses his girlfriend during a shamanic ritual and slowly goes insane trying to reconnect with her spirit.
After his brother’s death overseas, a former soldier trains his PTSD service dog to attack specific military uniforms.
An eccentric widow believes her home is haunted by the ghost of her famous lover and hosts elaborate séances to commune with him nightly.
After too many concussions prematurely end his football career, a high school fullback’s spatial reasoning and impulse control begins dangerously deteriorating.
Obsessed with her ancestor’s role in the Salem Witch Trials, a historian starts imposing disturbing puritan punishments on those she deems modern day sinners in her small town.
When his brother’s corpse mysteriously appears after 15 years missing, a man reexamines their violent shared past for clues to who may have wanted revenge.
A widowed perfumer falls into despair only to create her best scent accidently using the essence of her dead husband collected at his funeral.
A roadside diner connects the stories of both its employees and customers who pass through its doors over one busy summer in 1969 suburbia.
Homeless and mentally unwell, a man believes he is a time traveler with a mission to stop tragedies only he can foresee, no matter the morally questionable means.
Obsessed with her ancestor’s role in the Salem Witch Trials, a historian starts imposing disturbing Puritan punishments on those she deems modern day sinners in her small town.
A message in a bottle is found washed ashore after over 50 years at sea. Who sent it and what does it say?
A long lost antique store is uncovered that contains mysterious objects each with a unique story. Write one object’s story.
A huge storm just knocked out all power and cell service in your area for an unknown amount of time. Where are you and what happens?
Look at a recent picture of yourself. Imagine it was taken 5 years in the future. What has changed and why?
Your character opens a locked box they inherited but were told to never open. What’s inside and how does it change things?
A father and child have grown emotionally distant. Describe a powerful experience they share that begins to heal their relationship.
Write about a teacher from your childhood who impacted you positively or negatively more than you ever knew. How do you feel about them now looking back?
Your character discovers some old home videos that reveal a family secret. What do they show and how does your character respond?
The song that was #1 on the charts the day you were born significantly shaped your life. How so?
Today is your character’s last day on earth. They received a terminal diagnosis one week ago. How are they spending their final 24 hours? What do they reflect on?
Your character has synesthesia that causes them to associate letters or numbers with specific colors. How does this impact their life perspective?
Your character achieves their lifelong dream only to find it’s not what they expected. Why is it unsatisfying and what happens next?
A time capsule from 1994 was just unearthed in your character’s hometown. What items are inside and what cultural insights do they reveal?
Your character finds a wallet on the sidewalk outside their apartment. It contains $1000 cash and an unusual grocery list. What happens next?
Your character has a highly unusual hobby connected to an emotional experience from their past. What is it and what meaning does it hold for them?
Write a story featuring family members of 3 different generations. What conflicts or moments of connection emerge between them?
An elderly neighbor your character hardly knows passes away. While cleaning out their apartment they discover something unexpected about them. What is it?
Your character finally reads a mysterious old journal they discovered as a child in their parent’s attic. What secrets or surprises are contained inside?
Your character unintentionally overhears a heated argument between two strangers. What are they arguing about and how does it impact your character?
Your character finds an undeveloped roll of film from the 1990s and gets it developed. What long-forgotten moments do the pictures depict?
Write a scene about two exes randomly spotting each other on the street 5 years after a bad breakup. How has time changed things between them?
Your character is leaving their hometown forever. As they take one last walk around, they remember pivotal life moments that happened there. What do they think back on?
A stranger in a foreign city offers your character a suitcase full of cash to transport “something” across the border. Desperate, they agree. What happens next?
Your character discovers a forgotten childhood talent of theirs still exceeds the skills of professionals in that area. What happens when they revisit it?
Your character gets hold of their ex’s old cell phone. It reveals a text conversation they were never meant to see. What does it say and how do they react?
Write about two friends watching the first moon landing together in 1969. What perspectives, hopes and fears do they share in the moment?
A fire destroys your character’s home and everything they own except one item they rescued in the nick of time. What was it and why was it spared?
Your character finds an old baby blanket they used to cherish as a child. It stirs up long-forgotten memories of their early childhood and family. What memories resurface?
Your character discovers a missing valuable necklace under strange circumstances. Who does it belong to and how did it get there?
A stranger online claims to have damaging information about your character’s spouse. How does this impact their marriage?
Your character finds an unmarked VHS tape on their porch with footage taken just outside their window. What does it show and why? How do they react?
Your character is traveling for the holidays and encounters a stranger who evokes a long-forgotten childhood memory. What is the memory and what meaning does it hold for them now?
Your character discovers a relative they never knew about. This person’s existence changes family history as they understood it. What happens?
Your character finds their estranged parent’s long-lost journal revealing troubling secrets about their conception and early childhood. How does it change their self-perception?
Your character spots someone from their past that they wronged many years ago. A tense encounter ensues reopening old wounds. What happens?
Your character discovers an ancestor’s diary from an immigrant arriving in the U.S. that contains a valuable traditional food recipe connect to your culture. What food, story and meaning does it hold?
Your character finds a stranger’s camera full of photos offering cryptic clues about who they are. They try tracking them down based on the clues. What happens?
Your character receives an unexpected call from their childhood best friend they haven’t spoken to in over a decade. What do they talk about and what warmth or pain does it stir up from the past?
Your character finds a love letter written by one parent to the other very early in their relationship. It reveals the origin story of their family in a surprising light. What new perspectives emerge?
Your character takes home a painting from an antique shop that was created by an unknown artist. Some mysterious force about it alters their moods and dreams. What do they experience?
Your character accidentally overhears a private conversation not meant for them revealing a friend’s troubles that were previously unknown. How does this impact their relationship?
Your character receives a surprise invitation to their 10-year high school reunion causing them to reflect on who they were back then. How have they changed since high school in positive or negative ways?
A fire destroys your character’s home and everything they own except one item they rescued in the nick of time. What was it and why was that object spared?
Your character finds an old music box at an antique shop that triggers vivid memories of their childhood when it plays. What memories does it evoke?
Your character finds a long-lost loved one living under a new identity. Why did they disappear years ago, what is their new life like, and how does your character respond?
Your character is given the ability to erase one day from their life and live it over again. Which day would they choose, why, and how would they ensure it goes differently?
Your character finds an old cell phone at the bottom of a box and powers it on. It still functions and contains text conversations from a previous owner. What do they discover?
Your character spots someone from their past that they wronged many years prior. A tense encounter ensues reopening old wounds. What happens?
Your character discovers one of their parents had a secret first marriage years ago that didn’t work out. How does this impact your character’s self-understanding?
Your character is mailed an anonymous type-written letter from someone claiming to know their future. What predictions does it make and how does you character react?
Your character discovers an unmarked grave in the old family plot of a cemetery. They start investigating who it belongs to and the cause of their mysterious burial. What do they uncover?
Your character finds a smartphone full of unusual photos offering cryptic clues about the owner’s hidden criminal life. How do they try tracking down the owner?
Your character receives a surprise apology from someone years after a friendship ended painfully and regrets things they did. How does your character process this apology? What do they wish they could take back?
Your character finds old drawings they made as a small child depicting an imaginary friend. The visual details suggest an eerie supernatural link they can’t explain. What do the drawings show? What friend did they have?
Your character somehow travels 5 years back in time armed with knowledge of how certain choices play out. They have a limited window to alter key decisions. What do they change and what good or harm comes of it?
Your character discovers one of their parents had an identical twin separated at birth who led a very different life path. Your character tries learning about them to gain self-insight. What do they uncover?
Your character is compelled to steal an unusual painting from a museum that seems to change each time viewed. They become obsessed with unraveling its hidden meanings that relate to their own life. What do they discover?
Your character finds a hidden old love note written from one parent to another romantically professing their love in their early courtship. Finding this humanizes their parents in a touching new way. What specific details make your character see their parent(s) differently?
Your character has a recurring nostalgic memory of their mother singing a certain song from their childhood. One day they rediscover the song and it unlocks powerful emotions. What song, what memories, and what meaning does it hold for them?
Your character discovers one of their grandparents had an affair that led to a secret child being born. Your character tries locating this unknown aunt/uncle to learn more about why it was covered up. What happens when they finally meet?
Your character finds an undeveloped roll of film from the 1990s and gets it developed. What surprising forgotten moments do the pictures depict?
Your character accidentally discovers repressed traumatic memories from their early childhood that start resurfacing. What happened and how does it shift their self-understanding?
Your character is walking in the forest when they discover a crying lost child with no memory of their identity or home. Your character tries piecing together who they are. What do they uncover?
Your character spots an old friend going through a bag on a park bench and secretly taking medication. They realize their friend has a serious illness being kept secret. How do they compassionately respond?
Your character receives a long-lost valuable family heirloom anonymously in the mail they thought was gone forever. Who sent it and what’s the story behind its disappearance/return?
Your character finds an old abandoned house inexplicably full of items that seem to be connected to their life. What meaning do the objects hold?
Your character discovers an old prison diary kept by an ancestor. It reveals a great injustice that shaped family history. What’s the story and meaning behind it?
Your character accidentally damages a stranger’s camera full of photos. While getting it repaired, they glimpse cryptic clues about this person contained in the pictures. What secret is slowly revealed and how?
Your character goes through an old box of volleyball trophies from high school, reminding them of who they used to be. They decide to dig out their old volleyball to see if they still have the talent. What happens?
Your character discovers an old novel manuscript in their new home’s attic written decades ago by a previous resident. It mirrors events from their own family’s life in eerie ways. What’s the story behind it?
Your character finds a smartphone showing a video taken moments before the phone owner’s death. Avenging their death becomes an obsession for your character. What happened to them and what does your character do?
Your character discovers a mysterious coded letter written by their recently deceased grandfather. Cracking the code reveals a huge secret about their family’s past. What does it reveal?
Your character’s father finally reveals the true but unexpectedly dark story behind why he abandoned the family years ago. How does learning the real reason reshape your character’s core memories and self-identity?
Your character is contacted by the child they put up for adoption years ago who has questions about their birth parents’ lives. What do they talk about and what emotions does this stir up?
Your character finds an old prison diary kept by an ancestor. It reveals a great injustice that shaped family history. What’s the story and meaning behind it?
Your character accidentally discovers the old diaries of a relative and learns about mental health struggles in their family history that were previously hidden. How does this reshape their self-understanding? What do the diaries reveal?
Your character is contacted by someone claiming to be their half sibling from an affair their father had. What ensues when they meet face-to-face?
Your character discovers an old music box at an antique shop that triggers vivid memories of their childhood when it plays. What memories does it evoke?
Your character finds an old novel manuscript in their new home’s attic written decades ago by a previous resident. It mirrors events from their own family’s life in eerie ways. What’s the story behind it?
Your character discovers a relative’s old recipe book filled with amazing forgotten dishes from past generations of their family. They cook one recipe that transports them back through memories linked to it. What dish, memories and meaning does it hold?
Your character discovers one of their parents secretly had a child given up for adoption years before having them. Your character seeks out their unknown older half-sibling to build a relationship. What happens?
Your character finds an abandoned building containing unusual remnants from someone’s past life but zero clues to their identity. Your character becomes obsessed with cracking the mystery of who this person was and why they left. What do they uncover?
Your character receives an old blanket anonymously in the mail that they vaguely remember from earliest childhood. It stirs memories of their birth parents who gave them up for adoption long ago as an infant. What memories return?
Your character finds a smartphone recording a video taken moments before the phone owner died in an accident. Avenging their death becomes an obsession for your character. What happened to them and what does your character do?
Your character accidentally overhears an argument revealing their parent is gravely ill though trying to hide it. They start noticing subtle symptoms validating this and aren’t sure if they should intervene. What happens?
Your character finds an old letter from their mother written shortly after childbirth hinting at struggles with postpartum depression that was silenced and never acknowledged. What specifically does it say and reveal? How does your character emotionally respond decades later?
Your character discovers one of their ancestors was actually adopted long ago. They start digging to uncover the biological family denied to them by history. What do they find? How does this impact their sense of identity
Your character discovers an old diary revealing their parent struggled with infertility for years before having them. They gain powerful insight into the emotional journey behind their conception. What specifically do the entries say?
Your character spots two former classmates laughing in a cafe and wonders what inside jokes they must be reminiscing about that exclude them. This stirs up feelings about their lonely high school experience. What specifically hurt back then?
Your character finds an unsent love letter intended for them over 20 years ago from someone they once knew. It reveals a missed opportunity. Who wrote it? What might have happened if they sent it?
Your character is startled by a ghostly vision of their estranged father urging them to reconnect before it’s too late. They realize he’s terminally ill, hiding it from everyone. What happens?
Your character finds their parent’s old middle school yearbook revealing them as a childhood bully. It shifts their perception. What troubling details do they uncover?
Your character spots their ex on the street, now heavily pregnant. Realizing they almost had a child together overwhelms them with an alternate vision of how life could have played out if they stayed together. What might have been?
Your character discovers a relative’s WWII love letters they wrote while deployed overseas to their sweetheart back home. One letter hints at a secret baby conceived on leave. What became of this secret child placed for adoption?
Your character finds an old letter from high school vowing to reach ambitious dreams that never happened. Where did things go wrong? Is it too late to get back on track?

About Richard

Richard Everywriter (pen name) has worked for literary magazines and literary websites for the last 25 years. He holds degrees in Writing, Journalism, Technology and Education. Richard has headed many writing workshops and courses, and he has taught writing and literature for the last 20 years.

In writing and publishing he has worked with independent, small, medium and large publishers for years connecting publishers to authors. He has also worked as a journalist and editor in both magazine, newspaper and trade publications as well as in the medical publishing industry. Follow him on Twitter, and check out our Submissions page .

Reader Interactions

December 10, 2013 at 5:29 pm

Nick was watching tv when the news anchor said, “Nick you really shouldn’t be watching tv. You need to go talk to Carol right now. Call her.”

December 11, 2013 at 11:18 am

Write a blasphemy.

niamh boyce says

December 11, 2013 at 1:05 pm

This is one I’ve just made up, would be interested to hear how anyone gets on, might try it myself 🙂 Takes just over 30 minutes to complete

Empty your pocket/purse onto the table. Pick three random items. Place them each on a white piece of paper in front of you. (this is to enable you too see them in relative isolation) Label each piece of paper as I, 2, or 3 You must pick from one of the following – These items are clues to either A. A murder B. The end of an Affair or C. The last known activity of someone who has dissappeared. Chose from A,B or C. Now – Start with the object you have labelled ‘1’ & write for 10 mins about this. Repeat for 2 and then 3. Fit the three sections into a story. When finished, lob of the ending you have written, and give the story the exact opposite ending 🙂

December 11, 2013 at 1:22 pm

lob ‘off’, as in delete/cut 🙂

December 11, 2013 at 10:06 pm

These are great! I will add them very soon. Thank you.

Melissa says

December 12, 2013 at 10:37 am

Write a story about a time you were late for now good reason.

December 18, 2013 at 7:10 am

Think of any television, movie, book, or historical character that inspires you. They can be living or dead. Write a journey story with this character as your guide.

Darnell says

December 18, 2013 at 7:19 am

Write a story where you have to decide to save the life of one loved one or another. You can only save one.

December 20, 2013 at 5:29 am

You’re reading my mind. Fellow John S. and I sat down three weeks ago and decided that we, too, would write a book of prompts. He had picked up a neat book of prompts at a writer’s conference. We thought that we could create our own. But I like to share, too. So, here are a couple, for what it’s worth.

* Your cell phone rings with an unknown number. You recognize the prefix. You answer and the voice on the other end says, “I’m the sister that you didn’t know you had. Want to know more?”

* You’ve had a really rotten year financially. Your friends give you nice gifts, but you can’t afford it. What do you do?

* Describe the perfect meal. Who made it? Where do you eat it? Who’s with you?

December 23, 2013 at 9:48 am

Thank you JD! With the Christmas rush I haven’t been able to add these, but I will.

Gustaf Berger says

December 26, 2013 at 9:37 am

It was Christmas morning. The sidewalks were empty except for a lone man walking a kid’s bike to…

Al Parry says

January 8, 2014 at 9:37 am

It is good to be alone. I specifically enjoy the sense of being alone, when those about me are engaged; when the streets are crowded and bustling.

Donna B. Comeaux says

January 23, 2014 at 9:48 pm

So many good memories were overcast by pain and disappointment, like the times . . .

January 23, 2014 at 9:50 pm

Anguish replaced her brief gush of fury over her missing child. Two days old . . .

January 23, 2014 at 9:51 pm

Struggling with the eerie sensation of sitting in the same chair as her rapist, she attempted . . .

January 23, 2014 at 10:02 pm

Sandwiched between ghastly shadows of the mountain, his spirit seem to rise . . .

I felt numb, as if a deafening stillness had covered me, or as if God had placed a mark on me as he had done to Cain, leaving me barren and alone.

C.Spenard says

February 5, 2014 at 4:03 pm

Write a story about falling in love with Lou. You may reveal your gender but not Lou’s. Include at least one reference to Lou’s ex spouse Chris.

Claudette says

February 21, 2014 at 4:42 am

You’re riding the bus on your way home from work one day and decide to skip your usual stop and just keep on going.

Richard says

February 24, 2014 at 8:52 am

All of these are great, please keep them coming!

Hassan says

April 23, 2014 at 11:37 am

She had her mission completed and was driving back at 160mph. She heard the blow of a siren behind her. With her in the car were….

Emmelie Swan says

April 25, 2014 at 4:36 am

This is a great idea! I have an idea. Use these names of songs as titles, chapter titles or ideas for your writing:

Andrew Campbell says

November 2, 2014 at 6:54 am

He was only four years old, and he was on his own. He took action based on his childish perspective of reality.

February 22, 2015 at 6:34 pm

The glass smashed against the wall and shattered. They rushed towards eachother.

Young Lee says

April 15, 2015 at 1:20 pm

He fell from the sky.

They ran through the streets barefoot.

She saw her late husband in the crowd.

The letter was on the floor opened.

He took his time cleaning her wound.

margaret cotter-day says

March 14, 2016 at 1:20 pm

how about these story prompts her bicycle was propped against the tree the soil yielded easily to the spade going downhill took all the fun away a blue light flashed taking it down was the least of my problems black or white, who really cares?

Every Writer says

December 6, 2016 at 7:14 pm

Help us out and some day this might be the book of 1000 writing prompts. Either way always wanted to get to 1000.

Josh Senecal says

December 8, 2016 at 6:49 pm

– The stone was gritty as sand paper and the oxidized pale grey oversaw the…

– I followed until the thickening consumed every bodily sense, it turned…

– It felt like cool putrefied watermelon and I was knees deep, my lungs burned…

– His wondering eyes were too slow for her first, one closed lock tight around that shimmering karat, the other…

Privacy Overview

Find a Library
Browse Collections
1,000 Character Writing Prompts

ebook ∣ Villains, Heroes and Hams for Scripts, Stories and More

By bryan cohen.

cover image of 1,000 Character Writing Prompts

Add Book To Favorites

Is this your library?

With an OverDrive account, you can save your favorite libraries for at-a-glance information about availability. Find out more about OverDrive accounts.

Bryan Cohen

17 March 2012

Find this title in Libby, the library reading app by OverDrive.

Search for a digital library with this title

Title found at these libraries:.

Reluctant Reader Books

1029 Killer Writing Prompts for Middle School

Tired of searching through endless lists for the best writing prompts?

This is the only list you’ll ever need.

We personally combed through hundreds of lists, books and writing guides to bring you the 1,029 middle school writing prompts covering 20 different topic categories.

Want to Take It With You?

Our entire 1,029 writing prompts are available as a user-friendly PDF. Click on the thumbnail to preview the first 12 pages, or click the button below to get the full book.

Want great short stories for middle school? Go here .

Want poems for middle school? Go here .

Want 17 killer writing lessons for middle school? Check them out below.

Table of Contents

This list is huge.

Which is why we organized it by topic to make it easier to navigate. Click on any of the topics below and you will be taken directly to that topic and its prompts.

To return to the top of the page, click the arrow along the right side of the screen.

Let’s dive in.

40 Animal Writing Prompts for Middle School

84 biographical writing prompts for middle school, 50 book writing prompts for middle school, 50 comparison writing prompts for middle school, 50 creative writing prompts for middle school, 50 descriptive writing prompts for middle school, 50 either/or writing prompts for middle school, 50 expository writing prompts for middle school, 67 family writing prompts for middle school, 60 friendship writing prompts for middle school, 67 first line writing prompts for middle school, 40 history writing prompts for middle school, 50 movie writing prompts for middle school, 50 opinion writing prompts for middle school, 50 poetry writing prompts for middle school, 30 procedural writing prompts for middle school, 53 relationship writing prompts for middle school, 50 research writing prompts for middle school, 50 school writing prompts for middle school, 41 short stories for middle school w/free pdf, 41 short stories for high school w/free pdf.

A kid wakes up to find a giraffe standing over his bed. What happens next?
You have to do battle with a giant snake or a giant spider. Which would you choose and why?
You’ve been selected to live for a year on the International Space Station. You can take one animal with you. What animal do you think would be best suited for life in space. Why?
Imagine you came home from school and your pet was ten times its usual size. What would you do next?
If you could have any pet, what would it be?
You can give your teacher any animal for their birthday. What animal would you choose and why?
Are there any animals you believe people shouldn’t be able to keep as pets? Why do you think these animals should never be pets?
Imagine an alien species came to Earth and intended to take only five animals back to their planet. What five animals should they take to help the aliens on their planet best understand life on Earth?
Cat or dog? Which is the better pet? Why?
Tell how you first met your pet, but tell the story from your pet’s point of view.
What animals make bad pets? Why?
Imagine you are going on vacation and a friend is taking care of your pet. Explain in detail precisely how your pet must be cared for in your absence.
You can combine the traits of any three animals into a single new species. What animals do you choose? Describe the new animal you intend to create.
Would you rather be attacked by a shark or a giant squid?
Write a story about the biggest shark in the sea.
If you could be an animal, what would you be?
What is your favorite animal? Why do you like that animal?
What is your least favorite animal? What do you dislike about that animal?
Can your pet do a funny or unusual trick? Describe the trick and how they learned it.
Should animals be kept in zoos? Give three reasons defending your answer.
Should people be allowed to bring their pets into restaurants? Why or why not?
Would you rather have to hibernate through the winter like a bear or come out only at night like an owl?
If you had a parrot that could talk, what would you teach it to say?
Choose any animal and imagine what the world would look like if they were the dominant species.
Would you rather like to jump sixty times your height like a flea or lift 100 times your body weight like an ant?
Would you rather be a shark or a dolphin? Explain your answer.
A dog’s nose is more than 10,000 times more acute than a human being’s. Describe all the things you would smell going through your day if you had the nose of a dog.
If you could bring back one dinosaur, what dinosaur would you choose? Why?
You have to fight a wooly mammoth or a saber-tooth tiger. Which would you choose to fight and why?
You can save any one animal from extinction, but to do so you must choose a different animal to vanish forever. What animal would you choose to save, and what animal would you select for extinction?
Imagine that all spiders disappeared tomorrow. What do you think would happen with them gone?
What animal do you think is the smartest? Explain your answer.
What is your spirit animal. Explain your answer.
Is it okay to have a monkey for a pet? Why or why not?
Why do you think there are more insects than mammals?
Whales don’t sing as much as before because of noise from boats on water. Write a journal response explaining how we can help the whales sing again.
What animal do you think is most similar to you in personality? Why?
Why do you think so many people are afraid of spiders?
What’s the difference between a cheetah and a tiger?
Ants can build structures that, relative to their size, are larger than anything ever built by human beings. How do you think they achieve this given their tiny brain size?
Write about a time you stood up for something you believed in. What did you do?
What is the worst gift you ever received? Why didn’t you like it? How did you respond when you saw what you’d gotten?
What is the earliest memory you have? Describe your memory. Why do you think this is the earliest memory you can recall?
Do you think your personality has been shaped more by who you were when you were born or by the way you’ve been raised by your parents?
What is your favorite thing about yourself? Why is it your favorite?
Are you most like your father or mother? Why?
What do you like least about yourself? Explain your answer.
What makes you who you are?
Do you like being the center of attention? Why or why not?
Who is the person in your life that makes you laugh the most? Why do you find them so amusing?
What was your favorite summer vacation? Why?
Write about a time you gave something of yours to someone who needed it? What did you do?
Do you consider yourself to be a patient person? Why or why not?
Do your parents let you choose your own clothes at the store, or do they pick them for you? What is your style like?
What is your favorite game? Is it a video game or a board game? What do you like about it?
What is the best gift you ever received? What made it so special?
Write about a secret you’ve never shared. How do you keep it secret? How does the secret make you feel?
What is the hardest decision you ever made in your life? Explain what made it so difficult.
Have you ever received a gift you didn’t like? How did you react?
Have you ever gone to summer camp? Did you enjoy it? Explain your answer.
If you were the ruler of the world, what would you do?
If you could only play one sport for the rest of your life, what would you choose? Why?
You can visit any country in the world, but only for a day. What country would you choose and what would you do for that day?
What is the most unfair thing in your life? Explain your answer.
Are you a team player? What qualities do you possess that make you a team player or not?
You can eat only one cuisine for the rest of your life. What type of food would you choose and why?
What is your favorite month of the year? Why?
Describe your bedroom. Is it messy or clean? Where are all your favorite things? What posters/pictures are on the walls?
Write a letter to your older self ten years from now. What do you hope that your older self has accomplished by then? What do you want your older self to remember about the person you are now?
Write a letter to your younger self in first grade. What do you wish you knew in first grade that you know now? What advice would you give your younger self?
What is the most important thing you ever learned?
When was the last time you laughed so hard you could barely breathe?
Where do you feel most at home? What is it about that space that makes you feel comfortable and safe?
When was the last time you felt so angry you wanted to hit something? Why were you so angry?
Imagine you won the lottery and now have $100,000,000. Everyone in your family expects you to give them money and make them rich. Would you give everyone in your family money or keep it for yourself? Explain your choice.
You’ve just been elected leader of the country. What is the first thing you would do with your new power? Why?
Would you rather be invisible or be able to fly? Explain your answer.
What one superpower do you wish you had? Why?
Do you remember your dreams? How often? What happens in them?
Describe the worst mistake you ever made and how you have learned from it.
What are your top three pet peeves? Why do these things bother you so much?
What is your go-to thing to do when you’re bored? What would happen if you could no longer do that thing for an entire year?
Imagine you could meet any person in history, living or dead. Who would you want to meet and what five questions would you ask them?
You can spend the day with any cartoon character. What character do you choose? Why? What would you do together?
If you could open any business, what kind of business would you start?
What is your worst quality? How do you think you can improve on it?
Have you ever been bullied? Describe how it happened and how it made you feel.
What is your perfect meal? Describe it in detail.
When was the first time you can remember feeling sad? What made you feel that way?
If someone wrote a book about your life, would you be the hero, the villain, or the sidekick?
If you had to pick one of your classmates as someone who inspires you, who would you pick and why?
What is the most valuable thing you own? Why is it special?
You can make one wish come true that would help other people but would not benefit you at all. What wish would you make and why?
Who is the most trustworthy person you know? Would you trust them with your deepest, darkest secrets?
Imagine the person you least like spending time with. What would happen if you had to spend an entire week with that person, all day, every day?
Have you ever failed to keep a promise? Why did you fail? How did it make you feel?
Do you think of yourself as a competitive person? Why or why not?
Have you ever done something simply because other people were doing it, even when you thought it didn’t look like any fun? How did you feel afterward?
If you died tomorrow, what one thing would you want everyone in your school to remember about you?
Have you ever collected anything? If so, what did you collect and why? If not, why do you think you’ve never been interested in collecting?
Write about a time when you had to work very hard for something. What made it so difficult? Why were you willing to work so hard? Was it worth it?
Have you ever been admitted to the hospital? Explain why and what your stay was like.
If you could trade places with a single person in your school, who would you trade places with and why?
You have to give up one of your senses. Which do you give up and why?
Who is the oldest person you’ve ever known? Why do you think they were able to live so long?
You have to go an entire month without the internet. How would this affect your life?
Would you rather be a great athlete or a great musician? Explain your choice.
Describe something that you used to enjoy when you were younger but that you find embarrassing now. Why did you like it when you were younger?
Have you ever lost something that you loved dearly? How did you lose it? How did it feel?
What do you wish your parents understood about you?
Are you too hard on yourself or do you let yourself off the hook too easily? Explain.
What childhood rules did you break when you were younger? What were the results of your actions? Would you break those rules again?
Describe a time when you have suffered and your suffering made you stronger.
Are you the same person on social media as you are in real life? Why or why not?
Have you ever felt like you can’t do something because of your gender? Describe how that made you feel.
Do you think you have a sense of style? What does your style say about who you are as a person?
Do you think your use of technology and social media has made you more isolated as you’ve gotten older? Explain.
Would you pursue a career if you knew you would never make much money doing it?
Which is more important to you: work that makes you happy or work that makes you money?
Do you look forward to getting older? Why or why not?
What do you think is the perfect age? Explain your choice.
Would you like your body to be frozen just before your death so that you might be resurrected hundreds or thousands of years from now? Why or why not?
Would you rather be rich but die young or be poor and die old? Explain.
Have you ever been talked into something? What was it? Why were you convinced to do it?
If you could have your teacher read only one book for the rest of their life, what book would you choose for them? Explain your choice.
Do you think kids should be allowed to read whatever they want? Defend your answer.
Pick three books you believe everyone in the country should read. Explain why you choose those three books.
Pick a book that you think was better than the movie version. Why was the book more effective?
Pick a book that you think was not as good as the movie version. Why was the movie better?
If you had to share your bedroom with one fictional character from a book, which character would you choose? Describe why they would be a good roommate.
What is your favorite book? Why do you enjoy it so much?
Do you prefer to read fiction or non-fiction? Why?
What is the most interesting book you ever read? What did you like about it?
What is the worst book you ever read? Why was it so awful?
Who is your favorite author? Why do you like their work?
If you could meet any author, living or dead, who would you want to meet? What three questions would you ask them?
Pick a character from one of your favorite books. Imagine that character was placed in a totally different story. Write about how they would behave in their new setting. For example: imagine Harry Potter was transported to Transylvania and had to face-off against Dracula.
What do you think makes a great book? Explain your answer.
Do you think classic books like James and the Giant Peach or Charlotte’s Web are better than modern novels? Or are modern novels better than the classics? Defend your answer.
Are there any genres of novels you don’t enjoy reading (ex: mysteries, romances, horror)? Why don’t you like those genres?
Do you ever listen to audiobooks? How do you think they compare to physical books?
Which Harry Potter house do you think you belong in? Why?
Has a book ever changed your life? Why or why not?
Imagine that your favorite fictional character had to come to school with you. What would they think of your school? What would do together?
Do you think certain books should be banned from school libraries? Explain your answer.
If you knew that a particular book were banned from your school library, would that make you want to read the book or stay away from it? Explain your answer.
Imagine that you are writing to a student a few years younger than you. Recommend three books to them and explain why you believe they should read them.
Throughout history, slave owners consistently prevented their slaves from learning to read. Why do you think slave owners didn’t want their slaves to read?
When you read, do you question what the author is telling you or accept whatever they say without question?
If you were given the power to make people only read fiction or non-fiction, which would you choose? Explain.
If you had to spend a year reading books from only one other country, what country’s literature would you choose and why?
If you were to write a novel, what kind of story would you write? A mystery? A horror story? A science fiction tale? Explain your choice.
What makes you pick up a book to read? Is it the cover? The description of the story? The author?
When you read a book, do you read out loud or only in your head?
Is it better to read a physical book or an ebook on your phone? Or does it not matter either way? Explain your choice.
Do you think kids today read less than their parents did when they were your age? Why or why not?
Adults often worry that kids don’t read enough books anymore. How many books a year do you think is enough for a kid to read?
Have you ever read a book that you’d be embarrassed to be seen reading in public? Why would you feel that way?
Are either of your parents readers? What kinds of books do they like to read?
Is it better to read books or do you think you can get just as much out of reading magazines and websites?
The oldest books in the world range from 500 to 2700 years old. Given that so much is now printed digitally, do you think any books from our own time will survive for that long? Why or why not?
Many people pass down important books from parents to children. Are there any books that are passed down through generations in your family? If not, are there any books you would one day want to pass down to your children?
Bill Gates paid over $30,000,000 for a notebook written by Leonardo da Vinci. Do you think this was a good use of his money or a total waste? Explain your answer.
The longest sentence ever published in a novel was written by Victor Hugo, who wrote Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame . That sentence was 823 words long. What do you think would happen if you turned in this writing prompt with a sentence that long?
What is the longest book you ever read? Do you think long books are better than short books? Why or why not?
Would you rather read 10 short books that are each 100 pages, or one long book that is 1,000 pages? Explain your answer.
When adults write books for kids your age, what do you think they fail to understand about you and your peers? What things do they get wrong about kids these days?
Do you think every book should have illustrations? Why or why not?
Do you like books with short chapters or long chapters? Explain your answer.
What was your favorite picture book as a child? Why did you like that particular book?
Do you think picture book writers like Dr. Seuss deserve to be considered great writers like authors who write chapter books (JK Rowling, Roald Dahl, etc.)? Why or why not?
Before the printing press was invented, history and stories were passed down orally. Why do you think the book has replaced the oral tradition? What makes the book and writing so durable and powerful?
Do you think people should write and underline in books? Why or why not?
If you could have the President read any book, what book would you choose and why?
Your best friend and your worst enemy
Coke and Pepsi
Boys and girls
Freezing to death and burning to death
The pen and the sword
Outer space and the bottom of the ocean
School food and home food
Big city and small town
Vampires and werewolves
Texting and talking in person
Virtual learning and learning in person
Money and happiness
Digital movies and physical movies
Football and basketball
Men’s sports and women’s sports
Owning a business and working for someone else
Math and science
Reading and writing
Childhood today and childhood when your parents were in school
Hurricanes and tornados
Coffee and tea
Homeschool and public school
Movies at home and movies at the theater
Flying in an airplane and traveling by train
Playing a guitar and playing the drums
Camping in a tent and camping in an RV
Monday and Friday
Going to church and sleeping in
Losing a leg and losing an arm
Getting bit by a shark and getting bit by a bear
Peanut butter and jelly
Ice cream and cake
First day of school and last day of school
Birth and death
Giving gifts and receiving gifts
Kissing and being kissed
Asking someone on a date and being asked out on a date
Driving a limo and driving a bus
Sitting in the front of the class and sitting in the back of the class
Going to restaurant and cooking at home
Oldest sibling and youngest sibling
Mom and dad
Pride and humility
Like and love
Comedy and horror
Showers and baths
The first page of a book and the last page of a book
Writing on a computer and writing by hand
Explosively loud fart and silent-but-deadly fart
Swords and lightsabers
A witch casts a spell on your parents so they can only bark instead of talk. Write about your evening dinner together.
You come to school and find that you have a substitute teacher, but the sub is a tiny baby. Write about how you and your class get through the day.
You mix all the flavors at the gas station soda fountain. When you drink the concoction, you can suddenly see the future. What happens next?
Imagine your grandfather was a fabulous world traveler. One day you find an old camera he used to take on his travels, and inside is some undeveloped film. You get the film developed. Write about the pictures you discover.
Your best friend lets you borrow his hat. But whenever you put it on, you can hear everything your friend is thinking. What happens next?
Imagine you can understand what cats are saying. Write about what happens when the cats in your neighborhood find out you can understand them.
You’re flying on a plane to visit your uncle. You look out the window and see a young boy hanging onto the wing of the plane. His fingers are slipping, and he’s screaming for help. What happens next?
Imagine you found an old book in the library but when you try to check it out the librarian says you can’t read it. You sneak it out of the library anyway, but when you get home the book opens on its own and gigantic vines start growing out of it. What happens next?
You find a journal from 1850. On the last page it reads: “Come help me! You’re my only hope.” What happens next?
You wake up and discover that you have switched bodies with your dad. Write about your day.
Imagine your teacher has gone missing for a week. One day they are back at school. Your class asks where your teacher went, and they say they were kidnapped by aliens. What happens next?
Rewrite your favorite book or movie, but make the villain the hero of the story.
You receive a plastic dinosaur for your birthday. You take it home, and later that night you wake up to see it walking across your bedroom floor. It looks at you and roars. What next?
Imagine you are assigned a new locker on the first day of school. You open the locker and find a backpack inside. In the backpack is $1,000. Write about what happens next.
You have new neighbors. As you watch them unloading their moving van, you see they have a pet dragon. What happens next?
Your grandmother comes to visit after a nice vacation overseas. You ask about her trip, and she tells you she met a werewolf. What happens next?
A new girl you’ve never met joins your class. As your teacher begins today’s lesson, the girl passes you a note. It reads: “Do you remember me?” What happens next?
Choose your favorite emoji and write a backstory about its life.
You wake up one morning and realize you are floating five feet above your bedsheets. What happens next?
A new boy arrives in your class. He cries a lot, but his tears are Skittles. Write about what happens next.
On a class trip to the zoo, you get separated from your classmates. You wander around the zoo looking for your friends and teacher. You stop to look at the giraffe, and it bends its head down and says: “Hey, kid. Get me outta here.” What happens next?
You wake up one morning and look out your window. A rocket ship has landed on your lawn. What happens next?
Imagine you are teleported into your favorite video game. What happens next?
Your parents ask you to help weed the garden. You start pulling weeds, but as you do you discover something buried in the dirt: a treasure chest. Write about what’s inside and what happens next.
On a class trip to a museum you get separated from your class. You wander the halls, but there doesn’t seem to be anyone in that part of the museum. Eventually you find your way to the entrance, but it’s locked. You’re stuck there overnight. What happens next?
It’s the first day of school and you have a new teacher. Your teacher is a robot. Write about your first day in class.
Your parents hire a magician for your little brother’s birthday. The magician says he can make your brother disappear. He performs the trick and your brother is gone. The magician tries to bring him back, but something goes wrong and it doesn’t work. What happens next?
Write a conversation between your socks and your shoes.
You’re helping clean out your aunt’s garage. In a box you find an old oil lamp. You rub the lamp and a genie pops out. Write about what happens next.
You are the world’s youngest doctor. You have made a mind-blowing new medical discovery that will change the world. Write about your discovery and how it will affect modern medicine.
You have won a contest where every day you get a new 100-pound box of candy shipped to your house. Write about the type of candy you would order and what happens next.
You’re on an airplane flying to Disneyland. You really have to pee. You go to the bathroom, but when you come out the entire plane is empty. Everyone has disappeared. What happens next?
You have brought flowers to the cemetery to put on your grandmother’s grave. You walk down the row to her headstone, but when you get there the ground is dug up and her coffin is gone. What happens next?
You are watering the flowers in your mother’s garden. You bend down to smell the roses, but when you do you hear a tiny voice coming from the flowers: “Help us!” What happens next?
You’re at the lake skipping rocks across the water. You make a great throw and the rock skips into the middle of the lake. Then, suddenly, the rock comes skipping back. What happens next?
You come into class after school for tutoring, but just as you open the door you see your teacher pulling off her face. It’s a mask, and underneath your teacher is an alien. What happens next?
You wake up and discover you’re a mouse. You realize you left your pet snake on the floor last night instead of putting it in its cage. What happens next?
Your cat is meowing at your door. You think it has caught another bird, but when you open the door you discover it has caught a tiny person three inches high. What happens next?
You open your freezer and discover it has become a doorway to a cold, wintry world. You step inside. What happens next?
You’re taking a plane to visit your cousins in New York City. But when the plane lands, you realize that you’re actually in Chicago. What happens next?
One day the school bully comes up to you and says if you don’t help him he’ll beat you up. You say sure. He says he needs your help apologizing to everyone he’s ever bullied. What happens next?
Your little brother is drawing monsters at the kitchen table. You look over his shoulder, and suddenly his drawings come to life. They peel themselves off the paper and start to run around. What happens next?
There’s a knock at your door and when you open it you find an old man who hands you a glass jar with clear water in it. He tells you that the water in the jar will make you live forever, and that he has lived over five-hundred years. Then he leaves. What happens next?
You are taking a ride in a hot air balloon. Suddenly a terrible wind comes up and you are blown off course. The skies darken, and you realize you’re heading for a massive thunderstorm. What happens next?
You and your best friend are skydiving. You jump out of the plane. As you fall, you try to pull your chute, but your parachute is broken. The ground is coming up fast. What happens next?
You wake up one morning and start to yawn, but you realize your mouth has disappeared. What happens next?
You’re invited to your neighbor’s house for the first time to swim in their new pool. You dive into the water and discover there is no bottom to the pool. The water stretches and stretches like an ocean and when you surface you’re in a whole new world. What happens next?
Imagine you live in an apartment building. The elevator has buttons for 19 floors, because there’s no button for unlucky 13. One day you board the elevator and discover the button for the 13 th floor has appeared. What happens next?
You’re at the mall and really have to go to the bathroom. You find a bathroom and go inside, but standing by the sink is a gigantic bunny with ears that touch the ceiling. It looks at you and says: “I wouldn’t use this bathroom if I were you.” What happens next?
Imagine your little sister gets a gerbil for a pet. One day the gerbil crawls onto your lap and says: “Listen, I know where the buried treasure is. You want me to show you?” What happens next?
Describe the most disgusting school lunch you can imagine.
Imagine your school is rocked by a massive earthquake. Describe the events inside your classroom.
Describe love without using the words love or emotion .
Describe how you want to spend the last day of your life.
Imagine you are teleported 100 years into the future. Describe the way your hometown looks.
You have invented a brand new flavor of soda pop. Describe what it tastes like, what it’s called, and what the label looks like.
Describe a problem you’re facing at home and how you might solve it.
Describe a problem you’re facing at school and how you might solve it.
Imagine the world suddenly loses all electricity. Describe how you would go through your day with no lights, no power, no internet, no phones.
Describe your dream car. What brand of car? What color? What kind of seats? What would it have inside?
You’re planning a road trip across the country. Describe the route you would take, what cities you would stop in, and what you would see along the way.
Who is your favorite family member? Describe what makes them so special.
Describe your bedroom. What’s on the walls? Is it neat or dirty? How big is your bed? Include as much detail as you can.
Look at your hand. Describe what you see without using the words hand, finger, or nails .
Describe the most beautiful flower you can imagine.
Describe the smell of the school locker room.
Imagine your teacher blames you for something you didn’t do and punishes you in front of the whole class. Describe how you feel in that moment.
Think of the bravest person you know. Describe what makes them brave and how they are different from everyone else.
Think of your favorite toy when you were younger. Describe that toy. Why was it your favorite?
Imagine you are sitting on a bus and the person next to you lets out a silent but awful fart. The worst you’ve ever smelled. Describe that smell.
Describe the worst day of your life.
Describe the best day of your life.
Think about what makes you a good friend. Describe the three qualities you think make you an excellent friend.
Imagine you were there the day the Titanic sank. Describe what you saw as you watched the great ship go down.
Imagine you were with Neil Armstrong when the first astronauts landed on the moon. Describe what you saw when you stepped out onto the moon.
Your principal comes on over the intercom and announces that an asteroid is hurtling towards the Earth and life as we know it will end in two hours. Describe how the world ends.
Imagine that you are surfing on the California coast. Describe what it feels like to be out on the ocean and ride the waves back into shore.
Describe the thing that scares you the most.
Imagine you are on a spaceship hurtling past a black hole. Describe what you see.
Imagine you have the ability to fly. You take off and zoom around your hometown. Describe what you see in the air and down below you.
Imagine the most perfect birthday cake. Describe what the cake looks like, what it tastes like, how many candles, etc.
Describe your first kiss, either real or imaginary.
Pick a parent. Describe what they do for a living. What does their day look like?
The warning sirens go off. A tornado has just touched down near your home. You scramble outside to get shelter, and you can see the tornado coming. Describe what you see all around you.
Describe the worst fight you ever had with your parents.
Describe a time you wanted something so badly but didn’t get it.
Imagine you are part of the first wave of immigrants to Mars. Describe what life is like when you arrive. What is your home like on the Red Planet?
Imagine you are onboard a fabulous submarine with giant glass windows. Describe your travels under the ocean and all the things you see.
Imagine you’ve created a brand new donut. Describe the donut you created, what it looks like, what it tastes like, etc.
Describe your perfect pet. What qualities of your pet makes them so appealing?
Describe the first school dance you ever attended.
Imagine you are out hiking and become separated from your group. You realize you’re lost. Describe how you would find your way back or help others to find you.
You’ve joined the circus. Describe the act you will perform opening night.
Describe your favorite kind of music without telling the genre (rock n roll, rap, rhythm and blues, etc.) or mentioning the name of any band/artist.
Describe the best pair of shoes you ever wore.
Imagine you colored your hair a neon color and cut it any way you want. Describe how your hair would look and how people would react to your new style.
Describe the best birthday party you ever had.
Imagine you crossed the country 200 years ago in a covered wagon. Describe what you saw on your way west to California.
Imagine you were part of the crew that discovered King Tut’s tomb in Egypt. Describe what you saw as you entered the pyramid and uncovered the mummy.
If the inside of your mind were a room, describe what that room would look like and what would be inside it.
Would you rather have your greatest success at a young age or later in life?
Would you rather live on Mars or the bottom of the ocean?
Would you rather cut all sports programs at school or lose the school library?
Would you rather be 10 years old forever or 70 years old forever?
Would you rather there were no cell phones or no video games?
Would you rather be a zombie or a vampire?
Would you rather your mom chooses your clothes or your brother/sister?
Would you rather eat only cake or only ice cream?
Would you rather travel by airplane or by train?
Would you rather visit the East coast or the West coast?
Would you rather live 100 years in the future or 100 years in the past?
Would you rather live through a hurricane or a tornado?
Would you rather be the star of a movie or the main character of a book?
Would you rather have purple hair or no hair at all?
Would you rather listen to only classical music or no music ever again?
Would you rather be super tall or super short?
Would you rather be incredibly strong in only one arm or only one leg?
Would you rather be an Olympic athlete or a pro sports star?
Would you rather celebrate only Christmas or only Halloween?
Would you rather be rich and unknown or famous but poor?
Would you rather end world hunger or create world peace?
Would you rather attend private school or be homeschooled?
Would you rather have an extra eye or an extra nose?
Would you rather be a shark or a whale?
Would you rather join the circus or the rodeo?
Would you rather hitchhike across the country or hop trains?
Would you rather climb the world’s highest mountain or descend into the world’s deepest pit?
Would you rather write a famous novel or sing a famous song?
Would you rather be the teacher or the principal?
Would you rather watch the sunrise or the sunset?
Would you rather eat only waffles or eat only pancakes?
Would you rather raise a boy or a girl?
Would you rather be an eagle or an owl?
Would you rather have permanent spring or permanent fall?
Would you rather lose one month of summer vacation or all the holiday breaks during the school year?
Would you rather lose your eyesight or your hearing?
Would you rather be beautiful or wealthy?
Would you rather work hard and fail or barely work and succeed?
Would you rather be the rain or the sunshine?
Would you rather work from home or work in an office?
Would you rather make more money as an employee or work for yourself but make less money?
Would you rather get bit by a spider or stung by a bee?
Would you rather stop to smell the roses or rush to get to where you’re going?
Would you rather only be able to eat with a fork or only be able to eat with a spoon?
Would you rather live forever and be unhappy or live to be 75 and be happy all those years?
Would you rather be blind or not be able to taste anything?
Would you rather be able to dance or be able to sing?
Would you rather have to ride a tricycle to school or a ride a unicycle to school?
Would you rather go to the theater or watch a movie at home?
Would you rather be known for being honest or being loyal?
In some cultures it is rude to burp. In others, it is considered a compliment to burp after a meal. Write about burping and the differences in table manners around the world.
Many schools are banning pop machines. Write about the effects of drinking too much soda, and whether or not you think kids should be able to choose for themselves.
What’s your favorite kind of music? Write about the history of that musical genre and what other genres of music influenced it.
Passing gas. Breaking wind. Silent but deadly. Most people think it’s rude to fart in public, but it’s also unhealthy to hold it in. Write about why farting is considered rude. Do you think it makes sense to shame people for doing something that everybody must do?
Is honesty really the best policy? Write about why people value honesty but also the times when honesty may get you in trouble. Do you think you should always tell the truth?
Imagine you’re a movie director. What kind of movie would you make? Write about how you would make your movie, from first idea to final cut to releasing your movie to the world.
Write about the reasons for school dress codes. Do you think dress codes are fair? Should students have input on what goes in the dress code?
Many people claim to have seen aliens and alien space ships. Write about the history of UFO sightings. Do you think we may have been visited by extraterrestrials?
What’s the best way to cure a cold or flu? Write about the different ways people around the world approach basic healing. What do you think is the best remedy for common illness?
Many countries are encouraging citizens to buy electric cars to save the environment, but those cars plug into a power grid fueled mostly by coal. Write about the history of electric cars. Do you think electric cars will positively impact the environment?
Everyone says kids are addicted to cell phones. Are they? Write about cell phone use and how it compares to other technologies kids were obsessed with in the past.
Write about the history of space exploration. Is it important for human beings to continue to explore outer space and travel to other planets? Do you think we’ll ever have a colony on Mars?
Write about the right to vote, how it has changed over time, and how old you think you should be before you can vote.
What does it mean to live a healthy life? Write about the history of health food trends and how health is different around the world. What do you think a healthy life looks like?
What is the best way to assess learning? Are grades the most effective way? Is it better to simply assign pass/fail? Or maybe no grades at all? Write about the history of grading and how it affects both students and teachers.
Does life get better as you get older? Write about the benefits and downsides that you’ve experienced as you’ve gotten older. What do you think is the perfect age?
Newspapers were once read by everyone. Now people get their news through social media. Write about how technology has changed the way people consume information. Has technology made things better or worse?
“History is written by the winners.” Pick an event from history and write about the side that “lost”. How does it influence our understanding of history when we don’t get to hear from the “losers”? Can we fully trust what we hear from the “winners”?
Write about the history of video games. Do you think kids spend too much time playing video games? Can video games make your life better?
Does homework matter? Write about the reasons teachers assign homework and whether or not you believe homework is an effective tool.
Is the only reason to go to college to get a job? Write about the history of higher education and the various benefits and drawbacks to going to college. Do you think getting a job is the sole reason someone should go to college?
What makes a great movie? How much money it makes? What kind of reviews it gets? Who decides what’s great and what’s not? Write about how you determine a movie’s greatness.
What makes someone a good friend? What qualities are the most valuable in a friend? Do you possess those qualities yourself?
Some parents believe kids should do chores and earn nothing in return. Others give their kids an allowance for chores. Write about chores, whether or not kids should be rewarded for them, and the benefits and drawbacks to doing chores at all.
Some kids drop out of school. Write about the different reasons someone may drop out. What will likely happen to kids who drop out? Are there any advantages to dropping out?
Your class is going to adopt a pet. It can be any animal. Pick an animal you think your class should adopt and explain why that animal is the ideal class pet.
Imagine an extra-curricular activity or program that your school does not currently offer. Write about why you believe your school should offer it and how it would benefit students.
What do you think makes for a good life? Who gets to decide what makes a life good in the first place? How would you determine whether you’ve lived a good life or not?
Do you think kids should have to read the classics in school? What are the benefits of the classics? What are the downsides to reading them? Who decides what makes a book a classic or not? Should those people be able to decide at all?
Imagine a traveler from the 1800s landed in our modern world. What things would be the most different between then and now? What would the traveler find the most strange or wondrous?
What is your favorite place in all the world? What is it about this place that makes it special? Write about this place and how you feel when you are there.
Who do you think is more important in a school: the principal or the teachers? How are these roles different? Why is one more important than the other?
Many schools now focus on preventing bullying. Write about the effects these efforts have had at your school? Is bullying being prevented? Or has it simply changed and gone underground?
What do you think it means to be happy? How do you rate being happy in relation to other things in your life like earning money or being a good friend? Is happiness worth pursuing?
The Founding Fathers wrote that everyone had a right to pursue happiness . Why do you think this was important enough to be included in the Declaration of Independence? Write about the importance of happiness and also why happiness itself is not a right but only its pursuit.
Do you think we expect too much of cultural heroes like Martin Luther King Jr. and LeBron James, expecting them to be perfect role models? Often people act surprised when they learn their heroes are not perfect. Is this fair?
Is it okay for kids to drink coffee? Write about the effects coffee has on mood and on the brain. Do you think kids your age should be allowed to drink coffee in school?
Many people argue kids today have poor social skills because they spend too much time on their phones. Write about how technology has affected your social skills. Do you think this criticism is valid? How do you feel when you have to communicate in person rather than on a phone?
In today’s world, plagiarism is a major offense. But in earlier eras, plagiarism was allowed and artists often reworked the ideas of others. Write about the history of plagiarism and the benefits and downsides to copyrighting artistic works.
“When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.” Do you think this is good advice? Are there times when the lemons you’re handed simply can’t be turned into anything good?
The poet TS Eliot once wrote: “In the end is my beginning.” What do you think this means? Write about how beginnings and endings are linked and whether or not this is true in life.
Should kids be allowed to watch any movie they want? Are there certain types of movies or elements in movies that kids simply shouldn’t see? Write about the history of the ratings system (G, PG, PG-13, R) and how it has changed. Do you think these ratings make sense?
In some countries, every young person is required to enlist in the military for a certain number of years. Write about the history of drafting citizens into the military. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this practice? Do you think you should be required to join the military?
Do you think it’s okay to keep secrets from your parents? Are there some things that should just be between you and your friends? Write about the benefits and drawbacks to secrets.
Years ago, many schools held formal dances where students were required to dress up in nice clothes. Do you think this is a good idea? Or should kids always be allowed to wear whatever they want to a dance? What are the advantages and disadvantages to a dance dress code?
Do you think artificial intelligence will ever surpass human beings? Write about the kinds of “thinking” machines are good at and how they are different from the kinds of things human beings are good at.
We have different ages for various adult responsibilities: 16 to drive, 18 to vote, 21 to drink. Write about how these benchmarks have changed over time. At one age do you think someone becomes an adult? Should all adult responsibilities be given at once or spread out as they are now?
How do you know when someone is lying? How can you be certain unless they admit to lying? Think about what you do when you lie. Is it easy to hide the truth or not?
Why is it considered rude to wear a hat indoors? Should kids be allowed to wear hats in school? What are the advantages and disadvantages to wearing hats in class?
Some parents buy their kids their first car. Others expect their kids to get a job and buy one themselves. What do you think is the best approach? Write about the benefits and drawbacks to your parents buying your car vs you buying it yourself.
Imagine your family is going to rob a bank. What role would you assign to each member of your family? How do you think the heist would go?
If you could be a parent, what would you do differently than your mom or dad?
What do you admire most about your father?
What do you admire most about your mother?
Imagine your family is going to compete on a singing and dancing competition on national television. What song would your family perform? Who would do the singing? What kind of dance would you do?
What’s the worst part about being a sibling?
Imagine that you are now your brother or sister’s teacher. What grades would you give them for their work? Do you think they would do well in your class?
What movies do you enjoy watching as a family? What are the favorite movies of your different family members?
Ask your parents what other names they considered naming you. Do you think you’d prefer any of their other choices? Were you surprised by some of the names they considered?
What chores do you have to do at your house? Are you given anything in return for doing chores?
If you had to pick a single color to describe each member of your family, what color would you choose for them and why?
Who is your favorite member of your extended family (aunt/uncle/cousin/etc.)? What do you like about them?
What is unique about your family?
Does your family open presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?
Imagine your family is stuck in a horror movie. Who would be the first to be killed? Who would survive all the way to the end?
What is the favorite meal of each member of your family?
What is the best vacation you’ve ever taken with your family?
Imagine your family is going to start a business. What business would you go into? What role would each member of your family have in the company?
What is the most important value to your family?
How many different homes has your family lived in? Do you have a favorite?
Who is the decision maker in your household? Why do you think they get to make the decisions?
If your parents were superheroes, what powers would they have?
If you had to live with one of your siblings for the rest of your life, which sibling would you choose and why?
Write about a recent argument you had with your parents. What was the argument about? How did it turn out?
Are there any vegetarians or vegans in your family? Does that cause any problems at meal times?
What is something you think other families could learn from yours?
What kinds of rules does your family have? Do you believe any of them are outdated and should be done away with? Which ones and why?
What restaurants does your family like to go to? Is there a special restaurant your family goes to for particular occasions?
What countries did your family come from? Have you ever visited relatives in those countries?
What holidays does your family celebrate? Which one is your favorite?
What traditions does your family keep?
Does your family eat dinner around a table? Why or why not? Do you think it matters either way? Explain your answer.
Who usually cooks in your household? What is their best meal?
What kind of expectations do your parents set for you? What happens when you don’t meet those expectations?
In what ways are you different from your siblings?
In what ways are you similar to your siblings?
Are you more like your mother or father? Explain.
Are you close to your grandparents? Write about your relationship to them and how important they are in your life.
If you had to describe the members of your family as different flavors of soda pop, what flavor would each of your family members be and why?
If you could spent one day with either your parents or your grandparents when they were your age, which would you choose and why?
Do you think you would have been friends with your mom or dad when they were young? Or would you simply be too different to ever have hung out together? Why or why not?
Do you share a bedroom or have your own? Write about the positives and negatives of your current arrangement.
Do you think your parents should buy you a car when you turn sixteen? Why or why not?
Do you think your life has been more difficult than when your parents were young? Or has it been easier? Explain.
Where do you fall in your family? Are you the oldest child? The youngest? Somewhere in the middle? How does this position affect your role in your family?
What books did your parents read to you when you were little?
Imagine your family has been cast to reboot an old movie. What movie would you choose for your family to star in? What role in the movie would you give to everyone?
What is something you learned on your own (either a skill or a life lesson) that you wish your parents had taught you?
What stories do your mom or dad tell about their childhood over and over again?
Do your parents have different rules or expectations for you versus your siblings? Do you think it’s fair that they treat each of you differently or the same? Explain.
If you could trade places with your brother or sister, would you? Why or why not?
What do your parents do for a living? What do you think about their employment? Would you like to follow in their footsteps? Why or why not?
Imagine you could give your mom or dad any job in the world. What job would you give them? Why do you think that job would make them happy?
Do you think your parents are proud of you? Why or why not?
What are your parents’ pet peeves?
What is the one place in the world your parents want to travel to more than any other? Why?
What is something that you learned from your brother or sister? How did you learn it?
What is something you wish your brother or sister knew about you?
Think back to the first time one of your friends ever stayed at your house overnight? What were you worried they would think about your home and your family?
How would you define the word family ?
How does your family celebrate your birthday?
What did you get your mom and dad for Christmas? Why did you choose those gifts?
What is the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done in front of your brother or sister?
Who has the messiest room in your house? Describe their room and why it’s so messy.
What room does your family spend the most time in? Explain.
If you had to pick, would you rather have your mom or your dad as a teacher this year? Explain.
Imagine your family is chosen to be the first family to live in a new colony on Mars. What roles would you give to each member of your family once you land on the Red Planet? Write about your new life on Mars.
Imagine you and your best friend are police detectives. What kinds of crimes would you solve? What qualities would make you and your friend good investigators?
Which of your friends do you share the most in common with? What qualities do you have in common?
Write about the worst argument you ever had with a friend. What happened afterwards?
What is something that none of your friends know about you?
Which of your friends do you tell your deepest secrets to? What is it about that friend that makes you trust them?
What kind of music do you listen to with your friends? Do all of your friends share similar tastes in music? Explain.
Write about the day you met your best friend. What was it that drew you together?
If your friends were asked to describe you to someone who had never met you, what would you hope that they say about you?
What movies do you love watching with your friends?
Write about the first time you ever slept over at a friend’s house. What were you afraid of? What were you surprised by? How did the sleepover go?
Have you ever made friends with someone at summer camp? Write about how you connected with that friend. Do you stay in touch?
What qualities do you value most in a friend?
What skills do your friends have that you wish you had?
What skills do you have that none of your friends share?
Imagine you and your friends start a band. What instruments would each of your friends play? Who would sing? What kind of music would you record?
Imagine that your best friend is moving away to the other side of the country. Write them a letter telling them goodbye and what you are going to miss about them.
Write a letter to your younger second-grade self. In the letter, describe the best way to make friends and keep them.
What do you do with your friends in the summer that you don’t do during the school year?
Do you like making new friends? Why or why not?
Do you think you can “buy” friends if you had enough money? For example, if you bought people enough gifts and paid for them to do fun things, that they would be real friends with you?
Write about a time when you “broke up” with a friend. What was it that ended your friendship? Do you think you could ever be friends again?
What is something that you could never forgive a friend for doing?
Is it okay to lie to a friend? Why or why not? If yes, in what situations would a lie be okay?
In a friend, which do you value more: honesty or loyalty?
If you hear someone saying something mean about your friends, do you speak up and defend your friends or keep quiet? Explain.
Of all of your friends, whose parents do you like the most? Why?
Do you have any friends of the opposite sex? How are they different from your friends of the same sex?
Write about a time when two of your friends were fighting and you had to play peacemaker.
Do your parents approve of your friends? Why or why not?
How important is it for a friend to be honest and tell you when you’ve made a mistake?
Write about a time you felt betrayed by a friend.
If you had to describe each of your friends as a pizza topping, what toppings would they be and why?
What television show or movie most resembles the lives of you and your friends? Explain your answer.
What is something that one of your friends is allowed to do that your parents do not let you do? How do you think you and your friend are different because of this?
Do you think modern technology makes it easier to be a good friend? Or does it simply complicate things and make it more difficult? Explain.
Imagine you and your friends are going to take a week-long vacation together. Where would you go? What would you do? Who in your group would decide?
Where do you and your friends fit in the social world of your school? Are you part of a clique or group? How well do you get along with other social groups at school?
If you and your friends were going out trick or treating, what would everyone dress up as and why?
If your best friend moved away tomorrow, do you have another friend that might eventually take their place? Write about how that might happen (or how it would be impossible).
If your best friend was magically turned into their opposite gender, do you think you could still be friends? Or is too much of your relationship based on gender for your friendship to still work? Explain.
If you heard an unpleasant rumor about one of your friends, how would you react? Would you tell them about it?
How important is friendship? Where do you rank it in comparison to other important aspects of your life (family, health, happiness, etc.)?
If you had to be adopted by the family of one of your friends, whose family would you choose? Explain.
Where do you and your friends spend most of your time hanging out? Why do you spend so much time at that location?
How do you know when someone is just pretending to be your friend?
What is the kindest thing you ever did for a friend? How did it make you feel?
Imagine you have two close friends but can only eat with one of them at lunch. What do you do in that situation?
Imagine that your teacher accused two of your friends of stealing from the teacher’s desk. Both your friends deny it, but you know which one of them is lying. What do you do?
What would you do if your best friend began hanging out with someone you hate?
Is it harder to make friends now than it was when you were younger? Or is it easier? Explain.
If you and your friends were a box of donuts, what kind of donut would each of your friends be?
What is the funniest movie you ever watched with a friend? Why did you and your friend find it so funny?
What is the saddest movie you ever watched with a friend? What did you and your friend find so sad?
Imagine you and your friends have gone out trick or treating and are now examining how much candy you raked in. How do you divide the candy? Does everyone keep their own? Who trades for what?
If you and your best friend were going to attend a protest, what would you protest against? What kind of signs would you make?
You can pick one of your friends to vote for in the coming election for school president. Which friend do you vote for and why?
Do you behave the same with all of your friends? Or do you change your behavior slightly for each friend? Do you think they do the same around you?
Do you believe you’ll have the same friends in high school and beyond that you do now? Why or why not?
Can you ever have too many friends? Why or why not?
Imagine you and your friends have to perform on America’s Got Talent. What kind of talent performance would you put on?
I am an invisible man. – Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison
When Katelyn Ogden blew up in third period pre-calc, the janitor probably figured he’d only have to scrub guts off one whiteboard this year. – Spontaneous, Aaron Starmer
Until he was four years old, James Henry Trotter had a happy life. – James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl
It was the day my grandmother exploded. – The Crow Road, Iain Banks
The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door… – Knock, Fredric Brown
All children grow up, except one. – Peter Pan, JM Barrie
Edward Twonky had no intention of getting eaten by a giant the morning he left for the Cottleston Fair. – The Giant’s Tooth, Bruce Coville
Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. — Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
Bingo Brown fell in love three times in English class. – The Burning Questions of Bingo Brown, Betsy Byars
My dad and I lived in an airport. – Fly Away Home, Eve Bunting
Not every thirteen-year-old girl is accused of murder, brought to trail and found guilty. – The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Avi
Mother died today. Or maybe, yesterday; I can’t be sure. – The Outsider, Albert Camus
The world had teeth and it could bite you with them anytime it wanted. – The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Stephen King
It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen. – 1984, George Orwell
Things are a lot different around here since that unicorn moved in. – Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great, Bob Shea
The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house all that cold, cold, wet day. – The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss
As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found he had been turned into a giant insect. – Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka
I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. – I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith
When the blind man arrived in the city, he claimed that he had traveled across a desert of living sand. – The Brief History of the Dead, Kevin Brockmeier
In an old house in Paris there lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. – Madeline, Ludwig Bemelmans
This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it. – The Princess Bridge, William Goldman
The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed. – The Gunslinger, Stephen King
I still remember the day my father took me to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books for the first time. – The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon
I’ve heard it said girls can’t keep secrets. — Wildwood Dancing, Juliet Marillier
Johnny never knew for certain why he started seeing the dead. – Johnny and the Dead, Terry Pratchett
It was a pleasure to burn. – Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
Most of the time John Midas was a nice boy. – The Chocolate Touch, Patrick Skene Catling
All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. – Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there. – The Go-Between, LP Hartley
In the town they tell the story of the great pearl – how it was found and how it was lost again. – The Pearl, John Steinbeck
That morning, after he discovered the tiger, Rob went and stood under the Kentucky Star Motel sign and waited for the school bus just like it was any other day. – The Tiger Rising, Kate DiCamillo
A screaming comes across the sky. – Gravity’s Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon
There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife. – The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman
The Herdman’s were absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world. – The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Barbara Robinson
We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck. – Feed, MT Anderson
It was one of those things they kept in a jar in the tent of a sideshow on the outskirts of a little, drowsy town. – The Jar, Ray Bradbury
On Thursday, when Imogene woke up, she found she had grown antlers. – Imogene’s Antlers, David Small
People do not give it credence that a fourteen-year-old girl could leave home and go off in the wintertime to avenge her father’s blood but it did not seem so strange then, although I will say it did not happen every day. – True Grit, Charles Portis
On the morning I was scheduled to die, a large barefoot man with a bushy red beard waddled past my house. – The Colossus Rises, Peter Lerangis
If your teacher has to die, August isn’t a bad time of year for it. – The Teacher’s Funeral, Richard Peck
It was like nothing on Earth we had ever seen before. – Your Mother is a Neanderthal, Jon Scieszka
Once upon a time, not so long ago, a monster came to the small town of Castle Rock, Maine. – Cujo, Stephen King
They say Maniac Magee was born in a dump. – Maniac Magee, Jerry Spinelli
My dad died twice. Once when he was thirty-nine, and again four years later when he was twelve. – Time Traveling With a Hamster, Ross Welford
Some years ago there was in the city of York a society of magicians. – Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
Three objects sat upon the carpet in Cleo Porter’s living room: an apple core, a human skull, and a package wrapped in red. – Cleo Porter and the Body Electric, Jack Burt
Kidnapping children is never a good idea; all the same, sometimes it has to be done. — Island of the Aunts, Iva Ibbotson
Once upon a time there was a huge family of children; and they were terribly, terribly naughty. – Nurse Matilda, Christianna Brand
The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could ; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. – The Cask of Amontillado, Edgar Allan Poe
Four days after his own funeral, Albert Wilkes came home for tea. – The Death Collector, Justin Richards
For as long as anyone could remember, there wasn’t a house at the end of Juniper Drive – until one day there was. – This Appearing House, Ally Malinenko
The magician’s underwear has just been found in a cardboard suitcase floating in a stagnant pond on the outskirts of Miami. – Another Roadside Attraction, Tom Robbins
The city waited twenty-thousand years. – The City, Ray Bradbury
The Black Slide appeared on the playground of Osshua Elementary on a clear day in late September. – The Black Slide, JW Ocker
It was Purdy Newcomb’s thirtieth birthday, though none of his family seemed to be aware of it. – Grand Opening, Jessamyn West
Listen: Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time. – Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut
The moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason. – Seveneves, Neal Stephenson
It began the night we died on the Kamikaze. – Full Tilt, Neal Shusterman
The manhunt extended across more than one hundred light years and eight centuries. – A Deepness in the Sky, Vernor Vinges
I waited and watched for seven years. – Dolan’s Cadillac, Stephen King
The island of Gont, a single mountain that lifts its peak a mile above the storm-racked Northeast Sea, is a land famous for wizards. – A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. LeGuin
Taran wanted to make a sword; but Coll, charged with the practical side of his education, decided on horseshoes. – The Book of Three, Lloyd Alexander
Esther Solar had been waiting outside Lilac Hill Nursing and Rehabilitation Center for half an hour when she received word that the curse had struck again. – A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares, Krystal Sutherland
Ironically, since the attacks, the sunsets have been glorious. – Angelfall, Susan Ee
The first thing you learn when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don’t got nothing much to say. – The Knife of Never Letting Go, Patrick Ness
It wasn’t as if he hadn’t been warned. – Sackett, Louis L’Amour
Before the worms turned mean, before they slithered out to get their revenge, Todd Barstow had a great time with them. – Go Eat Worms, RL Stine
Imagine you have signed on to go aboard a whaling ship in the 19 th Century. You will be away from your home sailing the seas for three to four years. How do you feel as you step onboard your ship? 
Imagine you lived two hundred years ago. There is no electricity, no phones, no paved roads. What would you miss the most about the modern world? Explain. 
If you had to build a statue to honor one person from your town, who would you build a statue of and why? 
Through most of history, people rarely traveled more than five miles beyond the place where they were born. What would be the advantages and disadvantages of this? 
Pick a local park or bridge or monument that is named after someone from your town. Write about who that person was and why this park/bridge/monument is named after them. 
What is the greatest invention since sliced bread? 
America is named after Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian explorer who claimed to understand that there was a “New World” between Europe and China. If you could rename the Americas, what would you name them instead and why? 
Have you ever been to a history museum? Write about what you saw and what you thought. 
If you could visit any period in history, what period would you visit? Why? 
What events are going on right now in the world that you think people will write about in the history books hundreds of years from now? Explain your choices.  
For thousands of years, very few people could read and write. The invention of the printing press changed that as it made the printing of books and papers much cheaper. How do you think this changed the lives of everyday people? 
Have you ever visited your local history museum? Write about what you saw there and what you thought. 
Many stories from history are actually not true. George Washington didn’t have wooden teeth. Benjamin Franklin didn’t fly a kite in a lightning storm. Why do you think so many myths get passed down and believed as fact? 
“People who neglect history are doomed to repeat it.” Do you agree with this statement or not? Explain. 
During World War II, the United States didn’t officially enter the war until the attack on Pearl Harbor. In fact, many citizens didn’t want the US involved at all. Do you think the US would have gone to war if the Japanese had not attacked? 
When President Jefferson sent Lewis & Clark into Western America, he believed they would find wondrous creatures like wooly mammoths. They didn’t, of course, but what if they had? Write a “lost journal entry” from Lewis & Clark’s journals in which you discover a wooly mammoth. 
“History is written by the winners.” What do you think this statement means? Do you agree? 
When do you think was the best time to be alive? Why? 
Many people imagine Adolf Hitler was always considered an evil man, but 43% of German people voted for him during his first run for president and was Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 1938. What do you think we can learn from the fact that Hitler was so popular and yet so evil at the same time? 
Do you think you can learn more from non-fiction books like The Diary of Anne Frank or from fictional stories about the same time period like Number the Stars or The Book Thief ? Explain. 
What one person from history would you like to meet? What three questions would you ask that person? 
If people in the 1930s had YouTube, what do you think they’d be posting videos of? 
Often visiting historical sites like the pyramids or the Eiffel Tower is boring. Reality isn’t as exciting as what you’ve seen in the movies. Write about a famous historical site, but write about it in a context that makes it more interesting and exciting. For example, a bank robber who tries to escape the police by hiding inside the Great Pyramid.  
What if the Chinese had “discovered” America before Europeans? Write about how the history of the “New World” would be different. 
What if the Allies had lost World War II? How would America be different if it were under the control of the Germans and Japanese?  
Imagine that you have been hired to record what is happening in your town so that people 100 years from now will know all about it. What would you take pictures of? Who would you interview? What would you ask them about? What would you write down for the history books? 
Imagine that you’ve traveled back in time 500 years. Your mission is to make life better for people in the past, but you can’t bring anything with you. Can you accomplish your mission? Can you explain how anything in our modern world works so that people 500 years ago can benefit? 
If you had to describe your town as a person, how would you describe it? What gender would it be? What personality would it have? Would it be young or old?  
Imagine an archeologist 1,000 years from now digging up your house and discovering your bedroom. Pick three objects they would find. What do you think they would make of those objects? How might they misinterpret what they find? 
How much of your history is determined by where you live? Imagine how the history of you and your family would be different if you lived in China, or South Africa, or Brazil. How does geography and culture shape your world? 
As cultures and attitudes change, so do our views on figures from the past. What do you think should be done about different holidays, memorials, streets, parks and other things named after historical figures who held views we no longer agree with? 
Many cities still have monuments and statues to Confederate generals. What do you think should be done with these monuments? Should they be left standing or removed?  
Some people believe everyone should visit the concentration camps of World War II to gain a better understanding of the horrors that happened there. Others feel the camps should be forgotten, that visiting them is like slowing down to view a car wreck. What do you think? 
In Philadelphia, a man once found an original copy of the Declaration of Independence behind a painting he had purchased for $4. Imagine your own story of discovering a famous object from history. What object do you discover? Where did you find it? What do you do with it? 
In ancient times, the Greek historian Herodotus made a list of the Seven Wonders of the World, which included the Great Pyramid at Giza, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Make your own list of 7 Wonders of Today’s World. What makes your list? 
Cities often build monuments to remember major events from history. If you were the mayor of your town, what monument or statue would you build in your city, and what historical event would it commemorate? 
The Declaration of Independence speaks of unalienable rights , those rights that should not ever be taken away. Should recess be an unalienable right? As a student, what rights do you think your teacher should be able to take away, and what rights do you think should be unalienable? 
In The True Story of the Three Little Pigs , Jon Scieszka retells the classic tale from the point of view of the Big Bad Wolf, giving us a new perspective. Pick a villain from history and retell their story from their point of view.  
Thomas Edison is often thought to be the inventor of the lightbulb, but other scientists and engineers invented variations on the light bulb before him. Why do you think history often attributes discoveries to one individual, even when a discovery is the result of the work of many different people? 
Napoleon once said: “History is a fable agreed upon.” What do you think he meant? Do you agree?
Popcorn is the most commonly sold item at movie theaters. But in certain parts of the country, other foods are also popular. Giant pickles, for example, are sold in theaters in the Southwest. What do you think is the ideal food for watching movies at the theater? 
Imagine you can keep only Disney movie. All the others must be lost to history. What movie would you keep and why? 
What is the best way to watch a movie? In a theater? On your phone? On your TV at home? Explain your answer. 
Who is the greatest movie villain of all time? Explain. 
Should kids be allowed to see rated R movies? Why or why not? 
What movie terrified you when you were younger? Why? 
List your three favorite movies. What do you like about them? 
Take a character from one of your favorite movies and place them into a different film. For example, take Spiderman and place him into Jurassic Park . Write about what happens in your mashup. 
What is your favorite genre of movie (comedy, action, science-fiction, horror, etc.)? Why do you enjoy those kinds of movies so much? 
Who is the greatest movie hero of all time? Explain.  
What makes a movie successful? Is it the director? The actors? The screenplay? The special effects? Explain your answer. 
Who is the greatest actor or actress of all time? Defend your answer. 
Many actors get typecast , meaning they are given the same sort of role over and over again. Clint Eastwood played in dozens of westerns. Jamie Lee Curtis played in many horror movies. If you had to be typecast, what type of movie would you want to act in? 
You are invited to watch a movie at the White House with the President, and you get to pick the movie! What movie would you pick and why? 
Do you prefer movies or television shows? Why? 
Many child actors have success early on and then struggle greatly with drugs, alcohol and depression as they get older. Do you think children should be allowed to act in movies given that it may wreck their lives? 
What is the worst movie you’ve ever seen? Why was it so bad? 
Certain actors become so famous for a particular role (Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, Daniel Craig as James Bond), that everyone in the world knows who they are. Would you want to have that kind of fame? Write about how your life would be different if you were that famous. 
Have you ever watched a movie with subtitles? What did you think? Did it change your enjoyment of the movie? 
When a new television show comes out, do you prefer to be able to binge watch the entire season? Or is it better for the season to come out one episode every week?  
Hollywood is constantly remaking old movies, even movies that were great the first time around. Do you think great movies should be remade, or do you think that they should be left alone since they’re already amazing? Explain.  
How do you choose what movie to watch? What is it that catches your eye and makes you pick a particular movie? 
Are actors and actresses paid too much money? Is it right for anyone to make $20 million just to star in a movie? Explain your answer. 
Would you rather be an actor or a director? Explain. 
What do you think of the Academy Awards? Do you think the Academy usually gets their picks for Best Picture, Best Actor, etc right? Or do you think the Academy is usually wrong? Explain. 
Did Disney ruin Star Wars ? Defend your answer. 
It is now common for directors to go back and alter different things in their movies or shows, sometimes to improve them but other times because people on social media get upset about something in the movie they don’t like. Do you think directors should be allowed to change their movie/show after it has been released? Why or why not? 
Have you ever gone to a theater and seen a movie alone? Would you? Why or why not? 
You can get rid of one genre of movie forever (comic book movies, horror movies, romantic comedies, etc.). What genre do you do away with and why? 
Pick one book that you think should be turned into a movie. Who would you cast in the main roles? Why would it make a good movie? 
Can a movie still be a great movie if it has a bad ending? Why or why not? 
Name a movie that everybody loves but that you hate. Why do you not like it? Why do you think everyone else is wrong? 
What is the very first movie you remember seeing? Did you enjoy it? What do you think of that movie now? 
Imagine that you are tasked with re-thinking the movie rating system (G, PG, PG-13, R). How would you recreate the current system? Where would you make the cutoffs? Explain.  
If you could remake any movie and put yourself in the starring role, what movie would you remake? What role would you play? Explain.  
Many people think very young children shouldn’t be allowed to watch movies or television. When do you think children should be allowed to start watching movies? Explain. 
Does seeing violence in movies lead to violence in real life? Defend you answer. 
Imagine you are given a chance to pitch a movie idea to a major Hollywood studio. What’s your pitch? What movie would you want them to make? 
Imagine Hollywood is going to make a movie of your life. Who would you want to star as you in the movie? Explain.  
Have you ever been to a drive-in theater? How was it different from watching a movie at an indoor theater? Did you enjoy the experience? 
In the past, some horror movies claimed that they were so scary that people ran out of the theater screaming in terror or fainted dead away in their seats. Do you think these stories were true? Or do you think they were just good marketing to make the movie sound more scary? 
Do you think Hollywood should keep making more movies in a successful franchise even if the movies aren’t very good (Lord of the Rings, Marvel comics, Star Wars)? Or should Hollywood move on and make something totally new? Explain. 
Imagine that you’re tasked with selecting the next actor to play James Bond. Who would you choose? Why? 
Which are better: live action movies or animated movies? Defend your answer. 
People often decide whether to watch a movie or not based on user reviews on rating sites like IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes. Do you use these ratings to decide what to watch? What are the advantages and disadvantages to letting anyone leave a rating and review? 
Are movies better now than movies made in the past? Explain your answer. 
Are there movies your parents watched when they were kids that they have had you watch too? What did you think of those movies? 
Are there any movies you watch every year as a tradition ( Groundhog’s Day on Groundhog’s Day, A Christmas Carol on Christmas, etc.)? If so, what movies and why do you watch them every year? 
What is your favorite documentary film? What is it about? Why do you like it? 
“The book is always better than the movie.” Give an example of a movie you think is better than the book. Explain why you think so.
Write a letter to your parents explaining why, in your opinion, you should be their favorite child. 
How would you describe the difference between an opinion and a fact? 
Imagine you have the power to outlaw either chocolate or vanilla ice cream. Which flavor do you keep, and which do you outlaw? Explain your choice. 
Should girls be allowed to play on boy teams and vice versa? Defend your answer.  
Should teachers assign homework? Why or why not? 
Take the Other Side: Argue for why you should be allowed to drop out of school.  
Can wishes come true? 
Should you be required to obey your parents? Why or why not? 
Are boys and girls really all that different from one another? Explain.  
If a kid skips school enough, eventually their parents will end up in trouble with the law. Is that fair? Should the parents be held responsible for what their kid does? 
Should kids your age have an assigned bedtime or be allowed to stay up as late as they like? Defend your answer. 
If a student doesn’t get good grades, should they be held back a year or allowed to move on? Explain. 
“The truth will set you free.” Does it really? What do you think? Is it better to always tell the truth? 
What are five places you believe everyone should visit at least once? Explain your choices. 
Is distance learning a good substitute for in-class education? Why or why not? 
Take the Other Side: Argue for why kids should be allowed to smoke.  
Should kids your age have their own phones? Why or why not? At what age should a child be allowed to have a phone? 
Should parents be allowed to “spy” on what their kids do online in order to keep them safe? Explain your answer. 
Would you be okay with going to school for an extra hour every day if it meant you would receive a better education? Why or why not? 
Should all schools have uniforms? Defend your answer. 
Should smoking be illegal? Or should people be allowed to do things that may end up killing them?  
Take the Other Side: Gossiping about people behind their back is perfectly alright. 
Should shoppers be required to bring their own grocery bags? Why or why not? 
Girls or boys: who has it harder? Explain.  
Technology makes kids lazy. Do you agree or disagree? Explain.  
Imagine you find $100 in the school parking lot. Finders keepers? Or should you turn it in? Defend your answer. 
Pick a season and explain why it’s the best season of all.  
Kids should be limited to only a few hours of screen time each day so that their brains will develop properly. Do you agree or disagree? Explain your answer. 
Every kid should be required to learn cursive. Agree or disagree? Explain your answer. 
Take the Other Side: Argue for why cheating on a test should be allowed. 
Pick your favorite athlete. Why are they the best in their sport? Defend your answer.  
How old should a kid be before they are allowed to date? Explain. 
At what age should a kid be allowed to wear makeup? Explain.  
Kids shouldn’t have to do homework if they don’t want to. Agree or disagree? Defend your answer. 
Should someone in middle school be allowed to date someone in high school? Why or why not? 
Take the Other Side: Argue for why the movie is always better than the book. 
Should all the zoos be shut down and their animals let free? Why or why not? Explain.  
Aliens exist and we have been visited by them many times. Agree or disagree? Explain.  
Should kids be allowed to play video games or should they be banned for kids altogether? Defend your answer. 
Money can buy happiness. True or false? Explain. 
What modern musical artist will people still be listening to 50 years from now? Defend your answer. 
Is it ever okay to ban books? Why or why not? Explain. 
Every student should be required to participate in PE and sports. Agree or disagree? Explain. 
Should students be allowed to bring homemade cakes or cupcakes to class to celebrate their birthday? Why or why not? 
Should kids be allowed to go trick or treating on their own without their parents? Why or why not? 
At what age should someone be allowed to get a tattoo? Explain.  
Should cookie have nuts in them? Why or why not? Defend your answer. 
At what age should someone be allowed to have a baby? Explain.
Should students be forced to memorize poetry? Why or why not? Explain.
Santa Claus: fun and harmless or vicious lie? What do you think? Explain your answer. 
Imagine you are a balloon a child accidentally let go of at a birthday party. Write a poem about being released and floating away. 
Write a poem about the worst nightmare you ever had. 
Write a poem from the perspective of the very last dinosaur that has survived extinction for millions of years and has never been found by mankind. 
Write a poem about a time you were disappointed by a birthday present.  
Write a poem from the perspective of the Wicked Witch of the East from The Wizard of Oz about how you got hit and killed by Dorothy’s house. 
Write a limerick about waiting for the bell to ring on Friday afternoon.  
Write a narrative poem about the street you live on.  
Imagine you won the lottery. You’re rich! Write a poem about how all that money ruined your life. 
Write a rhymed poem about the worst meal you ever ate. 
Imagine you could get rid of your brother or sister by selling them at an auction. Write a poem about auctioning them off to the highest bidder. 
Write a poem about a dog falling in love with a cat.  
Think about what makes you feel sad. Imagine you are a doctor prescribing what will make you feel happy again, and write your prescription in the form of a poem. 
If you could change your name, what name would you pick? Write an acrostic poem using the name you selected. 
Write a haiku about the end of the world.  
Imagine that you have been selected to come up with a new national holiday. Write a poem about this new holiday and what it celebrates. 
Write a poem about the sinking of the Titanic.  
Write a rhyming poem about waking up Christmas morning and discovering that there are no presents under the tree. 
Pick a sibling. Write an acrostic poem using their name. 
Write a haiku about the smell of breakfast waking you up in the morning. 
Write a poem about the most annoying sound in the whole world. 
Write a poem from the perspective of the Moon. What was it like the first time someone landed on your surface? How does it feel to be cold and empty?  
Write a poem from the perspective of a flower. How does it feel the day someone finally comes and picks you? 
Write a limerick about the loudest fart ever heard. 
Write a poem from the perspective of a fish studying a lure in the water. Do you take the bait or pass? What happens if you get caught? 
Imagine you discover a secret passageway in your house. Where does it lead? Write a poem about exploring this hidden passage. 
Write a poem about a flood sweeping your house away. 
Write a poem about why you should never fall in love. 
Imagine you are a baseball. You just got hit for a homerun to win the World Series. Write a poem about how it feels to get smacked over the fence to win the series. 
Write a rhyming poem about getting lost in the woods.  
Write a poem from the perspective of a snowman melting on a warm winter day. 
Imagine you’re an old pair of shoes. Your owner brings home a brand new pair of shoes. Write a poem about how you feel and what happens next. 
Write a poem from the perspective of Haley’s Comet as it passes by Earth. 
Write a poem about a fight you had with your best friend.  
Write a poem about moving to a new home.  
Write a poem from the perspective of an abandoned shopping mall. What is it like now that everyone is gone? 
Write a poem about your favorite movie theater. 
Imagine Hollywood has decided to make a reality television show about your life and overnight you become a famous star. Write a poem about how your life has changed. 
Write a poem about Halloween night. 
Imagine you have an evil twin. Write a poem about all the wicked things your evil twin does and how hard life is because everyone believes these things are done by you. 
Write a poem from the perspective of your hands, but without using the word hand .  
Write a poem about a lost toy.  
Imagine you come to class and you have a new teacher. She is literally a monster and says she will eat anyone who gets out of line. Write a poem about what happens next. 
Imagine the internet suddenly dies and all the computers stop working. Write a poem about what happens next. 
Write a poem about the worst thing you’ve ever tasted. 
Imagine you’re Death and have come to take an old woman who has lived a good life. Write a poem about this final encounter. 
Write a poem about an Elf on the Shelf who comes to life and causes all sorts of mischief. 
Write a poem from the perspective of a book that has been banned from your school library. 
A drought has caused the water levels to fall in the lake/river/sea near your home, causing all the old items lost in the water of the years to be revealed. Write a poem about the objects that can now be found and recovered. 
Write a poem from the perspective of a Christmas tree on Christmas morning.
Write a poem from the perspective of a pumpkin being carved for Halloween. 
Explain the steps for teaching a puppy new tricks. 
Imagine you once escaped from prison and are now writing a letter to a friend of yours who is in your old cell. Explain step by step how they can escape as well. 
How do you build the perfect snowman? 
Explain the steps for how to apologize when you’ve hurt your friend’s feelings. 
Write the process for shooting the perfect jump shot. 
What are the steps for making a new friend? 
Imagine that you are a bull rider performing at a rodeo. Explain the steps for riding the bull and staying on as long as you can. 
Explain how to whistle.  
What is the perfect way to spend a Saturday? Explain the order of your days from when you wake up to when you go to bed again. 
How do you do the perfect dive? 
Imagine you’re taking a road trip across the country. What are the steps for preparing your car for the trip? Think about what you will bring with you and how you will know where to go. 
Explain the precise steps for carving a pumpkin. 
Explain the steps for pitching a tent. 
Imagine you’re going skydiving with someone who has never been in an airplane before and is terrified of heights. Explain to them how you will jump out of the plane and survive. 
Explain the process for tying your shoes. 
Imagine you’re planning a bank robbery and have to explain to your fellow robbers exactly how you will all escape without getting caught. Write down your precise getaway plans. 
What is the best way to eat a pie? Explain the steps from removing it from the oven to the final burp. 
Explain how to properly wash and dry your hair. 
What is the procedure for packing your suitcase for a long vacation? 
Imagine that your city is flooding due to a massive storm. Explain the steps you need to take to secure your house and protect it from the rising water.  
Step by step, explain how you clean your room. 
What is the procedure for tying a stem into a knot with your tongue? 
Imagine that you are a general in charge of storming a medieval castle. Explain the steps your army will take to lay siege to the castle and win the battle. 
Explain step by step how you draw a self-portrait. 
Explain step by step how to live a good life. School, job, marriage, kids, etc. What order and at what age should these events happen to live a good life? 
What is the procedure for convincing a stray dog to come to you so you can help it find its way home? 
What are the steps for changing the world? 
Imagine you are performing in a circus. Pick an act that you will star in and explain the steps for performing your act. 
What is the proper way to make the perfect bowl of popcorn? 
Explain the steps for making your parents happy.
What does romance mean to you? 
Should boys ask girls to dances or the other way around? Explain. 
How do you say you’re sorry when you’ve hurt someone’s feelings? 
What is the difference between hearing and listening? 
Do you hold a grudge when your boyfriend/girlfriend/partner hurts you in some way? Why or why not? 
What are the qualities that make you a good romantic partner? 
How do you know your boyfriend/girlfriend/partner is reliable? 
At what age do you think you should be allowed to start dating? 
How do you know when you are ready to have sex with someone? 
Describe your first kiss. Was it what you imagined it would be? Why or why not? 
How are romantic relationships at your school different from the way they are portrayed in movies and television? 
What are the top three qualities you would look for in a boyfriend/girlfriend/partner? Explain. 
What are the biggest challenges in having a romantic relationship? 
Do you believe in love at first sight? Why or why not? 
Do you think your classmates make too big a deal about romantic relationships in middle school? Why or why not? 
How do you know your boyfriend/girlfriend/partner respects you? 
Should you only date people that your parents approve of? Why or why not? 
Should schools do a better job of preparing students for having relationships and having sex? Explain. 
Where is the best place to get information about relationships and sex?  
Describe your perfect boyfriend/girlfriend/partner. What do they look like? What is their personality like? What do you two do together? 
Should romantic partners ever fight? Why or why not? What does it mean if they do? 
Valentine’s Day: romantic holiday or marketing scam? 
How should a middle school couple celebrate their anniversary? 
Should boys hold open doors for girls? Or is this just sexist? Explain your answer. 
Should students be allowed to date someone older or younger than themselves? Why or why not? 
“All is fair in love and war.” Agree or disagree? Explain. 
What scares you the most about having a romantic relationship? 
Do you think romantic relationships get better in high school? Why or why not? 
What does it mean to be committed to your boyfriend/girlfriend/partner? 
How do you know when you want to marry your boyfriend/girlfriend/partner? 
Do you and your boyfriend/girlfriend/partner laugh a lot together? What makes you laugh? 
Does it matter who says “I love you” first? Why or why not? 
What do you think the opposite sex really wants in a romantic relationship? Explain. 
Do you feel pressured to start dating? Why or why not? 
What do you friends think of your boyfriend/girlfriend/partner? Do you agree with them? Explain. 
How do you know when it’s time to break up with your boyfriend/girlfriend/partner? 
Is it okay to never date in middle school and high school? Why or why not? 
What are the disadvantages of having a boyfriend/girlfriend/partner? Explain. 
Should parents be allowed to choose your romantic partners for you? Why or why not? 
Is love logical? If it’s not, should you pay attention to it and follow it? Explain. 
In what ways can a boyfriend/girlfriend/partner make you a better person? 
Many people say that romantic partners should be “equals”. Do you think this is actually possible, that two people can be equals? Why or why not? 
What would you do if your close friend was dating someone you didn’t think was good for them? 
Do you think couples should have secrets? Why or why not? 
How do you establish boundaries in a romantic relationship? 
What have you learned about romantic relationships from watching how your parents interact? 
How are romantic relationships today different from those in the past? 
Do you think romantic relationships today have benefited from cell phones and technology or not? Explain. 
Is it okay to ask someone out by text? Why or why not? 
Are middle school romantic relationships doomed to fail? Why or why not? 
What would you do on your “perfect” date? 
Who should pay for things on a date? 
“Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Do you agree? Why or why not?
Research the history of Christmas. Was Christmas always the holiday we know now? When did people begin celebrating Christmas the way we do today? How has the Christmas holiday changed over time? 
Research the history of the circus. Who invented the first circuses? What kinds of attractions did they have? How did circuses become popular? What circuses still survive today? 
What is a food desert? How do they affect families living within them? What can be done about food deserts? 
Research a job or profession that no longer exists. Who performed that job in the past? Was it a good job or not? Why is that particular job no longer around anymore? Which jobs exist today will eventually disappear? 
What did people use before GPS and Google Maps? Research how ancient people developed maps and learned to navigate by the stars.  
What are some of the scariest places in your state? Research one of them and write about its history. What happened there that makes it so scary? Do you think the stories about this place are real or just made up? 
Many people mistakenly believed that the Egyptian pyramids were created by slaves. New evidence suggests they were created by well-paid laborers. Research how the pyramids of Egypt were created. Who made them? Why? Why have they lasted so long? 
Research the history of shoelaces. When were shoelaces first invented? What were shoelaces originally made from? How many different ways to tie shoelaces are there? 
“The greatest invention since sliced bread.” Pick an invention. Write about how it was invented, who contributed to it, and how it changed the world. 
Pick your favorite sport. Research how your sport was originally created. Who was responsible for inventing the rules? How did your sport come to be widely accepted? How were its professional leagues formed? How many people participate in it today? 
What was the worst war in the 20 th Century? Write about why a particular war was the worst. How did this war start? Why and when did it finally end? 
How do plants communicate? Research how plants have evolved to communicate with each other. How does this compare with human communication? Are plants really “unthinking” or are they more complicated than you thought? 
Research the history of the Supreme Court. How was it formed? What is its role in the US government? How are justices appointed? How does the Supreme Court operate on a daily basis? 
Pick a major city in a foreign country. Write about how that city was founded and what that city is known for today. If you visited that city, what would you go see? Who are famous people from that city? 
Pick a particular natural disaster from history (hurricane, volcanic eruption, earthquakes, etc.) and write about what happened on that day. What were the effects of that disaster? Could the damage have been lessened if certain steps were taken? 
Research the history of the cigarette. Why was it developed? Why is smoking so deadly? Has the tobacco industry always known about the dangers of smoking? How has vaping changed the industry? How many young people smoke? 
Research how the different planets in our solar system were discovered. Who made the discoveries and how did they know the planets were there? Do you think there are more planets out there in our solar system waiting to be discovered? 
Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among young people. Research why teens commit suicide. What are the signs someone is thinking about suicide? How can suicide be prevented? 
Research the history of the video game. When were video games first invented? What were the earliest video games? How did video games develop over time? What are the most popular video games of all time? 
Pick an author that you enjoy. Write about where they came from, what books they write, and why they became an author. Would you recommend their work to your classmates? 
Christopher Columbus was once credited with “discovering” the Americas, but many other explorers had landed in the Americas before him. Write about the history of discovery in America. What cultures landed in the Americas before Columbus? 
Research the history of the White House. How was it designed? What rooms are within it? How does it operate on a daily basis? 
Are we alone in the universe? Research how scientists have searched for life outside of Earth. What are different groups doing now to look for signs of intelligent life beyond our solar system? Do you think they will ever find any? 
Homelessness remains a huge problem in America. Research the different reasons people become homeless. What solutions are there for addressing homelessness?  
What were the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World? Research how this ancient list was made, and then select one of the wonders to write about. When was your Wonder created? Where was it located? What happened to it? 
Select an astronaut. Research their life and how they became an astronaut. What was their childhood like? What kind of missions have they done as an astronaut?  
Research the history of school lunches. Why were lunches first served in schools? What kinds of foods have been served over the decades? Are school lunches healthy? How have they changed over time? 
Research the history of your state. When was it founded? Why did it become a state? Who are some of the famous people from your state? What is your state known for? 
One of the most massive floods we have evidence for happened during the last Ice Age at Glacial Lake Missoula. Research these floods and write about why they happened. How much water was involved? What would the floods have looked like? Where did all the water go?  
Research the history of the dictionary. Why were dictionaries first created? Who created them? What effect did compiling a dictionary have on the English language?
Why do we keep dogs as pets? Research the history of dogs. Where do they come from? Why did humans start keeping them as pets? What kinds of jobs have dogs performed over the years? What is your favorite breed of dog? 
Research the history of gargoyles. When did people first start putting gargoyles on buildings? Why are so gargoyles monstrous? What purpose do gargoyles serve? 
Where does chocolate come from? Research the history of chocolate. Where is it grown? Who originally discovered chocolate? Has it always been used in candies and deserts? How much chocolate is consumed every year? 
Research Halloween. Has Halloween always been celebrated the way it is today? When did people begin celebrating Halloween as they do now? How has the celebration of Halloween changed over time?  
How did we find the Titanic? Research the history of the search for the wreck of the Titanic. How long did it take to find? Who found it? How did they find it? What did they discover when they finally found the wreck? 
Research the history of the ice cream truck. Why were ice cream trucks invented? Who drove the first ice cream trucks? Why do ice cream trucks play the kind of music they do? How many ice cream trucks are still around today? 
Research the history of tattoos. When did people first begin tattooing themselves? What different kinds of tattoos have people created in different cultures? How does someone become a tattoo artist today? If you got a tattoo, what would you get? 
Research the history of comic books in America. How popular are they? Why were they censored in the 1950s? Is reading comics the same as reading books? 
The only successful skyjacking in American history happened in 1971. A man later called DB Cooper hijacked a Boeing 727, held it for ransom and escaped by diving out of the plane. Research the history of this caper and the speculations about what happened to DB Cooper. 
Research the history of the Christmas tree. When did people begin using trees as Christmas decorations? Were Christmas trees always decorated the way they are now? What kinds of trees were used in the past?  
Pick your favorite candy bar and research its history. When was it first invented? Has it ever changed over time? How many are sold every year?  
Research the history of dragons. When were dragons first created? In what cultures did dragons first appear? Have dragons always had the same characteristics (fire-breathing, hoarding gold, etc.)? How have dragons changed over time? 
Bullying remains a problem in schools. Research the various ways schools and communities can combat bullying. Which ideas do you think would be the most effective? 
Research the history of money in the United States. What was the first money printed by the US government? How has money changed over the years? What is paper money made of? How is it decided what will be on the coins and bills? How much money is in circulation? 
Who invented the electric guitar? Research the history of the electric guitar and how it changed modern music. Why was it invented at all? Was it popular right at the beginning? How many kinds of electric guitars are there? 
Research the history of reading. When did people first begin to read silently? When did literacy become widespread enough for most people to own and read books? How did the spread of literacy change the world? 
Research the history of the playground. When were playgrounds invented? What kinds of toys were used in the first playgrounds? When were playgrounds included at schools? How have playgrounds changed over time? 
Research the history of pirates. Who were the first pirates? Who were some of the most famous pirates? What was the difference between a pirate and a privateer? How many pirate treasures are still out there to be discovered? 
Research the history of the pencil. Who invented the pencil? When was it first invented? Where pencils always made of wood and graphite? How many pencils are made every year? 
Research the history of the crayon. When were crayons first invented? Why? Who made them? How are crayons made? How many crayons are sold every year? How many crayon colors are there?
Imagine you’ve been made principal for the day and can change three things about your school. What three things would you change and why?
Imagine you find an old letter tucked inside a library book. The letter reveals that there is a hidden passageway somewhere at your school. Write about your search for the passageway and where it leads. 
What is the worst part about school? Is there any way it could be improved? Explain.
Should students be required to share a locker with a classmate? Why or why not?
Spirit Week: good fun or totally stupid? Defend your answer.
Do you think teachers should have a seating chart? Or should students be allowed to sit wherever they like? Explain.
Imagine you have been chosen to host a foreign exchange student who has never been to America. Write a letter to your new guest explaining how to succeed at your school.
If you could add any extra-curricular activity to your school, what would it be and why?
Should tests include more multiple choice questions or more short answer questions? Explain.
Should students be required to lead parent/teacher conferences? Or should teachers have to lead them instead? Explain.
What is the difference between a good teacher and a great teacher?
What is the biggest problem facing your school right now? What are possible solutions to that problem?
What is one thing you wish your teacher understood about you?
Imagine that no one can raise their hands ever again. What would you replace hand-raising with so that students can respectfully get the attention of their teacher?
You are in charge of replacing the school lunch menu. You can select three restaurants to provide new menu items. What three restaurants do you choose and why?
Should the number of students per class be increased or decreased? What is the ideal number of students in a single class? Defend your answer.
Imagine one day at school you are allowed to create a rule for students to follow. Explain the rule you create and why you choose to make that rule.
Sitting in the back row or sitting in the front row: which is better? Defend your answer.
Imagine that you have been given the job of driving a school bus to school every morning. How will you keep order on your bus? What rules will you have? How will you enforce them?
What is the point of education? Why does it matter? Explain.
Should education be entirely directed to getting a job after school? Or should school teach you things that may not apply to a job but that enrich your mind? Defend your answer.
You can do away with one subject at school so that it is never taught again. What subject do you get rid of and why?
Should students be allowed to skip grade levels? Why or why not?
Should students be held back if they cannot meet basic standards in their classes? Why or why not?
Should teachers be allowed to assign homework to student athletes on game days? Why or why not?
You can invite one famous person to come to your school. Who would you invite and why?
Write a letter to the President of the United States. Explain the problems facing your school. What three things would you ask that the President do to address these problems?
The best athlete at school or the student with the highest grades: which would you rather be? Explain.
Imagine you are going to run for school president. Write a speech to convince your fellow classmates that they should vote for you.
Do you think students should be allowed to choose their teachers? Why or why not?
Would you rather start the school day earlier (and get out earlier) or start the day later (but have to stay later)? Explain.
Is recess necessary? Why or why not?
Where do fifth graders belong? In elementary school or in middle school? Explain.
Where do eighth graders belong? In middle school or in high school? Explain.
Should students be allowed to take mental health days and stay home from school? Why or why not?
Should schools be allowed to celebrate holidays? Or should they not acknowledge them at all because they might offend some students?
Do you feel safe at school? Why or why not?
Should teachers be allowed to assign what books you read? Or should you always be allowed to pick whatever book you want? Defend your answer.
Is it important to learn more advanced mathematics like algebra and geometry if you’re not ever going to use them? Why or why not?
Should students be required to take exercise/workout/yoga classes? Why or why not?
Should students be required to take classes in basic life skills like cooking, how to change a car tire, how to write a resume, etc.? Explain.
Your teacher gives you a camera and asks you to take pictures of three things you like at school. What would you take pictures of and why? 
Is Monday through Friday really the best school schedule? Why or why not? If not, what schedule would be better?
What does it mean to have school spirit? Is school spirit important? Explain.
You are in charge of organizing a film festival at your school. You can pick three movies to show to all the students and teachers. What three movies would you show and why?
Public school or homeschool: who gets a better education? Defend your answer.
If you could repeat one grade level because you enjoyed it so much, which grade level would you choose and why?
If you could add any sport to your school for students to compete in, what would you add and why?
Should students have a say in the dress code? Why or why not?
Get rid of lunch (you can eat at your desk in class) or get rid of recess? Pick and defend your answer.

38 Science Writing Prompts for Middle School

Is artificial intelligence going to take over the world? Why or why not? If it does, will life be better or worse? Explain.
Imagine there is no longer any gravity on Earth. Write about a day in your life without it.
Has technology really improved the world? Or has it simply changed the way things are done (cooking in a stove instead of over a fire, for example) but not really made it any better? Defend your answer.
What technological advancement do you think the world would be better off without? Defend your answer.
Imagine you are tasked with naming the Moon. What would you name it and why?
Self-driving cars are the way of the future. But self-driving cars will put millions of delivery drivers, truckers and taxi drivers out of work. Should companies be allowed to create new technology that ends so many jobs? Defend your answer.
If you had to lose one of your five senses, which one would you give up and why?
Imagine that you could create a magnet that would attract something other than metal. What would you want your magnet to attract? Explain.
If you were an astronaut, would you rather go to the Moon or go to Mars?
If you could invent an app to improve people’s lives, what would you invent and why?
How do you know the world we live in is real? Can you prove that we are not all part of a massive computer simulation? Explain.
Would you rather have the ability to transform into a liquid or a gas? Explain.
Should people be allowed to clone themselves? Why or why not?
Some people believe we will one day be able to upload our consciousness into a computer and then download it thousands of years later into new bodies so that we can live forever. Do you think this is a good idea? Why or why not?
If you could have a robot that did everything for you, would you want one? Why or why not?
You can watch one event: the beginning of the universe or the end of the universe. Which do you choose? Explain.
What do you think happens if you travel into a black hole?
Until a word is invented for a particular color, people literally cannot see it. For example, ancient people could not see blue until the Egyptians invented blue dye and the word blue entered ancient languages to describe it. Until then, the sky and the ocean were seen as shades of black and green, not blue. Why do you think this happens?
If you scream in space, can anyone hear it? Why or why not?
Imagine you traveled to Mars and planted a tree. Do you think the tree would look the same as it does on Earth? Why or why not?
What do you think would happen if every spider on Earth disappeared tomorrow?
How would you go about your day if electricity had never been discovered?
Do you think scientists will eventually create a pill that will make people lose weight without any effort? Why or why not?
What are some things that science cannot help us understand?
You can make one discovery: the cure for cancer or a device that will reverse global warming. Which do you choose and why?
Science has often resulted in unintended consequences. For example, Einstein’s discovery of the Theory of Relativity led to the creation of the atomic bomb. What inventions or discoveries happening today might lead to unintended consequences in the future?
If you could live in a virtual reality world like in the movie Ready Player One , would you want to? Why or why not?
What one invention would you most want to make? What would your invention do? How would it help people and society?
We spend billions of dollars to learn about things like distant galaxies and the structure of atoms. Should we spend so much on these things when we haven’t solved more immediate problems like world hunger or the cure for cancer? Why or why not?
Should recycling be required for families, schools and communities? Why or why not?
Do you think there is intelligent life out there on other planets? Why or why not? If yes, do you think we should try and contact them?
Should you be allowed to own your DNA? Or should companies be allowed to use samples of your DNA to create medicines and cures without your consent? Explain.
Should students be required to learn how to write computer code? Why or why not?
A thousand years from now, what do you think scientists will find left over from our civilization? What will they think about us?
What aspect of science excites you the most (space exploration, biology, computer coding, chemistry, etc.)? Explain.
Do we rely too much on technology? Explain.
No species survives forever. They are wiped out by mass extinction events or they die out over time because they can’t adapt. Do you think human beings will be the first species to live forever? Why or why not?
Pick one item from your bedroom that scientists 5,000 years from now might discover excavating your house. What would that item tell them about you?

[email protected]

Terms & Conditions

180+ Pages of Short Story Lesson Plans

COMMENTS

1,000 Creative Writing Prompts: Ideas for Blogs, Scripts, Stories and
This book by Bryan Cohen offers 1,000 prompts for blogs, scripts, stories and more. You can download the PDF version for free from the Internet Archive, a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, music and more.
63 Creative Writing Prompts for Adults (with PDF). All Genres!
Find 63 quality writing exercises for fiction, dialogue, character, plot, and more. Download a PDF collection of all the prompts or post your own in the comments.
PDF 1000 writing Ideas
1000 writing Ideas Contains 1000 practical, relevant, and interesting writing prompts and writing ideas for journal and creative writing activities for anyone, but especially for those students who struggle with inventing their own. Provides other ready-to-use, practical and visually appealing, reproducible worksheets for your writing program.
PDF 101 Creative Writing Prompts That Will Get You Excited to Write
at's hard about it. This is your hard line. Write what's scary about it. This is your scary line. Step Two: Now write four separate lines. bout your weird line, one line each for what's weird, stupid. hard and scary about your weird line. Then do this for your original stupid, hard.
More Than 1064 Journal Writing Prompts
Click through for over 1000 journal writing prompts. | Free printable: 30 writing prompts ... (The June journaling ideas are also available as a printable PDF.) 31 March Daily Journal Prompts {Free Printable} ... 1,000 Creative Writing Prompts Box Set: Five Books, 5,000 Prompts to Beat Writer's Block (by Bryan Cohen and Jeremiah Jones) ...
1800+ Creative Writing Prompts To Inspire You Right Now
Sign up for weekly writing prompts and enter a short story contest to win $250. Explore 1800+ prompts for different genres, themes, and writing levels.
PDF 52 Creative Writing Prompts
Some prompts are short and sweet; others take a little more explanation. Either way, you'll find space in these pages to think, laugh, reflect, and dream. And most of all: write. This ebook has 52 prompts and exercises, starting with an undated Week 1. Each entry offers the explanation and prompt.
1,000 awesome writing prompts : Kinder, Ryan Andrew, author : Free
1,000 awesome writing prompts by Kinder, Ryan Andrew, author. Publication date 2014 Topics Creative writing, Authorship, Authorship, Creative writing Publisher [United States] : [CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform] Collection ... Pdf_module_version 0.0.20 Ppi 300 ...
PDF 500 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing
ive and Personal WritingChildhood Memories1. Wh. t. as your most precious childhood possession?2. What wer. y. ur favorite childhood shows and characters?3. What were yo. r. avorite picture books when you were little?4. Wh. t. hings did you create when you were a child?5. Wha.
PDF 365 Creative Writing Prompts
10/16/2017 365 Creative Writing Prompts 20. Missed Connections: If you go to Craigslist, there is a "Missed Connections" section where you can find some interesting story lines to inspire your writing. 21. Foreclosure : Write a poem or short story about someone who has lost or is about to lose their home. 22.
PDF 365 Wr i ti n g P r o mp ts to h el p i n sp i r e yo u to
Write a story about how you imagined the President was when he was a kid. 26. Write a story about what you think life will be like when you are a grown-up. 27. Describe an animal in detail but do not name the animal. 28. Write a story about something you find beautiful. Make the reader understand the beauty. you see.
Unique Writing Prompts for Adults with PDF Printable
Expand your writing skills with short prompts perfect for short stories. These single sentence writing prompts can spark inspiration for story ideas, and can help break through writer's block. I've also included a free PDF printable so you can print these out and keep them close. So, here are 20 short story writing prompts for adults! He slammed into the door and suddenly, he was gone. The ...
1000 Story Prompts to Spark Your Creativity
An FBI agent and local sheriff team up to uncover a murder mystery. A high school student investigates the murder of a local teen. High school students are transported forward in time to their 30-year high school reunion. High school students are transported into the bodies of their middle-aged selves.
5,000 WRITING PROMPTS : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming
English. 5,000 Writing Prompts is the must-have resource for novelists, short story writers, screenwriters, creative writing teachers, bloggers, memoir writers, playwrights, improv actors, and other creators. It's. not only for people with writer's block, but also for people who want to. write faster and make their stories richer and better.
Over 1,000 Writing Prompts for Students
Of all the resources we publish on The Learning Network, perhaps it's our vast collection of writing prompts that is our most widely used resource for teaching and learning with The Times. We ...
Creative Writing Prompts
The following list of 100 techno thriller writing prompts is designed to inspire writers and ignite their creativity, inviting them. Here is an ever growing list of 1000 of creative writing prompts. For a more organized list and explanation, please visit our Writing Prompts main page.
PDF Creative Writing Prompts
I heard a butterfly say to a bee, have no beautiful colours likeme.#TheRealm#29 CREATIVE WRITING PROMPT. ontinue this opening with a poem, story or any type o. y made-up! Beneath the low-hung night cloud, Isaw a poor ship sinkingWhy not use. o draw a picture to go alongside y. NG PROMPTUse this picture to writ.
PDF 63 Fun Creative Writing Prompts
List of Writing Prompts. mance Writing PromptsPrompt 1:On the night bef. re his aiage, Roet gets a isit. Its Rahel, the gi rl that grew up next door and has. een his best friend ever since. They had always pushed back a feeli. s fo eah othe,
1000 Writing Prompts
Please visit our WRITING PROMPTS MAIN PAGE for a complete list of our prompt lists. 1000 Writing Prompts! 1. A man is locked in a room with a orangutan. He is not a trainer. 2. After the gun fell out of his pocket… 3. Write a story about this picture: University Writing Program Building where the Benches are all empty, for now! 4.
PDF 300 WRITING PROMPTS FOR KIDS
3. Which is better, winter or summer? Write about the reasons why you think winter or summer is better. 4. Write about what would it be like if you had an alligator as a pet. 5. If you had $1,000, what would you buy and why? 6. Write a story using these 5 words: apple, train, elephant, paper, banjo.
1,000 Character Writing Prompts by Bryan Cohen
This sequel to author Bryan Cohen's popular 1,000 Creative Writing Prompts can take your writing productivity to a whole new level.Bryan Cohen is a director, a comedian and an author of several books on the art of writing including 1,000 Creative Writing Prompts: Ideas for Blogs, Scripts, Stories and More and Writer on the Side: How to Write ...
1029 Killer Writing Prompts for Middle School
1029 Killer Writing Prompts for Middle School: 20 Fun Categories. 1029 Killer Writing Prompts for Middle School. Over 1000 writing prompts across 20 categories: Biographical, Comparison, Descriptive, Expository, Family & More.
PDF 1,000 Word Creative Writing Workbook
Give the students 30-45 minutes to create their own 55-word fiction stories, noting that each story should include at least one character, a setting, a conflict, and a resolution to that conflict. The pieces must be exactly 55 words, not including the title. The title can be no more than seven words long.