Vulture, dog, pig and chicken what we call people that us sicken But then what is in a name did someone not say that a rose by any other would smell the same Excuse me for stealing verses a little better than robbing peop.. |
I lay among ants beaten by cane polesbarefoot on broken glass I dance, swallowing burning coalsDarker than black are my dayspealed from you like skin separates from flesh in filetesHeads and tails on the same coinDreams with realities shadow to rejoi.. |
Anam Chara is Gaelic for Soul Friend or Twin Flame. It is pronounced A-nom Kar-a. |
A promising superstitious tale of incomplete-distances readings to the lines/helmets of capitalism's (foreign?) shields. |
It’s Christmas Eve. It’s raining. None of the presents are wrapped. We’re watching “Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer.” Brittany cries when all of the other reindeer laugh and call Rudolph names.Raphael’s roasting ches.. |
Funny how many poets there are out there.They actually consider themselves poets.They write about Comic-Con and Cherry-blossomsand goth love that goes astray amid Manga animation.They wear their lacy tops and fishnet stockings.(Even some men)Often th.. |
My grandma died a week ago and I didn't process it. Yesterday I went to the funeral home of my friends grandma, i couldn't stop looking at the body. For 3 hours I stared at her, then I wrote this. |
I With an eclipse in the sky, a bottle of Remy by his side, and a bowler on his head, The Follower, inert and enervate, pulled a paperback from his knap sack entitled, “Smirking at the Unfinished Novel in the Bo.. |
What about Us the ink is the darkest black coinciding with the whitest page and creating infinite harmony. erin-cilberto 8/9/24 |
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Blogs / Writing Tips / 120 Short Story Ideas for Writers
120 short story ideas for writers.
I hear you.
Whether you’re a seasoned writer or a newbie, coming up with fresh and exciting story ideas can be a real challenge. I’m here to help with this article packed full of short story writing prompts, offering a plethora of short story ideas across a veritable smorgasbord of genres.
From the mystical realms of fantasy to the futuristic landscapes of science fiction, the heartfelt world of romance, the gripping tension of crime stories, the nuanced narratives of women’s fiction, and imaginative tales for children, you’ll find inspiration for your next writing project.
We’ll explore tips on how to decide what to write about, ensuring you choose a story idea that resonates with you and your readers.
Are you ready to get your short story on?
Then let’s do this thing.
Choosing the right story idea can be daunting, but these tips can help:
With these prompts and tips, you are well-equipped to embark on your next writing adventure.
And finally, always remember that story comes first. Focus on:
A tool like Fictionary helps you turn your draft into an interesting story readers love. So, with the right writing prompts and a strong narrative foundation, your writing can truly shine.
Hi! Welcome to the best creative writing website for kids (in my humble opinion.) I’m Who. And next to me are my buddies, What and Why Not. Together we make a great story.
How do we make great stories? Come on in and we’ll show you with our super easy creative writing and storytelling formula. Then try some writing prompts and activities that help kids write creatively, right now.
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The short story is a fiction writer’s laboratory: here is where you can experiment with characters, plots, and ideas without the heavy lifting of writing a novel. Learning how to write a short story is essential to mastering the art of storytelling . With far fewer words to worry about, storytellers can make many more mistakes—and strokes of genius!—through experimentation and the fun of fiction writing.
Nonetheless, the art of writing short stories is not easy to master. How do you tell a complete story in so few words? What does a story need to have in order to be successful? Whether you’re struggling with how to write a short story outline, or how to fully develop a character in so few words, this guide is your starting point.
Famous authors like Virginia Woolf, Haruki Murakami, and Agatha Christie have used the short story form to play with ideas before turning those stories into novels. Whether you want to master the elements of fiction, experiment with novel ideas, or simply have fun with storytelling, here’s everything you need on how to write a short story step by step.
How to Write a Short Story: Contents
How to write a short story outline, how to write a short story step by step, how to write a short story: length and setting, how to write a short story: point of view, how to write a short story: protagonist, antagonist, motivation, how to write a short story: characters, how to write a short story: prose, how to write a short story: story structure, how to write a short story: capturing reader interest, where to read and submit short stories.
There’s no secret formula to writing a short story. However, a good short story will have most or all of the following elements:
Of course, short stories also utilize the elements of fiction , such as a setting , plot , and point of view . It helps to study these elements and to understand their intricacies. But, when it comes to laying down the skeleton of a short story, the above elements are what you need to get started.
Note: a short story rarely, if ever, has subplots. The focus should be entirely on a single, central storyline. Subplots will either pull focus away from the main story, or else push the story into the territory of novellas and novels.
The shorter the story is, the fewer of these elements are essentials. If you’re interested in writing short-short stories, check out our guide on how to write flash fiction .
Some writers are “pantsers”—they “write by the seat of their pants,” making things up on the go with little more than an idea for a story. Other writers are “plotters,” meaning they decide the story’s structure in advance of writing it.
You don’t need a short story outline to write a good short story. But, if you’d like to give yourself some scaffolding before putting words on the page, this article answers the question of how to write a short story outline:
https://writers.com/how-to-write-a-story-outline
There are many ways to approach the short story craft, but this method is tried-and-tested for writers of all levels. Here’s how to write a short story step-by-step.
Often, generating an idea is the hardest part. You want to write, but what will you write about?
What’s more, it’s easy to start coming up with ideas and then dismissing them. You want to tell an authentic, original story, but everything you come up with has already been written, it seems.
Here are a few tips:
If you’re struggling simply to find ideas, try out this prompt generator , or pull prompts from this Twitter .
If you plan to outline, do so once you’ve generated an idea. You can learn about how to write a short story outline earlier in this article.
If you don’t plan to outline, you should at least start with a character or characters. Certainly, you need a protagonist, but you should also think about any characters that aid or inhibit your protagonist’s journey.
When thinking about character development, ask the following questions:
In short stories, there are rarely more characters than a protagonist, an antagonist (if relevant), and a small group of supporting characters. The more characters you include, the longer your story will be. Focus on making only one or two characters complex: it is absolutely okay to have the rest of the cast be flat characters that move the story along.
Learn more about character development here:
https://writers.com/character-development-definition
Once you have an outline or some characters, start building scenes around conflict. Every part of your story, including the opening sentence, should in some way relate to the protagonist’s conflict.
Conflict is the lifeblood of storytelling: without it, the reader doesn’t have a clear reason to keep reading. Loveable characters are not enough, as the story has to give the reader something to root for.
Take, for example, Edgar Allan Poe’s classic short story The Cask of Amontillado . We start at the conflict: the narrator has been slighted by Fortunato, and plans to exact revenge. Every scene in the story builds tension and follows the protagonist as he exacts this revenge.
In your story, start writing scenes around conflict, and make sure each paragraph and piece of dialogue relates, in some way, to your protagonist’s unmet desires.
Read more about writing effective conflict here:
What is Conflict in a Story? Definition and Examples
The scenes you build around conflict will eventually be stitched into a complete story. Make sure as the story progresses that each scene heightens the story’s tension, and that this tension remains unbroken until the climax resolves whether or not your protagonist meets their desires.
Don’t stress too hard on writing a perfect story. Rather, take Anne Lamott’s advice, and “write a shitty first draft.” The goal is not to pen a complete story at first draft; rather, it’s to set ideas down on paper. You are simply, as Shannon Hale suggests, “shoveling sand into a box so that later [you] can build castles.”
Whenever Stephen King finishes a novel, he puts it in a drawer and doesn’t think about it for 6 weeks. With short stories, you probably don’t need to take as long of a break. But, the idea itself is true: when you’ve finished your first draft, set it aside for a while. Let yourself come back to the story with fresh eyes, so that you can confidently revise, revise, revise .
In revision, you want to make sure each word has an essential place in the story, that each scene ramps up tension, and that each character is clearly defined. The culmination of these elements allows a story to explore complex themes and ideas, giving the reader something to think about after the story has ended.
Does your story have everything it needs to succeed? Compare it against this short story checklist, as written by our instructor Rosemary Tantra Bensko.
Below is a collection of practical short story writing tips by Writers.com instructor Rosemary Tantra Bensko . Each paragraph is its own checklist item: a core element of short story writing advice to follow unless you have clear reasons to the contrary. We hope it’s a helpful resource in your own writing.
Update 9/1/2020: We’ve now made a summary of Rosemary’s short story checklist available as a PDF download . Enjoy!
Click to download
Your short story is 1000 to 7500 words in length.
The story takes place in one time period, not spread out or with gaps other than to drive someplace, sleep, etc. If there are those gaps, there is a space between the paragraphs, the new paragraph beginning flush left, to indicate a new scene.
Each scene takes place in one location, or in continual transit, such as driving a truck or flying in a plane.
Unless it’s a very lengthy Romance story, in which there may be two Point of View (POV) characters, there is one POV character. If we are told what any character secretly thinks, it will only be the POV character. The degree to which we are privy to the unexpressed thoughts, memories and hopes of the POV character remains consistent throughout the story.
You avoid head-hopping by only having one POV character per scene, even in a Romance. You avoid straying into even brief moments of telling us what other characters think other than the POV character. You use words like “apparently,” “obviously,” or “supposedly” to suggest how non-POV-characters think rather than stating it.
Your short story has one clear protagonist who is usually the character changing most.
Your story has a clear antagonist, who generally makes the protagonist change by thwarting his goals.
(Possible exception to the two short story writing tips above: In some types of Mystery and Action stories, particularly in a series, etc., the protagonist doesn’t necessarily grow personally, but instead his change relates to understanding the antagonist enough to arrest or kill him.)
The protagonist changes with an Arc arising out of how he is stuck in his Flaw at the beginning of the story, which makes the reader bond with him as a human, and feel the pain of his problems he causes himself. (Or if it’s the non-personal growth type plot: he’s presented at the beginning of the story with a high-stakes problem that requires him to prevent or punish a crime.)
The protagonist usually is shown to Want something, because that’s what people normally do, defining their personalities and behavior patterns, pushing them onward from day to day. This may be obvious from the beginning of the story, though it may not become heightened until the Inciting Incident , which happens near the beginning of Act 1. The Want is usually something the reader sort of wants the character to succeed in, while at the same time, knows the Want is not in his authentic best interests. This mixed feeling in the reader creates tension.
The protagonist is usually shown to Need something valid and beneficial, but at first, he doesn’t recognize it, admit it, honor it, integrate it with his Want, or let the Want go so he can achieve the Need instead. Ideally, the Want and Need can be combined in a satisfying way toward the end for the sake of continuity of forward momentum of victoriously achieving the goals set out from the beginning. It’s the encounters with the antagonist that forcibly teach the protagonist to prioritize his Needs correctly and overcome his Flaw so he can defeat the obstacles put in his path.
The protagonist in a personal growth plot needs to change his Flaw/Want but like most people, doesn’t automatically do that when faced with the problem. He tries the easy way, which doesn’t work. Only when the Crisis takes him to a low point does he boldly change enough to become victorious over himself and the external situation. What he learns becomes the Theme.
Each scene shows its main character’s goal at its beginning, which aligns in a significant way with the protagonist’s overall goal for the story. The scene has a “charge,” showing either progress toward the goal or regression away from the goal by the ending. Most scenes end with a negative charge, because a story is about not obtaining one’s goals easily, until the end, in which the scene/s end with a positive charge.
The protagonist’s goal of the story becomes triggered until the Inciting Incident near the beginning, when something happens to shake up his life. This is the only major thing in the story that is allowed to be a random event that occurs to him.
Your characters speak differently from one another, and their dialogue suggests subtext, what they are really thinking but not saying: subtle passive-aggressive jibes, their underlying emotions, etc.
Your characters are not illustrative of ideas and beliefs you are pushing for, but come across as real people.
Your language is succinct, fresh and exciting, specific, colorful, avoiding clichés and platitudes. Sentence structures vary. In Genre stories, the language is simple, the symbolism is direct, and words are well-known, and sentences are relatively short. In Literary stories , you are freer to use more sophisticated ideas, words, sentence structures, styles , and underlying metaphors and implied motifs.
Your plot elements occur in the proper places according to classical Three Act Structure (or Freytag’s Pyramid ) so the reader feels he has vicariously gone through a harrowing trial with the protagonist and won, raising his sense of hope and possibility. Literary short stories may be more subtle, with lower stakes, experimenting beyond classical structures like the Hero’s Journey. They can be more like vignettes sometimes, or even slice-of-life, though these types are hard to place in publications.
In Genre stories, all the questions are answered, threads are tied up, problems are solved, though the results of carnage may be spread over the landscape. In Literary short stories, you are free to explore uncertainty, ambiguity, and inchoate, realistic endings that suggest multiple interpretations, and unresolved issues.
Some Literary stories may be nonrealistic, such as with Surrealism, Absurdism, New Wave Fabulism, Weird and Magical Realism . If this is what you write, they still need their own internal logic and they should not be bewildering as to the what the reader is meant to experience, whether it’s a nuanced, unnameable mood or a trip into the subconscious.
Literary stories may also go beyond any label other than Experimental. For example, a story could be a list of To Do items on a paper held by a magnet to a refrigerator for the housemate to read. The person writing the list may grow more passive-aggressive and manipulative as the list grows, and we learn about the relationship between the housemates through the implied threats and cajoling.
Your short story is suspenseful, meaning readers hope the protagonist will achieve his best goal, his Need, by the Climax battle against the antagonist.
Your story entertains. This is especially necessary for Genre short stories.
The story captivates readers at the very beginning with a Hook, which can be a puzzling mystery to solve, an amazing character’s or narrator’s Voice, an astounding location, humor, a startling image, or a world the reader wants to become immersed in.
Expository prose (telling, like an essay) takes up very, very little space in your short story, and it does not appear near the beginning. The story is in Narrative format instead, in which one action follows the next. You’ve removed every unnecessary instance of Expository prose and replaced it with showing Narrative. Distancing words like “used to,” “he would often,” “over the years, he,” “each morning, he” indicate that you are reporting on a lengthy time period, summing it up, rather than sticking to Narrative format, in which immediacy makes the story engaging.
You’ve earned the right to include Expository Backstory by making the reader yearn for knowing what happened in the past to solve a mystery. This can’t possibly happen at the beginning, obviously. Expository Backstory does not take place in the first pages of your story.
Your reader cares what happens and there are high stakes (especially important in Genre stories). Your reader worries until the end, when the protagonist survives, succeeds in his quest to help the community, gets the girl, solves or prevents the crime, achieves new scientific developments, takes over rule of his realm, etc.
Every sentence is compelling enough to urge the reader to read the next one—because he really, really wants to—instead of doing something else he could be doing. Your story is not going to be assigned to people to analyze in school like the ones you studied, so you have found a way from the beginning to intrigue strangers to want to spend their time with your words.
Whether you’re looking for inspiration or want to publish your own stories, you’ll find great literary journals for writers of all backgrounds at this article:
https://writers.com/short-story-submissions
The short story takes an hour to learn and a lifetime to master. Learn how to write a short story with Writers.com. Our upcoming fiction courses will give you the ropes to tell authentic, original short stories that captivate and entrance your readers.
Rosemary – Is there any chance you could add a little something to your checklist? I’d love to know the best places to submit our short stories for publication. Thanks so much.
Hi, Kim Hanson,
Some good places to find publications specific to your story are NewPages, Poets and Writers, Duotrope, and The Submission Grinder.
“ In Genre stories, all the questions are answered, threads are tied up, problems are solved, though the results of carnage may be spread over the landscape.”
Not just no but NO.
See for example the work of MacArthur Fellow Kelly Link.
[…] How to Write a Short Story: The Short Story Checklist […]
Thank you for these directions and tips. It’s very encouraging to someone like me, just NOW taking up writing.
[…] Writers.com. A great intro to writing. https://writers.com/how-to-write-a-short-story […]
Hello: I started to write seriously in the late 70’s. I loved to write in High School in the early 60’s but life got in the way. Around the 00’s many of the obstacles disappeared. Since then I have been writing more, and some of my work was vanilla transgender stories. Here in 2024 transgender stories have become tiresome because I really don’t have much in common with that mind set.
The glare of an editor that could potentially pay me is quite daunting, so I would like to start out unpaid to see where that goes. I am not sure if a writer’s agent would be a good fit for me. My work life was in the Trades, not as some sort of Academic. That alone causes timidity, but I did read about a fiction writer who had been a house painter.
This is my first effort to publish since the late 70’s. My pseudonym would perhaps include Ahabidah.
Gwen Boucher.
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
Are you ready to embark on a thrilling journey through realms of magic , heroism, and wonder? Our collection of 62+ epic fantasy writing prompts is designed to spark your creativity and transport you to fantastical worlds where anything is possible. Whether you’re a seasoned writer or just starting out, these prompts will provide the inspiration you need to craft tales of epic adventures , mythical creatures, and legendary heroes.
Writing a good epic fantasy story involves more than just an exciting plot; it requires a deep and immersive world, well-developed characters , and a sense of wonder that captivates readers. Begin by creating a detailed setting that feels alive and real, with its own history, culture, and rules of magic . Populate this world with complex characters who have clear motivations and undergo meaningful growth. Finally, weave a plot that challenges your characters, keeping readers on the edge of their seats with twists and turns . With these elements in place, your epic fantasy tale will not only entertain but also resonate deeply with your audience.
Explore our selection of 62+ epic fantasy writing prompts, crafted to inspire your next grand adventure. Each prompt is designed to help you build immersive worlds and unforgettable stories.
Interested in more epic fantasy prompts? Check out our book on Amazon, “1, 000 Fantasy Writing Prompts” by Imagine Forest (Amazon Affiliate Link):
We hope these 65 epic fantasy writing prompts have sparked your imagination and inspired you to dive into new and exciting worlds. Whether you’ve crafted a complete story or just started exploring an idea, we’d love to hear about your creative journey. Share your thoughts, questions, or even snippets of your work in the comments below.
Marty the wizard is the master of Imagine Forest. When he's not reading a ton of books or writing some of his own tales, he loves to be surrounded by the magical creatures that live in Imagine Forest. While living in his tree house he has devoted his time to helping children around the world with their writing skills and creativity.
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We've nearly reached the mid-point of summer here in the United States. Whether you or family members are headed back to school or enjoying a few more weeks of summer weather before the onset of fall, here are some writing prompts to keep you busy this month.
If you've taken the summer off from writing and you're starting back up again, take a look at our daily writing prompts below or some inspiration to keep you writing all month long.
1. What was your favorite activity this summer and why? Describe it in detail.
2. When you think of summer, what favorite summer foods come to mind?
3. What summer adventures would you still like to have (if you had the time and resources to do it)?
4. What is your favorite song this summer? Write out your favorite line and describe what makes it especially memorable this year.
5. If you had to take a class over the summer, what would you choose and why?
6. Take an existing character and give them a new adventure.
7. Create a character who is afraid of something at the beach or other vacation destination, but has to go stay there for a week.
8. Think of a favorite character and tell their story from a different point of view, or give them a new sidekick.
9. Create a character who is starting their first day at your dream job, but it isn't going very well.
10. Take your favorite character and write a scene from one of their favorite school memories.
11. Describe a late summer storm using sensory language arranged into lines.
12. Write a story about a character who is trying to escape summer.
13. Write a poem about your favorite summer sweet treat.
14. Create a scene that takes place at your favorite summer destination.
15. Write a poem about swimming (or water in general).
If you like to keep a journal, try one of these daily prompts that you can use over and over if needed.
16. What is one thing that I can do today to take a small step toward my goals?
17. What am I proud of today?
18. What is one topic or skill I'd like to know more about and why?
19. What have I noticed in the world today?
20. What's one promise I've made to myself that I'd like to keep? What help or steps do I need to take to complete it?
21. Open the first page of a book. It can be a favorite book, or something new you haven't read before. Write out the first sentence and then set it aside and continue a scene from there.
22. Choose a favorite fairy tale and change the genre. For example, make Cinderella a murder mystery or Little Red Riding Hood a romance.
23. Choose a food from the pantry or fridge and write a scene where that food item is critical to the plot and character transformation.
24. List writing: make a list of things. Might be your favorite book genres, your favorite childhood books, your least favorite foods, your most memorable albums or concerts.
25. Think of a dream you've had and change a character or setting to create a new scene.
As you head into August, I hope you'll make some time to write and explore your creative side. If you aren't already part of a writing community that encourages you, consider joining us here at The Write Practice . We're all writers who practice weekly together to get better. You can too!
Want more prompts? Try our huge list of summer writing prompts or our top 150 short story ideas for more!
What do you think of when you think of August? Share in the comments .
Choose one of the prompts above. Set a timer for fifteen minutes . When time is up, share your practice in the Pro Practice Workshop .
Not a member? Join us !
Sue Weems is a writer, teacher, and traveler with an advanced degree in (mostly fictional) revenge. When she’s not rationalizing her love for parentheses (and dramatic asides), she follows a sailor around the globe with their four children, two dogs, and an impossibly tall stack of books to read. You can read more of her writing tips on her website .
Award-winning instructor and writer of 20+ years, book coach, and editor. Sue Weems specializes in working with Children's, Memoir, Middle Grade, Mystery, Nonfiction, Romance, and Thriller books. Sound like a good fit for you?
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Which of these captivating collections will you be picking up next?
Short story collections offer the perfect medium for fiction writers to craft compelling, affecting narratives that simply may not warrant a full-length novel to explore the ideas. The short story collection’s compact form delivers concise, impactful ideas and can free authors to explore a multitude of themes, characters, story arcs and styles within a single collection. Collections of short fiction have allowed writers like Edgar Allen Poe, Flannery O’Connor and James Baldwin to experiment with different tones, voices and plot devices while providing readers with gripping but approachable standalone stories.
These 8 short story collections are extremely readable, cover a variety of genres and authors and may give you a newfound appreciation of writers you already love.
From one of the most compelling, propulsive voices in contemporary fiction, Moshfegh’s 2017 short story collection is an eclectic compendium of some of her best fiction work—much of which was previously published in places like The Paris Review , The New Yorker and Vice . Exceedingly atmospheric and permeated with Moshfegh’s hallmark sordid wit, Homesick For Another World interrogates the ubiquitous afflictions of the human condition and our capacity for cruelty through the collection’s generally amoral, misanthropic protagonists. A highly anticipated follow-up to Moshfegh’s breakout debut novel Eileen , Homesick was later named a New York Times Book Review Notable Book of 2017 and drew innumerable comparisons to the work of renowned authors like Mary Gaitskill and Flannery O’Connor.
An electric debut from author Madeline Cash, Earth Angel is a collection of short stories that rockets through the reader’s imagination like a fever dream. Teeming with chimeric vignettes synthesizing the mundanely sinister realities of a capitalist culture with cataclysmic doomsday tropes, Earth Angel manages to be both endlessly funny and deeply poignant without feeling didactic. Cash both parodies and embraces the myopic stylings dominating popular fiction in a way that never feels malicious, but rather like the playful ribbing of a writer that refuses to take herself too seriously. Irreverent, compelling and laugh-out-loud funny, Earth Angel marks the emergence of one of contemporary fiction’s most exciting new figures.
A surrealist collection from Severance author Ling Ma, Bliss Montage marks Ma’s first published short story collection after her phenomenal debut novel (which has no relation to the recent Apple TV+ series, by the way). Uncanny, otherworldly and above all evocative— Bliss Montage contains eight wildly different stories each touching on universal themes of the human experience against phantasmagoric, though eerily familiar backdrops. Ranging from a tale of two friends bonded by their shared use of a drug that turns you invisible to the story of a tourist caught up in a fatalistic healing ritual, Ma’s unforgettable collection manages to be both ingeniously unique and undoubtedly universal at once. Somehow both outlandish and quotidian, Bliss Montage keeps readers wrapped up in Ma’s captivating prose from start to end.
A thrilling examination of unspoken power structures (predominantly male power in a patriarchal society), Daddy by Emma Cline offers glimpses into the unexamined lives of each story's protagonist, often playfully alluding to, but never explicitly pointing to, a certain moral paradigm. Fraught familial dynamics, imbalanced romantic relationships and moral nuance permeate Cline’s collection, and each story offers a taste of her infectious prose and incisive style. The ten stories on offer often end achingly realistically, rejecting a tidy, personally gratifying ending—making each story appear as a certain tableau harkening to an idea rather than a traditional beginning, middle and end. Suspenseful, richly descriptive and engrossing—Cline’s collection begs to be devoured.
First published in July 2020, First Person Singular is a collection of eight short stories each told from, you guessed it, the first-person singular perspective. Written by Japanese author Haruki Murakami, First Person Singular explores themes of nostalgia and lost love through stories from the perspective of mostly unnamed, middle-aged male protagonists believed to be based largely on the author himself, though some are more fantastical than others. Ranging from slice-of-life stories wherein the narrator reminisces on a past relationship, to the tale of a monkey doomed to fall in love with human women, the stories employ a myriad of hallmark Murakami techniques like magical realism, music, nostalgia and aging.
The first collection by beloved Mexican author Amparo Dávila to be translated into English, The Houseguest is a collection of 12 short stories touching on themes of obsession, paranoia and fear primarily featuring female protagonists and narrators. Often compared to horror writers like Edgar Allen Poe and Shirley Jackson, Dávila’s writing often deals with abstract feelings of dread and paranoia, imbuing them with magical realism to craft jarring, transfixing narratives that seem both eerily familiar and preternatural. Each tale menaced by an unseen, pernicious force, Dávila’s writing revels in its ambiguity with no straightforward answers. The Houseguest is an anxiety-inducing page-turner which will keep readers on the edge of their seats.
Though technically a short story cycle (a collection of self-contained short stories arranged to convey a concept or theme greater than the sum of its atomized parts), Olive Kitteridge consists of 13 stories each taking place in the fictional town of Crosby, Maine. The stories predominantly center on Olive Kitteridge, a brusque but caring retired school teacher and longtime resident of Crosby. Other stories show Olive only as a secondary character or in a cameo capacity and are from the point of view of other townsfolk. Winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the collection was later adapted into a critically acclaimed miniseries starring Frances McDormand, Richard Jenkins, Zoe Kazan and Bill Murray. Profound, heartbreaking and human, Olive Kitteridge is an unforgettable first-read that will still impact you even if you watched the miniseries before.
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Teachers can encourage students to persist through challenges and share their stories by modeling the power of writing using picture books.
Writing can feel intimidating to students because it involves experimenting, taking risks, and receiving feedback from teachers and peers. To mitigate this apprehension, I’ve found it helpful to share stories of characters who write, allowing students to connect with these writers and learn from them.
Below are picture books that teach the power and purpose of writing, along with ideas for helping elementary and middle school students connect with them.
A Squiggly Story by Andrew Larsen, illustrated by Mike Lowery. When a younger brother wants to write his own story but doesn’t know where to begin, he turns to his big sister, who “loves to write BIG words and little words.” With her advice, the emergent writer learns the tools for crafting a wonderful story, even though he doesn’t know all of his letters or how to craft sentences.
Lowery’s illustrations complement the story, giving students insight into how beginning authors can share their own stories while building their skills. Use this book to encourage students to write about what they know, using emergent writing skills such as drawing symbols or sketches, using initial sounds to represent words or ideas, using punctuation marks to reflect emotion, and/or using scribbles or mock handwriting. (Grades K–2)
Write! Write! Write! , by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, illustrated by Ryan O’Rourke. This anthology comprises 22 poems that are all about writing. Poems that describe the purpose of the various stages of the writing process include “How to Begin,” “Revision Is,” and “Final Edit.”
“Our Alphabet,” “Ideas (Like Peaches),” “Timeline,” “Writing About Reading,” “Writing Is for Everyone,” and “The Pen” describe strategies authors use when crafting poetry. Use the verses in this anthology individually, as a collection of poems, or as reading or writing models demonstrating intentional uses of language. (Grades 1–4)
The Word Collector , written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds. This is a story about words. While other children collect coins, stamps, or bugs, Jerome is a word collector. He curates his collection into careful categories based on how they sound, what they mean, and how they make him feel.
When Jerome loses his balance and his words spill out into the world, they become a jumbled pile with no rhyme or reason. That is, until Jerome realizes that the way authors string words together makes meaning and gives them their power and purpose.
This book can help you teach vocabulary, synonyms and antonyms, word families, figurative language, and more. To further experiment and play with language, look with students around your classroom, building, and community for categories of words. You might facilitate a word hunt including some of Jerome’s categories: Words That Catch My Attention, Words That Jump Out at Me, Short and Sweet Words, Multisyllabic Words, Words You Do Not Know, Words That Sound Beautiful When You Say Them, and/or other creative categories you and your students devise. (Grades 2–8)
Milo Imagines the World , by Matt de la Peña; illustrated by Christian Robinson. This text shares the musings and drawings of young Milo as he takes his monthly train ride, observing the people who pass through his subway car. He imagines and draws their worlds in his notebook, making innocent yet pervasive judgments.
When he encounters a boy about his age, he imagines him living a prince-like existence filled with “a butler, two maids, and gourmet chef offering crust-free sandwich squares.” Milo is surprised to see that the boy and his father exit the subway to the same prison where Milo and his sister will be visiting their mother.
Milo Imagines the World asks readers to reflect on the question, “Can we really know someone just by looking at them?” and gives students and teachers an opportunity to think about how writing can help us reflect on our feelings, observe the world around us, and share our ideas about our world. (Grades 3–6)
16 Words: William Carlos Williams and “The Red Wheelbarrow” , by Lisa Rodgers, illustrated by Chuck Groenink. This simple, powerful biography describes the life and times of poet William Carlos Williams—specifically, the evolution of his famous poem “ The Red Wheelbarrow .” The book offers readers a glimpse into his nuanced process and how observation can be a powerful writing tool.
By juxtaposing Williams’s life as a physician with the challenges he faced as an author, you can help students make connections to their own writing experiences and learn simple strategies for gathering writing inspiration from the beauty of everyday surroundings. Ask students to travel to different places in your school or their neighborhood to collect sensory details about what they observe. (Grades 4–8)
How to Write a Poem , by Kwame Alexander and Deanna Nikaido, illustrated by Melissa Stewart. Award-winning authors bring readers on a journey dripping with sensory details, figurative language, clever font choices, line breaks, and white space in this how-to book about crafting poems. It offers a unique model of how students can write procedural poems.
While the genre is typically seen in primary classrooms, asking students to craft how-to poems about more sophisticated topics can be a new and exciting way for them to dip their toes into poetry. Suggested topics might include how to be a good citizen, a caring friend, or a successful author. (Grades 4–8)
Sharing books that connect to the writing process, demonstrate the benefits of writing, and highlight how authors craft stories can show students that writing is worth the risk-taking and challenges they may face in your classroom. Additionally, using these books as springboards that scaffold student writing can be an efficient and effective way to build a community of writers in your classroom.
Whether you’re putting together a cover letter, drafting an email, or penning a LinkedIn post, details like spelling and grammar affect how you come across, whatever you’re writing. Trying to translate what you want to say into well-structured and easy-to-read sentences, however, is often easier said than done. Luckily, there are plenty of free tools that offer a helping hand! We’ve curated seven free tools and platforms to help save you time and keep your written work accurate.
Good for: Real-time spelling and grammar checking Pricing: Free, with optional paid premium
One of the most popular and well-known writing tools for a reason, Grammarly provides grammar and spelling checks, style and tone suggestions and a plagiarism checker. With the option of integrating across your internet browser, Grammarly will tell you in real time if you’re about to send an email with a spelling mistake or if there’s a way to reword something to improve how it reads.
Check it out here .
Good for: Improving readability Cost: Free
Good for: Spelling and grammar Cost: Free, with optional paid premium
Available in over 25 languages and powered by AI, LanguageTool is a writing assistant that helps with grammar, spelling, punctuation, style and formatting. Particularly useful as a browser add-on, the software can correct spelling mistakes as you go, whether you’re writing an email or a Google doc.
Good for: Real-time spelling, grammar and style checking Cost: Free, with optional paid premium
Another bit of software using AI to check your writing, on the surface ProWritingAid offers very similar functionalities to Grammarly in terms of spelling and grammar, but was also designed with a focus on storytelling in mind. It offers suggestions to improve style, clarity and readability, as well as including a thesaurus, word explorer and a plagiarism checker.
Good for: Spelling and grammar checking Cost: Free
SEO specialists Ahrefs host a number of AI-powered tools on their site relating to writing. Although most relate to marketing copy, their grammar checker is useful for inputting any chunk of text. It uses a language model that learns patterns, grammar and vocabulary, then uses that knowledge to generate human-like text. It only operates on their site rather than integrating into other platforms, but if you’re looking for more straightforward checking, this might be for you.
Good for: Word processing Cost: Free
If you need somewhere to draft your writing that isn’t your notes app, LibreOffice is a free, open-source, cross-platform office suite that can perform many of the same functions as Microsoft Office, but for free! You can write documents, create spreadsheets and embed images on the downloadable app. It does lack more complex features like collaboration, built-in translation or a dictation option, but if you want an affordable alternative it might be worth trying out.
Good for: Paraphrasing Pricing: Free If you’re trying to summarise your work experience into some key skills, or cut down the intro of a brief you’re writing, this tool can help! Another AI-powered writing tool, amongst the usual spelling and grammar suggestions, Quillbot is designed to assist users in rephrasing and paraphrasing content. Also able to be integrated into platforms like Microsoft Word and Google Docs, it is especially useful for help rewriting content to refine things like sentence structure.
... If you have any other suggestions for affordable creative software, feel free to get in touch and let us know at [email protected] !
Written by Creative Lives in Progress
12 free and affordable creative tools and software, all the design teams you might not know exist in tech.
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We invite teenagers to tell a true story about a meaningful life experience in just 100 words. Contest dates: Nov. 6 to Dec. 4, 2024.
By The Learning Network
Illustrations from Modern Love’s Tiny Love Stories , the inspiration for this contest.
Can you tell a meaningful and interesting true story from your life in just 100 words? That’s the challenge we pose to teenagers with our 100-Word Personal Narrative Contest, a storytelling form popularized by Modern Love’s Tiny Love Stories series .
After running this contest for two years, receiving a total of more than 25,000 entries, and honoring dozens of excellent miniature teen-written memoirs, we have discovered the answer is a resounding yes .
So, we challenge you to try it yourself.
We’re not asking you to write to a particular theme or to use a specific structure or style, but we are looking for short, powerful stories about a particular moment or event in your life. We want to hear your story, told in your unique voice, and we hope you’ll experiment with style and form to tell a tale that matters to you, in a way you enjoy telling it.
And, yes, it’s possible to do all that in only 100 words. For proof, just look at last year’s 15 winning entries . We also have a step-by-step guide full of advice that is grounded in 25 excellent 100-word mentor texts, as well as a rehearsal space , published for our first year’s contest, that has over 1,000 student-written mini memoirs. Because that space was so successful, we’re keeping it open for this year’s contest. We hope students will use it to get inspiration, experiment and encourage each other.
Take a look at the full guidelines and related resources below. Please post any questions you have in the comments and we’ll answer you there, or write to us at [email protected]. And, consider hanging this PDF one-page announcement on your class bulletin board.
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TRY OUR FREE APP
Write your book in Reedsy Studio. Try the beloved writing app for free today.
Plan, write, edit, and format your book in our free app made for authors.
Showing 83 writing apps that match your search.
iWriter Pro is elegant and minimalist text editor with built-in MultiMarkdown support. Distraction-free and subscription-free.
Platforms: Mac, iPhone, iPad
Best for: Drafting, Book, Story, Blog, and Free
Website: https://serpensoft.info/
Base price:
Premium price:
★★★★★ Performance
★★★ Features
★★★ Accessibility
Also rated 4.8 ★ on the App Store
Still looking for the perfect app to write your novel? Novelist might just be the perfect tool for the job!
Platforms: Android, iPhone, iPad, Online
Best for: Outlining, Worldbuilding, Drafting, Story, Book, and Free
Website: https://www.novelist.app/
★★★★ Performance
Build your best ideas together, in Google Docs. Create, edit, and collaborate with others on documents from your Android phone or tablet with the Google Docs app.
Platforms: Online, Chrome, iPhone, iPad, Android
Best for: Drafting, Book, Essay, Journal, Poetry, Story, Blog, and Free
Website: https://www.google.com/docs/about/
★★★★ Features
★★★★★ Accessibility
★★★★★ Value
Also rated 4.0 ★ on TechRadar
Learn more about Reedsy Studio .
Notes is the best place to jot down quick thoughts or to save longer notes filled with checklists, images, web links, scanned documents, handwritten notes, or sketches. And with iCloud, it's easy to keep all your devices in sync, so you’ll always have your notes with you.
Best for: Note-taking, Journal, Book, Story, Essay, Poetry, Blog, and Free
Website: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/notes/id1110145109
★★★ Performance
Also rated 3.3 ★ on the App Store
Made by writers, for writers, Novlr is the writing platform that will have you achieving your writing goals.
Platforms: Online
Best for: Drafting, Book, Story, and Free
Website: https://www.novlr.org/
★★ Accessibility
Also rated 3.0 ★ on Reedsy
The Internet's best write-reward system! Write one hundred words, get an image of a kitten!
Best for: Drafting, Book, Story, Essay, Journal, Poetry, Blog, and Free
Website: https://writtenkitten.co/
★★★★★ Features
Storyline Creator is an elegant writing tool that helps you streamline your writing process. It's incredibly fun to draft ideas, to visualize, enhance and organize your stories - so you can focus on your plot and the creativity instead of the paper war.
Best for: Outlining, Book, Story, and Free
Website: https://www.storylinecreator.com/
★★ Performance
Manuskript is a perfect tool for those writer who like to organize and plan everything before writing. The snowflake method can help you grow your idea into a book, by leading you step by step and asking you questions to go deeper.
Platforms: Mac, Windows, PC
Best for: Outlining, Story, Book, and Free
Website: https://www.theologeek.ch/manuskript/
★★★★ Accessibility
Most writers have at least one old notebook lying around somewhere, full of old story ideas, interesting characters, enchanting locations, or a myriad of other margin-scribbled thoughts. Notebook.ai is a worldbuilding tool that organizes, saves, and helps in fully fleshing out your fictional world, your way.
Platforms: Online, Chrome
Best for: Worldbuilding, Book, Story, and Free
Website: https://www.notebook.ai/
ApolloPad is a feature-packed online writing environment that will help you finish your novels, ebooks and short stories.
Best for: Outlining, Drafting, Story, Book, and Free
Website: https://apollopad.com/
Dropbox Paper is more than a doc — it’s a co-editing tool that brings creation and coordination together in one place.
Platforms: Online, Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows, Chrome, PC
Best for: Note-taking, Essay, Blog, and Free
Website: https://www.dropbox.com/paper/start?no_redirect=1
Also rated 4.5 ★ on TechRadar
Unload your thoughts by creating a personal layout with notes, links and media in a second to visualize your creative process and move forward faster.
Platforms: Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, Android, Online, PC
Best for: Note-taking, Journal, Blog, Essay, Story, Book, and Free
Website: https://xtiles.app/en
Also rated 4.9 ★ on Capterra
Put simply, what makes a writing app good for you will depend on the kind of writer that you are.
Or, if you’re none of the above, worry not: that’s why we built this directory of writing apps. Whatever you need, we’ve gathered the outstanding writing apps of 2024 across multiple categories (drafting, editing, note-taking, etc) and platforms (Android, iOS, online browsers, etc) in one place. Feel free to use the filters to make your quest for the perfect writing app even easier!
We can now put an end to the age-old debate of which writing app is best: Microsoft Word vs. Google Docs ?
The answer, of course, is neither! Hopefully, this directory will point you towards a much better match that actually fulfills your writing needs. We objectively evaluated each writing app based on four metrics.
Here are some general recommendations to give you a headstart.
If you’ve been searching for an all-in-one outlining, writing, formatting, and typesetting tool, look no further than Reedsy Studio . Used by over 50,000 authors every month, it’s publishing’s most trusted companion to take them from a first draft to a professionally exported manuscript.
💰 Price: Free
🚉 Runs on: Web
Evernote is the king of written organization. In addition to its free organizational templates, Evernote also gives you impressive tagging capabilities, an omnipresent Web Clipper, and the ability to share notes with collaborators, so that you’ll never forget anything again.
💰 Price: Free basic plan, $4.99/month for premium
🚉 Runs on: Mac, iOS, Windows, and Android
Along with standard scriptwriting features, Final Draft enables you to measure character traits using its inclusivity analysis feature, and tweak your “beat board” until you find your perfect arrangement. And when you’re ready to bring in editors, you can all work simultaneously in real time.
💰 Price: Free trial for 30 days, $249.99 license fee
🚉 Runs on: Mac, iOS, and Windows
Congratulations! Now the fun part begins: actually writing the project that you’ve got in mind.
For authors, this means that you have a long and exciting road ahead. In addition to a writing app, we recommend that you arm yourself with some writing knowledge before you embark on it: whether it’s an understanding of story structure or careful thought put into your character creation, all of it can help you realize your goal of a novel.
If you don’t know where to start, check out the list of free resources below. Good luck, and happy writing!
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Over 1 million authors trust the professionals on Reedsy, come meet them. Reedsy Prompts is home to the largest short stories collection. Check out 25000+ stories by up & coming writers across the world. Choose the genre of your interest and start reading now from the largest online collection of handpicked short stories for free!
Here's how our contest works: every Friday, we send out a newsletter containing five creative writing prompts. Each week, the story ideas center around a different theme. Authors then have one week — until the following Friday — to submit a short story based on one of our prompts. A winner is picked each week to win $250 and is highlighted ...
Top 10 Story Ideas. Tell the story of a scar. A group of children discover a dead body. A young prodigy becomes orphaned. A middle-aged woman discovers a ghost. A woman who is deeply in love is crushed when her fiancé breaks up with her. A talented young man's deepest fear is holding his life back.
To use Imagine Forest simply explore the site or click the 'Create a Story' button at the top of this page to access the story creator. Once inside the story creator, you can select the type of story you want to write and continue following the on-screen instructions. At the end, you can download a PDF of your book.
Add notes, share your work, and focus on your writing, without distraction. Set goals, track your writing streaks, and get success nudges. Write wherever you are on any device with seamless online word syncing. Get access to the Academy, Community, Writer Discounts, The Reading Room and more.
You don't want to be with me, and if you did, I probably wouldn't want to be with you.It's your lack of interest, I bet, that makes me want you. Your lack of interest, I bet, that makes me experience what I've labelled love - only, it isn't love. It's what I grew up with: it's a craving for validation.
Fantasy short story prompts. 1. A thief attempts to steal a magical object from a powerful wizard's tower but is caught and forced to make a deal to avoid imprisonment. 2. A young woman inherits a cursed ring from her grandmother and must decide whether to keep it and its power or destroy it and break the curse. 3.
We believe that the key to writing good short stories is reading good short stories. Below, we have provided an ever-expanding selection of old and new short stories that are free to download. Short story writers are listed alphabetically. In 2020 we'll be adding a wide range of new stories to read online. Recently added stories will be fund at the top of the page. Recently added Aiken ...
It could be an observation you make while (discreetly) people-watching. We've create 69 short story writing prompts that flesh out an idea more thoroughly, giving you a good headstart for your story. 1. You get a new job, and your new boss approaches you on the first day with an invitation to the "After Hours Club.".
A long list of creative writing prompts and writing ideas. 1. Symphony of the Skies. Imagine a world where music can literally change the weather. Write a story about a character who uses this power to communicate emotions, transforming the skies to reflect their inner turmoil or joy. 2.
Ok, now to that list of new creative writing ideas! List of 70 Brand New Creative Short Story Writing Prompts by Theme/Genre. Enjoy these brand-new creative short story writing prompts for writers. Now have them grab their pencils and paper or pen and journal or computer, phone, or writing device of choice and get to writing time now.
WritersCafe.org is an online writing community where writers can post their work, get reviews, befriend other writers, and much more.. Post your poetry, short stories, novels, scripts, and screenplays. Get reviews and advice from thousands of other writers. Enter hundreds of free writing contests. Join writing groups or start your own.
Take the 30-Day Creative Writing Challenge. Press the GENERATE button above. (If it doesn't work, refresh the page.) The text box will generate a short creative writing prompt or topic you can write about today. (If you can't see the whole line, use your cursor to highlight the text and keep scrolling to the right.)
Use Prompts: Writing prompts, like the ones in this article, can jumpstart your creativity. Free Writing: Spend some time free writing to see what ideas naturally emerge. Brainstorm: Create a mind map or list of ideas and see which ones stand out to you. Seek Feedback: Discuss your ideas with friends or fellow writers to gain new insights.
About Us. Super Easy Storytelling is a creative writing and storytelling website for kids and adults. Our super easy storytelling formula-- combined with creative writing prompts and story prompts, free writing worksheets, writing games and more-- make it easy to write and tell fun stories instantly.
The Non-Sexy Business of Writing Nonfiction walks you through the good, the bad, and the ugly of writing, publishing, and marketing nonfiction books. In this 10-day course, you'll get an email each day walking you through some critical aspect of writing and publishing nonfiction, covering topics like:
This free course, Start writing fiction, will give you an insight into how authors create their characters and settings. You will also be able to look at the different genres for fiction. If you identify as being from a Black background, you could be eligible to study our MA in Creative Writing for free. Open Futures - Creative Writing ...
In this post, we have listed over 150 story starters to get your story started with a bang! A great way to use these story starters is at the start of the Finish The Story game. Click the 'Random' button to get a random story starter. Random. If you want more story starters, check out this video on some creative story starter sentences to use ...
Click to continue. *****. 100 Creative Writing Prompts for Writers. 1. The Variants of Vampires. Think of an alternative vampire that survives on something other than blood. Write a story or scene based on this character. 2. Spinning the Globe.
The Core Elements of a Short Story. There's no secret formula to writing a short story. However, a good short story will have most or all of the following elements: A protagonist with a certain desire or need. It is essential for the protagonist to want something they don't have, otherwise they will not drive the story forward. A clear dilemma.
Here are some brand-new creative writing ideas and prompts. Write a story about your best friend. Use your favorite place as the main setting for your story. Pen a story about a fantasy world with magic. Write about your younger self meeting your favorite superhero.
Writing a good epic fantasy story involves more than just an exciting plot; it requires a deep and immersive world, well-developed characters, and a sense of wonder that captivates readers. Begin by creating a detailed setting that feels alive and real, with its own history, culture, and rules of magic .
Leaves the hands rough. The clay paste dries and cracks the skin. Leaving it red. But now my hands are hardening. In the bisque firing, my hands harden like porous greenware. The cremated carbon and sulfur escape, exhuming my soul from the earthen clay, little by little, drawing it back to its source.
Creative Character Creation Prompts. 6. Take an existing character and give them a new adventure. 7. Create a character who is afraid of something at the beach or other vacation destination, but has to go stay there for a week. 8. Think of a favorite character and tell their story from a different point of view, or give them a new sidekick. 9.
From the King of Horror himself, Skeleton Crew is a 1985 collection comprised of two novellas, 18 short stories and two poems. A mix of works both previously published and unpublished, Skeleton ...
Writing can feel intimidating to students because it involves experimenting, taking risks, and receiving feedback from teachers and peers. To mitigate this apprehension, I've found it helpful to share stories of characters who write, allowing students to connect with these writers and learn from them.
Good for: Real-time spelling, grammar and style checking Cost: Free, with optional paid premium Another bit of software using AI to check your writing, on the surface ProWritingAid offers very similar functionalities to Grammarly in terms of spelling and grammar, but was also designed with a focus on storytelling in mind.
We invite teenagers to tell a true story about a meaningful life experience in just 100 words. Contest dates: Nov. 6 to Dec. 4, 2024.
Claude Is Better at Creative Writing . Besides occasional science homework, programming tasks, and fun games, one of the most popular use cases of AI chatbots is creative writing.
DIRECTORY. Best Free Writing Apps in 2024. Showing 83 writing apps that match your search. iWriter Pro. Add to shortlist. iWriter Pro is elegant and minimalist text editor with built-in MultiMarkdown support. Distraction-free and subscription-free. Platforms:Mac, iPhone, iPad. Best for:Drafting, Book, Story, Blog, and Free.