BEST HIGH SCHOOL WRITING PROMPTS
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The best writing prompts for high school
Ah, high school. The birthplace of future geniuses, the setting of a million Young Adult books — and the cutting ground of many a brilliant young author. Writing in the classroom is often the best outlet of creativity for kids, and what better way to get your students excited about it than through creative writing prompts for high school students?
Whether you use journal prompts or story ideas to kickstart your high school student’s imagination, writing prompts are sure to help broaden their thinking, sharpen their writing skills, record their thoughts, and get them to engage with the world around them.
If you're looking to cut to the chase, here's a top ten list of writing prompts for high school students:
- In the form of diary/ journal entries, write about someone who's just experienced a big "first."
- Just then, your phone rings. It's your friend and they have some interesting news...
- Write a short story where the protagonist has a doppelgänger.
- Write a story about a misunderstanding.
- Write a story about a strange family tradition, with at least two characters from the family narrating in the course of the story.
- Write a story about someone who would be described, above all else, as: kind.
- Write a story that centers on an Instagram post.
- Write a story that spans a month during which everything changes.
- Write about a group of people determined to win an award for making the biggest cookie ever.
- Write about someone going to extreme lengths to return an overdue library book.
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Want to encourage your high school students to start writing? Check out Reedsy’s weekly short story contest , for the chance of winning $250! You can also check out our list of writing contests or our directory of literary magazines for more opportunities to submit your story.
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Explore more writing prompt ideas:
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Journal Buddies Jill | September 9, 2022 September 12, 2018 | Creative Writing
33 Fictional Story Ideas
Let’s explore fictional story ideas— When students write fictional stories in elementary school and middle school, they naturally tend to focus more on the plot and the progression of the story. But in high school, teens have a more nuanced understanding of how plot is so often driven by characters and the emotions that influence them. That means that fiction writing in high school tends to have higher stakes—and very often, much higher payoffs.
With that in mind, we’ve created 33 new fictional story ideas for high school students that encourage them to make up their own characters, places, and plots. Each prompt starts out with a seemingly simple-sounding premise… but as your students begin to write and explore their characters and worlds, they’ll discover how much more there truly is.
For instance, a simple prompt about a group of teens who manage to pull off an elaborate practical joke can be taken in countless directions. Will your students focus on the teamwork required to coordinate and execute the plan—or perhaps explore the effects on the joke’s recipient (who may or may not have found it funny)?
Use these all-new fictional story prompts to help your high school students improve their writing and explore the power of storytelling!
33 Fresh Fictional Story Ideas for High School Students to Explore
- Write a fictional story about a clock with the power to tell something other than the normal time.
- Write a fictional story about a teen who creates a viral video.
- Write a fictional story about a woman working as a highly trained secret spy.
- Write a fictional story about a town preparing for a big storm.
- Write a fictional story about a week where the entire Internet goes down.
- Write a fictional story about a girl who decides to create an entirely new identity for herself.
- Write a fictional story about a group of people living in a remote village.
- Write a fictional story about an elderly couple who aren’t totally satisfied with how their lives have turned out—so they take off on a wild adventure to travel the world.
- Write a fictional story about an art dealer who comes across a very unusual piece.
- Write a fictional story about someone watching a sunset.
- Write a fictional story about an unidentified patient who wakes up in the hospital with amnesia. The patient has no idea who he or she is, and no one is able to tell him or her.
- Write a fictional story about a college student who decides to run for public office.
- Write a fictional story about a student who is called to the office one day and told that an anonymous donor wishes to cover his or her college tuition.
- Write a fictional story about an unusual case of mistaken identity.
- Write a fictional story about a group of teens who manage to pull off an elaborate practical joke.
- Write a fictional story about a town where the people come up with some unusual stories to explain a strange local monument.
- Write a fictional story about a boy who faces peer pressure and ridicule when he begins to take ballet classes.
- Write a fictional story about a party where things go horribly, horribly awry.
- Write a fictional story about a teen with a unique after-school job.
- Write a fictional story about two estranged family members who run into each other after many years apart.
- Write a fictional story about a man who arrives for his first day at his new job… only to discover it’s not what he thought he’d signed up for.
- Write a fictional story about a couple who first met in kindergarten getting married.
- Write a fictional story about a babysitter who is alarmed by what she finds while snooping through her employer’s house.
- Write a fictional story about a group of friends spending the night camping by a lake.
- Write a fictional story about a family whose relationships are changed forever when the contents of their grandmother’s will are revealed.
- Write a fictional story about a teen who has a unique relationship with religion.
- Write a fictional story about a farmer who is having trouble making ends meet.
- Write a fictional story of a billionaire who buys his or her own private island.
- Write a fictional story about a man who stops at the same coffee shop every single morning.
- Write a fictional story about a group of people working very hard to save the environment.
- Write a fictional story about someone who lives with synesthesia and explore how he or she might experience the world.
- Write a fictional story about a college professor who decides it’s time for a dramatic career change.
More Fictional Story Ideas & Prompts
- Fiction Writing Prompts for Teens
- Fiction Writing Ideas for Middle School Students
- Fiction Prompts – Ideas for Stories
- Character Writing Prompts for Fiction Writers
- 50 Young Adult Plot Ideas and Writing Prompts
Until next time, write on…
If you enjoyed these Fictional Story Ideas, please share them on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Pinterest. I appreciate it!
Sincerely, Jill journalbuddies.com creator and curator
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Creative Writing Prompts for High School
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Here are some fun high school creative writing prompts designed to get your students thinking and writing freely, while getting their creative juices flowing. Includes great story starters and opening lines with thought provoking questions to get them started.Â
Prompt 1: Me? A musician ? You must have me confused with my brother. In my family, I’m known for being…
Prompt 4:  It was like a bad dream. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I turned and saw…..
Prompt 7: Ten years from now, you’ll all remember my name, because I will….
Prompt 10: As the black pickup truck careened down the hill, I thought of…
Prompt 13: A soon as I saw my reflection in the mirror, I…
Creative Writing Prompts for High School Continue
Prompt 24: Would you rather be a famous athlete, musician, movie star, singer or author? Why did you choose the one you chose?
Prompt 27: What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to wait for? Write a story about!
Prompt 30: I’m the only one who knew what had really happened, but I was sworn to secrecy.
Prompt 33: They say nice guys finish last, so it was no surprise when I…
Prompt 40: Write a story about the worst nightmare you ever had. It could be either a real life nightmare or one you had while sleeping.
Prompt 43: Do you believe in the saying time heals all wounds ? Or do you think some pain never goes away? Write about something that was once very painful for you, but has dissipated over time. Did the pain go away completely or is there still a sting when you think about what happened?
Prompt 44: Who knew that a high school basketball game could change my life? But this one did….
Prompt 46: Write a story about something funny, scary or embarrassing that happened when you were learning to drive.
Prompt 49: Has a book ever affected you in such a way that you think it should be required reading? What book was it and why do you feel about it the way that you do?
Prompt 50: Do you believe there is life on other planets ? Make an argument for why you do or do not believe that it’s true.
Prompt 52: Write about three things you wish you had learned by the time you were in the 2nd grade.
Prompt 55: Words spoken can never be unheard. Write about a time you said something you wish you could take back.
Prompt 56: Many conversations start with, “You’ll never guess who I bumped into today.” Write about a time when you bumped into someone you hadn’t seen in a long time. Did you have a good conversation, or were you sorry that you met up with that person again. Explain.
Prompt 57: What is the one thing that is making your life really good right now?
Ideas, Inspiration, and Giveaways for Teachers
We Are Teachers
32 Short Story Prompts to Get Students’ Creativity Flowing
Suddenly, they won’t stop writing!
Some of my favorite teaching moments come from a unit that culminated with my students writing an original short story. When given the freedom to write fiction, so many of my students came alive. They wanted to write suspense, mystery, horror, or romance. They wanted their characters to feel like real people. Suddenly, after weeks of ignoring my helpfully provided feedback, they were crowding my desk to ask me to read their work. It was glorious. Narrative writing is a wonderful way to allow every student to use the skills they’ve practiced in class to create something new. Getting started, however, can often be tricky. This is where I’ve found short story prompts to be so helpful. Give your students the following list of intriguing short story prompts and watch what they create.
Want this entire set of short story prompts in one easy document? Get your free PowerPoint or Google Slides bundle by submitting your email here .
Suspenseful Short Story Prompts
- The tombstones in the town’s cemetery are going missing.
- You discover the new student at school looks exactly like you.
- There are muddy footprints leading up to the front door of the house … but it hasn’t rained for days.
- An obscure relative passes away and leaves you $500,000 in their will under the condition that you move into their 100-year-old house immediately. Alone.
- A new app promises to help you get your life together, and it works! If you follow everything it tells you to do, you have an awesome day. If you don’t follow it exactly …
Adventurous Short Story Prompts
- You are obsessed with the ancient Aztecs. When a mysterious corporation that claims to have mastered time travel recruits you to travel back to the 15th century to learn more about what life was like for Aztec children, you agree almost immediately. Will you regret your decision?
- The school field trip was supposed to be fun. Then, the natural disaster hit.
- You and your friends decide to hike the Appalachian Trail for the summer.
- You just found out that your mother/father is a spy for the CIA. In addition to that crazy realization, they tell you they need your help for one very important mission.
- You lose a bet with your most adventurous friend and for one day have to say “yes” to whatever crazy activities they choose.
Science Fiction Short Story Prompts
- In the future, students go to school virtually. You’ve done this since kindergarten, but a new law is passed stating that virtual school is unhealthy and, next year, all students will go to school in person. You will be meeting friends you’ve known since kindergarten for the first time in real life.
- Scientists have solved all the world’s problems, and we now live in a utopia … or do we?
- Your family has been selected to join 24 other families colonizing Mars. At the first meeting, you realize that the kid who has bullied you since elementary school is also on the mission.
- Due to a computer virus, all social media disappears overnight. It might not ever come back. How does it change things?
- Like every other kid in the year 2122, you were given your very own robot best friend when you were little, and they’ve grown up with you. One day, your robot friend tells you that the robots are planning on taking over the world and imprisoning the humans.
Scary Short Story Prompts
- While camping on a school field trip, the chaperones all get sick/injured. You and your best friend are the two students chosen to hike back in the dark for help.
- You were born and raised in a house that’s over one hundred years old and never found it a bit spooky. But when you return home after suffering a concussion during a soccer game, you start to notice shadows that seem to move on their own and the sounds of people walking in empty rooms.
- You’ve finally convinced your parents to let you stay home alone, but now it’s dark out, and your dog won’t stop growling at the back door, even though no one’s out there.
- While on vacation, you bought an antique locket from a weird little store you found while sightseeing. Whenever you put it on, it makes you feel more confident and powerful … and angry.
- The teens didn’t believe in Ouija boards until the things it told them started coming true.
Funny Short Story Prompts
- One day, we woke up, and all of the animals could talk.
- The teacher had to leave class due to an emergency and left you in charge. That was two weeks ago. The teacher never returned, and the principal hasn’t come in to check on you. How are things going?
- Your best friend bets you $100 that you can’t make it an entire school day without telling a single lie.
- Your imaginary friend never went away and pops up at unexpected times to ask you to play, but you are still the only one who can see them.
- The class realizes the substitute teacher has a phobia of school supplies.
Fantasy Short Story Prompts
- Rewrite your favorite fairy tale, but make it take place today in your town.
- Due to a magic spell gone wrong, the young wizard and the dragon have switched bodies. How well will the dragon do at pretending to be a human wizard? How will the wizard figure out how to be a dragon?
- After watching a video about it on YouTube, you teach yourself how to shape-shift.
- You are given a ring on your birthday. It allows you to control the weather.
- You forgot your backpack and run back to get it, only to witness your teacher using magic to tidy up the classroom. She tells you that all teachers can secretly do magic.
Get a PPT or Google Slides version of these short stories.
Looking for more short story prompts?
These sites have tons of great ideas. Give your students time to scroll and jot down ideas that inspire them.
- @writing.prompt.s
- Writing Prompts That Don’t Suck
- 100 Writing Prompts for Grades 4-8
What short story prompts get your students excited about writing? Share it with us in the comments.
Want even more classroom ideas be sure to subscribe to our newsletter.
Meghan is an Associate Editor at WeAreTeachers. She spent 18 years teaching English/Language Arts in the public school setting and holds a Master's Degree in Special Education.
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Fiction Prompts - Ideas for Stories
Three elements.
Choose a set of three elements, and imagine a story that includes all three of them.
- a hitchhiker, an allergy, and a mistake in a map.
- a cemetery, a missing dog, and a joke that goes too far.
- a Halloween costume, a stapler, and a complaint between neighbors.
- a stolen phone, a love song, and a bet.
- a dance competition, an engagement ring, and a worried parent.
- insomnia, a birthday card, and an encounter with someone famous.
- an eavesdropper, a secret kiss, and a fire in the kitchen.
- a stuck elevator, a pickpocket, and a promise.
- a babysitter, a pet snake, and a tow truck.
- a lit window, a stamp collection, and someone pretending to be angry.
- a dream come true, inappropriate laughter, and something buried.
- an abandoned house, false eyelashes, and a lump in the bed.
Character Ideas
Here are 3 ideas you can use to create fictional characters and stories:
- Write about a character who pretends to be cool and tough, but is actually shy and sensitive.
- Write about a character who is obsessed with certain colors.
- Write about a character who secretly plans to leave home and start a new life.
Now, YOU complete the sentences to get even more character ideas:
- Write about a character who pretends to be ________, but is actually ________.
- Write about a character who is obsessed with ________.
- Write about a character who secretly ________.
First Lines
Here are some beginnings for stories or poems. Start with one of these and see where your imagination takes you.
- He wasn't at all what I was expecting...
- How would we ever get rid of...
- She was a wonderful liar...
- He hurled the phone against the wall...
- The fortuneteller was mistaken...
- I crouched behind the sofa...
- It was wrapped like a present, but...
- I should never have come here...
Twist Endings
Here are some twist endings you can use in your own fiction. See what story ideas they give you...
- The detective turns out to be the killer.
- The vampire hunter turns out to be another vampire.
- It turns out that your character's lover has only pretending to be married as an excuse to avoid a commitment to your character.
- The jewel everyone has been fighting over turns out to be a fake.
- Your character's main enemy turns out to have been on your character's side the whole time. Your character has been misinterpreting his/her attempts to help him/her.
- The murder victim turns out to have faked her own death. She's still alive and playing games with the detective!
- Your narrator has been lying to the reader to make himself or herself look better.
Creative Writing Recipes
Just follow these recipes, and see what comes out of your imagination.
SHORT STORY RECIPE Beginning of the story: Your character's mother wants your character to do something, and your character doesn't want to do it. They argue about it. Next part: The argument is interrupted by a surprising sight which startles both of them. Next: The surprising sight brings back a memory from your character's childhood involving his/her mother. Flash back to this memory. Next: Return to the present. Your character and his/her mother continue their conversation, but the tone of it is changed by the surprise and by your character's thoughts about the past.
POEM RECIPE Line 1: Give the reader an instruction. Line 2: Refer to a smell. Line 3: Use the word "ghostly". Line 4: Mention a childhood toy. Line 5: Quote a proverb or saying. Line 6: Refer to an animal. Line 7: Repeat a phrase from earlier in this poem. Line 8: Ask the reader a question.
Ideas for Stories - Next Steps
Sign up for our free e-mail group to receive fiction prompts, writing tips , and Creative Writing Now news.
You can find hundreds of ideas for stories on our website. Here are some links to start with:
- Story beginnings and "What If" story ideas
- "The Evil Roommate" and other story ideas
- 44 fiction writing prompts
- See a complete list of Creative Writing Now pages with ideas for stories.
Click here to go back to the Creative Writing Ideas Blog .
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Top Fiction Writing Prompts to Get Your Pen Moving
Posted on Mar 15, 2023
by Gloria Russell
Fiction writing prompts, fiction writing prompts adults, fiction writing prompts high schoolers, fiction writing prompts middle schoolers, fiction writing subgenres
51 WRITING PROMPTS TO KICKSTART YOUR NEXT GREAT STORY!
Whether you’re a seasoned expert or a brand-new writer, using writing prompts is a great way to get your creative gears turning and start on a story. Feel free to use these prompts exactly as they are to write short exercises, or to modify them and use them as a jumping-off point for your own worlds and plot ideas!
We’ve broken these prompts up into adult, high school, and middle school prompts, and there’s a few ways to look at them. You can stick to the prompts that much up with your age group, which might be especially helpful if you’re a new writer, to make sure you’ve got prompts with experiences relatable or relevant to you!
You can also think of them as separate genre prompts. Maybe you’re a highschool student writing adult fiction , or you’re an adult writing middle grade. Feel free to try prompts across all age groups to see what sticks! Writing for a different age group can also be a fun exercise to flex your writing muscles, so even if you don’t typically write outside your age group, use one of these prompts to try it out.
Without further ado, here are 51 writing prompts for adults, high schoolers, and middle schoolers!
Writing Prompts for Adults
Here’s a list of 20 writing prompts for adults, or anyone writing adult fiction!
- Two rival coworkers get assigned to the same hotel room during a company retreat. They think they can grin and bear it, but then they get snowed in for the weekend. Do they fall in love, or do they plot their revenge?
- Fresh from college, a new graduate gets their dream job. But when they show up for their first day of work, things seem… strange. And no one will tell them what happened to the last intern.
- A new renter’s upstairs neighbors won’t stop stomping around during the odd hours of the night. Fed up, the renter goes to confront them, but it turns out nobody’s living there. In fact, no one has ever rented that apartment since the building’s completion.
- It’s a small town, and any scandal can ruin you forever, but that doesn’t stop a woman in an unhappy marriage from filing for divorce. To make things worse, her husband is the mayor.
- Mary is a happily married woman with two kids and a dog. One night, a visitor comes to her door, claiming to be her partner’s former lover. What does the visitor want?
- A recently retired lawyer receives a mysterious letter calling him to return to a beach he hasn’t visited since childhood.
- Write from the perspective of an old house watching a family move in and, gradually, move out.
- Two adult siblings prepare to head home for a tense holiday season–Mom’s remarried, and no one likes her new husband.
- An estranged family decides to meet up for a family reunion at a ski resort deep in the mountains to reconnect. As soon as they get there, things start to go wrong.
- Anthony’s never heard a sound from his next door neighbors, and when he knocks, no one is ever home. One day, all the lights are on, and the front door is wide open. What does he find?
- A detective duo takes shelter from a snowstorm in a small town where there’s been a string of murders. They don’t plan to stay long, but there’s something strange about the people here. Something that makes them unfriendly and skittish.
- It’s been a few hundred years since the war that ended civilization as we know it. One group of people travels from town to town playing old jazz music on scavenged instruments. Write about their journey across America.
- At a company Christmas party, a worker decides to finally let her boss know everything that’s been bothering her about this job.
- The new resident living in 111B has been acting strangely. Write from the perspective of the landlord inspecting the apartment when the resident’s out one weekend.
- A woman gets a phone call from the same man every Friday night. Eventually, she falls in love and agrees to run away with him. When she meets him at the spot they chose, what happens?
- A CEO goes on an island retreat in the hopes of brokering a deal with another company. Write the emails he sends home as he slowly goes insane.
- Matt’s lived in his small town his whole life. One morning, he wakes up and realizes he’s the only person left on Earth.
- Write from the perspective of a woman who decides to quit her job in the big city and work on a farm in the middle of nowhere.
- Everyone thinks the king has gone mad and moves to remove him from the throne, but in truth, the king isn’t mad–his son has just convinced everyone that he is. Write from the perspective of the king as he seizes back control over his court.
- One day, a man decides to move his entire family to a remote island far from the American Coast. Write from the perspective of his wife.
Writing Prompts for High Schoolers
Here’s a list of 16 writing prompts for high schoolers, or for anyone writing young adult fiction!
- Two best friends get stood up on the night of homecoming. Instead of going home, they decide to make their own fun at the dance.
- It’s the night of the big Varsity football game, and one student notices that the opposing football team has been infiltrated by vampires.
- Two teenagers are head over heels and things are looking good, until one of them has to move across the country for their parents’ job. Write the letters they send each other as they try to make long-distance work.
- A pair of high school sweethearts are planning to go to college together. One of them gets an acceptance letter, and the other one doesn’t. What happens next?
- It’s the first day of school, and there’s a new kid in town. No one knows where he came from, and when people talk to him, something seems… strange.
- There’s a new French teacher every year. A group of students decides to find out why they keep quitting, and why each new hire is stranger than the last.
- A new student decides to join the Chess Club to make some friends, but finds that the students are cold and unwelcoming. They decide to stay anyway, determined to defeat them in the District Tournament.
- The high school marching band has earned a perfect score at competition every year, until this year. What goes wrong?
- A teenaged kid gets expelled from high school, and in the hopes of whipping them into shape, their parents send them to an old boarding school on the East Coast. There’s no cell service or Internet, and at night, the kid hears strange noises on the water.
- Three friends decide to start a cryptid hunting club. They’re mostly in it for the jokes, but one night, they find something lurking in the woods near the school.
- Write the diary of a teenager sent to live with her wealthy, eccentric aunt shortly after the death of her parents.
- Write from the perspective of the cheerleading captain as she decides to leave the captain of the football team for the captain of the dance team.
- Sadie’s best friend moved out of town when they were kids, but she’s come back for their senior year of high school. They decide to reconnect over the summer. What happens?
- When a zombie outbreak strikes town, the high school students and staff are locked in the high school. What happens next?
- Write the social media posts that one local teenager wrote in the leadup to their mysterious disappearance over the summer.
- During a tornado drill, two students break into the principal’s office and find something neither of them could have prepared for.
Writing Prompts for Middle Schoolers
Here’s a list of 15 writing prompts for middle schoolers, or anyone writing children’s or middle grade fiction!
- Mark’s parents take him to the pet store to get a new hamster. He picks out a cute one and brings him home, and everything seems normal. But at night, the hamster acts strange.
- Write from the perspective of an alien disguised as a middle schooler, sent to pick up information from a public middle schooler and relay it to their home planet.
- The middle school theater kids seize control of the entire school and issue a full lockdown. Nobody enters, nobody leaves. What happens next?
- A middle schooler wakes up one morning to discover that she’s completely invisible, even to her family.
- Four childhood friends have always been told never to wander into the neighbor’s yard, and to especially stay away from the neighbor’s run-down shed. When they decide to break the rule and go searching, what do they find?
- Julie’s the best volleyball player on her team until a new kid moves in and outperforms her. The new kid is better at volleyball–in fact, she’s too good. Is there something more to this kid than meets the eye?
- A middle schooler makes friends with the boy across the street, but his parents won’t let him sleep over at their house. Finally, they agree to let him go for the boy’s birthday party.
- Write about a middle school in a fantasy world where students are trained to ride dragons.
- A kid’s dad goes missing on a work trip, and he’s pretty sure the neighbors are to blame. When none of the adults will listen to him, he takes matters into his own hands.
- In this town, the citizens always elect a twelve-year-old mayor. When the mayor turns fourteen, they elect a new twelve-year-old. The newest mayor doesn’t want to give up his seat. What happens?
- In this fantasy world , an immortal tree keeps the kingdom alive and strong. The princess in line to the throne notices that the tree is beginning to get sick. What’s causing the sickness, and how does she save her kingdom?
- Every year, the Richards go to the same cabin for a week-long vacation, and Emily is sick of it. When they get there, Emily’s mom tells her this is the last time they’re coming to the cabin. Why?
- A group of Girl Scouts discovers a secret society living in the campground mountains. The citizens of this society are kind, but they offer the Girl Scouts a choice–stay forever, or never come back.
- The local middle school D&D club falls into their world, and has to survive the campaign with their friend still acting as Dungeon Master.
- The principal is dragging his feet solving the series of locker thefts terrorizing the middle school. One group of kids decides to get to the bottom of things and catch the locker thief red-handed.
With these prompts under your belt, you’re ready to get started. Happy writing!
Have you written something with one of our writing prompts? Share your stories below!
Gloria Russell
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