Story and Writing Prompts: Plot Generators You Can Lock and Reroll

127 pages

A 8

Adventure Story IdeasOne journey per press: a hero, a goal, a route, a companion, an obstacle and a turn.
Alternate History Story IdeasWhat-ifs told through an invented family or town: an invention comes early, a road is never built, a time traveler changes one thing.
American Dream Story IdeasPremises about wanting a better life: the first shop, the move to the city, the house, the children's turn, and whether the dream holds.
Angel Writing PromptsPremises with an angel as a working character: guardians, angels passing as human, messages gone astray, wings lost and earned.
Anime Plot GeneratorOne series premise to write or draw: a genre set-up, a flawed lead, a power, its cost and a rival.
Anti-Hero Short Story IdeasLeads who do the right thing for the wrong reason: for the money, out of fear, to look good, out of spite or for a quiet life.
Apocalypse Story IdeasEnd of the world story ideas, one per press: what ended it, who is left, their shelter, goal and setback.
Autumn Story IdeasPremises set in the season itself, with no holiday in them: harvest, the first weeks of school, the early dark, home, and leaving and returning.

B–C 12

Bedtime Story IdeasStories a grown-up can make up and tell from memory: one sentence, three beats and a sleepy ending, in six kinds.
Character Dialogue PromptsSingle lines of speech to start a scene from, sorted by mood: tense, funny, quiet, urgent. Each names who might say it.
Character Meeting IdeasWays two characters first meet, sorted by circumstance: by accident, thrown together, as rivals, or long ago.
Character PromptsTasks for one character, sorted by what you are trying to do: start one, build them out, get to know them, test them, show who they are.
Children's Story IdeasPremises for a picture book or a short tale, each with its turn and its moral, sorted by eight morals and six kinds of story.
Children's Story Ideas for July 4thStories for the Fourth: the parade, the picnic, fireworks night and the summer of 1776, each with a plot to follow.
Christian Fiction Story IdeasPremises in which faith drives the plot, sorted by the kind of book: contemporary, historical, mystery, allegory, biblical fiction.
Christmas Short Story IdeasChristmas premises in five kinds (nativity and faith, gentle mysteries and ghosts, for children, funny, heartwarming), each with its plot in three beats.
Circus Story IdeasBig top premises: an act that goes wrong, a runaway who joins, the last night of the tour, clowns and the crew.
Coming of Age Story IdeasOne story per press: a young person, a season, a first, who changes it, its cost and a last image.
Concrete Poem IdeasSubjects for a concrete poem, each with the shape to draw first and a first line: easy outlines, things that move, weather, objects with a tail.
Cosmic Horror Story IdeasDread without a monster: an answered beacon, a star map wrong by one star, a day nobody remembers, sorted by what the people find out.

D 11

Dance Story IdeasStories a dance can tell without words, sorted by cast size, and premises for stories about dancers.
Dark Academia Writing PromptsPremises set in an old school or college: the library after hours, a society with one rule, a rival, a letter in an old book.
Dark Romanticism Short Story IdeasPremises on guilt, judgment, self-ruin, a doubting narrator and the uncanny at home, each with a symbol.
Demon Story IdeasPremises about demons sorted by the story they drive: a bargain, a demon hunter, a demon who wants out, a comic imp.
Dieselpunk Story IdeasPremises for a machine age that never ended: mail airships, a city of rivets and searchlights, undersea liners and laboratories.
Dinosaur Story IdeasStories with a dinosaur as the lead or the find, sorted by when they are set: Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, or today at a dig or in a town.
Door Story IdeasPremises that begin at a door: one that was not there yesterday, the locked one, who knocks, and the other side.
Dragon Story IdeasPremises in one sentence, each with what goes wrong and a turn, from first meetings to the last dragon.
Dramatic Irony Story IdeasPremises sorted by dramatic, situational and verbal irony, each with the gap the irony lives in.
Dramatic Story IdeasPremises about ordinary people under pressure, each with what goes wrong and a turn, in five groups.
Dystopian Story Ideas GeneratorOne broken society per press: what it controls, how, who gains, where it fails and the first quiet rebellion.

F 7

Fanfic Prompt GeneratorA trope, a universe, a narrator and one change from canon, for whichever fandom you bring.
Fantasy Plot GeneratorFantasy story ideas: a world quirk, an unlikely hero, a quest object, a faction in the way, and magic's price.
First Line GeneratorAn opening line for a story, with a hint about line two. The tip-off came by carrier pigeon, which narrowed the suspects considerably.
Flash Fiction Story IdeasSeeds for very short stories, each a situation and its turn, sorted by the length they fit: six words, 50, 55, 100 and up to 500.
Folktale Story IdeasNew premises in six kinds of folktale: fairy tales, fractured fairy tales, trickster tales, why stories, tall tales and fables.
Frame Story IdeasStories inside a story, sorted by frame: one teller, a circle, a found document, a dream or a present-day one.
Funny Short Story IdeasClean comic premises short enough for one sitting, each with how it gets worse and its twist, sorted by the kind of joke.

G–H 8

Good Ideas for an I Caught a Leprechaun StoryThe trap, his offer, the trick in the wish and the escape: four parts of a story about catching a leprechaun, told as I.
Good Story Climax IdeasWays for a story's climax to go, sorted by what the scene decides: a contest, a choice, a discovery or a rescue, with a group for fantasy.
Good Symbolism Story IdeasPremises built round one object that carries the meaning: a key, a clock, a gate, a coat, a chair.
Gothic Story IdeasOne gothic premise per press: an arrival, a house, a family secret, a first sign and a price.
Halloween Story IdeasHalloween premises sorted by how scary they are, two groups of them written for children, each with its plot in three beats.
Hero and Villain Story IdeasHeroes and villains in matched pairs: once friends, family, the same gift used two ways, each made by the other, or everyday rivals.
Historical Fiction Story IdeasInvented people at the edge of real events, trades and places, in six periods from the ancient Mediterranean to 1990, each with its place and years.
Horror Plot GeneratorScary story ideas built on dread: an ordinary place, what is wrong, who notices, the rule and the ending.

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Ideas for a Flashback StoryStories that turn on a look back, sorted by what sets the memory off: a smell, a sound, an object, a place, a voice.
Ideas for a Paranormal StoryPremises about the unexplained that is not a ghost: slipped time, second sight, lights in the sky, creatures seen once and places that misbehave.
Ideas for a Short Story About NatureStories led by a tree, a river, a frost or a field, sorted by place and by season, each with who sees it and how it ends.
Ideas for a Story With an Unreliable NarratorNarrators who cannot be trusted, sorted by why, each with the clue and the truth the reader works out.
Ideas for Stakes for StoriesWhat a character stands to lose, from a lane on the relay team to a kingdom's spring, each with a deadline.
Immortal Writing PromptsPrompts about a character who does not age: the hundredth birthday, outliving a friend, a secret kept for centuries, and a cure.
Inspiring Story IdeasPremises about kindness, second tries, unlikely friends, helpful strangers and home, each with a turn.
Intrigue Plot GeneratorA court or a council, the faction that schemes, the secret it has learned, the lever it means to use and the price.

J–M 12

Journal Prompt GeneratorOne journaling question, a nudge to get you started and a timer to keep the pen moving. What are you saving for, and how far along are you?
Jungle Story IdeasStories that need a canopy overhead, sorted by who tells them: a river traveler, an expedition, a village, a climber, an animal.
Lost and Found Story IdeasStories that start at a loss and end at a find, sorted by what goes missing: a pet, a letter, a thing handed in, a memory, a person.
Magic School Story IdeasPremises for a school of magic of your own: lessons gone wrong, rival houses, forbidden rooms and new students.
Magical Girl Story IdeasPremises with an ordinary pupil, a talking companion, a transformation and a team, sorted by what the power costs her.
Medieval Story Plot IdeasMedieval story ideas, one plot per press: a place, a person, a want, a trouble, a rival and a turn.
Mermaid Story IdeasOne plot per press: a mermaid or merman, a home in the water, a want, a trouble and a turn.
Military Fantasy Story IdeasPremises about invented armies and fleets, fantasy and science fiction, sorted by the lead's rank from recruit to general.
Monster Story IdeasOne plot per press: a monster by what it does, its home, who finds out, its want and a turn.
Musical Story IdeasPlots for a stage musical, sorted by cast size from a few singers to a whole school, each with the moment the singing starts.
Mystery Plot GeneratorMystery story ideas as a whole case: a crime, a closed setting, the obvious suspect and two opposing clues.
Myth Story IdeasPremises for a myth of your own in five kinds, from how the world began to monsters and guardians.

N–P 12

Narrative Story IdeasTopics for a narrative, four fifths of them true: a first or a last time, a mistake, a person or a place, other people's stories, and made up.
Natural Disaster Story IdeasPremises where the weather or the ground is the danger, sorted by storm, quake, snow and the day after.
Ocean Story IdeasStories set on the shore, out on the water, under it and along the tide line, with 20 sea animal stories for a little kid.
Orphan Short Story IdeasStorybook premises with a child on their own as the lead, sorted by where they land: a relative, a guardian, a school, a found family.
Parallel Universe Story IdeasPremises built on a second world, sorted by how the two worlds touch: a difference, a double, a door, no way back.
Philosophical Short Story IdeasPremises sorted by the question they ask: identity, free will, fairness, truth and knowledge, or meaning.
Pirate Story IdeasStorybook pirate premises about the crew, the map, the ship, the law and the sea, each with a turn.
Plot Twist GeneratorPlot twist ideas with blanks for your story, each with a foreshadowing line. The narrator left out one ____, and it is the one in which they ____.
Poem Prompt IdeasPoetry prompts in three parts: a form, a subject small enough to see and a constraint to push against. Write a tanaga about the first frost. The constraint: one colour only, mentioned at least twice.
Prophecy Story IdeasProphecies to hang a plot on: the wording, who it means, how it is misread and how it comes true anyway.
Pulp Plot GeneratorA magazine adventure in five parts: a hero with a trade, a scheme too big to be real, a far-off place, a cliffhanger and a gadget.
Puppet Show Story IdeasShort plots sized for a puppet stage, sorted by hand, finger, shadow and sock puppets, each with its cast and one prop.

Q–R 7

Quest Story IdeasQuest premises by what is sought, who sends the seeker, what the road costs and what the prize is.
Realistic Fiction Story IdeasPremises that could happen, with no magic: a named character with an age, a want and a trouble, sorted by the kind of problem and by age.
Redemption Story Writing PromptsRedemption premises that state the wrong, the person owed and what it costs to put right, sorted by where the story starts.
Reincarnation Story IdeasBorn-again premises sorted by who returns, as what, what they remember and what they must put right.
Road Trip Story IdeasJourneys by road sorted by who is in the car: family, friends, strangers, two who do not get along, or one driver alone.
Robot Story IdeasPremises about robots at home, at work, wanting something, left behind and with children.
RPG Story IdeasOne job for a whole party per press: a patron, a task, a place, a complication and a reward.

S 28

Sci Fi PromptsOne science fiction premise per press: where, who, what they learn and the catch.
Shapeshifter Writing PromptsPrompts about people who change shape: the first change, hiding it, getting stuck, a shifter among us, and thirteen out of myth and folklore.
Short Story Dilemma IdeasChoices with no clean answer, sized for a school story: two loyalties, a promise against the truth, something found.
Short Story Prompt Generator: One Scene Under One LimitPress New prompt for one scene, the people in it, an object, a turn and a limit of form.
Sitcom Plot GeneratorA place, a small goal, the lie or mix-up that wrecks it, a B-story for the rest of the cast and the way back to normal.
Snowman Story IdeasStories with a snowman as the lead, sorted by what becomes of him: he melts, comes back, stays, travels or wakes for a night.
Soap Opera Plot GeneratorA place, a secret, the wrong person to learn it, the worst moment and the cliffhanger the episode ends on.
Solarpunk Story IdeasHopeful futures with a small trouble in each: sun and wind towns, the repair café, the seed library, the town meeting.
Southern Gothic Writing PromptsSouthern Gothic premises with the place written in: old houses, family secrets, strangers in small towns, heat and decay.
Space Opera Writing PromptsSpace opera premises on the grand scale: thrones, crews, wars between systems and lost worlds, each with two powers and a turn.
Spy Story IdeasPremises for a spy story about the mission, the cover, the code, the double and the escape.
Story Arc IdeasStory arcs by shape and character arcs of two kinds, each stated in one line with its four beats in order.
Story Conflict IdeasConflicts for a story, each one line with two sides and a stake, sorted by six types of conflict and by size.
Story Ending IdeasLast scenes with blanks for your own story, in six kinds of ending, each with a line on what must be set up earlier.
Story Ideas About ForeshadowingPremises that come with their own early hint and its payoff, sorted by where the hint hides.
Story Ideas About SecretsPremises about small secrets and small lies in seven groups, each with the question its story has to answer.
Story Ideas About TwinsPremises where the bond between brothers and sisters drives the plot: twins, older and younger, step and half, feuding.
Story Ideas for a ScreenplayPremises told in pictures, sorted by how many actors and locations they need, each with an opening image.
Story Ideas for PlaysPlots that fit a stage, sorted by cast size from two to six, each with its one room and its deadline.
Story Ideas for TeensPremises with a main character aged 13 to 17 in six genres, each with a turn and the question its ending must answer.
Story Prompt GeneratorStory ideas in one sentence: a place, a protagonist, a want, an obstacle and a twist, each lockable.
Story Setting IdeasPlaces pinned to a time, in six kinds from one closed room to worlds that do not exist, each with a sense detail and its trouble.
Story Theme IdeasThemes for a story written as claims, never one bare word, each with a premise that would test it, in six subjects.
Subplot Ideas for My StorySmall second threads for a story, sorted by how each ties back in: it mirrors the main plot, interrupts it, supplies the missing piece or raises the stakes.
Summer Story IdeasPremises that need the season: the beach at low tide, a town in a heatwave, summer camp and the garden, each with a turn.
Superpower Story IdeasOne premise per press: who gets the power, what it does, its catch, the secret and the turn.
Surreal Writing PromptsStory prompts that run on dream logic: objects that misbehave, towns with one odd rule, strange weather over ordinary people.
Suspense Story IdeasSuspenseful story ideas, one per press: who is in danger, the threat, the clock, the doubt and the turn.

T–W 14

Tarot for Writing PromptsAll 78 tarot cards as story parts: each card carries a beginning, a turn and an end, and three dealt together make a plot. The Lovers · Three of Cups · Strength
TBR Prompt GeneratorReading prompts that settle what to read next, by cover, title, length, shelf history, genre and month. A fantasy novel
Thanksgiving Story IdeasThanksgiving premises about the holiday as families keep it now: the turkey's side, the table, getting there and one small thing to be thankful for.
Three Wishes Story IdeasPremises for the oldest wish pattern, three chances and a catch: who grants them, a wish that backfires, the wasted third wish, wishing for someone else.
Trapped Story IdeasOne-place premises sorted by how the people are stuck: an elevator, snow, a locked building, a stopped train, a room with a rule.
Treasure Hunt Story IdeasPremises about a search, sorted by what drives it: a map, a riddle trail, a rival, and what the treasure really is.
Unicorn Story IdeasStories with one unicorn in them, sorted by who meets it: a child nobody believes, a stable hand, a princess, a goose, a streetcar driver.
Utopian Story IdeasPerfect societies and the one crack in each: what the place got right, what it costs, who notices.
Valentine Story IdeasPremises for a Valentine's Day story about cards, friends, family and the class party, each with a turn.
Viking Story Writing IdeasStories of the Viking Age set on a farm, a ship, a market town and a hall, each with one checked detail to put in.
Visual Novel Idea GeneratorA setting, a lead to play, the character one route follows and a midpoint twist, mixed into one visual novel premise.
Western Story IdeasPremises for a western about the stranger, the land, the law, the trail and the town, each with a turn.
Winter Story IdeasPremises for a winter story, from snowed-in houses to frozen lakes and the thaw, each with a turn.
Witch Story IdeasStorybook premises about the village witch, the apprentice, the modern witch, the coven and their familiars.

A story prompt is only useful if it leaves you room, and only fun if you can argue with it. Each generator here breaks a premise into its moving parts (a character, a want, an obstacle, a place, a twist) and gives every part its own lock.

More about these tools

Keep the detective and reroll the clue. Keep the clue and change the town. There are generators for whole genres (fantasy, mystery, horror, dystopia, science fiction), for single pieces such as a first line, a plot twist or one scene for a short story, and for other kinds of writing such as journal pages and poems. Plain lists deal three ideas at a time: conflicts, themes, arcs, and stories for children. Nothing in these lists is gory or explicit: horror here means dread. The words come from fixed, edited lists, and you can print a sheet of thirty prompts for a writing group.

A 8