Fictional Story Prompt Ideas for All Ages— Prompts are a great way to jump-start your writing process. And today we have a fantastic collection of fictional story ideas and prompts for you. Take a look and enjoy!
Yes! Wonderful Prompts that Inspire and Ignite
Yeppers…
All 60 of our wonderful prompts will help you or your writers to write great short stories about all kinds of topics. If you’re a parent, teacher, or summer program leader, you can use these prompts with kids of any age group, and even write alongside them to practice writing or to show them the ropes.
We’ve compiled a list from several of our articles and added some new prompts below.
Just tap on the title of each article to see the full list if you see something that catches your attention. There is so much to explore in the world of creative writing and these are just a few options of where to start. Enjoy!
Flash Fiction Writing Ideas
What is Flash Fiction? A Brief Guide and 42 Prompts
Flash fiction is unique in its brevity—and though there is no official word count that separates it from other short forms of literature, the briefest of works are typically classed as flash fiction stories. Though it may appear deceptively simple, crafting an effective piece of flash fiction is actually quite challenging, as each word and sentence must serve the purpose of propelling the story forward.
Short stories like these have fun characteristics that make them unique from any other story. It can be tough to make a story that short with a satisfying ending, and there is so much you could add to tell the rest of the story.
Here are some wide-ranging prompts from 6 different types of flash fiction ranging from a single sentence to 1,500 words.
- The Six-Word Story: a story told in just six words (the most famous example of this format, said to be written by Ernest Hemingway, is a tragically brief one-line story: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”)
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- Write a six-word story about someone going through a hard time.
- Write a six-word story about friendship.
- Twitterature: a story told in 280 characters or less
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- Write a piece of twitterature about an actress trying out for a role.
- Write a piece of twitterature from the point of view of a cat.
- Dribble: a story of 50 words or less (also sometimes called a minisaga)
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- Write a dribble about two people reuniting after many years, including dialogue.
- Write a dribble about a football game.
- Drabble: a story of 100 words or less (also sometimes called microfiction)
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- Write a drabble about an argument a character is having with their parents.
- Write a drabble about a teenage girl who is facing a big challenge.
- Sudden Fiction: a story of no more than 750 words
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- Write a piece of sudden fiction about someone who gets lost in an area they aren’t familiar with.
- Write a piece of sudden fiction about someone who gets their dream job and immediately regrets it.
- Flash Fiction: a story comprised of about 1,000-1,500 words
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- Write a 1,000-1,500 word piece of flash fiction that examines one character during three events in his or her life.
- Write a 1,000-1,500 word piece of flash fiction about someone who is nervous about taking a trip.
Fiction Writing for Elementary School Students
30 Fiction Writing Prompts for Elementary Students
- The story begins in a magical land and your main character is lost. Who does your character meet while on their journey home?
- Write a story about a student who is starting at a new school. What are they feeling? How will they meet new friends?
- A powerful stone appeared and it had the potential to change everything…
- The trip of a lifetime was about to begin and the three friends were heading to the country of…
- Your character is strolling through a nearby garden when they discover a vegetable they have never seen before. What does it look like? What does it taste like? What happens when the character snacks on the vegetable?
- Your character is playing at the beach and they find buried treasure. What’s inside? How does their life change?
- It was a dark and stormy night and suddenly, the lights went out in the house…
- The time had finally come…
- Your character just helped their team win the championship game. What happens next?
- The character in your story just created an invention that will change the world. What did they design? How will it help people?
Fiction Writing Prompts for Middle Schoolers
30 Fiction Writing Prompts for Middle School Students
- Write a story that involves a car chase, an umbrella, and a barking dog.
- Write a story that involves a post office, a banana, and a baseball glove.
- Write a story that involves a birthday card, a tree, and a pepperoni pizza.
- Write a story that involves a flashlight, a pair of blue shoes, and a library card.
- Write a story that involves a bicycle, a computer, and an ice cream cone.
- Write a story about a girl who always gets into trouble—and what happens when people realize an incident wasn’t her fault.
- Write a story about a boy who dreams of becoming a famous singer—and what he does each day to work on getting there.
- Write a story about a class of sixth-grade students who discover a very big secret about their teacher—and what happens when the teacher finds out what they know.
- Write a story about a family that moves around frequently from place to place—and how all of the family members feel when they have to make another move.
- Write a story about two friends who make an unusual pact with one another.
Fictional Story Ideas for High Schoolers
- Write a fictional story about a teen who creates a viral video.
- Write a fictional story about a woman working as a highly trained secret spy.
- Write a fictional story about a town preparing for a big storm.
- Write a fictional story about a week where the entire Internet goes down.
- Write a fictional story about a girl who decides to create an entirely new identity for herself.
- Write a fictional story about a group of people living in a remote village.
- Write a fictional story about an elderly couple who aren’t totally satisfied with how their lives have turned out—so they take off on a wild adventure to travel the world.
- Write a fictional story about an art dealer who comes across a very unusual piece.
Story Prompts & Creative Writing Story Starters
Story Prompts & Creative Writing Story Starters: 55 fun boosts of creativity and a BONUS 13 Finish the Story Ideas. Read on to see them all!
- Your favorite singer agrees to perform an exclusive show in your basement.
- You come home from school to find a box on your porch. What’s inside?
- At your birthday party, you receive a very special present…
- You find out that your teacher used to be…
- My favorite childhood memory was when…
- I used to say to my friends that when the cookie crumbles, just eat one of the other cookies. I learned this when I…
- If I could have any gift in the whole wide world, I would choose to receive a…
- My very favorite place in all the world is…
- I went on a road trip and couldn’t believe the magical things I saw. It was like Science Fiction (but real!). This is what happened…
- My mom heard a knock and opened the front door. To her astonishment, she saw a giraffe and…
10 Brand-New Fiction Prompts
And… just in case you need even more writing inspiration, check out this fabulous new list of ideas!
- A girl meets a prince, who instantly proposes. But then, she realizes he’s not what she thought he was.
- A family goes to a pet store to get dog toys but ends up taking home 5000 fish – and it doesn’t go very smoothly.
- An 11-year-old starts a business that becomes famous worldwide but still has to go to school.
- A teenage boy finds a secret portal in the principal’s office at school and realizes the teachers are all using it.
- A family’s dog digs up a dinosaur bone!
- Your dad looks into your family history and finds out you have a personal connection to some very important events in history.
- A group of fiction writers join together to write a novel and create the best plot the world has ever seen!
- The protagonist is the winner of a huge grand prize, but they don’t know if they should accept it.
- Take your favorite story from real life and twist it around to make it more interesting.
- You hear a knock on the door and look through the peephole and it’s Taylor Swift!
Hopefully these prompts help you enjoy writing! Make sure to add descriptive details and include tension in the story to make your readers invested. Summer is a great time to build your writing skills and this list of creative writing prompts is a great place to get started, whether you’re on your own or with a group!
Until next time, write on…
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Sincerely,
Jill
journalbuddies.com
creator and curator
Interested in FanFic? Check out this inspiring new post!
