Story Ideas About Surprising Discoveries

If you're looking for inspiration, here are some story ideas that you can turn into stories or novels. At the bottom of the page, you'll find links to hundreds of other great fiction writing prompts.

1) It's your character's birthday, and his/her friends throw him/her a party. One of the gifts has no card attached, and your character doesn't know who it's from. Opening the box, your character find (choose one):

  • a snake.

  • a passport with your character's picture and a false name.

  • an engagement ring.

  • a photograph of your character's brother who disappeared when they were children.

  • a hand-drawn map with an X marking a location not far from your character's house.

  • a photograph that appears to be your character kissing someone that s/he has no memory of ever having met.

  • a plane ticket to Tahiti.

What else might be in the box?

2) Your character decides to pay an unexpected visit on his/her sister, Betty. Arriving late at night, s/he decides to let himself/herself into the house with the spare key that Betty keeps under the doormat. Your character finds (choose one):

  • Betty with a gun in her hand and her clothes covered with blood.

  • his/her own husband/wife having a very private conversation with Betty.

  • someone else also trying to sneak into the house.

  • a stranger, who says he can tell your character where Betty is... but for a price.

  • a portal to the past. Instead of Betty's house, your character is in the house where they grew up, the way it was when they were both children.

What else might your character find in Betty's house?

3) Your character goes for a walk in the woods and loses his/her way. After many hours of wandering through the trees, s/he comes upon...

  • an old cabin that an escaped criminal has made his home.

  • an attractive stranger, who appears injured and disoriented.

  • a magnificent house, with the door unlocked and all of the lamps lit, but apparently empty.

  • what appears to be some kind of spacecraft.

  • a pack of wolves, or of werewolves.

  • a military project so secret that the government can't risk your character leaving alive.

  • a summer camp full of children who are terrified because the adults supervising them have all mysteriously disappeared.

What else might your character find in the woods?

More story ideas

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