245+ Category: Novel Writing Prompts
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Strength in Crisis
Draft a compelling scene where your main character handles a crisis or a challenging situation.
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Unexpected Alliance
Write about a moment when your protagonist forms an unlikely friendship or alliance.
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Symbols of Connection
Describe an object or person that carries immense significance for your leading character.
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A Show of Character
Put your protagonist in a situation where they perform an act of kindness randomly.
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Unveiling Vulnerabilities
Chronicle a moment where your protagonist is vulnerable and shares their deepest fears.
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The Elusive Stranger
A stranger with a mysterious past unexpectedly walks into the protagonist’s life.
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Forgotten Letters
Write about a long-forgotten letter that resurfaces and hurls the protagonist into a journey full of surprises.
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Unexpected Inheritance
Write about a character who receives a surprise inheritance from a distant relative.
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The Provocateur
Craft a tale where a neutral character intentionally fuels the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist.
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Retribution Quest
A once-compassionate protagonist seeks vengeance after their loved ones are brutally taken away by the antagonist.
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Hidden Agenda
The protagonist is sent on a mission by their trusted mentor but discovers it’s a trap set up by the…
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Behind the Mask
Construct a narrative in which the main antagonist deceives the hero by posing as their closest ally.
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Uneasy Alliance
Write about two mortal enemies who are forced to work together to survive a greater threat.
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Exotic Planet Exploration
Describe in detail a completely new world or planet that you’ve just discovered.
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Recipe of Life
Select a meal from your past that holds a special significance for you and tell its story.
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Blooming Relationships
Choose a significant relationship in your life that evolved over time and describe its journey.
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A Letter to Future Me
Compose a letter to your future self, detailing your current hopes, fears, dreams and ambitions.
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Personal Groundbreakers
Write about an experience or event which broke barriers and perhaps, altered your worldview forever.
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Forgotten Activities
Think back to the hobbies or interests you had in your teenage years. Pick one and describe it in great…
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Reality TV Reimagined
Write a dialogue between two reality TV show contestants, but from a futuristic or fantastical show that doesn’t exist.
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Unmasked Intentions
Craft a dialogue where two characters say one thing but imply an entirely different thing.
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Overheard in a Café
Create a dialogue between two characters based on an interesting conversation you’ve overheard in public.
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Revolutionary Moment
Write a chapter in which your character sparks a revolution or significant change in their environment.
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In The Spotlight
Craft a chapter where your main character steps into the spotlight for the first time.
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Facing The Fear
Develop a chapter in which your character has to confront a fear that has haunted them for years.
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Unexpected Reunion
Create a chapter where your main character unexpectedly crosses paths with a figure from their past.
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The Unseen Guardians
Create a realm where invisible guardians protect the inhabitants of a peaceful village.
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Land of Five Elements
Imagine a world where the inhabitants can only use one of five elements: Earth, Water, Fire, Air, or Spirit.
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Monsters from the Mists
Invent a monstrous creature that steps out from the fog. How do your characters react?
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Kingdom of the Lost
Write about a forgotten kingdom, desolate for centuries, suddenly found by a commoner.
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Transformative Relationships
Write about a relationship your character has that significantly transformed them.
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The Unspoken Belief
Write a scene where your character is confronted about a belief they hold but have never openly expressed.
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Echoes from an Earlier Life
Imagine your character in a past life and write about an event in that life which is subtly echoed in…
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Life-Altering Decisions
Select a character and write about a crucial decision they made in the past that shaped who they are now.
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Switching Personalities
Choose two characters in your story and try writing a scene where they swap personalities.
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Another Life’s Footsteps
Imagine our life if you were born in a completely different place, time, and socio-economic condition.
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Deconstruction of Belief
Challenge and deconstruct a deeply ingrained belief or ideology you had in your youth.
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The Love We Lost
Write about a lost romantic relationship, illustrating both its brilliance during the peak and the factors contributing to its end.
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Unattended Consequences
Consider a split-second decision you made, and imagine how that decision drastically changed your life (for better or worse).
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Finding your Reflection
Write about meeting your exact mirror image life – how it looks, feels, and what you learn from it.
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Significant Sacrifice
Write a story where the protagonist makes a great sacrifice to ensure a satisfying resolution.
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Circular Narrative
Design a story where the conclusion ‘mirrors’ the starting scene, providing a sense of completion.
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Unexpected Hero
Write about a seemingly insignificant character who, in the story’s climax, becomes the unlikely hero.
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The Curve of Redemption
Explore the journey of a deeply flawed character who finds redemption at the end of the story.
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Vanishing Acts
Concoct a subplot where a character goes missing, only to reappear at a crucial moment.
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Unlikely Heroes
Create a subplot centered on a timid or unlikely character who eventually becomes a hero.
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Rivals to Allies
Introduce a subplot that involves two characters starting as bitter rivals but eventually becoming staunch allies.
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Lost and Found
Create a subplot that involves a character’s quest for a lost item or person that holds symbolic importance.
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Instruments of Change
Illustrate a subplot where a minor character triggers a significant change in the course of the story.
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Fragmented Past
Create a character shaped by fragments of their past that they themselves don’t fully remember.
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Hidden Secrets
Imagine a character with a deep, hidden secret that influences their actions and decisions.
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The Unfinished Narrative
Write an epilogue that leaves some things unanswered, indicating that the characters’ stories continue.
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Game-Changer Reveal
The epilogue reveals a plot twist that changes the reader’s understanding of the whole story.
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Time Warper
In the epilogue, project the reader into the distant future, speaking about the long-term consequences of the events in your…
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Cataclysmic Cliffhanger
For your prologue, write a tense and thrilling scene that ends in a cliffhanger.
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Layering the Past
Write a prologue that reveals a significant event from your protagonist’s past that still haunts them.
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Switching Roles
Develop a story in which two characters suddenly find themselves living each other’s lives.
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Life-Saving Enemy
Pen a story where your protagonist’s deadliest enemy turns out to be their life’s savior.
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The Mirror Twist
Write about a character who discovers that their reflection in the mirror starts to behave differently.
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Roots and Routes
Describe the place your character was born and raised, their journey from there, and how this movement has impacted their…
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Forces of Nature
Explore a natural disaster or significant environmental event that your character experienced.
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Handing Down Heirlooms
Write about an heirloom or tradition passed down in your character’s family and its impact on them.
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A Fellow Voyager
Chronicle the dynamics of your character’s earliest friendship, a relationship that played a part in shaping their worldview.
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Invisible Wounds
Write about a perceived slight or injury your character received as a child which still influences them as an adult.
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Love Me, Love My Dog
Write about a character whose flaw is that they are over-protective of their pet, to the point of isolating themselves…
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Growing Pains
Describe a character who begins with a glaring flaw that eventually becomes their biggest strength.
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The Manifold Mirror
Invent a character with multiple favorable traits that gradually morph into glaring flaws.
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Breaking the Veneer
Create a character who initially shows a flawless and unbroken facade, yet their flaw burns within them causing self-destruction.
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Build the Bridge
Begin with a character’s defining qualities and weave a narrative on how they learned or cultivated these traits.
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Peeling the Layers
Write about a closed-off, enigmatic character who gradually opens up, revealing layers of complexity beneath their initial exterior.
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Chain of Change
Write about a character experiencing a series of significant life-altering events that drives a dramatic evolution of their persona.
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The Trajectory of Trials
Write about a character who is faced with debilitating or seemingly insurmountable challenges and how they overcome them.
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Unmasking Hidden Identities
Write about a character who undergoes a powerful transformation, revealing a new identity hidden underneath.
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Poetic Undertones
Write a short story imbued with the rhythm and style of a specific type of poetry.
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Epistolary Experiment
Write a letter from one character to another, showcasing each one’s distinctive voice and style.
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Reality Shattering Finale
The protagonist reaches the climax of their journey only to find out that the world they believed in doesn’t exist.
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Tying Loose Ends
Plan a sequence where all the unresolved conflicts and loose ends of the story are addressed, leading to a completely…
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The Unexpected Twist
Write a surprising plot twist at the very end that leaves readers breathless and rethinking the entire story.
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The Eleventh Hour Sacrifice
Craft a sequence where a main character makes a self-sacrifice to save others, leading to an unforgettable conclusion.
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Unmasking The Antagonist
Write an unexpected locking of horns between the protagonist and antagonist, where the antagonist reveals a hidden truth that changes…
