Flash Fiction Writing Prompts

This is a list of 25 of my favourite writing prompts I have seen and/or written to.

1. Smoke hung so thick in the library’s rafters that she could read words in it. (Courtesy of "100 Days Of Flash Fiction Prompts" from eadeverell.com)

2. Someone’s life takes on new meaning after they discover an unusual tree. (Courtesy of "100 Days Of Flash Fiction Prompts" from eadeverell.com)

3. She’d been coming here every day for four years, and there was never any work to do. (Courtesy of "100 Days Of Flash Fiction Prompts" from eadeverell.com)

4. Your favourite historical figure is in love with you. (Courtesy of "100 Days Of Flash Fiction Prompts" from eadeverell.com)

5. With the tip of his paintbrush, he soaked up one of my tears. (Courtesy of "100 Days Of Flash Fiction Prompts" from eadeverell.com)

6. Write about a character whose house is burning down. Their family escapes out the front. They escape out the back and run into the forest in a panic and get lost. When they are unaccounted for by rescuers, they are pronounced dead. Rather than show up and correct everyone, they decide to roll with it for a while. (Courtesy of "62 of the Best Flash Fiction Story Prompts" from squibler.io)

7. A teenager has the ability to see how dangerous a person is – on a scale of 1-10 – simply by looking at them. An angry man with an assault rifle and a list of enemies would be a 7 or 8. The new kid at school is measuring 10 every day. (Courtesy of "62 of the Best Flash Fiction Story Prompts" from squibler.io)

8. Everyone is born with two tattoos. One matches their soulmate and the other matches their biggest enemy. Write about a character who’s two tattoos are the same. (Courtesy of "62 of the Best Flash Fiction Story Prompts" from squibler.io)

9. A world-renowned surgeon is curing patients of cancer. The technology he is using to do so is leading to shared hallucinations which cause his patients to do the bidding of a mysterious leader. He is secretly the leader, and he is controlling them. Write from a patient’s perspective. (Courtesy of "62 of the Best Flash Fiction Story Prompts" from squibler.io)

10. Evolution is starting to go backward. Humans are reverting back to instinct. Behavior is more closely resembling that of animals every day. What does this look like? (Courtesy of "62 of the Best Flash Fiction Story Prompts" from squibler.io)

11. Your protagonist must meet their ex for lunch to tell them they’re now engaged. It’s been just a few weeks since they split up. (Courtesy of "100 Awesome Flash Fiction Prompts - Plus Bonus Prompts!" from globesoup.net)

12. A message written in graffiti on a bathroom wall has serious implications for your protagonist. (Courtesy of "100 Awesome Flash Fiction Prompts - Plus Bonus Prompts!" from globesoup.net)

13. Your protagonist is waiting for someone important at the airport. They begin to think that person isn’t going to show up … and then they realise why. (Courtesy of "100 Awesome Flash Fiction Prompts - Plus Bonus Prompts!" from globesoup.net)

14. A waiter finally finds out why an old man has been coming to the restaurant where he works every day at exactly the same time. (Courtesy of "100 Awesome Flash Fiction Prompts - Plus Bonus Prompts!" from globesoup.net)

15. “What kind of mother lets her kids do things like that? Are you a Christian? Most libs aren’t. Are you?” I saw my mother’s face in my mind as I answered, “No.” (Courtesy of "99 Fun Flash Fiction Writing Prompts" from authority.pub)

16. In less than twenty minutes, she would come out of the room, and we’d spend the new few minutes in silent chaos preparing dinner. (Courtesy of "99 Fun Flash Fiction Writing Prompts" from authority.pub)

17. I finally had my very own AI housekeeper. She learned quickly, anticipating every need. What I never expected was the look she gave me when I thanked her. (Courtesy of "99 Fun Flash Fiction Writing Prompts" from authority.pub)

18. He’d died giving her time to run. Today, at the gym, she showed me the ring. When I asked if she knew the masked killer, she looked across the room — to her trainer. (Courtesy of "99 Fun Flash Fiction Writing Prompts" from authority.pub)

19. Humans are chosen by dragons when they jump off a cliff on their sixteenth birthday. Dragons have caught humans every time, but your character has reason to believe she won't be caught. What does she do? (Courtesy of "Flash Fiction Prompts: 50+ Ideas to Get Started Writing" from kindlepreneur.com)

20. Write a Regency romance about a young soldier coming home to the love of his life after suffering a disfiguring injury. (Courtesy of "Flash Fiction Prompts: 50+ Ideas to Get Started Writing" from kindlepreneur.com)

21. A young man and an old man sit and talk about death. One of them is dying, but which one isn't clear from their conversation. (Courtesy of "Flash Fiction Prompts: 50+ Ideas to Get Started Writing" from kindlepreneur.com)

22. A hitchhiker takes a motorist hostage because he's trying to get to the hospital to see his sister before she dies. (Courtesy of "Flash Fiction Prompts: 50+ Ideas to Get Started Writing" from kindlepreneur.com)

23. Write a story that contains at least three of these elements: body lice, gasoline, a Hostess product, a childhood hero, an outdated slang expression, a song title or your favourite flavor. (Courtesy of "30 Flash Fiction Prompts" from nancystohlman.com)

24. Pushing a pram through the mall made shoplifting easy. ‘The Christmas rush’, James observed, as he walked slowly through carol-filled Westfield, ‘only made it easier’. (Courtesy of "Flash Fiction Prompts To Spark Inspiration" from jerichowriters.com)

25. Eliza touched the flowers on the grave and they came back to life. “Being an elemental has its perks,” she said to her sister. “Now let’s get what we came for.” (Courtesy of "Flash Fiction Prompts To Spark Inspiration" from jerichowriters.com)

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Bonus Prompts!

1. While peeling a banana open, your banana starts talking to you. You run into the kitchen to find that all food is alive! (Courtesy of "50+ Flash Fiction Prompts To Inspire You" from imagineforest.com)

2. An adventurer discovers a glowing cube inside a dark cave in South America. But when they try to leave the cave, the cube summons a secret league of assassins. (Courtesy of "50+ Flash Fiction Prompts To Inspire You" from imagineforest.com)

3. After missing your mom’s birthday dinner, your day keeps looping. Every day the same exact things keep happening. People say the exact same thing to you, the same exact test at school and the same exact argument. How will you escape this looping nightmare? (Courtesy of "50+ Flash Fiction Prompts To Inspire You" from imagineforest.com)

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I hope you enjoy the prompts!