A Collection of Story Ideas
All of the ideas on this website are for anyone who wants
to take them and use them as their own. Feel free to use them
in any way you wish. In addition to ideas for strories you'll
find some poetry outlines too.
Here's an interesting true story that answers a question some
readers might have. A young man took one of the ideas here and
created a short story for a creative writing class. I was happy
for him, but then he insisted that I take the idea off the page
because he had written the story and didn't want a similar
one out there. I told him that nobody would write the same story
as his own just because he or she started with the same one-paragraph
description. He was really upset. So, official notice: Change
the suggested title if there is one, but don't ask me to remove
ideas that have been "used" by yourself. But rest assured
that the same idea will produce a dozen different stories when
used buy a dozen different writers.
Monkey Boy
A religious and serious young man discovers that he is the
result of artificial insemination. The sperm donor was an ape.
He has to reconcile this with what he thinks of himself, and
with his religion. Is he a man? Can he go to heaven? He soon
fears for his life, as religious leaders seek to hide the truth
that might challenge the faith of their followers.
Blind Man Talking
The story of a man that goes blind. It should start at a point
where he has been blind for a while, and retrace his life. There
is no physical reason for his blindness, no diagnosis or theory
that doctors can give him. In the end we discover,as he does,
that it is psychosomatic, and due to the fact that he saw only
through his words. Only by losing his sight could he learn to
truly see, and somewhere inside he knew this, and made the sacrifice.
It might end with his sight returning.
The Tree
There is a hot spring in the desert where people have come
for ages. In this story we follow the conversations on life and
the meaning of life that take place here. We are introduced to
all sorts of interesting theories and ideas, many of them conflicting
with each other. There is a large cottonwood tree that overhangs
the hot spring, which is described at various points during the
story. In the end we see that the story is really about the tree,
as it demonstrates life in it's essence, rather than in theory.
The True Desires of a Fish
A fish believes he is a bird, and jumps from the water repeatedly.
He thinks he is a snake and crawls onto the shore. Dying there,
he remembers that he is a fish. With some effort, he flops his
way back to the water, and is at peace. A man thinks he is his
status, and thinks he is his possessions. He is laying there
gasping for air one day, and he remembers what he truly is, and
is at peace.
The Morality of Monkeys
A race of monkeys learns to speak, but in a language that
has only thirty words at first. A moral code is created and it
leads to horrible results because of the limited ability of those
thirty words to define what is right and wrong in every circumstance.
The language expands and a new morality is developed, with the
same results, and for the same reasons. The obvious implication
is that perhaps no amount of words will ever be sufficient to
"capture" the truth of reality or right and wrong infallibly.
Other Pages With Ideas for Stories
More Ideas for Stories
- The Jesus Incident and ten other short outlines.
Short Story Ideas - How
to come up with dozens of plots, gimmicks and more, using some
simple methods.
How to Create New Stories -
Is anything really new? Yes and no. There are universal ideas
that remain the same throughout the ages, but there are infinite
new ways to express them in fiction. And yes, there are even
new ideas once in a while.
Short Story Questions - One
line questions to stimulate new short story ideas. Answer the
question, and you have the start of a story.
Poem Ideas - A collection of
poem ideas, some just an interesting title that you can develop
into a poem, and others that are just ideas waiting for the words
and the title.
Poetry: For Writers More Than Readers?
- What makes a good poem?
A Couple More Ideas
Here are some additional ideas. Take them, use them, change
them and call them your own stories. They will be your own in
any case, once you make the effort to develop them and write
them. And they are just ideas - they are very undeveloped.
The Rational Hero
I get a bit tired of the Hollywood version of heroes in which
the protagonist always feels the need to put down his weapon
and fight the bad guy hand-to-hand. There can be a million lives
at stake yet he must "prove" his manliness at the risk
of all those lives. I would love to see story in which the good
guy simply does what needs to be done, even to the point of doing
unglamorous and seemingly unethical things in order to make things
right. The obvious challenge is to create a story that is exciting
despite the lack of irrational action.
The People's Court
Crime is a concept that precedes specific laws and crimes
do not become something good just because they are legislated.
In the story that makes this clear there would be a secret court
set up to prosecute officials, including judges, who commit crimes
against individuals, even though they are simply following the
law. For example, even though the law says that possession of
a common plant is a crime, the real crime is caging a man or
woman for years for simply having some of the plant. It is a
serious matter to take away a person's freedom for an action
that hurts nobody, and the judge, prosecutor and others involved
should perhaps be reminded of the harm they are doing. Perhaps
they should be tried in an alternative court and sentenced to
some time in a secret prison for their immoral actions.
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