Whether you’re a seasoned storyteller or just looking to flex your creative muscles, story prompts can be a great way to get the ball rolling.

Prompts can be anything from a simple sentence to an elaborate scenario, but the key is to use them as a jumping-off point rather than something that binds you.

10 story writing prompts

If you’re feeling stuck, here are some story prompts to get you started:

1. A character is stranded on a desert island and must find a way to survive.

2. A small community is beset by a curse that makes everyone become animals overnight.

3. A young person discovers she has the ability to travel through time.

4. A group of friends find themselves in a horror story.

5. A man wakes up and is told that the world outside his house has ended, but cannot remember how it happened

6. A woman is forced to go on trial for her life when she discovers an alien spaceship and takes possession of it.

7. A story in which all of the characters are either robots or androids who start questioning their “reality”.

8. An immortal serial killer struggles with his crimes catching up with him in old age, while continuing to hunt new victims he feels compelled to kill each time one is born.

9. Altered history: people from around the world meet around a campfire and tell stories about pivotal moments in their pasts that were changed by a single event.

10. The story of a small community that is completely cut off from the rest of the world, and the dark secrets that are hidden within their borders.

If you find writing prompts helpful, keep an eye on this blog or sign up to my enewsletter to be informed of when I release new ones.