One plot per press: a mermaid or merman, a home in the water, a want, a trouble and a turn.
Mermaid Story Ideas: 30 story ideas
A palace cook who is tired of kelp lives beneath an island that wanders between seas and wants to taste a crust of toast before it goes soggy. In the way: a shadow in the water that keeps its distance. The turn: a lost thing comes back with a thank-you note.
Padlock: keep a part.Arrows: change only that part.
Whopalace cook who is tired of kelp
Livesbeneath an island that wanders between seas
Wantsto taste a crust of toast before it goes soggy
In the waya shadow in the water that keeps its distance
The turna lost thing comes back with a thank-you note
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Story Idea of the day
A palace cook who is tired of kelp lives beneath an island that wanders between seas and wants to taste a crust of toast before it goes soggy. In the way: a shadow in the water that keeps its distance. The turn: a lost thing comes back with a thank-you note.
A mermaid who ages only at low tide lives beneath a row of houseboats and wants to teach a starfish to juggle. In the way: a riddle that changes each time it is asked. The turn: a crab turns out to be guarding a birthday cake.
A mermaid who is scared of fish lives in a mountain tarn that is ice from fall to spring and wants to open a shell that has never opened. In the way: a flood that has muddied every landmark. The turn: an old boat is launched with a familiar name on it.
A keeper of the kingdom's last lantern fish lives under the hull of a boat that never leaves port and wants to whistle a tune that bubbles cannot spoil. In the way: ice closing in from every side. The turn: a whole kingdom is found to be drifting north.
A mer-grandmother who remembers the wooden ships lives in a beaver pond deep in the woods and wants to find the spring that feeds a lake. In the way: a tide that obeys someone else. The turn: a fog lifts once someone stops being afraid.
A mermaid who argues with reflections lives under a whirlpool that stands still and wants to learn why the water is turning warm. In the way: a riddle that changes each time it is asked. The turn: a hatch in the seabed is unlatched from below.
A mermaid no bigger than a thumb lives in a bay under one cloud that never moves on and wants to teach a starfish to juggle. In the way: swim goggles stuck fast on the wrong face. The turn: someone on land has been leaving gifts in return.
A merman who collects icicles and loses every one lives in a tide pool below a foghorn and wants to taste water from somewhere far away. In the way: a crab that pinches anyone who is late. The turn: a palace gong sounds with nobody near it.
A mermaid who keeps a diary on driftwood lives in the seal pool of a small-town zoo and wants to taste water from somewhere far away. In the way: a sealed jar that rattles when nobody touches it. The turn: a sea witch turns out to be the one needing help.
A mermaid who speaks fluent frog lives in a rain barrel behind a greenhouse and wants to return a fallen star to the sky. In the way: a tide table that turns out to be wrong. The turn: a spring is traced to someone's cellar.
A mermaid who races the pilot boats and usually wins lives in a cistern on top of an apartment block and wants to learn the true name of the sea. In the way: a curse that returns with every new moon. The turn: a fallen star had only been waiting to be asked.
A merman who knows every stone by name lives under a slow canopy of moon jellies and wants to find out what a staircase is for. In the way: an angler who comes every single morning. The turn: a manatee is flattered to be taken for a mermaid.
A merman who learns the weather from gulls lives in a lock on a busy barge route and wants to find out who keeps sending glass bottles. In the way: a drought that has shrunk the water by half. The turn: a dolphin's jokes turn out to be directions.
A mermaid who argues with reflections lives under a slow canopy of moon jellies and wants to carry a message to a lake over the hills. In the way: a flood that has muddied every landmark. The turn: an old boat is launched with a familiar name on it.
A mermaid who untangles anchor lines in secret lives in a lake that exists only on moonlit nights and wants to taste water from somewhere far away. In the way: a fisher who is sure of what they saw. The turn: salt water proves closer than anyone thought.
A mer-child who waves at every passing ferry lives in a tide that has not gone out for years and wants to keep a drying pond alive through summer. In the way: a gate that opens only for those with a title. The turn: a fisher cuts a net loose and says nothing.
A mermaid who remembers a life on land lives in the plunge pool below a sawmill's falls and wants to win a staring contest with a flounder. In the way: reeds grown so thick the channel has closed. The turn: salt water proves closer than anyone thought.
A mermaid who races the pilot boats and usually wins lives in the wreck of a ship that sinks again each night and wants to finish a task an ancestor left half done. In the way: a bargain signed in ink that will not fade. The turn: a sulking walrus had simply never been invited.
A tutor to a school of unruly young merfolk lives in a mountain tarn that is ice from fall to spring and wants to learn which mountain the water comes from. In the way: a coast guard searchlight combing the shallows. The turn: a fallen star had only been waiting to be asked.
A royal tailor who cannot thread a needle under water lives in an ornamental pond full of bossy ducks and wants to own a hat. In the way: swim goggles stuck fast on the wrong face. The turn: a heron turns out to be a lookout, not a hunter.
A merman born with scales the color of moonlight lives in a city built inside a sunken volcano and wants to finish a paperback before its pages turn to pulp. In the way: a fog that makes swimmers forget their way. The turn: a grumpy old pike asks for a favor.
A merman who speaks the language of whales lives in a gravel pit lake beside a highway and wants to meet merfolk who have never left the lakes. In the way: a fog that makes swimmers forget their way. The turn: a child with a snorkel proves able to keep a secret.
A palace cook who is tired of kelp lives in a mill pond beside a working mill and wants to be chosen as keeper of a tide bell. In the way: a mirror on the bottom that shows only doubts. The turn: a dam keeper opens the gates at dawn.
A keeper of the kingdom's last lantern fish lives in an ornamental pond full of bossy ducks and wants to carry a message to a lake over the hills. In the way: an octopus who rents out every crevice at a price. The turn: a child with a snorkel proves able to keep a secret.
A mermaid who rides the spring flood each year lives in a city built inside a sunken volcano and wants to grow a garden that glows in the dark. In the way: a fisher who is sure of what they saw. The turn: a whole court falls silent to listen.
A merman who learns the weather from gulls lives in a well that connects to every ocean and wants to chart a trench nobody has charted. In the way: a fog that makes swimmers forget their way. The turn: a blocked channel was only hidden by reeds.
A merman who learns the weather from gulls lives in a gravel pit lake beside a highway and wants to whistle a tune that bubbles cannot spoil. In the way: a guardian eel as old as the rocks. The turn: the ice breaks up long before the geese return.
A merman who reads the names on sunken hulls lives in the wave pool of a water park and wants to be excused from wearing a crown. In the way: a tangle of kelp that seems to do it on purpose. The turn: a lost pearl turns up inside a throne.
A mermaid who can smell rain a day ahead lives in a kingdom that moves with the current and wants to finish a paperback before its pages turn to pulp. In the way: a seagull that steals whatever shines. The turn: a lost thing comes back with a thank-you note.
A merman who can calm water by humming lives in a gravel pit lake beside a highway and wants to be chosen as keeper of a tide bell. In the way: a storm that listens and answers back. The turn: a child with a snorkel proves able to keep a secret.
royal tailor who cannot thread a needle under water
royal tally keeper who has lost count
tutor to a school of unruly young merfolk
Shore and surface 12
mer-child who waves at every passing ferry
mer-grandmother who remembers the wooden ships
mer-twin who saw a bicycle once and cannot forget it
mermaid who keeps a diary on driftwood
mermaid who races the pilot boats and usually wins
mermaid who returns dropped sunglasses at night
mermaid who trades sea glass for lost buttons
mermaid who untangles anchor lines in secret
mermaid with a pen pal on land
merman who learns the weather from gulls
merman who reads the names on sunken hulls
young merman never yet seen by anyone on land
Rivers, lakes and ice 12
mer-child raised by otters
mermaid carried downstream as a baby
mermaid who can smell rain a day ahead
mermaid who has outgrown every home so far
mermaid who rides the spring flood each year
mermaid who sings along with any turning wheel
mermaid who sleeps right through every winter
mermaid who speaks fluent frog
mermaid with a pike's patience and a minnow's nerve
merman who collects icicles and loses every one
merman who jumps every rapid just to show off
merman who knows every stone by name
Small and funny 12
mer-child with a question for every bubble
mermaid allergic to shellfish
mermaid no bigger than a thumb
mermaid who argues with reflections
mermaid who feels queasy in the gentlest swell
mermaid who is scared of fish
mermaid who snores bubbles
mermaid whose hair tangles in everything
merman convinced that seals are cousins
merman who is a terrible swimmer and a fine cook
merman whose singing scatters the shoals
merman whose tail is far too long for tight corners
Old magic and mysteries 12
mermaid who ages only at low tide
mermaid who alone still knows the old tide songs
mermaid who can hear shipwrecks dreaming
mermaid who hatched from a pearl
mermaid who remembers a life on land
mermaid whose shadow swims a different way
mermaid whose tears turn into sea glass
mermaid with a single scale that shines at night
merman born with scales the color of moonlight
merman who can calm water by humming
merman who speaks the language of whales
potion-maker's apprentice who dislikes potions
How this list was compiled
Each entry is one of the merfolk, with no article in front, so the sentence can add "A" or "An". Original list written for Draw This Next on 2026-10-03. The five headings (reef and deep-sea kingdoms, shore and surface, rivers, lakes and ice, small and funny, old magic and mysteries) are shared by all five lists of the page. Every entry was made up for this list and is set under or beside water. The old fairy tale of the mermaid and the prince is not retold, there is no prince, and no list has a romance plot. What a mermaid is in folklore (a water creature, a woman from the waist up with a fish's tail; the male is a merman, and together they are merfolk; some historical sightings may have been manatees) was read on 2026-10-03 in the article Mermaid of the English Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org; text free to reuse under CC BY-SA 4.0). Licence: own work
Lives: all 60 waters
Reef and deep-sea kingdoms 12
at the foot of an undersea cliff no diver has seen
beside a deep-sea vent that never cools
in a canyon where the only light is fish
in a city built inside a sunken volcano
in a garden of giant clams that open at noon
in a kingdom that moves with the current
in a palace grown from living coral
in a reef town with streets of sea fans
in an oyster-farming village on a sandbar
on a reef the color of a sunset
on the edge of a drop no one has measured
under a slow canopy of moon jellies
Shore and surface 12
among the pilings of an old cannery
below a cliff loud with gulls
beneath a row of houseboats
in a cove where children learn to swim
in a sea cave with a floor of smooth pebbles
in a tidal creek loud with wading birds
in a tide pool below a foghorn
in the shallows beside a seaside funfair
off a beach crowded every summer
under a ferry dock with a squeaky gangway
under a pier in a busy fishing harbor
under the hull of a boat that never leaves port
Rivers, lakes and ice 12
in a beaver pond deep in the woods
in a brook that runs through a sheep pasture
in a gravel pit lake beside a highway
in a lake inside a hollow glacier
in a lazy river that loops through farmland
in a lock on a busy barge route
in a mill pond beside a working mill
in a mountain tarn that is ice from fall to spring
in a reservoir with a sunken main street
in a river mouth that turns salty twice a day
in the plunge pool below a sawmill's falls
under the ice of a northern bay
Small and funny 12
in a cistern on top of an apartment block
in a flooded basement with good acoustics
in a hotel swimming pool after closing time
in a paddling pool left out all summer
in a pothole that the rain keeps topped up
in a rain barrel behind a greenhouse
in a very large bathtub on a houseboat
in an ornamental pond full of bossy ducks
in the goldfish pond of a public library
in the seal pool of a small-town zoo
in the water hazard of a golf course
in the wave pool of a water park
Old magic and mysteries 12
beneath an island that wanders between seas
in a bay under one cloud that never moves on
in a grotto lit by singing stones
in a lagoon where the water glows when touched
in a lake that exists only on moonlit nights
in a pool that reflects a different sky
in a sea that has no shore on any map
in a tide that has not gone out for years
in a well that connects to every ocean
in the still water at the heart of a maze of reefs
in the wreck of a ship that sinks again each night
under a whirlpool that stands still
How this list was compiled
Each entry begins with a preposition and names a place under or beside water, so it reads after "lives". Original list written for Draw This Next on 2026-10-03. The five headings (reef and deep-sea kingdoms, shore and surface, rivers, lakes and ice, small and funny, old magic and mysteries) are shared by all five lists of the page. Every entry was made up for this list and is set under or beside water. The old fairy tale of the mermaid and the prince is not retold, there is no prince, and no list has a romance plot. What a mermaid is in folklore (a water creature, a woman from the waist up with a fish's tail; the male is a merman, and together they are merfolk; some historical sightings may have been manatees) was read on 2026-10-03 in the article Mermaid of the English Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org; text free to reuse under CC BY-SA 4.0). Licence: own work
Wants: all 60 wants
Reef and deep-sea kingdoms 12
to be chosen as keeper of a tide bell
to be excused from wearing a crown
to bring light to the lowest, darkest streets
to chart a trench nobody has charted
to earn a place in a royal choir
to end a quarrel older than the coral
to find a founding pearl lost for generations
to grow a garden that glows in the dark
to prove an old sea chart wrong
to swim beyond the last border marker just once
to tame a seahorse nobody else can ride
to win the great current race
Shore and surface 12
to find out what a staircase is for
to finish a paperback before its pages turn to pulp
to get a reply from whoever lives in the beach hut
to give back a ring that a fisher dropped
to keep a young seal away from the boats
to know why people wave from the shore
to learn what music sounds like in air
to meet whoever paints the boats
to peek through a galley porthole at suppertime
to return a child's lost sandal
to taste a crust of toast before it goes soggy
to watch one whole sunrise from the rocks
Rivers, lakes and ice 12
to carry a message to a lake over the hills
to clear a stream of what people throw in
to find the spring that feeds a lake
to keep a drying pond alive through summer
to learn which mountain the water comes from
to learn why the water is turning warm
to meet merfolk who have never left the lakes
to move a whole family ahead of a drought
to rouse the sleeping carp ahead of spring
to see one winter from above the ice
to swim rapids no one has swum
to taste water from somewhere far away
Small and funny 12
to be famous for something other than hiccups
to be taller than a seahorse
to find a comb that survives one use
to invent a sandwich that works underwater
to nap without floating off somewhere
to own a hat
to sit in a shopping cart, just once
to stop being mistaken for a manatee
to teach a starfish to juggle
to throw a party that goes exactly to plan
to whistle a tune that bubbles cannot spoil
to win a staring contest with a flounder
Old magic and mysteries 12
to break a spell that binds the tide
to find a hatch said to lie under the sand
to find out who keeps sending glass bottles
to finish a task an ancestor left half done
to learn the last verse of a whale's song
to learn the true name of the sea
to learn why the moon pulls the water
to open a shell that has never opened
to recover a song stolen by a storm
to return a fallen star to the sky
to swap a memory for one day of flight
to undo a wish made by an ancestor
How this list was compiled
Each entry begins with "to" and reads after "wants". No entry names a place the Lives list would have to supply. Original list written for Draw This Next on 2026-10-03. The five headings (reef and deep-sea kingdoms, shore and surface, rivers, lakes and ice, small and funny, old magic and mysteries) are shared by all five lists of the page. Every entry was made up for this list and is set under or beside water. The old fairy tale of the mermaid and the prince is not retold, there is no prince, and no list has a romance plot. What a mermaid is in folklore (a water creature, a woman from the waist up with a fish's tail; the male is a merman, and together they are merfolk; some historical sightings may have been manatees) was read on 2026-10-03 in the article Mermaid of the English Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org; text free to reuse under CC BY-SA 4.0). Licence: own work
In the way: all 60 troubles
Reef and deep-sea kingdoms 12
a council of elders who vote on everything
a court astrologer who reads the starfish wrong
a current that changed direction overnight
a festival that everyone is required to attend
a gate that opens only for those with a title
a jealous cousin close to the throne
a law against swimming above the kelp line
a rival kingdom that has moved its border stones
a royal decree nobody remembers the reason for
a shark patrol that follows the rules exactly
an anglerfish who charges a toll in the dark
an old treaty with the squid
Shore and surface 12
a boat tour that passes every hour
a coast guard searchlight combing the shallows
a curious child with a snorkel and good eyes
a dog on the beach that barks at the water
a fisher who is sure of what they saw
a harbor dredger due to start work this week
a net stretched across the only way out
a new sea wall across an old channel
a photographer waiting for one perfect picture
a promise never to be seen from land
a storm drain that empties nearby
a tide table that turns out to be wrong
Rivers, lakes and ice 12
a beaver with firm opinions about dams
a bridge being built right overhead
a dam with one narrow fish ladder
a drought that has shrunk the water by half
a flood that has muddied every landmark
a heron posted at the one shallow crossing
a pike that claims all the deep water
a waterfall too high to climb twice
a weir rusted shut since the last flood
an angler who comes every single morning
ice closing in from every side
reeds grown so thick the channel has closed
Small and funny 12
a crab that pinches anyone who is late
a dolphin who will not stop telling jokes
a gossiping clam who repeats everything it hears
a hermit crab squatting in the only travel trunk
a pufferfish who takes everything personally
a school of fish that copies every move
a sea cucumber who must be consulted first
a seagull that steals whatever shines
a tangle of kelp that seems to do it on purpose
a turtle who gives directions very, very slowly
an octopus who rents out every crevice at a price
swim goggles stuck fast on the wrong face
Old magic and mysteries 12
a bargain signed in ink that will not fade
a curse that returns with every new moon
a drowsy lullaby drifting on the current
a fog that makes swimmers forget their way
a guardian eel as old as the rocks
a mirror on the bottom that shows only doubts
a riddle that changes each time it is asked
a sea witch who is owed a favor from long ago
a sealed jar that rattles when nobody touches it
a shadow in the water that keeps its distance
a storm that listens and answers back
a tide that obeys someone else
How this list was compiled
Each entry is a person, creature or thing that stands in the way and brings its own nouns, so it reads after "In the way:" beside any other row. Original list written for Draw This Next on 2026-10-03. The five headings (reef and deep-sea kingdoms, shore and surface, rivers, lakes and ice, small and funny, old magic and mysteries) are shared by all five lists of the page. Every entry was made up for this list and is set under or beside water. The old fairy tale of the mermaid and the prince is not retold, there is no prince, and no list has a romance plot. What a mermaid is in folklore (a water creature, a woman from the waist up with a fish's tail; the male is a merman, and together they are merfolk; some historical sightings may have been manatees) was read on 2026-10-03 in the article Mermaid of the English Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org; text free to reuse under CC BY-SA 4.0). Licence: own work
The turn: all 60 turns
Reef and deep-sea kingdoms 12
a border turns out to keep something in, not out
a coronation is called off by the one being crowned
a lost pearl turns up inside a throne
a palace gong sounds with nobody near it
a queen admits to wanting the very same thing once
a rival kingdom asks for help instead
a servant turns out to hold a royal title
a shark patrol has been guarding a nursery
a trench everyone feared turns out to be a road
a whole court falls silent to listen
a whole kingdom is found to be drifting north
an elder has been hiding an older map
Shore and surface 12
a barking dog only wanted a stick thrown
a child with a snorkel proves able to keep a secret
a fisher cuts a net loose and says nothing
a harbor pilot has kept the secret since childhood
a harbor town votes to leave one cove alone
a high tide strands a swimmer who needs help
a letter left on the rocks is answered the next day
a lost thing comes back with a thank-you note
a painter on the quay has been getting the tail right
a swimming lesson brings two worlds face to face
an old boat is launched with a familiar name on it
someone on land has been leaving gifts in return
Rivers, lakes and ice 12
a bell under the water rings during a flood
a blocked channel was only hidden by reeds
a dam keeper opens the gates at dawn
a door-shaped patch of clear ice appears overnight
a grumpy old pike asks for a favor
a heron turns out to be a lookout, not a hunter
a landslide sends a stream down a brand-new valley
a second family arrives from upstream
a spring is traced to someone's cellar
the ice breaks up long before the geese return
nine days of rain join two lakes into one
salt water proves closer than anyone thought
Small and funny 12
a crab turns out to be guarding a birthday cake
a dolphin's jokes turn out to be directions
a drifting trunk reaches port before its owner does
a long-tried recipe finally works and tastes awful
a manatee is flattered to be taken for a mermaid
a new hat turns out to be a jellyfish
a seagull returns everything, slightly chewed
a staring contest ends with both sides asleep
a sulking walrus had simply never been invited
a wrong turn leads straight to the right place
everyone has had the hiccups and nobody admitted it
the smallest fish around has the answer
Old magic and mysteries 12
a fallen star had only been waiting to be asked
a fog lifts once someone stops being afraid
a hatch in the seabed is unlatched from below
a price can be paid by telling the truth
a sea witch turns out to be the one needing help
a sealed shell springs open at the sound of laughter
a secret name proves to be one already known
a spell turns out to be a promise that can be kept
a stolen song was given away, not taken
an ancestor's wish was protecting something
an ancient guardian has been lonely for a century
bottles on the tide turn out to be from the future
How this list was compiled
Each entry is a whole clause that brings its own nouns and points at no other row, so it reads after "The turn:" whatever the other rows dealt. Original list written for Draw This Next on 2026-10-03. The five headings (reef and deep-sea kingdoms, shore and surface, rivers, lakes and ice, small and funny, old magic and mysteries) are shared by all five lists of the page. Every entry was made up for this list and is set under or beside water. The old fairy tale of the mermaid and the prince is not retold, there is no prince, and no list has a romance plot. What a mermaid is in folklore (a water creature, a woman from the waist up with a fish's tail; the male is a merman, and together they are merfolk; some historical sightings may have been manatees) was read on 2026-10-03 in the article Mermaid of the English Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org; text free to reuse under CC BY-SA 4.0). Licence: own work
How it works
These mermaid story ideas build a whole plot from merfolk and water alone: a palace cook who is tired of kelp lives in the goldfish pond of a public library and wants to own a hat.
Read the full guide
What the five parts give you
Who and where set the scene. The want is the plot, and the trouble and the turn are its middle and its end. Keep a hero you like, say the mermaid who snores bubbles, and change the want until getting it would cost something.
Five kinds of water, mixed
Each list below is sorted under reef and deep-sea kingdoms, shore and surface, rivers, lakes and ice, small and funny, and old magic and mysteries. The tool mixes all five and cannot filter, so a royal messenger who rides a very slow turtle may live in a hotel swimming pool after closing time.
Write the trouble's side first: the beaver has reasons for its firm opinions about dams.
A want from the shore heading, such as toast or a staircase, makes any mermaid a stranger somewhere new.
Questions and answers
What is a good idea for a mermaid story?
One whose want is hard to get under water. Try a mermaid who wants to finish a paperback before its pages turn to pulp, or one who wants to learn what music sounds like in air.
Is there a prince or a love story in the lists?
No. No list has a romance, and the old fairy tale of the mermaid and the prince is not retold. Every plot here turns on a want, something in the way and a surprise.
Can the hero be a merman?
Yes. The Who list holds mermaids, mermen, mer-children and one mer-grandmother. In folklore the male of the mermaid is the merman, and the two together are called merfolk.
Were mermaid sightings really manatees?
Some may have been. Historical accounts of mermaids, among them sightings reported in the Caribbean, may have been manatees or similar sea mammals. One want in the list is to stop being mistaken for a manatee.