creative writing ideas for young adults

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Creative Writing Prompts for Young Adult (YA) Fiction

Say what you want about YA novels, but they have an ability to capture the formative nature of teenage years that I’ve yet to see elsewhere.

Take Stephen Chbosky’s “ Perks of Being a Wallflower ” for example. It’s the quintessential story of the high school misfit finding his place. But by adding a history of sexual abuse and mental illness, Chbosky writes a story that shows the impact our teenage years have on our lives.

John Green does this in “ Looking for Alaska ” and “ Fault in Our Stars .” One chronicles the average life of a guy in boarding school who’s in love with the girl he can’t have. The other is simply a love story of teenagers who understand the importance of living your life. Yet somehow, Green takes seemingly straightforward plot lines and puts into words the unexplainable feeling of being an invincible teenager.

Of course, YA is done poorly as well. Just look at “Twilight” or “Divergent.” “Twilight” is about an unhealthy dependent relationship and “Divergent” is remarkably similar to other YA dystopian novels.

YA lit should be both a comfort and a challenge.

There’s nothing like a finishing a book like “ My Heart and Other Black Holes ” or “ Made You Up ” to find you’re not alone in your mental illness.

It’s great to read something like “ None of the Above ” and “ Ready Player One ” that force you to consider you beliefs.

But how can you make sure you fall in the category of successful and not reductive?

By writing a story that is relatable, not sentimental. By giving careful thought to the development of your characters and plot.

This is easy to read, but putting it into practice can be difficult. Sometimes, you just need that push to get you going.

Here are 50 creative writing prompts for YA that are sure to help you on your endeavor to write a meaningful story. Mix them up if you think that works best for you, but make sure that in the end, you have created something that has helped you and your writing.

Two helpful links for YA writers:

41 Top Agents for YA Fiction
30 Best Publishers of YA Novels

50 Creative Writing Prompts for YA Writers

A brother and sister discover their dad has been having an affair with their favorite counselor at school.
A girl is looking through old family albums with her mom and finds a picture of her as a child, sitting on the lap of man she doesn’t remember. She decides to find out who the man is.
In the span of one week, a high school senior in the heart of Los Angeles is dumped by his girlfriend and told by his parents that they’re separating. He decides to live with his dad and they move to the place he grew up, a very small farming town in central California.
A group of friends go to a party one night but wake up the next morning in a white tiled room with a one way mirror on one of the walls. They’re dressed in hospital gowns and each of them has a red scar on their right forearm.
After her mom has died from cancer, Rylie finds a bundle of envelopes addressed to her in her mom’s handwriting. She opens the one on top and finds a slip of paper that reads: Summer of ’77, 142 Brooks Ct, WA.
Josh is the only one who doesn’t pass the aptitude test, so when everyone else his age is moved to their new home, he is forced to stay with the Forsaken.
It’s been 7 months since the accident and 3 months of physical therapy. On his last day of therapy, Chris is told that the person who was the prime suspect in his case has been cleared of all charges.
The girl that Jordan’s been in love with for the past year gets into a major car accident, putting her in the hospital’s ICU.
After a memorial service ends, a daughter lingers at her dad’s spot and leaves flowers for him. When she comes back the next day, more flowers have been added by someone else.
When Kristin arrives for the first day of her new job, the store has been boarded up. She notices a note tucked under the doormat instructing her to go out back. When she does, she finds a door emitting a glowing green light.
Alyssa is diagnosed with Asperger’s the same month she starts high school.
Charlie heads back to his locker after class is let out but stops when he sees Marley, the girl he’s had a crush on throughout high school, standing beside his locker.
A group of kids who have been friends since first grade leave their senior prom and decide to go on a road trip before going their separate ways for college.
Ever since he was a little boy, Luke would spend every night in his backyard, lying on his back with Ashley and trying to name the constellations. But he can’t do that anymore.
Zac lined up with everyone else in their black gowns and mortar hats. Just as the procession was about to begin, he remembered his first day of junior year English, when she walked into class after it had already begun.

If you like these YA prompts, check out all the other creative writing prompts here at Bookfox.

photo writing prompts
musical prompts
creative nonfiction prompts
first line generators
While her roommate is out of town, Hannah is woken up by the sound of someone in her room.
The Collective only sought after teenagers between the ages of 15 and 17, and tomorrow was David’s 15th birthday.
September came and that meant it was time for the annual trip to the family cabin.
He woke up to excruciating pain and a blinding white light.
A month before graduating, a senior gets shunned by all five of her closest friends, and she can’t figure out why.
A guy live broadcasts a Ouija board session on Periscope, and though the people present don’t see anything special, his lone friend who was watching goes insane.
In his junior year, the high school quarterback is told by his doctor that because of several concussions he’s received, there is a risk of permanent brain damage if he plays football his senior year. Does he decide to play or not?
A male teenager who loves video games and organizes the chess club struggles with how to tell their parents that he wants to become a female.
After being together for 5 months, a high school couple decides to have sex for the first time.
A teenager with a 4.0 GPA is rejected by all twelve of the colleges she applied to, and decides to go to each college and confront each counselor who rejected her, demanding to know why they ruined her future.
The “it” couple on campus is forced to break up when one of them moves across country for college.
A teenager who has spent their entire life on a boat learns that there are other people in the world and they live on land.
A 14-year-old teenager who is a musical protege is diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer.
A teenager makes candles and delivers them to the senior center where unbeknownst to her, her estranged grandfather lives.
A teenager in the foster care system who is relocated seven times in seven years finally finds a family which is loving and functional, until he discovers the father’s dark secret.
After being kicked out of their high school, a teenager is enrolled in the same boarding school his older sibling attended, and discovers there is a mysterious club there that he wants to join.
A high school basketball star is the prime suspect in a murder trial of his ex-girlfriend.
While all their friends are away for the summer, a soon-to-be senior spends his summer vacation working at the community pool, and falls in love with a girl in eighth grade.
A teenager thinks she has it made when she lands the hottest college guy, until he dies in a fiery car accident and she learns about all his other girlfriends.
After attending their first high school party, a freshman goes to school next week to learn that a video of her drunk and saying racist things is circulating around school.
Two days after finishing up his first year at college, a teenager realizes he’s in love with a girl who just graduated and moved back home to a different state.
While on a family vacation in Hawaii, Andrew tries surfing for the first time and receives help from one of the other surfers. It’s not until he gets back on shore that his brother tells him he just surfed with Kelly Slater.
On Natalie’s first day on the job as a white water rafting coach, she loses one of her rafters in the waves.
Instead of getting off on his exit, Charlie kept driving up the west coast until he hit the Canadian border.
After being teased throughout middle school, a teenager decides to lose weight. But he’s really doing it because he’s ashamed of his overweight parents.
After three failed suicide attempts, Liz’s doctor recommends she transfers to a new school.
A teenager keeps a book full of intimate conversations she has overheard at her school. One day it goes missing and little by little, the conversations are leaked to the entire school.
A teen’s mom abandons their family one night and leaves no trace of where she’s gone. But her children are determined to find her and learn why she left.
In the middle of the night, Nate receives a call from his best friend’s mom informing him that her son had committed suicide.
Lucy didn’t want middle of the night visits from her dad anymore, and the only way she knew how to end them was to run away.
While house sitting for his neighbors, Stephen invites some friends over to hang out and watch a movie, but when they see the Porsche in the garage they decide to take it for a drive, even though none of them has their license.
Emily has been trying for years to get recognized by a recording label and decides she’ll play one last show before calling it quits. When she takes the stage, she sees an executive from a Nashville label in the audience.
Jake has messed up one too many times and his parents have sent him to a behavioral correction school. If he messes up again, he goes straight to juvenile detention.
Jess spent every day after school writing in her journal about a world she had created and could escape to. One night after writing, she dreams of her world; but if she doesn’t wake up before sunrise, the dream will become reality and she won’t be able to get back.
A teenage werewolf grew up in a world filled with witches, vampires, werewolves, and mermaids. But then she comes across a book that tells of a world full of only humans, and it changes her forever.

60 comments

I don’t like the wording of number 11. Asperger’s is not a disease. It is a neurological disorder on the autism spectrum.

I love the ideas(so much creative energy). However, as a person with Aspergers, I also didn’t like the wording of number 11. Aspergers is a pain sometimes, but it’s actually a blessing in disguise.

What sucks is that now Asperger’s isn’t in the DSM anymore.

What do you mean by that.

Secretly, yes it is. I also do not appreciate the wording of 11.

D is correct. Asperger’s is no longer in the DSM, the diagnostic manual for developmental disorders and mental health conditions. In its place there is a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, in which the individual is further classified as high or low functioning- the former being previously labelled as Asperger’s

I love the ideas. But I agree with you guys. I don’t like the wording for no.11. My brother has Aspergers and ASD – Autism. And he is especially amazing. What P said is true.

Same Candie. My brother has autism and people treat it as a disease. He is normal just like everyone else and deserves to be called a kid.

Your Ideas are AMAZING! I have never felt my brain flooded with creative ideas. 🙂

I know I’m three years after all of these comments, but these prompts really inspired me to keep writing again. Thank you!

Hi – this website is quite good. I love number 34 and within a minute or two after seeing it I’ve got a story in my mind based on that! Thanks 🙂

I love these ideas, I think they will really help me. I also love reading your blog its so great. Keep it up:)

The 2nd number 18 should probably be edited. An age gap in minors of 5+ years is way too many, and it could definitely be taken as glorifying pedophilia. A high school senior would be 17/18, maybe even 19, whereas an 8th grader is around 13, barely entering puberty. That also comes with an unhealthy power dynamic in relationships that can easily become abusive. I don’t want this to be misconstrued.

Well if each of them were say…10 years older then would it be okay then? Because now they are 23 and 29. That’s only a six year difference. At least he isn’t like, a 40 year old man or something…just saying

Are you serious? Yes, a six year age difference probably won’t mean much where two sexually mature 20-somethings are involved, but does that then, make it ok for a 9 year-old and a 15 year-old to hook up? I’d hope you’d say not. And it’s not much better with a 13 year-old since like ASPEN said, they have barely entered puberty, and cannot even consent to 16+s in many places. I had to do a double-take on that passage myself, because we’re approaching almost American Beauty/Lolita territory here. Inappropriate.

@ASPEN – It does not need to be edited. How someone interprets the prompt is their decision. Saying that this needs to be edited because it could be seen as glorifying pedophilia is basically saying, “This prompt is potentially controversial and therefore should not exist.” Also, do you know how many people find themselves in a situation similar to this, but never actually act on it due to the outlook individuals like you have? Of course, I do understand what you’re saying and I respect your opinion, but it’s definitely a rather one-sided opinion.

@JFON – Are YOU serious? You can’t compare a nine-year-old and a fifteen-year-old to a thirteen-year-old and a seventeen or eighteen-year-old. You also cannot assume that a senior in high school is sexually mature while an eighth grader is not. Puberty can happen extremely early for some and extremely late for others. This could be taken into consideration if using this prompt. Also, please note that the plot does not say ANYTHING about them hooking up. It merely states that the senior falls in love with the girl. The plot could go multiple ways depending on the writer. Unfortunately, the first thing everyone probably assumes when reading that prompt is, “Oh my god! They had sex?!” *rolls eyes* Okay. Again, you also can’t compare this prompt to “American Beauty” or “Lolita” because (although you ironically tried to invalidate what Genevieve said), both plots involve MIDDLE-AGED men being sexually attracted to minors. The prompt above is no where close to approaching such territory. Also, keep in mind that the prompt states that the senior FELL IN LOVE with the eighth grader. The men in the two tales you mention NEVER loved the young women they preyed on; they simply lusted after them.

** TLDR: Whether the prompt is approached in an innocent or controversial manner is ultimately up to the writer. If it doesn’t float your fancy, simply do not add it to your repertoire.

@Genevieve and Mickie: As an 18-year-old senior, there is absolutely no reason why someone my age should be “falling in love” with an eighth grader. It’s honestly disgusting how a bunch of grown adults can argue over this. I don’t care about puberty, this is a CHILD. Her brain is not fully developed, regardless of physical maturity. Imagine how ignorant you were at thirteen. Imagine if an 17 or 18-year-old “fell in love” with your childish, eighth grader self. Not to mention the fact that if they had sex, it would be considered rape under the law. You’re a worthless pedophile apologist and you need therapy.

You’re being rediculous stop exaggerating. It’s just a story idea, you have no reason to call someone that.

the age gap is what makes the story idea controversial and also, sort of interesting. No one here said they were going to hook up. It could just be him meeting a really funny girl and kind girl and later learning she is only 13. He knows he can’t have her because, um, pedophilia much? But maybe he becomes really good friends with her. Btw, kids are evolving. I have a younger sister who could be mistaken as the same age as me because of her personality and looks, but she is actually three and a half years younger

I agree with Amber. A seventeen/eighteen year old falling in love with a thirteen year old child? disgusting. if that prompt is used I hope it’s not romanticized and the high school senior is exposed and condemned for being a predator

This argument is pathetic. Grow up!

As an 18 year old senior, your brain is not fully developed. So, as a person whose brain is still developing, you are bound to make mistakes or bad calls. Same with a fourteen year old. “Relationships” like that one happen all the time, and those sort of struggles are a good thing to write about. See, writing is a way to explore the ways of the world. We don’t live in a perfect world. We have growing teens. We fall in love in impossible situations with bad timing. Maybe you have to be mature to be able to write about those things, but writing is how we can express our thoughts and opinions. Also, please be respectful. It’s no fun to have somebody calling people nasty things on the internet, especially if those people are innocent.

@AMBER no one ever said they had sex. If they did that’s a whole different story and is extremely disgusting and creepy. BTW i’m 10 so saying an eighth grader is childish makes me feel like a one year old baby.

I completely understand what you’re saying and it all is true, but I think the reason it would be a good story is because of the age gap they would have difficulties which is what would make it a story. otherwise, it would be like every other love story. I hope this isn’t coming off as rude these are just my thoughts.

I agree with Grace and Santana L – look at it in a different way and it is not so bad – and if you don’t want to look at it or don’t agree with it, then just ignore it for goodness sake.

This is a quite dumb argument, but I’d still like to weigh in my opinion. The prompt does not state anything about the two being in a relationship. The 17 year old may fall in love with someone, but also be completely ashamed of it because of how the 8th grader is well, 13-14. But the writer could choose to have them not act on anything, just have the controversial showings of how someone could love someone but do nothing about it because of the age gap. I’m 13, going into 8th grade, and judging from a lot of people in my grade I’ve talked to, they say the most age gap they’d date is a year (13 year olds would date 14 year olds, etc). Most 8th graders are more level headed than some would think (sometimes .. definitely not always…) If the protagonist has no intention of doing anything about it, except potentially waiting without doing anything about it, than I don’t see anything wrong with it. If the 17 year old was trying to be in a relationship with the 13 year old, it wouldn’t technically be illegal and all but it would seem a little creepy (modern day wise), depending on motives. Like when they turn 18-19, and they’re dating a 14-15 year old, that’s where it gets a little unlawful. But depending on the direction the writer takes, this prompt could be executed finely. I understand the concern and all, but it just depends on the write honestly. I don’t think Mickië was too far off, in a sense. Thanks, stay respectful of everyone’s opinions 😀

I mean yeah its disgusting and could possibly be dangerous but it could also be okay. Besides its just a story. And by the way 13 isn’t always “barely entering puberty”. It can start as early as age 8 or 9. btw if you don’t like the idea then just don’t use it.

Okay. I’m going to get all of this straight and try to be unbiased here. First of all, like @LINDSAY said, it never says they had sex. Yes it would indeed be illegal if the guy was 18 but it just says senior. I understand how you guys think that is weird for a senior to fall in love with an 8th grader. I mean, hell, I’m a junior and it’s fine to fall for someone a year younger or year older but an 8th grader just doesn’t pass for some people. Sometimes things like that happen but you can honestly make the story anyway you want. For all you know, the guy was so smart he jumped 2 grades. I don’t know because these were just ideas. The purpose of this was to give you an idea for a story and our job was to make endless combinations of it. It’s our imagination and it will take us where ever. As you can see, this argument spiraled when someone mentioned sex, even though it never said that on #18. I agree with everyone so I’m trying super hard to be unbiased right now. But anyways, my point is, some of ya’ll chose to make it to where they have sex, or some of ya’ll may choose to make the guy smart and jump grades, I don’t know. You choose. But, Bottom line, it never said they had sex, it may be weird for them to fall for each other depending on how you make the story. Remember these are just ideas and you can make them however you want. PERIODT. I feel like a broken record, I’m sorry for repeating myself so many times but yeah. That’s what I had to say. This argument has lasted since 2017. I hope this finally puts an end to it and I hope everyone is safe during Covid-19 and uh yeah. 🙂 have a great day person, also if you are in H.S or Middle School, here’s a message for you.

Middle Schoolers, I honestly hated Middle School. Some people liked it, which probably means I did something wrong. The way you can make Middle School the best years of your life is, choose your friends so wisely. I swear to freaking god that’s the only way school will be amazing. Choose real friends, and it’ll be so fun. Don’t focus on being popular or whatever because that crap will mess your H.S years up so bad. I mean if you’re popular, everyone who isn’t gossips about the popular kids. SO yeah. Be a kid while you can because it’s the best thing you can have.

High Schoolers, I mean, I don’t even know where to start with us. Like honestly, all I have to say is don’t vape or smoke. That shit ain’t cool. It’s nasty. But whatever. No one will listen to me anyways but don’t come crying when you’re on your hospital bed trying to get new lungs. That shit messes you up so bad, so don’t even touch one. And one more thing. If someone offers you vape, and you don’t wanna seem like a loser and say no and you think you have to accept it.. DON”T! Just ask them what vape flavor it is and whatever they respond back tell them you don’t like it. ~fax.~ So yeah.. I learned all of this from experience, (except I never vaped or smoked). I hope my lecture and words of wisdom get you somewhere in life.

love, Sadie

Thank you… These are great ideas. But the one about the Forsaken sounds similar to the Divergent trilogy that you criticized. I like the Divergent trilogy… I was surprised a prompt had a similar plot.

Aspen, the idea of the senior and 8th grader sounds great – it could be written in a really interesting way and they probably wouldn’t end up together, since it is a big age gap. The fact that it’s a big age gap seems like a really interesting premise but I’d want to see regret and/or what the girl learns from this.

I liked the 34th one. I got an idea, and I am working towards it.

I really like #2, I hope i can use it to aid my writing!

I love #14! It gave me a huge idea and I hope that idea gets me an A.

I REALLY like these. I do not think the second number 18 needs to be edited because I think it could be a really interesting story without them getting together. Also, we cannot assume that the senior is a 17-18-year-old and the 8th grader is a 13-15-year-old. The 8th grader could have stayed back, or the senior moved ahead. Let’s not forget many, for example, freshmen girls would have crushes on senior boys. (I just got an idea for that story where it turns out the girl is his half-sister whom he never knew existed!) Feel free to use that! Anyways, I am a 6th grader looking for prompts for my school paper, this definitely helped spark my creativity. (I can think of prompts, just never ones that fit the assignment brief! Does anyone else have that problem?) Thank you so much for those great prompts!

LOVING THIS

So West, I am VERY experienced in the world of mental disorders, and I believe that that is not accurate. While Asperger’s is not a disease you would still use the word diagnosed for any mental disorder.

I Love these ideas! I’ve been writing since I was 9 and have never had so much trouble, thinking on what I should write. BUT now, I’m ready to get typing and writing. THANK YOU –

Loved the one about Forsaken. Working on it..

I love # 26! It actually reminds me of my crush Liazabeth i call her liz and she suicidal i try helping her the best i can but she just recently moved to another school cause the people at school where such bitches toward her. I miss her a lot. We were gonna be the best lesbian couple ever… pls dont hate that where bisexual.

I love the prompts, but I’m having the hardest time writing about any of them. I just can’t get the words to flow.

just picture something like one of the stories happening in your head and just let your fingers do the typing. you just need to make the words make sense to you then reread every sentence, sentence by sentence and reword it.

i agree with u other amber…

I love these ideas for books i might start writing 1. Second paragrah

These are some of the best ideas I have ever heard.

Some of these are great but in my opinion, the vast majority are a very slight variation on the same thing. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back. Or – boy/girl x is in love with boy/girl y but they don’t know it. Or – my first love died in a horrific accident/became terminally ill….and finally – my highschool boyfriend/girlfriend split up with me and my life is inexorably changed forever.

I would have liked to have seen more variety of genres represented here. Not all YA stories have to be about forbidden / unattainable love or breakups. Nor do they all have to be set in this timeline/century. Most genres can be adapted to fit a YA story. You really should add more variety here. Just an opinion.

Adri of course you don’t recognize the problem of number 18 because you are only sixteen yourself. When you are older you’ll (hopefully) realize how immoral it would be

I love your ideas, they are so great and creative.

great article might be fun useing one of them in story

i’m trying to find writing prompts for a gift i’m giving my mom for christmas. these give me a lot of inspo!

I really like these. Whenever I start to write something I can never finish it, I just doubt myself. Good luck to everyone writing their stories.

The second number 8 is worded innapropriately. If the MC wants to ‘become a woman’, we can assume that the MC is a trans woman. The correct wording would be “A teenager assigned male at birth who loves video games and organizes the chess club struggles with how to tell her parents that she is a transgender girl.”

While I agree, I do not like the phrase “wants to be female” when describing trans folk, I understand the complications and easily confused language of a prompt such as “A teenager who loves video games and organizes the chess club struggles to come out to her parents as trans” because, in this version, one could interpret it to mean either an FTM teen or an MTF teen. Although, it does allow for more options.

The ideas are great, but the only problem is, how do we know that the topics we chose is not yet chosen by anybody?

I understand how you would see this as a problem, but it really isn’t. Multiple people can choose the same prompt, and every version would turn out different from the rest. So you really do not need to worry about if anyone has already chosen and started working on a prompt that you yourself want(ed) to choose.

i love the creativity that is emitted into these prompts.

To those suggesting that things should be edited and changed, because you didn’t like this or that rubbed you the wrong way, please realize that this person was kind enough to offer brilliant prompts. If your talent truly lies in writing, they would’ve sparked something within your imagination instead of igniting criticism over your sensibilities, mental disorders, and proper vs. improper. I have to say that I was trying to find a spark, which is how I found your site. Thank you because what you’ve provided got me moving in the “write” direction. I won’t be copying any of the ideas, but they did get my wheels grinding. Thanks again.

It’s 2022 and I’m planning to write a story

Well these ideas are nice, but no offence I have better idea and just for reference i took this blog.

SO now everyone has a problem with no11 it’s very obvious that the point is gotten

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140 Creative Writing Prompts For Adults

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Table of contents.

Learning how to become a better writer includes knowing how to come up with a solid idea. With so many elements to consider when starting your novel, the plot itself may begin to slip away from you. Use these creative writing prompts for adults to get you started on the right path to a successful story and suffer from writer’s block for the last time.

This list of writing prompts for adults can be taken and used in any way you want. Details can be changed, and characters can be added or removed.

They are meant to be a fun way to get your creativity flowing and your next story developing. For even more writing ideas, check out the writing prompt generator . Here, you will find 500+ prompts of all kinds that will give you some ideas. Take control of that blank page and create something awesome.

Dramatic Writing Prompts for Adults

Supernatural writing prompts for adults, thriller writing prompts for adults, horror writing prompts for adults, crime and mystery writing prompts for adults, science fiction writing prompts for adults, dystopian writing prompts for adults, historical writing prompts for adults, humorous creative writing prompts for adults, fantasy writing prompts for adults, dialogue-inspired writing prompts, tips that every writer should remember, how to get rid of writer’s block, write your next masterpiece with these creative writing prompts for adults, frequently asked questions.

Nothing beats some good old-fashioned drama once in a while. You can turn these writing prompts into a dramatic love story , an exciting short story, or morph them into a different genre. How you use them is up to you.

For a novel that is specifically romance, we have created an exclusive list of exciting and genre-bending romance writing prompts . Try choosing a writing prompt from the below list:

A young boy discovers that he is the only adopted child among his four siblings. Feeling confused and betrayed, he runs away to find his birth parents. After two months on the road, he runs out of money and still hasn’t found them. Does he go home? Or does he continue his quest?
Two couples are feuding and haven’t spoken in years. It is discovered that their two children have become best friends at school, and they want a playdate. Will this increase tension between them or lead to reconciliation?
Identical twins are attending the same college. They switch places and take each other’s classes depending on their strengths and weaknesses. They’ve gotten away with it for two years until their observant professor of a father is transferred to the school they attend.
Two childhood best friends stopped talking after a huge fight in high school. Five years later, they find themselves sitting next to each other on the same 16-hour international flight.
Write about a passionate romance that crosses religions.
He’s only been in office for a year. He is already being tempted by a corrupt group of criminals who want him to sabotage a series of public safety projects in exchange for funding his entire reelection campaign.
Your main character is being offered a promotion from the high school principal to the district director. Sadly, she knows her replacement will cut funding for all of the art programs. How does she manage the situation?
A high-profile general learns that the opposing army will surrender if he hands himself over. Will he prioritize his own safety or sacrifice himself for his country?
Write about a successful businesswoman who has built herself from the ground up. The business is suddenly threatened by the son of a rich local contractor who started a similar business out of boredom.
A successful lawyer knows that his client is guilty of the murder for which he has been charged. He is a good liar and could easily win the case. The case is getting constant media coverage and would guarantee him making a partner at his firm.
Your main character has lived a sheltered, isolated life. When their delusional and overbearing father dies. They are thrown into the real world and unsure of how to cope.
The doorbell rings, and your character answers it – finding nothing but an envelope with nothing on it. They open it and follow the instructions to attend a secret underground event. Afterward, they become a part of a huge resistance that the rest of the world knows nothing about.
After a family member’s funeral, you arrive home to a stranger on your doorstep, claiming the person is not really dead. The funeral was open-casket.
It is your character’s wedding day. While the vows are being said, someone from the crowd yells, “I object!”
A huge storm has stopped traffic. Your character is stuck in the car with someone for an unknown amount of time. The person chooses this moment to confess their undying love. The feeling is not mutual.
Your character finds an old, disposable camera on the ground. Feeling, they get the photos developed. What they see tells an unsettling story.
Two old friends are reminiscing on a prominent and life-changing event. They have very different memories from that day.
Your main character is a world-traveling nature photographer. She stumbles upon a small tribe of indigenous people who have found the cure for all cancer in a small local plant.
A young man has been homeschooled all his life and is ready to start college. An attack on his small hometown has him being drafted into the army. He is away from home for the first time ever and is terrified. However, he becomes a key strategist due to his unique perspective and undiscovered scientific talents.
A middle-aged man is tired of his career in a corporate office. He takes all his vacation and sick days at once for an excursion in the Appalachian Mountains. Everything is fine until a blizzard hits.
A shy and reserved web designer thinks she has found the man of her dreams online. She is actually being catfished by a competing company that wants to get information from her.
A man and woman work for two neighboring rival fast food companies. They always take their lunch breaks together on the bench right in the middle of the two.
An ongoing murder investigation takes an unexpected turn when it is discovered that a prolific group of corrupt police officers is behind the whole thing.
A television star is renowned and respected for his “method” acting. He only interviews or appears on TV in character. But this is because he doesn’t have a personality outside of his three most famous characters.
A professional gymnast is under fire for her supposed use of performance-enhancing steroids. She leaked the story herself to draw attention away from the fact that she is the leader of a high-profile drug ring.
An older couple on the brink of retirement keeps their life savings in the pages of the books in their home. They are just about to start looking for a retirement home to live in when a fire destroys their house and their cash.

Tips for Writing Drama

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Drama is usually character-driven , so make use of both your round and flat characters .
Introduce the conflict right away and keep it prominent. A drama will thrive off conflict.
Don’t let the resolution come easily.
Don’t be afraid to kill characters and write difficult situations.
Always show, don’t tell.

Supernatural stories are popular. The entire world is in love with vampires. Write something interesting and unique enough that you might be writing their next favorite book. Use these supernatural story starters for your basic premise. Some writing prompts related to the genre of supernatural creatures are as follows:

On her 16th birthday, your main character miraculously survives a deadly car crash without a scratch. Later that week, she watches as a small scratch heals and disappears right before her eyes. Where did this new power come from, and what will she do with it?
There is an elite society of high education that wants to test a new drug. They give it to highly gifted students, and it allows them to stay awake for 48 hours and record everything they see, hear, and feel in that time. Unfortunately, some unexpected side effects set in two weeks later.
A middle-aged man is the only one in his famous and high-profile family without a superpower. The local police rely on his super-powered family to help them catch and fight crime. However, the powers are failing them during a specific investigation. Your protagonist’s “normal” perspective might just save the day.
Your main character suffers a terrible concussion. After recovering, they cannot control the vivid nightmares about the accident. However, they can also take images from their mind and project them into the real world. Doctors think they are crazy and keep them heavily sedated.
Write about a world where technology has given animals the ability to speak.

Tips for Writing Supernatural Stories

Setting the story in the real world will make your supernatural species more believable.
Create the origins of your species and supernatural characters.
Create the physical limitations for your species and beings.
Avoid the cliches of the genre.
Understand your reasons for using supernatural creatures. You shouldn’t be writing them in simply due to their popularity.

Thrillers can come in many forms and can be incorporated into many genres. Regardless of the details, though, they are always meant to excite. Suspense and tension are crucial – it’s always more fun when you don’t know. Writing a good thriller requires a strong set of writing skills. These prompts will give you a good base. If you think you need to improve, try some writing exercises.

If your thriller can get hearts racing, you’ve done a good job. Some writing prompts related to the thriller genre are as follows:

The body of your main character’s best friend is dumped on their doorstep. They make it their mission to find out who is responsible, even if it means crossing some lines and breaking some laws.
A murderer is on the loose in your character’s hometown. For 10 weeks, they have killed one person on the same day at the same time. Your main character is the next victim. They are abducted exactly three days before the planned kill time.
Strange things start happening around town. Your main character decides to find out for themselves what is going on. They do learn the truth, but now they aren’t allowed to leave.
Your character suffers from a condition that causes seemingly random blackouts for varying amounts of time. The only thing they ever remember before these episodes is a yellow car with a dent on the side. One day, that car is parked outside their house. This time, there is no blackout.
Your main character and their friends take an unsolicited mini-vacation to an off-limits island off the coast of their seaside town. Shortly after arrival, they discover the island’s inhabitants and the reason why it was off-limits.
Your protagonist is in intensive therapy due to extremely vivid nightmares detailing someone’s gruesome death. Many have said it’s just their twisted imagination, but this new therapist seems to think it’s much more than that.
You are legally allowed to kill someone one time in your life. You must fill out a series of paperwork, and your intended victim will be given notice of your plan.
A brilliant serial killer has been getting away with murder for decades. His only weakness is his acute inability to tell a lie. He is finally caught and tried for all the murders. Write about how he still manages to walk free with no charges laid.
Your character is a host at a restaurant. A couple comes in and says they have a reservation. You look it up in the system and find that the reservation was booked 40 years ago.

Tips for Writing a Thriller

Have a story that suits a thriller. This usually involves the protagonist falling victim to someone else and being caught in impossible situations.
Different points of view can add a lot of value to a thriller. It gives several perspectives and allows the reader to get into the heads of many characters.
Put action as close to the beginning as possible.
Don’t be afraid to make your characters miserable.

The horror genre has always had a cult-like following. Several fictional killers have become household names. Some horror fans will spend their whole lives chasing the adrenaline that comes with a good scare.

If you’re learning how to become a better writer to scare your readers, these writing prompts will get you started. A book writing template may be helpful in creating a true horror, as setting the stage properly is crucial. Some horror writing prompts that you can write a story are as follows:

It’s Halloween night, and a group of rowdy teenagers break into an infamously haunted house in their town. They soon discover it is not the ghosts they have to fear, but the madman who lives upstairs is poisoning them with hallucinogenic gas.
There is a disease outbreak at a school. It appears at first to be chicken pox, but it is actually a virus that is causing violent outbreaks in the children who begin to terrorize the town.
Your main character attends a meditation retreat. It turns out to be a recruiting process for an extremist cult that convinces members to commit dangerous acts of terror. Your protagonist is the only one in the room who is immune.
So overcome by his nightmares, your main character attacks anyone who comes near him. He cannot distinguish between loved ones and the monsters in his head.
A young man has to dive 300 feet into the ocean to rescue his girlfriend caught in a broken submarine. He must cross through a genetically modified shark breeding ground.
An old time capsule is about to be opened and the whole town is present for the celebration. When opened, the only thing found inside is a detached human hand with a threatening note in the grasp. The note is written in your character’s handwriting but dated 50 years before they were even born.

Master horror writer Stephen King reveals some of his thought processes: “So where do the ideas—the salable ideas—come from? They come from my nightmares. Not the night-time variety, as a rule, but the ones from everyday life that hide just beyond the doorway that separates the conscious from the unconscious.”

Horror doesn’t always have to be fantastical and dreamy in nature. Sometimes horror exists in the real world, within people.

Tips for Writing Horror

Don’t be afraid to give that gruesome, bloody description.
Aim to create extreme emotions.
Make sure the readers care about your characters. This will make their horrible situations more impactful.
Consider what scares you the most. Keep this in mind when writing.
Set the stakes high.
Some comic relief or brief periods of peace are okay – necessary even. It can help build suspense.

Stories of crime and mystery have been told for ages. There are some classic crime dramas that will never get old. Many non-fiction books have been written on this topic as well.

Creating a proper mystery takes time and much planning. When done correctly, though, it makes for a most memorable story. Some crime and mystery writing prompts are as follows:

Your main character discovers another woman’s clothes tucked in the back of her boyfriend’s closet. She plans an elaborate fishing trip to get him far away for a weekend so she can teach him a lesson.
A new serial killer is on the loose, killing one person every other day within 500 feet of a museum. There must be a connection and a reason, but how will they catch him when he keeps destroying the cameras and escaping?
A young officer is three years sober and committed to getting back on track. That is until he is called to the scene of a high-profile drug bust and is in charge of collecting evidence. Can he control himself around so many drugs?
Abandoned cars start randomly appearing throughout the city. No license plates and nothing inside. That is until one is found to contain several dismembered human limbs.
Your character has been receiving nasty, lifelike drawings in the mail. They ignore them at first, thinking it is some kids being silly. Until the drawings start coming to life. Since they have the drawings, they know what is going to happen next and in what order.
Your main character and her husband awake one night in the early hours of the morning, both recalling a horrific dream from the night before. They soon learn the dream to be true as they discover a fresh, painful brand in between each of their shoulder blades.
Your character never wakes up feeling rested, no matter how long they sleep. Medication doesn’t help. They decide to film themselves one night. The next morning, they watch as they get out of bed around midnight, smirk at the camera, and wave before disappearing out the door for hours.
Your protagonist is a member of a small religious group. When a precious artifact goes missing, the head elder’s daughter is blamed for it. Your character knows she couldn’t be responsible because the two of them were romantically involved at the time of the theft. Such activities are strictly forbidden, and the daughter would rather go down for the theft than admit to breaking that law.
There is a serial killer going after the children of rich and notable families in the area. Your main character is the child of one such family and is terrified every waking moment. Tired of living in fear, they decide to figure out who the killer is and stop them
Your character gets a DNA test just for fun. After getting the results and doing some more research, they discovered that members of their ancestry from all over the world were once all gathered in the same place. The reason is unknown.
Your character receives a strange voicemail from an unknown number. The voicemail ends up changing the course of their entire life.
Your character is in an accident and loses the memory of the last year of their life. There are so many things that don’t make sense. They must retrace their steps to find answers.
The entire town has started sleepwalking together every night.
Your character has a short but friendly encounter with a stranger in an elevator. The next day, they are all over TV as the victim of a brutal murder.
Your character is redecorating and takes down a painting. They notice something strange engraved on the back of the frame.
Your character goes to their usual coffee shop and orders “the usual.” The Barista smiles, nods, and slides something entirely different across the counter. She has never made a mistake before.
Your character opens a random book at the library when the cover page falls out. It says, “if you are reading this, you have been chosen.”
When looking through some old family photos – going back generations – your character notices a cat in almost every photo. The very same colorful spotted cat with a single docked ear that is sitting on their lap.
When paying for their groceries, your main character mentions to the clerk that there is a mess in aisle 11. The clerk is confused and explains that there is no aisle 11.

Tips for Writing Crime and Mystery

This is a genre where a book writing template can come in handy. The plots are often so complex it can be overwhelming to keep it all straight.
Draw inspiration from real-life crimes. This will make your story believable.
Also, draw your inspiration from real-life people and give them realistic motives behind their crimes. Crime and mystery are rarely set in a fantasy world, so being realistic is important.
Know how the mystery is solved before you start writing.
Include a few cliffhangers – usually at the end of a chapter.

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Science fiction is similar to fantasy in that you can make up a lot of stuff, which is a fun way to write.

This is a versatile genre that can be molded into anything you want.

Sometimes, it is rooted in truth with elements of real scientific and technological advances. Other times, there are many assumptions made about the future of science, and lots of make-believe takes place. Some of the best sci-fi writing prompts and a few ideas to explore in this genre are as follows:

A spaceship that can surpass the speed of light is allowing a few humans on board to escape our solar system and its dying sun. How does the world decide who gets to survive?
A shy, introverted tech guy develops a virus that can control human desires, impulses, and choices.
A pet store becomes overrun with kittens and sells them off at a low price. However, these cats are actually an alien hybrid that can body jump. It begins, causing the owners of these cats to commit suicide within 24 hours of adoption.
A live TV broadcast from the White House experiences some technical difficulties. They end up broadcasting a top-secret meeting about a pending alien invasion.
Science has developed a brain scanning software that can read thoughts. Before they can decide what to do with it, someone has hacked the system and stolen it.
Your character wakes up on a spaceship with no memory.
The world has developed a genetic system that engineers everyone for a specific job in the community. Your character hates what they were created to do. This never happens.
The world has finally reached a state of all-encompassing peace thanks to a technical system that keeps things regulated. Your character is in charge of keeping the system running. When they discover exactly how the system is kept running, they consider abandoning their post and never turning back.
Your character accidentally traps themselves in an alternate universe that hasn’t discovered electricity or technology yet.

Tips for Writing Science Fiction

Make your story complex, but don’t rush it. Let your audience process information before adding more.
Keep the language simple and easy to understand even if the world isn’t. The majority of your readers will not be scientists or tech experts.
Be consistent in terms of the universe. Physical laws, social classes, etc. Know your own world.

The 20 best dystopian novels of all time

Dystopian stories are growing in popularity. The genre itself is growing and evolving all the time as people figure out what works and what entertains.

Dystopian is a fun genre to read and experience, but writing it can be just as enjoyable. Having fun while learning how to become a better writer is of utmost importance.

Be careful you’re not writing Dystopia just because it sells well. Make sure you have a real story to tell and that it’s one you believe in. Some dystopian writing prompts are as follows:

A newly married couple becomes pregnant with twins. Due to growing overpopulation, they are told they must make a choice when the babies are born. Only one will live. Rather than submit to this, they plan their escape across the border.
An amateur teen scientist accidentally discovers an impending alien attack set to destroy Earth within a month. He becomes the unwilling leader of the evacuation and defense coalition.
A hacker discovers that the new iPhone can be remotely detonated. Many corrupt political leaders are assassinated in this way on the same day. The world breaks into chaos.
World War III has come and gone. Governments are a thing of the past, and money is useless. Survival is the objective. Your main character also has a medical condition to keep under control.
A horrible outbreak of disease devastated the wildlife population 100 years ago. A scientist has recently created a virus that will strengthen the immune systems of the remaining animals. It works too well, and the animals are starting to overtake the human population.
After mental illness devastates a generation, scientists create an airborne substance that balances the levels of all people on the earth. Your character is one of the few who is immune.
Rampant wildfires are taking over the surface of the earth. Your character is part of a group that is trying to find a rumored ocean-deep settlement. The settlement doesn’t really exist.
Nature extremists have taken over the government. Any and all activities that are harmful to the land or plants are forbidden and outlawed.
Natural farming is a thing of the past. All food is manufactured artificially and distributed. There is no flavor, and it’s the same thing every day. Your character takes a stress-relieving trip to the mountains. Here, they find the remnants of some real plants with a few berries on them.

Tips for Writing Dystopian Fiction

Know what the message of the story is. What is the main character trying to achieve?
A dystopian society is usually one that has taken the current problems of the world and projected them into the future.
Dystopian realities are never good ones – make sure you have enough doom, gloom, and darkness for your readers to understand the state of the world.

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Historical fiction can be whimsical and charming. It can be dark and spooky. It can be funny and ridiculous. Stories of history span many genres.

Historical fiction can be a combination of educational and entertaining. It tests a writer’s research skills as well as knowledge. The better depiction you can create of your desired time period, the more effective your story will be.

Learning to research is crucial to know how to become a better writer. Some historical fiction writing prompts are as follows:

From a first-person perspective, write about the showdown between a criminal and a lion in the Roman Colosseum.
Abraham Lincoln is famous for his top hat. Where did the top hat come from? Who was the president without it? Write a story about the infamous top hat and its life.
The Berlin Wall has crashed to the ground, and it is love at first sight for one lucky couple – whose parents aren’t so impressed.
Your character is a talented composer whose direct competition is Beethoven.
Write about a dinner party where three famous historical figures are in attendance.
Your best friend has invented the very first time-travel machine.
Write about a well-known war, but give it a different outcome.
Write a happy ending for Dracula.
Your character’s husband of ten years has just confessed that he has traveled through time from the fourteenth century. He decided to stay because he fell in love with her.
Write about the thoughts of someone who is secretly watching Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel.
Your character is the only one who knows who really killed JFK. It wasn’t Oswald.
Your character is working under William Shakespeare as his apprentice.
Write about a pair of detectives who solve their cases by traveling back and forth in time.
Write about the experience of someone who has just learned of the Titanic’s sinking. They had a loved one on board.
Choose a major historical event. Write from the perspective of a witness.
Your character wants to travel across the land. No forms of transportation have been invented yet.
Write about someone who worked at one of the first printing presses during the printing revolution of the 15th century.

Tips for Writing Historical Fiction

Do your research! Inaccuracies or incorrect facts about the time you are writing will break trust of your readers and decrease your credibility.
Choose a specific time period and location. “Early twentieth century” is too broad.
In addition to setting and facts, characters need to match the time period. This includes dress, behavior, and language.
Small details will matter.
Balance the historical facts with the drama and fictional elements.

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Another genre that is especially fun to write, as well as read, is comedy. Nothing beats throwing your head back in full laughter.

The goal here is to make people laugh as much as possible while still balancing a good story and believable characters. Check out the best creative writing prompts with a funny twist:

Substitute teachers are tired of not being taken seriously. They come together and form a secret society with plans to revolt.
An Elvis impersonator is so good that many start to believe Elvis has actually come back to life. Soon, he has been recruited to lead a superstitious Elvis-loving cult.
Three friends are out on the town for a night. Write about the most ridiculous series of events you can think of.
Life has gotten tough, and your character is considering moving back in with their parents. Before they are able to make a decision, their parents show up at their door asking if they can move in.
Your character wakes up one day, and everything they say rhymes. They can’t control it.
The climate is changing, and your main character’s city gets snow for the first time in their entire life. She and her friends are recruited for clean up.
Your main character has never had a real job before. They are starting a job at the biggest, busiest store in town on the busiest day of the year.
Your character is set up on a blind date with their sworn enemy.
Every morning, you have a package delivered that contains an item you end up needing that day.
Struggling with writer’s block, an author decides to sit at a local train station for information. They get some good material.
Your characters are holding a high-stakes rock-paper-scissors tournament.
Your main character gets backstage at a concert. What happens back there is much more interesting than the show.
Your protagonist decides to buy an old school bus and travel across the country. Being single without any close friends, they post an ad asking if anyone wants to join. They end up having their pick of travel partners.
Write a story about a low-profile, insignificant, but long-unsolved crime that is finally cracked.
Your character is a serial killer who kills anyone who hitchhikes along the mountain they live on. One day, they pick up a hitchhiker who kills whoever picks him up.
The world’s greatest detective finally meets his match: A criminal so stupid and so careless that the detective can’t ever predict what he is going to do next.

Tips for Writing Comedy

Test the humor on others. You might find something hilarious, but if no one else is going to laugh, it will be useless to include.
Observe comedy. Your ability to write it will hinge on your experience with it. Watch, read, listen, and speak comedy.
Have fun with it. Comedy is fun. If you’re not laughing at yourself along the way, you’ll never get through to the end.

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Fantasy is one of the most popular genres of the time. It’s growing every day because of its creative and immersive nature. People love to preoccupy themselves with something with magical powers.

Being transported into another world for a little while – that’s what fantasy can do. Some of the best creative writing prompts for fantasy fiction are as follows:

In a world of advanced technological and magical advancements, one group keeps their practice of ancient spells a secret. One day, they are discovered, and it leads to a fight. What is more powerful – old magic or new technology?
A large, protected national forest is secretly home to werewolves. One summer, there is an especially bad flea epidemic, and the werewolves are greatly affected. The fleas from the werewolves infect the town’s water supply and start turning everyone into werewolves. The only ones not affected are children under 13.
The world is overrun with vampires, and humans are dying out. Different races and factions of vampires are beginning to go to war over the limited supply of human blood.
Your character finds a strange-looking egg in the forest. Thinking it will make a great decoration, they take it home. What hatches from that egg surpasses their wildest imagination.
A city has spent centuries living in peace with the water-dwellers who reside in their lakes. Suddenly, the water dwellers declare war, and no one knows why.
Your character has always been able to alter their appearance. They hide unattractive features. Suddenly, their powers stop working, and their true appearance is revealed.
Your main character has a fascination with untouched societies – such as hidden tribes in the Amazon. She sets out to study them as a living. One day, she accidentally allows herself to be seen by one of the members. What this person does is beyond what your character ever thought to be real.
The earth itself is dying, and all life on the planet is dying with it.
Some people in the world have magic, others don’t. No one knows why. Your main character has magic, but his best friend doesn’t. The friend is exceptionally jealous and is growing more and more desperate to make the magic his.

Tips for Writing Fantasy

Focus on being unique
Don’t neglect worldbuilding. Inconsistencies will be obvious to readers. This is where a book writing software like Squibler can come in handy. It helps you stay organized and efficient.
Create unique names.
Don’t be afraid to make the journey long and the outcome unexpected.

Sometimes, all it takes is a small exchange or a witty one-liner to get your brain working. Take these words and start something new. Or, insert them into an existing project and see what happens. Some of the best dialogue-based creative writing prompts are as follows:

“As she stepped onto the train, I fought every urge to jump on after her.”
“He was expensive. Please be more considerate of my money the next time I hire an assassin to kill you.”
“You say that like it was a struggle.”
“I’m your conscience. That is literally my one job.”
“Well, I wish you didn’t love me. I guess no one is getting what they want today.”
“I guess it didn’t take.”
“I was bored so I blew up my house.”
“I taught you how to pick locks, and THAT is how you’re choosing to use the skill?”
“They thought I would forget everything. I remember even more than when they started.”
“Yes. But I don’t care.”
“I killed my mother. Are you really questioning what I can do to you right now?”

If you want to create compelling stories with fiction writing prompts, remember the following things:

Create a Proper Writing Schedule

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To succeed in the demanding task of following fiction writing prompts, treat yourself and your writing with importance. Establish and consistently adhere to a designated writing schedule. Maintaining a regular writing routine prevents the project from fading into obscurity.

It’s challenging to retain the novel’s details in your mind for quick and efficient writing. Allowing substantial intervals between writing sessions and working haphazardly only increases the difficulty and likelihood of abandoning the endeavor.

Don’t Expect Your Words to Be Perfect

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Many writers start working on fiction writing prompts with excitement, but upon rereading, their work may not meet their expectations, leading to deleting it entirely. Avoid being overly critical of your writing.

Excessive self-editing can halt your progress and prevent you from writing beyond the initial pages. Instead, focus on writing and avoid scrutinizing it until you have completed the story. Rewriting is essential for crafting great novels, and most writers would not share their first drafts with others.

Relax a Little

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Are you unable to follow fiction writing prompts because the thought of it overwhelms you? Start by loosening up with some free writing. Dedicate five or ten minutes to jotting down whatever pops into your mind, and don’t pause or edit.

This exercise helps remove the mental block between your thoughts and your writing. It will help you to prepare for the actual writing process, akin to stretching before a workout.

Explore Your Ideas

When you first come across your fiction writing prompts, document all your notions and ideas regarding your desired novel. Jot down even the vaguest thoughts and concepts that come to mind. Identify any compelling questions you want to delve into.

Take notes on any particular setting, historical period, or topic that captivates you. Through this free-form writing, ideas will gradually emerge and take form.

Switch Between Plotting and Writing

As you begin working on your fiction writing prompts, engage in a simultaneous process of developing the plot and crafting the actual text. Planning the plot provides structure and direction for your writing.

However, immersing yourself in the writing allows you to experience the story on a deeper level, discovering new insights and nuances. This interactive approach enhances both aspects of the creative process.

Think About Your Characters

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Delve into the depths of your characters beyond their actions and names while working on writing prompts. Consider creating character profiles and mood boards with images that resonate with them. Test their limits in challenging situations to witness their reactions.

Engage in dialogue to develop their unique voices. Remember, characters in a novel should not be mere pawns in your narrative. They require motivation to drive their actions and make them more relatable and compelling.

Focus on the Structure

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As you progress with your fiction writing prompts, consider the overall structure of your novel. Determine the timeline of your story. Will it cover a short period or an entire lifetime? Divide it into chapters or sections based on significant events or time periods.

Choose a narrative perspective to follow the writing prompts. Will the events be narrated by a first-person character reflecting on the past or unfold in real time? These structural decisions will provide a framework for your story and ensure it flows smoothly.

Set Some Targets

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Some people prefer setting goals and deadlines while following fiction writing prompts. Consider setting writing goals that you can reasonably achieve, such as writing 3,000 words weekly or 1,000 words daily.

Alternatively, you could aim for broader deadlines, like completing a third of your first draft by the end of the year. Choose targets that feel manageable and adjust them as needed to ensure success.

Try to Use the Active Voice

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To captivate readers with your fiction writing prompts, aim for page-turners that hook them from the first page to the last. Employ the active voice predominantly in your stories. Construct sentences using the clear and concise order of nouns (subject) performing an action (verb) and affecting an object. Passive voice can be useful occasionally but use it sparingly in your fictional works.

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You might often encounter writer’s block while working on creative writing prompts. Here are some ways to get rid of writer’s block:

Most writers find their passion for writing through reading. To enhance your writing skills and get creative outputs for your writing prompts, revisit your literary roots by reading extensively. Focus on contemporary and acclaimed works within your specific genre or area of interest. By immersing yourself in the latest literature, you’ll gain inspiration, identify gaps in the market, and determine how you can make a unique contribution to the field.

Take Breaks

To avoid burnout while working on writing prompts, take frequent breaks. Step away for a quick coffee break when feeling stuck. If needed, take longer breaks, like an afternoon drive or even a full day off. These breaks allow your mind to relax, giving you a refreshed perspective when you return to writing.

Avoid Comparison

Even if you are skilled in writing, there will always be individuals with greater proficiency or who have been writing for longer. Each person’s writing journey and experiences are different. Is it fair to contrast your writing abilities with someone who may have gained more experience?

Instead of comparing yourself to others, focus on improving your own writing. Embrace the uniqueness of your voice. By honing your skills and sharing your perspective, you will attract an audience that resonates with your writing style.

Try Different Writing Methods

Changing your writing tools can refresh your approach and overcome writer’s block. If you typically write on a computer, try writing by hand. If you have a typewriter, use it for a unique sensory experience.

If you’re still stuck, walk outside and talk your ideas into a recorder or your phone. The physical activity and verbalization can spark new creativity.

Discover Your Peak Creativity Hours

Identify if your mind is most alert for creative writing in the morning or evening. Adjust your schedule of working on writing prompts accordingly.

Explore different locations to find where you write best, whether it’s a bustling coffee shop, a serene beach, or a secluded bedroom. Choose the environment that fosters your creativity.

Eliminate distractions by turning off Wi-Fi, removing your phone from your workspace, and requesting quiet time from others. This allows you to focus and tap into your creative flow.

Whether you have a book writing templat e all filled out or you are starting from scratch, these writing prompts will get your imagination going and make your writing time more productive.

Beat the writer’s block, get your groove back, or just be inspired. Figure out how to love writing again. Whatever you’re looking for, hopefully, these ideas have helped form the story you need to tell.

Let’s take a look at some questions and answers:

Is following fiction writing prompts difficult?

You might come across creative ideas when you get fiction writing prompts. But transforming them into captivating narratives is a complex endeavor. This is because crafting a story that resonates with readers requires more than simply assembling words and sentences until a book is completed.

What is the hardest genre of fiction writing prompts?

When it comes to following fiction writing prompts, writers often struggle with the horror genre. It necessitates a t horough comprehension of human nature and its psychological intricacies and the capacity to evoke primal fears and anxieties within readers. Moreover, following creative writing prompts for the horror genre requires proficiency in crafting believable, immersive characters and settings that resonate with the audience.

What are common literary techniques to include in creative writing prompts?

Fiction writers should choose the right literary techniques to enhance their writing. Some common types of literary devices to use include alliteration, personification, and symbolism.

What is the genre of realistic fiction for creative writing prompts?

Realism in fiction depicts events that could potentially happen in real life. The setting is believable, fostering a sense of familiarity. Characters in realistic stories behave in ways that align with human experiences, making them relatable and believable.

Can I profit from writing fiction?

Typically, authors receive a book advance and a percentage of royalties (usually between 5% and 15%) from the sale of traditionally published works. However, the actual earnings can vary significantly.

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50 Young Adult Plot Ideas and Writing Prompts

50 young adult novel writing prompts | a group of friends in blue jeans sitting on a wall

I love thinking about plot ideas and idea starters for novels, short stories, and other fiction. I’ve already done lists of master plots and writing prompts for fantasy writing prompts , romance writing prompts , horror writing prompts , and many more! In the past couple of months, a few of my newsletter subscribers have requested YA plot ideas.

While many of my other writing prompts could be used for young adult novels, I created this list specifically with pre-teen and teen main characters in mind, but many of them would work for mainstream fiction or “women’s fiction,” too. Some of these are master plots, and some of them are ideas for plot points within a story. I’ve included a few love stories, ideas for YA dystopian novels, and ideas for thrillers.

If you write a short story, screenplay, or even a novel based on a plot idea from this list, it’s not cheating. You’ll make the story your own, anyway. Remember that you can change the genders or other details as you like.

Pin or bookmark the list now for future inspiration!

"50 WRITING PROMPTS FOR YOUNG ADULT NOVELS" teenagers at sunset

1. A boy pursues his list of wildly ambitious New Year’s resolutions, with hilarious and touching results.

2. A girl on the swim team transforms into a part-time mermaid.

3. A group of “outsiders” become a clique that eventually excludes others.

4. A girl’s favorite author plagiarizes her fanfiction.

5. A boy learns who believed his sister died finds out she’s very much alive.

6. A teenager’s best friend goes missing—and is widely believed to be the murderer of a family member.

7. Two teens begin to write a fantasy novel together and then cross over into the world they’ve created.

8. In a dystopian future, college admissions boards have access to video footage of students’ entire lives.

9. A girl always hangs out at a particular little nook at the library. Then the same boy starts taking the space every day.

10. A boy learns something terrible about his parents.

11. In a modern-day Ferris Bueller’s Day Off , three girls ditch class for a day filled with adventures.

12. A girl who loves cosplay begins taking on the personality of whatever character she’s dressed up as.

13. A college student desperate for tuition money secretly works at two different full-time summer internships at once, two city blocks away from one another.

14. Anonymous notes in her locker lead her into a mystery.

15. Two teens from different social groups strike up a clandestine romance.

16. An adopted girl finds out she’s one of four quadruplets and finds her other sisters.

17. A teen’s private diary is shared without his consent on social media, and it goes viral.

18. A boy pretends he can foretell the future…and discovers he actually can.

19. A teen forms a unique connection with an animal.

20. A girl escapes a fundamentalist cult that’s living off the grid.

21. In a world where all creative work is illegal unless commissioned by the government, teens meet to write and share poetry in secret.

22. A high school coach or teacher convinces his favorite students to cheat.

23. When a nerdy girl transfers to a new school, she completely changes her image.

24. The captain of the high school debate team does his best arguing outside of tournaments—and it gets him in trouble.

25. A teen makes a friend with someone who may or may not be an actual angel.

26. A girl tries to keep up with her schoolwork while adjusting to her newly discovered responsibilities as Queen of the Fairies.

27. A boy growing up in rough circumstances falls in love with cooking and dreams of becoming a chef.

28. A teen gives excellent advice in an anonymous advice column in the school newspaper, but is completely unable to follow the advice herself.

29. Two boys on rival basketball teams develop romantic feelings for one another.

30. A girl takes boxing lessons and gets the confidence to stand up for herself verbally, as well.

31. A quiet, studious boy has a secret, rebellious life at night.

32. Two girls carry out an elaborate act of revenge against two other girls.

33. In order to avoid his abusive father, a boy finds ways to avoid spending time at his own house.

34. A teenager is pressured to shoot a buck on his first deer hunt with an older relative, but he can’t bring himself to do it.

35. A girl who wants to be a virgin until she gets married faces social pressure about her decision.

36. A teen gains the ability to take the form of any other person she chooses.

37. A girl’s science fair project yields results that attract the government’s attention.

38. A teen’s suspicions about a teacher lead him to conduct a private investigation.

39. A girl struggles with the decision to tell authorities about what the star quarterback did.

40. Soon after a boy was born, his father went missing. Now, a skeleton has been discovered in the basement of their former home.

41. A teen attempts to make his whole fractious extended family get along and have a nice Christmas for once in their lives.

42. A girl discovers a secret passageway in one of the office buildings she cleans at night, but nobody else seems to be able to access it.

43. A teen copes with both a hopeless crush on his best friend’s older sister and a younger girl’s crush on him.

44. A city kid deals with a move to a tiny farming community.

45. A boy’s random acts of kindness prove contagious and lead to surprising results.

46. A girl whose mother is a hoarder attempts to have a normal life.

47. Two boys discover treasure in a local cave.

48. Two families hiding from a repressive government live in a submarine.

49. A boy tries to escape the shadow of his more accomplished and more handsome older brother.

50. A girl dreads spending the summer with her grandparents…but it turns out to be the best summer of her life so far.

50 young adult novel writing prompts | pink converse sneakers in the grass

Would you like some more young adult plot ideas? Check out my book 5,000 Writing Prompts ! It has 100 more young adult writing prompts in addition to the ones on this list, plus hundreds of other master plots by genre, dialogue and character prompts, and much more.

Have anything to say about the list? Want to chat about what you’re working on or planning? Go ahead and share in the comments section! Thanks for reading, and happy writing!

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Fiction Writing Prompts for the Young Adult (YA) Genre

by Melissa Donovan | Aug 24, 2021 | Fiction Writing Prompts | 8 comments

Fiction writing prompts: young adult.

Young adult literature is one of the most exciting genres in fiction. Young people are bright, bold, and open-minded. More importantly, they’re going to shape the future. What they read matters.

Classic young adult books like To Kill a Mockingbird , The Outsiders , and Lord of the Flies tell entertaining stories populated with compelling characters, but these stories also highlight important social questions and issues.

Stories like Catcher in the Rye inspire introspection, and contemporary stories like The Hunger Games force readers to consider the future of humanity.

And who can forget what is possibly the oldest and most famous young adult story in Western culture: Romeo and Juliet , the classic tale of two star-crossed lovers who are destined for tragedy?

When I was a teenager, my favorite movie was The Breakfast Club . To this day, I think it’s one of the most brilliant films ever made. People often mock me when I say that. How could a movie about a bunch of teenagers spending the day in detention be brilliant, or even important, for that matter?

But the film is not just about a bunch of teenagers. It’s about what it means to be human. It’s about how we are more alike than we are different. And it’s about how we treat each other. It’s about class and culture, the haves and the have-nots, and at its heart, it’s about personal growth and how our interactions with others shape whom we become. And it’s a story for and about young adults.

Today’s fiction writing prompts are designed for writing young-adult fiction. These prompts are taken from my book, 1200 Creative Writing Prompts , which includes fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction prompts.

Fiction Writing Prompts for Writers of YA Fiction

You can use these fiction writing prompts to inspire a short story, novel, or screenplay. Mix and match them, change them, adapt them in any way that feels right to you.

On the first day of school, two best friends discover a frightening secret about one of their new teachers.
Four friends on a nature hike discover a deep cave, complete with running water. As they go deeper and deeper into the cave, they find strange objects—human skeletons, an old computer from the early eighties, a gas mask, and strange mango-sized orbs that emit a glowing blue light.
A youngster on a first hunting trip has a deer in sight and suddenly remembers the day their dad took them to see Bambi .
Write a satirical story about an orphanage that is managed as if it were an animal shelter, or write about an animal shelter that is managed as if it were an orphanage.
Two best friends make a pact. When they get to junior high, they grow apart, but the pact haunts them. Will they fulfill the pact they made as children?
After a car accident and a minor head injury, a teenager starts having precognitive dreams. Initially, family and friends insist the dreams are coincidences, but the proof becomes undeniable when a government agency steps in.
Write a story set in juvenile hall.
A teenager’s beliefs are not in line with his or her parents’ religious system. Can we control what we believe? Can we control what others believe?
In the midst of a natural disaster, a classroom is locked down and everyone inside is trapped until they are rescued three days later.
The story starts when a kid comes out of the school bathroom with toilet paper dangling from his or her waistband. Does someone step forward and whisper a polite word, or do the other kids make fun? What happens in this pivotal moment will drive the story and have a deep impact on the main character.

Have you ever tried writing fiction for young adults? Where do you get your story ideas? Did any of these prompts inspire you? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment, and keep writing.

These are great prompts for writers of any age! As a writing teacher, I also think they are good for prompting students’ critical thinking skills. 🙂

Thanks, Kat! I’ve heard from a few teachers who are using prompts and exercises from my books and blog, and it’s an honor!

These were really well written and will help a lot of people. You did a really good job writing this.

Thanks, Coffee. I’m glad you found this helpful.

Love love love that your favorite movie is/was The Breakfast Club!!! My favorite 80s movie of all times and I love that you shared this, it gives me some good ideas to start with. This genre is the one I’m currently focusing on.

Thanks for your comment, Sydney. Yes, The Breakfast Club remains my all-time favorite. Such a great, underrated film.

I love these! Will hopefully cure my writer’s block 😄🥰

Thanks, Aimee. I’m so glad you love them!

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85 Creative Writing Prompts

"If you want to write and you want to get ideas, you have to be alert and open to everything. Everything you read. Everything you listen to. You have to allow these things to inspire you."

Fun creative writing prompts to inspire and educate

These 79 creative writing prompts for adults and teens are designed as story starters to inspire you. They will also help you write on specific topics and develop important skills you need as an author.

A good writing prompt will jump-start your creativity, help you come up with new ideas and may even give you the inspiration you need to write a full story. Feel free to dive straight in without too much thought. Simply choose the topic that appeals to you, pick one at random and start writing.

If you have a novel, screenplay, or other large project you're working on, I recommend using a prompt for 10 minutes before moving onto your main project. This will help get your creative juices flowing. If you don't have an existing project, spend as long as you want on a single prompt, or try a few different ones. Have fun, be free, and trust yourself.

The following prompts also include some for business, if you're looking for writing ideas to help with your content marketing or creating a blog.

Most of these prompts are written about 'you'. If you'd prefer to write them in third person, choose a name, and write them about a fictional character instead.

If you're looking to use these prompts as part of a class, or for a writing group, you might prefer to check out the Creative Writing Exercises for Adults and Teens instead. These include 43 group and solo exercises that are 10-15 minutes each, with more detailed instructions. We also have 42 science fiction and fantasy prompts for those looking for good story ideas with a touch of magic (or technology).

Choose the topic that fires your imagination

So you can plunge straight into the topic that most interests you, these writing prompts are split into the following categories:

Overcoming writer's block

Creative writing prompts for a young adult audience
Creative writing prompts for adults

Expressing emotion

Fantasy and sci-fi prompts

Visual prompts for world building
Ideas to develop your online business writing

If you feel blocked, I recommend using one of the following prompts and writing for ten minutes in a stream of consciousness. In The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron recommends you write 3 pages every morning as your 'morning pages'. She calls this, " The bedrock tool of a creative recovery. "

To write in a stream of consciousness while using a creative writing prompt, simply start writing and don't stop! If you don't know what will happen next, write, "I don't know what will happen next!" Then write what the options are, why one option might be better than another, etc. This kind of spontaneous creativity is an incredible tool to help move your book or short story forward and to overcome writer's block. If you read back over your stream of consciousness after just ten minutes, you'll find some nuggets of gold in your writing and may have resolved a difficult decision about a particular piece of text.

All authors face a challenge in getting in touch with their creativity from time to time, so don't feel that you're alone.

Here are the first set of prompts:

You're on holiday in a new city and you were walking along talking to a friend, when you suddenly realise they're no longer with you. What happens next?
You have invented a time machine and set off to the time you would most love to visit.
Think of three conflicts - an internal conflict where the protagonist has doubts, an interpersonal conflict with another character, and an external conflict like a natural disaster, physical barrier, or bad weather. Now write a scene that encompasses all three.
You are sitting, reading a list of story writing prompts when a character from your favourite book opens the door and looks at you. They say, "I've been looking for you."
You are a security guard at a secret lair. It's a cold winter's night and there's a foot of snow. You notice a set of footprints leading straight to you, but you could have sworn that they weren't there a moment ago.
What's a flaw that one of your friends has? Imagine if that flaw was exaggerated and create a character around that flaw.
You get a newspaper delivered to your door every morning, then one day it's tomorrow's paper, telling you what will happen today.
Think about a favourite book or movie. What was the character's main goal? Now give that character a different backstory that explains his/her goal.
You are about to fly on a dragon for the very first time.
Everyone has a superpower based on the topography of where they were born (i.e. mountains, deserts, etc.). You are the first person to be born in space. (This prompt, copied from Reddit , was the inspiration for a novel, that then became the first in a successful book series).

Prompts to help you write for a young adult audience

These story prompts are ideal for teen authors and for those looking to write for a Young Adult audience.

You're at the best party you've ever been to, when your worst enemy walks through the door and heads straight towards you.
One morning you wake up and you can see people's feelings as halos of colour around them. You discover that a friend has been hiding how they feel.
You're playing with a toy car when it comes alive and starts driving around by itself. It can only make car sounds, but you have a feeling it wants you to follow it.
Think of 3 animals. A creature has just entered your room that is a magical combination of these 3 animals.
What's the most exotic place you've ever visited? Your adventure starts there.
A genie grants you three wishes. You wish for an unlimited supply of your favourite food, then for an unlimited supply of your favourite toys. Instead of appearing next to you, they start falling out of the sky. You have one wish left.
Imagine an ant is looking up at you. What would they see?
You're dreaming of flying and when you wake up, you're hovering above your bed.
The internet and all the mobile phones in the world stop working. Choose a character and give them a goal. What happens?
Write about a time when you saw a dark aspect of humanity. How it feel and how did your behaviour change as a result of it?

Writing prompts for adults

You turn up for a job interview, but instead of being offered a job, you are invited to join an illegal activist group who are fighting to right the wrongs in the government.
You have had a crush on Rowan for ages. One night your car breaks down. Cursing that your phone is out of charge, you hitch-hike home and a car pulls over to pick you up. Rowan's driving it and is alone. You get in feeling relieved and delighted, only to discover that Rowan isn't the person you thought.
Write the names of 3 friends or family members who don't know each other. Now describe a scene where the 3 of them meet.
You are a tree and are scared of losing all your leaves. Autumn is fast approaching.
A rhinoceros is charging down a crowded city street.
You have studied hard to be an opera singer. You are opening the show and forget your lines. In desperation, you sing the song to a different opera. The orchestra know it and play along with you. What happens next?
Look at different clues for a murder mystery , then write a unique clue that could be the first hint to set your detective on the trail.
Write a list of seven exotic or dynamic sounding verbs and number them 1 to 7. Now write a list of seven nouns. Now connect them together by joining the first verb with the first noun, the second verb with the second noun, etc. Choose one of the seven verb-noun pairs to create a piece of fiction.
Choose a sport you love and write a scene about a character starting where they are preparing to perform in the Olympics, or another major competition.
Your character discovers that their best friend is a murderer but chooses to keep it a secret. Create a back story that explains why. What happens next?

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart”

Hellen Keller

Describe the emotion the woman in the above image is feeling.
You are tired and arguing with your best friend over whose turn it is to wash the dishes. It gets out of hand.
You receive a letter saying, "We would like to publish your novel." How do you react?
What was the last strong emotion you felt? If this emotion was a type of weather, what weather would that be? Now place a character feeling the opposite emotion in those weather conditions.
Your teenage daughter gets on the train to go to uni, you wave her off, then stand on the platform as the train pulls away.
Think of an emotion. Now describe how your protagonist's body reacts when they feel this emotion.
Your white friends have just left the supermarket and the security guard ignored them. You're black and as you leave, he demands to see your receipt.
A beautiful rainbow shines in the distance, but the storm is headed your way and you're miles from cover.
Your character takes a drug (medicinal or recreational, you choose) that changes their personality radically, making them feel happy but uncaring. While on it, they decide to end a friendship in a dramatic fashion. Afterwards, they try to rebuild that friendship. Write the conversation that follows.
Three friends arrive at a crossroads. All three want to go in different directions. Create a scene where they argue about where to go. Now rewrite the scene from different points of view. See if you can show different motivations and personalities as you write.

Love Stories

Love comes in many forms and is written about in every genre. It goes beyond romantic love, though romance books are the best-selling genre. As so many people have written about love, it can be a challenge to describe love without sounding cliched.

Before we get to the prompts, here are some quotes about love to inspire you:

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” ― Lao Tzu

“One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.” ― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.” ― William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

Now the prompts themselves from 10 different genres. Choose whichever you feel inspired by! Many of the following say 'poem', but feel free to write a short story or letter if you'd prefer.

COMEDY - Choose 2 objects in your house. Write a love poem from one to the other.
ROMANCE - Write a love poem to someone you love.
LGBT+ - Write a scene from the perspective of a transgender teenager about everyday life at high school. Remember that in the modern world, depending on the country, they will encounter both people who support them completely and those who don't, so keep that balance in mind.
SELF-REFLECTION - Write a poem to yourself when you were a child.
SCI-FI - Write a poem from yourself 10 years from now to yourself today.
LEGEND - Write a poem from the Loch Ness Monster to Nessie, the female monster who also lives in Loch Ness.
HISTORICAL FICTION - Choose a famous character from history and research if they were married. Write a scene where they disagreed with their partner on a major decision.
ADVENTURE - Write a poem about an amazing adventure in a place you, or your character, loves.
MURDER MYSTERY - Someone is poisoned in a coffee shop. Write the scene when the detective first arrives.
THRILLER - Your character wakes to find they are trapped in a dungeon after a first date. Their partner is with them. How do they escape?

Many great story ideas are based on a what if question. What if we're living in a virtual world? What if you gained a spider's abilities when one bit you? What if toys came to life when no-one's there?

Here are some prompts in the form of what if questions. Enjoy!

What if plants robustly expressed their opinions?
What if women ruled the world?
What if money became meaningless overnight?
What if you and your friends murdered someone?
What if a news channel gave a fictional story that became reality 24 hours later?
What if you were an alien and had been adopted by humans?
What if food was replaced by 'nutrition pills' to help stop global warming?
What if sound manifested as physical beings?
What if you had a recurring dream about someone, then you met them in real life?
What if characters from history started to appear alive and well in a small town?

Bored with your immortal existence, you are gathered with your godly friends to create the ultimate virtual reality game ever. A game you have called 'Earth', but just as your first friend enters the game you realise that the game has a terrible flaw.
You are an orc who wants to do good. You have fled your hometown and arrive at a human village wondering whether you will be welcome.
You character is approaching a castle. What unusual reason do they have to be there? What do they say to the two guards standing outside it?
Evil narcists rule the world, but a wizard is determined to stop them by wiping their memory and the memory of everyone who knew them. This allows them to safely re-enter society. You have just found one of your old diaries and discovered that you were once a warlord who commit terrible evil.
A war between the vampires and werewolves has been going on for centuries in ancient Europe, but you have just found a way to turn the battle. If a werewolf eats garlic, they remain human. You're about to spread a false rumour that will change history and give vampires the advantage forever.
You are an alien visiting Earth and chose to assume an anonymous form as a dog. Now someone wants to adopt you.
Gravity has just reversed itself.
A wish generator fulfils a wish every time you touch it, but the wish it fulfils isn't your own.
Look around you and imagine that an object, plant or piece of furniture you can see is enormous. Decide what this object means to a character. Your character is walking towards it.
Imagine a fantasy world where there is one type of magic. What knock on repercussions does this have on daily life? Write a scene showing this.

If you enjoy this genre, then you can discover more sci-fi and fantasy creative writing prompts . These focus on world building, creating exotic characters and developing plots with an out of this world element.

Visual writing prompts for world building

Sometimes an image can be more of a prompt than words. As it's a different medium, it allows you complete freedom to choose how to write about it. Here are 4 visual writing prompts to help with your world building, along with a suggestion of how to use them for each.

You've entered this room for the first time. Decide what your purpose was in entering it, then start writing.

Imagine a conversation is occurring here between people who work here all the time. Write the conversation, setting the room as the background.

I find the following image so evocative, it shouldn't need a prompt to go with it!

Who lives here? Write their story.

As well as visual writing prompts, you can come up with good story ideas using musical writing prompts. Simply take the name of any song below and write a story from it. Focus on sounds in your writing.

Ideas to develop your online business writing

Mix work and pleasure! Write about something you love to do as a hobby in the style of writing that you do for your work. A sales pitch about your favourite holiday destination, or an analysis of the last board game you played, for example.
Choose a product you recently bought from the supermarket and see if you can sell it in 160 characters or less. This is useful if you're writing Meta Descriptions for a web page.
If you had to choose a single issue that determined how you would vote in every future election, what issue would it be? Why?
Write a short review of your favourite movie and a movie you hated.
Write a short autobiography of your life in the form of an interview, where paragraphs alternate between question and answer.
Choose a random article on Wikipedia and write a press release to promote it.

What is your favourite book set in a fictional universe? Write a tourist's guide to one area of that universe.
What was a favourite toy you had as a child? What appealed to you about it? Write a sales blurb for that product with you as the target audience.
Find a page selling a toy you loved as a kid. Now rewrite that page as if it was a product designed for adults.

To discover more creative writing prompts, please click the image below.

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50 Fiction Writing Prompts and Ideas to Inspire You to Write

By Hannah Yang

How fiction writing prompts can help writers, top 50 fiction writing prompts, how prowritingaid can help with fiction writing, conclusion on fiction writing prompts and ideas.

Have you ever wanted to write a story but had no idea what to write about?

If you’re familiar with that feeling, you’re not alone. At some point in their lives, every writer has sat down in front of a blank page with no idea what to write next.

When you’re in that situation, it might be helpful to look at a list of potential story ideas. A great prompt can help kick-start your creativity and get you in the mood for writing again.

In this article, we’ll give you all our favorite fiction writing prompts to inspire you to write.

There are countless ways fiction writing prompts can benefit you. Here are a few reasons you might want to use a writing prompt:

To start a new short story or novel

To practice writing in a new genre or writing style so you can expand your skill set and try something new

To warm up at the beginning of each writing session

To make sure you’re in a creative state of mind when you tackle your existing writing projects

So, pick up a pen and a notebook, and let’s get started!

Here are 50 fantastic fiction writing prompts that will help you start your next story. To help you choose a prompt that excites you, we’ve split them into several categories: fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, romance, and contemporary.

Fantasy Prompts

You’ve inherited your grandfather’s antique shop, and you’re surprised to find strange objects with magical powers inside.

You set out to break the curse that’s followed your family for generations.

You can see visions of the future, but you learned long ago to keep them to yourself. Now, you have to speak up or risk losing everything you love.

You work for a zoo filled with magical creatures.

You’re a lawyer in a fantasy world, and your job is to negotiate contracts between the humans and the gods.

A company harvests dragon scales, unicorn hair, and other magical items to sell for profit.

You find a portal to a fantasy world in your backyard.

You find a magical item that will make all your wishes come true—but it’s extremely literal in its interpretations.

A supernatural monster kidnaps your best friend. You set out to rescue her.

Your parents gave different aspects of their magical powers to each of their children. Compared to your siblings, you definitely got the short end of the stick.

Sci-fi Prompts

Write an adaptation of your favorite classic tale—in space.

Aliens come to Earth, but they’re here for reasons no one expected.

Scientists have found ways to transfer memories between different people. You're the first person to sell all of yours.

Write about an entire world where people can buy and sell years of their lives.

What would happen if you woke up in someone else’s body and they woke up in yours?

You live in a moon colony surrounded by high walls. One day, someone breaches the walls.

Your parents send you to a summer camp filled with time travelers.

You accidentally stumble through a portal to a parallel universe where everything is the same as our universe, except for one key difference.

In a world where everyone’s DNA is genetically engineered to best suit their roles in the community, you have to hide that your DNA doesn’t match your chosen career.

You land on a new planet and realize the plants there are more intelligent than humans.

Write like a bestselling author

Love writing? ProWritingAid will help you improve the style, strength, and clarity of your stories.

Mystery Prompts

You wake up with no memory of who you are, except for a single name.

Every day, a strange drawing appears in your mailbox, and they get more and more disturbing.

You receive a letter inviting you to a free weekend getaway, and you have no idea who the host is.

Your father is keeping something strange in the attic.

A man throws an elaborate party in an attempt to conceal a crime.

You realize you’ve been sleepwalking every night, and you have no idea what your sleeping self has been up to.

You thought your husband was dead. So why is he still writing you letters?

Your brother was murdered years ago. The police have stopped investigating, but you’re still looking for the killer.

Two friends discover a serial killer's secret hideout.

A young woman discovers a frightening secret while she's on her first hunting trip with her husband's family.

Romance Prompts

Two soldiers on different sides of a war develop feelings for each other.

A member of the royal family falls in love with her bodyguard.

You’ve resigned yourself to a loveless arranged marriage, but fate has other plans.

You’ve had a crush on your best friend your entire life. Now, he’s about to get married to someone else.

You go on a first date and find yourself stuck in a time loop, so you have to keep going on that date over and over.

Two rivals have to pretend to be in a relationship—and end up accidentally falling for each other.

After a bad breakup, you move to a new town—and find yourself attracted to your next-door neighbor.

When two exes are forced to work together, they rekindle old feelings.

You fall in love with someone from a different dimension, so you can only see each other once a year when the portal opens.

After your plane crash-lands on a deserted island, you develop a bond with one of the other survivors.

Contemporary Prompts

Write an adaptation of your favorite classic tale set in the town you grew up in.

Two best friends go on a road trip and encounter a problem they never expected.

An adopted orphan goes on a journey to reconnect with her birth family.

You’re told a family secret that changes everything you think you know about your life.

A group of friends takes a practical joke too far, leading to disaster.

A college student creates an invention for a technology class and accidentally goes viral.

A painter in her early eighties struggles with her slow descent into blindness.

A couple breaks up, but the ramifications of their breakup follow them for decades.

A carefree playboy is forced to adopt a child, which changes his whole life.

You’re framed for a crime you didn’t commit, and nobody believes you’re innocent—except for your estranged sister.

No matter what type of story you’re writing, ProWritingAid is a great tool to help you make your writing shine.

ProWritingAid will suggest ways to improve various weaknesses in your writing, such as grammar mistakes, repetitive words, passive voice, unnecessary dialogue tags, and more.

You can even tell ProWritingAid what type of fiction you’re writing, such as fantasy or historical fiction, to get customized suggestions that match your genre.

There you have it—our complete list of the best fiction writing prompts to inspire you to write.

Try out your favorite one, and see if you can turn it into a unique story.

Good luck, and happy writing!

Hannah Yang

Hannah is a speculative fiction writer who loves all things strange and surreal. She holds a BA from Yale University and lives in Colorado. When she’s not busy writing, you can find her painting watercolors, playing her ukulele, or hiking in the Rockies. Follow her work on hannahyang.com or on Twitter at @hannahxyang.

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