Ready to get your creative juices flowing? Fiction writing prompts and online apps are some of the best places to go when you need to start generating story ideas.
Whether you need ideas for a new book or you just want to give yourself a creative boost through extra writing practice, writing prompts can really get your creative mind moving.
Fiction prompts also provide great options when you need a specific type of fiction story for a publication, contest, or blog post.
Here are a few of my favorite places to go for generating story ideas. These generators are part of my “Fiction Writing Prompts” list on my Writer Resource Page.
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Reedsy Plot Generator:
The Reedsy Plot Generator is my favorite of all the idea generators on this list. This handy webpage lets you randomly generate a story idea based on genre. Then, you keep the pieces of the story you like and regenerate the pieces that you don’t.
You can keep shuffling through different combinations until you find the perfect setup for your unique writing project.
Reedsy also offers an enormous library of helpful blog posts and resources for turning your unique prompt into a fully developed story. The Reedsy Blog is one of the most comprehensive places to find information and support for your writing practice.
And the Marketplace is a great connection point to find editors, cover designers, marketing experts and more.
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Film Crux:
The Film Crux Story Idea Generator was originally made for screen-play writers. Even so, this generator can be just as helpful to any writer who favors modern fiction. This generator lets you fill in the plot by flipping through detail slides to create a unique story line.
Unlike the Reedsy Plot Generator, Film Crux offers a more generic plot prompt so you can fill in the details yourself as you figure out what you want to write about.
This is a great option if you already have a character in mind but you are looking for an interesting plot to shove them into.
First Line Generator:
The Random First Line Generator by WritingExercises.co is just one of a long list of helpful story generators offered on the Writing Exercises website. They have a generator for just about anything a fiction writer might need from plots, characters, town names, titles and so much more.
The Random First Line Generator is my favorite on the site because a lot of my story ideas come to me through an opening scene. The first line generator gives you a great opening line, so you can fill in the rest of the scene and then figure out how that line came to pass.
However, if starting with the first line isn’t your thing, you can easily hop over to the “Quick Plot” generator or the “What-If Scenario” generator instead to see what kinds of ideas those prompts spark for you.
Plot Generator:
Plot-Generator.org offers a unique tool that allows you to choose your generator based on genre and then fill in pieces of the prompt that you may have already figured out, such as character names or nearby places.
Once you have filled in all the blanks, either with your own ideas or by using the “suggest” feature, the generator will “write” you a story based on the details you provided, giving you an entertaining plot.
The tool writes at a very basic level, so don’t expect to copy and paste the story provided.
However, this tool is great as a starting off point to help writers who may be stuck or need a fresh take on an idea. It’s also just a fun tool to play with for brainstorming sessions.
Springhole Generators:
The Springhole website offers a long list of story tools, many of which you won’t find anywhere else. These generators include a “Character Bonding Moment Generator” and “Genre Blender”. They even have a “Randomly Random Generator” that will choose a generator for you!
There are so many options that something here is bound to spark an idea.
My favorite plot generator on the site is the Fairytale Plot Generator. It takes generic fairy tale elements and blends them together in unique and interesting ways. I have spent entire afternoons with this tool, shuffling through prompts and brainstorming new ideas.
The website also offers help with world building, character creation, and plot development. You could spend hours playing around on this site and still not have discovered everything.
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The Story Shack:
The Story Shack Prompt Generator is a tool meant to challenge your writing abilities. Prompts from this site are often more detailed than prompts from other places and typically include a “bonus prompt” that more experienced writers may use to further challenge themselves.
You can also generate prompts based on story titles, themes, and character personalities. These are great story starters for anyone looking to strengthen their writing muscles.
The Story Shack website has many other great tools for writers. They have one of the most extensive sets of name generators on the web, and they provide the option to view their site in several languages.
Their Taleforge writing exercise app will also generate writing prompts and ideas, set goals for you, and then set a time limit for you to write in the app.
Once your story is finished, you can submit it to the site for a chance to have it showcased on their “Stories” page.
Bonus: Reddit Writing Prompts
Not really a generator, but still a great source for writing ideas, the Writing Prompts subreddit deserves to be mentioned on this list. This is a Reddit feed where users will post their favorite prompt ideas for people to use for writing practice.
Contributors include their stories in the comments for feedback and the community weighs in on the best ones. This is a great place to connect with other writers and enjoy posting your writing for fun.
Conclusion
These are my six favorite fiction writing prompt generators on the web. I love the versatility that these generators provide and love using them to challenge my own writing abilities.
Your next big writing idea is right around the corner!
If you need ideas for your next writing project, or just want to get in some good practice, check out the generators above, and share links to your stories in the comments!
Where is your favorite place to find writing prompts? Tell me about it in the comments!
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