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11 Sweet Setting Prompts + 11 Bonus Ideas

Spark Your Imagination With These Story Setting Prompts and Ideas —New story setting ideas are important for any writer to consider as they develop a story. Below you will find 11 bonus creative ideas to spark your imagination. Oh yeah!

Story Setting Ideas and Bonus Prompts

Plus, there’s a bonus list of 11 prompts to help get your creative juices flowing. Take your writing skills to the next level!

Now, besides the location of your character, the environment surrounding your character also plays an important role in the story.

Yeppers! Having a unique setting will allow you to create a more interesting world for your characters and give your audience something to relate to. You see…

Of course…

An essential component of stellar fiction writing is to come up with a list of cool settings for your story – settings that provoke feelings and captivate your audience. Think Hogwarts, Wonderland, and Gotham City as all of these stories were celebrated for their extraordinary, captivating, and exciting settings.

Consider this: A list of places that will make your story unique will allow you to create something that stands out from the rest and allows you to use your characters’ surroundings to support your main theme with symbols, objects, and motifs. 

So…

If you’re looking for inspiration to write a story with a larger-than-life setting that allows each page to be as immersive as the last, you’ve come to the right place. 

Today, we’ll look at 9 brand new story setting ideas + 2 more excellent ideas for writers who want to include places, seasons, and sounds in their novels and short stories.

Let’s get started!

11 Super Story Setting Ideas

  1. Write a story about a student’s first day at high school – focus greatly on the sights, sounds, and the main character’s interaction with others.
  2. Take your character on a journey around the world – talk about their experiences and the differences in each location.
  3. A story about magic and the dark arts opens your story to a world of exciting potential settings, such as portals and space exploration.
  4. Have your character travel through time in a science fiction epic to put them in the middle of historical events.
  5. Use the weather or seasons to depict the mood.
  6. Contrast differences in lifestyle between a small town and a big city.
  7. Find suspense in your settings; a dark, abandoned, and quiet town is the perfect setting for the horror genre.
  8. Take inspiration from real life: museums, landscapes, and famous galleries all make for an exceptional setting.
  9. Settings of grandeur and historical significance, such as the ancient pyramids, the Great Wall, or the Eiffel tower.

    Note: These last two prompts are from this magnificent list of Short Story Ideas for Middle School and Beyond

  10. Your character has the opportunity to be the teacher for the day and make the rules themselves.
  11. Your character finds someone’s wallet on the street. They look inside and have to decide whether to return it or not.
Story Setting

Ok, now let’s explore…

11 Inspiring Story Setting Writing Prompts

These creative writing prompts will hopefully inspire you to create some awesome story settings AND help you take your story writing to the next level.

  1. A fan of romance novels travels to their dream location to live out their love story.
  2. Your character has been sucked into his favorite video game. Go into detail about this animated world and how he can come back.
  3. A young child befriends a magician who takes them on a journey around the world.
  4. In this sci-fi epic, robots become self-aware.
  5. A group of friends encounters a ghost when their car breaks down on a dark highway in the middle of the night.
  6. Set in a fantasy world, your protagonist is caught in the middle of a dispute between vampires and werewolves.
  7. A story set in the feudal era in which two sweethearts live miles apart attempt to connect.
  8. Your friends dare you to go inside a haunted house – describe what you see.
  9. Two police officers work together to stop a bank heist and save a dozen hostages.
  10. High school grads decide to go on the road and travel the country before going their separate ways.
  11. A new job provides you with a luxurious home, fully-paid lodgings, and everything you’ve ever wanted appears as if it were made by magic. However, you notice changes in your body after a week.

A riveting setting has the potential to lift your story’s plot, regardless of if it’s historical fiction or a fantasy novel. We hope these settings and prompts gave you new ideas to start adding awe-inspiring surroundings around your characters and finally stop staring at a blank page!

More Writing Free Resources & Recommendations

Until next time, write on…

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Sincerely,
Jill
journalbuddies.com
creator and curator

Story Setting Prompts
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