Sample Story Starters

1. "Get that thing away from me!" the girl yelled.

2. "That will show them," I thought as I hammered the last nail into place.
3. Everyone had a partner but me. What was I supposed to do now?
4. For the most part, Grandpa was a nice man who liked best of all to
5. Goats, sheep and chickens belong on the farm, not in the middle of...
6. "Get out of there as fast as you can!", I yelled to my brother as...
7. Have you ever noticed that some days seem much longer than others?
8. He didn't look like a genius, he looked more like...
9. He was afraid, but he called upon all his courage as...
10. Her eyes were glazed with a fever, making her...
11. I had always wanted a puppy.
12. I looked around the room. Nothing seemed unusual, but then
13. I never expected that one day I'd open my closet and find...
14. It was three times as large as me, but I was going to try anyway.
15. I never thought I could do it, but
16. If this was the truth, then the truth was wrong because...
17. If time could stand still or even go backwards, I would
18. It was a weird thing, hairy and smelly and limp, but I loved it because...
19. It was Christmas morning, but I was not anxious to...
20. My dog jumped up and started barking...
21. It was my best friend's deepest secret and it would be a hard one to keep...
22. What would you do if your best friend said...
23. I knew it was going to be an unusual day when my mom came into my bedroom and said...
24. It was quiet.... too quiet. That could only mean that...
25. It's hard to know what a computer will do when you plug it in during a thunderstorm....
26. It's lost! What could I do now that
27. Late one night the neighbor knocked on the front door and asked....

28. I looked up at the stars, and I thought I saw ...

29. She was a funny old lady, but I knew she had come to tell me...
30. I knew if I didn't get nervous, I could make the shot.
31. She was peering through the window, counting the cars that went by, wondering...
32. Every time my favorite TV show comes on my mom always says, ...
33. Something brushed against me and my surprise turned to horror as I saw...
34. The boy appeared at the door of the cabin, looking ...
35. The castle stood at the top of the hill, close enough to see that in a high window stood...
36. The communicator lay silent in his hand and he realized he had lost contact with...
37. This was not home! The grass was orange and in the sky we saw...
38. The horse pawed restlessly at the ground, a beast eagerly waiting for...
39. The spaceship was out of control and only one person could save us....
40. The waves crashed across the sand and I knew....
41. The wind whipped around the corner, moaning and warning me that...
42. There is nothing better than
43. They were in the grocery store, in the freezer section, when it happened.
44. This was it. The moment I had dreaded for two weeks. The moment when....
45. Three seconds left on the scoreboard clock -- only three seconds before....
46. Today is the day I turn myself into a new person, a person whom...
47. Today was the day! I finally was going to
48. We watched in horror as our friend turned the corner and bumped right into
49. What was I supposed to do? I knew what my friend had done was wrong, but
50. "Where did everyone go?" I shouted, but there was no answer.
51. She was running faster than she thought possible.
52. The sun set over the rooftops.
53. It was more than just another place on a map, it was where everything happened.
54. She heard tapping on the window.
55. The fire had gone out and the air was cold and damp.

56. She placed it in her pocket, turned and ran.

57. He pulled the rope slowly, not sure what would happen next.
58. The man had seen better days that was for sure. His nose was bent, his eyes bore old bruises and he had
forgotten how to smile.
59. The dancing went on longer than it should but then the music showed no signs of stopping either.
60. The edge of the carpet was pulled back. He bent down to look.
61. It wasnt far now. She had walked for hours.
62. The sea was the darkest blue and so was the boat. He didnt want to get in but he had no choice.
63. The tall building seemed to sway but she knew that must be an illusion. Buildings didnt move.
64. The cows gathered at the top of the field. They knew what he was going to do.
65. The train was packed. She would have to stand all the way.
66. The plaster crumbled around the window.
67. The man whistled so cheerfully youd never guess he had a corpse in his suitcase.
68. The colour green reminded him of home.
69. She went slowly along the corridor, trying to find the source of the noise.
70. It might take a while to finish the task but she knew it had to be done. Unpleasant tasks always have to
be done.
71. The owl swooped down and took the mouse, just as she knew it would.
72. His eyes were brown with a tiny fleck of gold at the edge.
73. A stolen ring, fear of spiders, and a sinister stranger.
74. A taxi, an old enemy, and Valentine's Day.
75. Identical twins, a party invitation, and a locked closet.
76. A broken wristwatch, peppermints, and a hug that goes too far.
77. Aerobics, a secret diary, and something unpleasant under the bed.
78. An ex-boyfriend, a pair of binoculars, and a good-luck charm.
79. An annoying boss, a bikini, and a fake illness.
80. The first day of school, a love note, and a recipe with a significant mistake.
81. A horoscope, makeup, and a missing tooth.
82. A campfire, a scream, and a small lie that gets bigger and bigger.

83. A babysitter is snooping around her employer's house and finds a disturbing photograph...
84. At a Chinese restaurant, your character opens his fortune cookie and reads the following message:
"Your life is in danger. Say nothing to anyone. You must leave the city immediately and never return.
Repeat: say nothing."...
85. Your character's boss invites her and her husband to dinner. Your character wants to make a good
impression, but her husband has a tendency to drink too much and say exactly what's on his mind...
86. It's your character's first day at a new school. He or she wants to get a fresh start, develop a new
identity. But in his or her homeroom, your character encounters a kid he or she knows from summer
camp...
87. Your character has to tell his parents that he's getting a divorce. He knows his parents will take his
wife's side, and he is right...
88. At the airport, a stranger offers your character money to carry a mysterious package onto the plane. The
stranger assures your character that it's nothing illegal and points out that it has already been through
the security check. Your character has serious doubts, but needs the money, and therefore agrees...
89. Your character suspects her husband is having an affair and decides to spy on him. What she discovers
is not what she was expecting...
90. A man elbows your character in a crowd. After he is gone, she discovers her cell phone is too. She calls
her own number, and the man answers. She explains that the cell phone has personal information on it
and asks the man to send it back to her. He hangs up. Instead of going to the police, your character
decides to take matters into her own hands...
91. After your character loses his job, he is home during the day. That's how he discovers that his teenage
son has a small marijuana plantation behind the garage. Your character confronts his son, who, instead
of acting repentant, explains to your character exactly how much money he is making from the
marijuana and tries to persuade your character to join in the business...
92. At a garage sale, your character buys an antique urn which she thinks will look nice decorating her
bookcase. But when she gets home, she realizes there are someone's ashes in it....
93.
Your character starts receiving flowers and anonymous gifts. She doesn't know who is sending them.
Her husband is suspicious, and the gifts begin to get stranger....

94. A missionary visits your character's house and attempts to convert her to his religion. Your character is
trying to get rid of him just as storm warning sirens go off. Your character feels she can't send the
missionary out into the storm, so she lets him come down into her basement with her. This is going to
be a long storm....
95. Your character is caught shoplifting. The shop owner says that she won't call the police in exchange for
a personal favor....
96. Your character is visiting his parents over a holiday. He is returning some books to the library for his
mother and is startled to notice that the librarian looks exactly like him, only about thirty years older.
He immediately begins to suspect that his mother had an affair at one time and the librarian is his real
father...
97. Your character picks up a hitch-hiker on her way home from work. The hitch-hiker tries to persuade
your character to leave everything and drive her across the country...
98. Your character has to sell the house where she grew up. A potential buyer comes to look at it and begins
to talk about all of the changes she would make to the place. This upsets your character, who decides
she wants to find a buyer who will leave everything the way it has always been....
99. A bat gets in the house. Your character's husband becomes hysterical, frightened that it might be rabid.
In his panic, he ends up shutting the bat in a room with your character while he calls an exterminator
from a safe place in the house. His behavior makes your character see her husband in a new way....
100.

Your character changes jobs in order to have more time with his family. But his family doesn't

seem interested in having him around...

101.

Your character develops the idea that she can hear the voices of the dead on a certain radio

channel. She decides to take advantage of this channel to find answers to some questions that are
bothering her about her dead parents....
102.

Your character's dream is to be a professional dancer. At a party, she mentions this dream to a

stranger, who says that he has contacts in the dance world and gets her an audition for a prestigious
dance troupe. One problem: your character doesn't know how to dance. Your character decides to
accept the audition anyway and look for a solution....
103.

Your character thinks her boss is looking for an excuse to fire her. She decides to fight back....

104.

Your character goes out for dinner on a date and becomes attracted to the waiter or waitress....

105.

Your character notices that a stranger is following her. She pretends not to notice. The stranger

follows her home and watches her go inside. Then when he leaves, your character turns the tables and
starts to follow him....
106.

A child moves into a new house and finds out that the other kids in town think it's haunted. She

begins to invent ghost stories to tell at school in order to get attention. But the more stories she tells, the
more frightened she becomes of the house...
107.

Your elderly character escapes from the retirement home where his or her children have placed

him or her....
108.

Your character gets cosmetic surgery in an attempt to make her boyfriend love her more. But

then she worries he only loves her for her looks....

109.

Your character is a writer. But his new neighbors are so noisy that he can neither work nor sleep.

He decides to take action....

110.

Your character's mother-in-law comes to visit for a week, and your character suspects she is

trying to poison him. He shares his suspicion with his wife, who says he's always hated her mother but
this accusation is going too far. Meanwhile, your character has stomach cramps, and his mother-in-law
is downstairs making breakfast again....
111.It's a freezing cold night. Your character finds a homeless family on his doorstep and invites them into
his home to sleep. But in the morning, the family doesn't leave....
112.

Your character has recently married a man with two teenage children. The children resent her,

and she tries to avoid them altogether. Then her new husband (their father) disappears suddenly,
leaving only a short good-bye note....
113.

Make a list of five things you're afraid of happening to you. Then write a story in which one of

them happens to your character..

114.

Think of a big problem that one of your friends had to face. Then write a story in which your

character battles with that problem..

115.

What is one of your bad habits? Invent a character who has the bad habit, but a much worse case

of it than you have. Write a story where this habit gets your character into trouble.

116.

What is one of your greatest strengths? Invent a character who doesn't have this strength. Create

a situation in which having this strength is very important for your character. What does your character
do? Write the story.