I’ve been thinking for a while that I want to share more writing from the indie community, so what better way to do that, than with short story prompts? I’ll be adding or removing prompts occasionally, so you’ll always find new ones. Check back regularly! Ready to write your short story? Check out how it works below.
Check out the Short Story Prompts
Like I said before, I’ve wanted to do this for a while, so I started putting together a list of random story prompts. Hopefully, they’ll be vague enough that I’ll get plenty of short stories to choose from. Even if I only get one short story per prompt, I’ll be thrilled. I want to be able to showcase authors here, and introduce them to new readers. Plenty of people come here to read my book reviews, so giving them short stories seems the next logical step.
If you have any questions about a prompt, or want to make sure your story idea will fit with my website, please feel free to contact me, using the form below.
Write a short story between 1500 and 3000 words
Each prompt is pretty vague, I hope, so if your short story ends up being longer than 3000 words, I may divide into two posts. I’ll probably end on a cliffhanger and continue the next day. I prefer no individual post be longer than 3000 words, because while I want people to stick around and read stories, I want each one to be readable in a reasonable amount of time.
Share your short story to social media
Please be willing to share your short stories, or any others you’ve enjoyed, to social media. The more readers I get, the more often I’ll be able to post stories. I love the idea of having tons of readers on this website, and if I can bring readers here, and readers for your books at the same time, that’s a huge win-win situation. Once I know your publish date, I’ll email you so you’ll be aware. That way, you can schedule socials ahead of time if necessary.
My homepage says, “We Rise by Lifting Others,” and that is one of the major tenets of this community. I appreciate your being willing to participate!
Please no Erotic or graphically sexual scenes
If you’ve read my blog posts at all, you’ll know that I like keeping this site family friendly. I don’t even review erotic stories or books on here. If you write a story, and it ends up containing an erotic scene, please do not submit it. Those stories would be best kept for another site or publication. If one of my prompts gives you the idea for a story that you would like to submit to another publication, please feel free. All I ask is that you let me know, so I can cheer you on.
Most Importantly, HAVE FUN!
I do not post deadlines here for a reason. I love the idea of showcasing your work, and leading readers to your books through your stories, but I don’t want to put pressure on you in any way. These prompts are here if you WANT to participate, so if you choose a prompt, and it takes you a month to write a story, don’t worry. My site will still be here, and I’ll still be excited to read your stories.
How to Submit Your Story
Use Contact Form Below.
In the email body, please let me know what prompt you used, and if your short story has a title. Paste the story directly into the email body, so I’ll have them all in one place. Please do not attach as a word or google doc, unless I ask for that specifically. I’ll likely keep all emails in their own folder, so I don’t have to search for them later. If you do not hear back from me with a publication date within a week, please feel free to reach out and make sure your email did not end up in my Spam folder. That happens occasionally, and it breaks my heart to miss an email from you.
Please include links to your preferred social networks, your website if you have one, and your author page on Amazon. Please do not just include your “@” for social media. For example, for Twitter, don’t just use “@PickyBookworm.” Please list it as “twitter.com/pickybookworm.” I want to be able to include the links as easily as I can, without having to go to 12 different sites looking for the full web address. Just in case I get tons of story submissions, I want to be able to format and schedule them as quickly as possible. Thank you so much for your cooperation!
Short Story Prompts
I’m super excited to offer short stories on my website, so if you see a prompt that sparks your creativity, give it a go. I look forward to seeing all your submissions! If you have an idea for a prompt, feel free to contact me below, and let me know! You may see it show up on the page when you least expect it.
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A Romantic trip erupts in disaster.
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Two couples become friends in Paris. One of them disappears.
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Wife finds out her husband is a spy.
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Man is given an opportunity to travel to another planet.
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Person walks up to a fork in the road. Which direction does he take?
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You’ve found a door to the fairy realm, and given an audience with the Fairy Queen.
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Someone released a bioweapon into the atmosphere.
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Chef finds out the winner of a cooking competition has been cheating for years.
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Anna has a crush on her coworker at a law firm. They are one of the partners.
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Chloe decides to move to Italy for a year after college. Her family is not happy about it.
