Story Ideas About Talent and More...

On this page, you’ll find story ideas you can turn into fiction. Scroll down to the bottom for links to hundreds of other story starters and prompts.

Creative Writing Prompts – Talents

Here are some story starters about talents. Problems normally make stories more interesting, so in these prompts, the main character's talent gets him or her into trouble.

1. Your character's an excellent conversationalist who easily makes friends. He goes to party, where he notices an awkward-looking girl sitting alone in the corner, ignored by everyone. Feeling sorry for the girl, he decides to go talk to her. He succeeds in engaging her in conversation. Unfortunately for him, he is too successful. The girl attaches herself to him, and he can't get rid of her. She seems absolutely determined to follow him home...

2. Your character's a very talented defense lawyer. Her client is accused of being a serial killer. Your character's absolutely sure of two things: he's guilty, and if he has the chance, he'll kill again. And she's pretty sure that she can get him acquitted, in which case he'll walk free...

3. Your character has excellent hearing. One night, your character goes with his wife to his in-laws' house. When he's in the bathroom, he overhears a conversation between his wife and her parents. "Don't worry," his wife says. "As soon as I get rid of him, everything will be fine." Could she be talking about your character? What's going on?

4. Your character's an extremely talented pickpocket. He learned the skill when he was young and poor. Now he has a good job, a healthy bank account, and a respectable lifestyle, but he thinks it's a shame to let such remarkable talent go to waste...

5. Your character's an amazing ballroom dancer. Unfortunately, his wife can't dance at all. She's also extremely jealous and gets very upset if he dances with another woman. Your character misses dancing. He decides that what his wife doesn't know won't hurt her. But things don't go as planned...

Story Prompts About Families

1) Your character goes to talk to his/her fiancé's estranged father, to try to convince him to come to the wedding. Your character's fiancé and the father haven't spoken in years, and your character is hoping to patch things up between them. But after hearing the father's side of the story, your character begins to think about calling the wedding off...

2) Your character and his/her identical twin were adopted by different families. When they meet as adults, each of them envies the other one's life. They decide to trade identities...

3) Your character has always wanted a child. When s/he sees his/her neighbors mistreating their little boy, s/he decides to steal him...

4) Your character knows that his/her parents love his/her sibling more than they love your character. S/he has a plan to change this...

5) Your character is moving back home to take care of a parent who has just undergone surgery. Your character had a difficult childhood and is still very angry with this parent...

6) Your character suspects that his/her new stepparent is actually a... (pick one: werewolf/spy/demon/witch/serial killer/extraterrestrial).

Creative Writing Prompts – 3 Elements

Challenge: write a story that contains all three elements in one of these lists.

- an older brother, an unfair contest, and the skeleton of a bird.

- flirtation, whiskey, and a mistake at the zoo.

- a children's book, a box of matches, and a frightened security guard.

- a bathing suit a hair salon, and an amazing rumor that turns out to be true.

- a sports car, a rope, and an obnoxious ex-girlfriend.

- skydiving, an extreme diet, and unrequited love.

- a murder plot, a bowl of lentils, and a gold tooth.

- a mistake at work, a bank account number, and an empty house with an open window.

- an antique, a torn letter, and a familiar-looking stranger.

- an ice storm, a bicycle, and a treasure map.

- a magic trick, a shadow, and a missing friend.

- a traffic accident, a famous actor, and a business opportunity.

- a family secret, a string of pearls, and the desire for revenge.

- a motorcycle race, an injury, and a former enemy who turns out to be an ally.

Story Starters - New Beginnings

1) The New Garden. Digging a new garden in their back yard, your character discovers a dead body buried there. The body is soon identified as your character's spouse's ex...

2) The New Job.  After going through some financial difficulties, your character is thrilled to finally get a well-paying job. But on their first day of work, your character is disturbed by powerful romantic feelings for their new boss. Your character tries to hide these feelings -- they don't want to do anything that might put their job at risk. But the feelings are so strong...

3) The New Baby. Your character's parent is overjoyed at the birth of your character's baby, showering the new grandchild with an affection and tenderness that your character never experienced in their own childhood. Observing this stirs up old resentments in your character regarding their own upbringing...

4) The New Friend.  Your character's new friend seems to be asking an awful lot of strange questions about your character's family background. It's almost as if they know something about the family that your character doesn't know...

5) The New Apartment. Your character visits an apartment that they decide to rent. It's a great apartment for the price, although there is a locked door at the end of the hallway which the landlord says your character should ignore. "I'm storing some things there," the landlord explains. Once your character moves into the apartment, they become curious about the locked door and consider trying to pick the lock...

6) Another New Baby. Soon after your character's child is born, your character begins to notice something eerie about the new baby, something that doesn't seem quite human...

7) Another New Job. Everyone at your character's new workplace seems very enthusiastic about their job. Maybe too enthusiastic... There's something cultlike about the company that begins to unnerve your character...

8) The New Neighbor. Your character feels a strong attraction to their new neighbor. They invent excuses to talk to this person, and with every interaction, the attraction grows... But one night, your character glimpses something through the neighbor's lighted window that makes them wonder who this person really is...

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