Save the Old Bookshop
Write a story about a small town that comes together to save its oldest bookstore from closing, where each character shares a unique memory tied to a particular book they found there.
Suggested length: A short story: 1,500 to 5,000 words, or flash fiction under 1,000
Start the clock
Pick a sprint, press start and keep going until it stops. Momentum beats polish on a first draft.
Make it yours
Three ways to take this prompt somewhere nobody else will.
- Tell it through the messages, notes or voicemails the characters leave.
- Write the scene everyone else would skip: the morning after.
- End on a small gesture rather than a speech.
Writing short story collections
Many stories, one sitting each, and every one has to land.
A collection gathers short stories, usually by one author and often linked by theme, place or character. Each story is a complete world in a few thousand words, which makes them the hardest test of craft and the easiest way to start.
What readers expect
- Complete stories, read in one sitting
- A shared theme, voice or place
- Compression: every word counts
- Endings that resonate
A tip before you start
Most collections start as stories published one at a time in magazines. Send yours out: it builds the book and your track record.
More Short Story prompts
- The Neighborhood's Secret NightImagine a neighborhood that holds an annual, secret event that is not spoken of outside its bounds. Write about a newcomer's first experience of this…
- The Diner at the Edge of TownCraft a tale centered around a small diner at the edge of town that becomes the unlikely meeting place for two strangers who share a remarkable…
- The Pie ContestCreate a tale of a small town's annual pie-baking contest, which is taken very seriously by its residents. Dive into the lives of three contestants…
- Saving the Old LibraryTell the story of an old, worn-out public library facing closure, and the eccentric group of locals who come together to save it. Focus on one…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
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