Free Writing Prompts - Story Ideas
Here are some free writing prompts you can use to get story ideas. At the bottom of the page, you'll find links to more story starters.1) Your character is chatting with a stranger on a website. Both your character and the other person are using nicknames -- they don't know each other's real names. The stranger starts to flirt with your character, even though she tells him she is married. The more they talk, the more strongly she suspects that the stranger is actually her husband, but that he has no idea who she is...
2) While your character and his wife are on a safari, the car breaks down. Their guide says he'll go for help, leaving your character and wife alone by the car. After a few minutes, they decide to get into the car, but the doors are locked. There's no sign of the guide, and it's starting to get dark...
3) A child develops a wild plan to keep his parents from getting divorced...
4) Tracey's husband is about to publish a novel about a character named "Stacey", who is obviously based on Tracey. The novel is about how much "Stacey" secretly hates her in-laws, whose house she currently lives in. Tracey too lives with her in-laws, but has always worked hard to get along with them. She begs her husband not to publish the book or at least to disguise the character more, but her husband refuses...
5) One evening, as your character's getting ready for bed, s/he notices a Webcam attached to his/her home computer, filming him/her. Your character does not own a Webcam...
6) After a neighbor is murdered, the police talk to your character and his wife, asking if they heard anything suspicious. Your character's wife answers the police's questions as if she had been home the evening the crime occurred, when your character knows she was out until very late that night...
7) A teenager hears that the movie star she's in love with will be in town. She develops a plan to meet him and make him fall in love with her...
8) Your character and his/her husband/wife are both unemployed and sending out CVs. When they both get interviews at the same time, they discover that they are competing for the same job. Both of them want the job, and each thinks that he/she is better suited for it than the other...
9) Your character's teenage child makes a rule that no one's allowed in his/her bedroom. Your character respects this rule until one morning when s/he wants a book that s/he thinks that the teenager has borrowed. S/he goes to look in the teenager's room and can't believe what s/he finds there...
10) Your character gets a new roommate. This roommate is always complimenting your character and seems to admire her a lot. But your character starts to get the creeps when the roommate begins to dress exactly like her, gets her hair cut like your character's, starts reading your character's books and quoting things that your character has said. Your character has the strange feeling that the roommate wants to BE her. And then the roommate starts making excuses to spend time with your character's boyfriend....
11) Your character discovers a secret family recipe for a love potion.
12) Your character lives in an apartment above a psychotherapist's office. Because of an acoustical anomaly with the heating vents, your character can hear the patients talking to the psychotherapist. When your character is feeling lonely, she sometimes intentionally listens to the sessions. One patient's story deeply moves your character, who decides to track down the patient and help him herself.
Free Writing Prompts - Next Steps
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