Best Fantasy Writing Prompts

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The best fantasy writing prompts

Writing fantasy comes with the privilege of being only limited by your own imagination: the worlds, characters, and plots you can develop are endless. And while that’s exciting, it can also come with the challenge of too many options; is your hero going to be a wizard or a warlock? A dwarf or a gnome? A halfling with a human father, and a with mother? Will they live in the heart of a secret ancient citadel, or a crumbling house in the shadowy forest? Do they have the power to fly, or to manipulate dreams? Is their nemesis an undead monster, or a giant beast? Is the story set on our earth, or on another world entirely? 

With so many possible fantasy story ideas, how do you pick just one to focus on? Hopefully, browsing through our fantasy writing prompts will give you that lightbulb moment and help you settle on that magic premise.

Here are our top ten fantasy writing prompts:

We’re not just stopping at helping you find the right fantasy plot idea to write about. Here are some resources to help you craft a fantastic short story, or whatever type of fantasy writing you’re interested in :

Want more help learning how to write a fantasy short story? Check out How to Write a Short Story That Gets Published — a free, ten-day course guiding you through the process of short story writing by Laura Mae Isaacman, a full-time editor who runs a book editing company in Brooklyn.

Ready to start writing? Check out Reedsy’s weekly short story contest, for the chance of winning $250, plus potential publication in our literary magazine, Prompted! You can also check out our list of writing contests or our directory of literary magazines for more opportunities to submit your story.

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