Story Prompt Compilation From Instagram

If you’re a writer like me, you may tend to find inspiration in the weirdest places. Lately, I’ve found a lot of inspiration on Instagram through reels with snippets from best sellers that catch my attention. There are also occasional story prompts that pop up and stop me dead in my tracks as I wonder about the story that could be.

Here are a few writing prompts I’ve found on Instagram that I’ve explored and even used as inspiration for some of my characters’ development.

• You write a book where the main character finds out they were the villain the whole time. What would the last line be?

• (Variation) If you could write a book about a character slowly realizing they’re the villain, what would the last line be?

• If you wrote a book where the first and last sentences were the same but had different meanings, what would they be?

• You write a book about a villain who was betrayed by the only person they trusted, what would the last line be?

• (Variation) You write a book about the hero who fell for the villain but was still betrayed in the end. What would the last line be?

• If you were writing a book about your life, what would be the title?

• You’re writing a book about a character who idealizes death, but finds purpose in life throughout the story instead. What would the last line be?

As a special addition, here are 10 writing prompts I thought of based on Instagram reels and ideas that came from some of the prompts listed above.

• Think of 5 variations of “Touch her, I’ll kill you” from 5 completely different characters. (For those ‘morally gray’ lovers.)

• You write a book where the hero starts to fall for the villain. What would be their inner thoughts as they realize it’s too late to stop falling for them?

• Think of 3 ways for your main character to confess their love for a character they should have never fallen in love with.

• You write a book that starts as a romance but turns into a revenge story. What would the first line be? What about the last?

• You write a book about a character who has never had a safe place to call home. In the end, they find that home is not a place, but with the person they love. What would the last line be?

• (Variation) You write a book about a character who has never had a safe place to call home. In the end, they realize they were causing their own unhappiness and self-destruction. What would the last line be?

• You write a book about a character who gave everything they had to fight against the enemy. But in the end, it still wasn’t enough and their demise is on the horizon. As they realize there is nothing left to give, what would their last words be?

• (Variation) Just as the main character is about to die, the enemy saves them. What would be the first thing the enemy says to the main character when they realize who saved them? (It doesn’t have to be out of love.)

• If you were writing a book about your deepest fear personified, what would they look like? What would they say to you?

• If you wrote a book about a character with a nervous habit that no one but their enemy notices, what would it be? How does their enemy use it to their advantage while still not letting anyone else know about their dirty little secret?

Which writing prompt was your favorite? Did any give you any inspiration? Do you have any great story writing prompts of your own? Let us know in the comments.