Sixteen Scintillating Short Story Starters

Darren Rowse over at ProBlogger has a group writing project on again this week. He has asked for submissions of lists.

Here is a short list of sixteen super, scintillating, stunning and simply sensational short story starters for writers. Try them. Let me know how they go – and if you get anything published – good luck.

And if you should be blessed enough to get a royalty cheque or two, you can send me a commision for the idea!

Sixteen Scintillating Short Story Starters:

  1. “It was a dark and stormy…” oops – that’s been used before.

Let’s start again…

  1. Harry was puzzled when the door didn’t open.
  2. The headlights were coming straight towards Peter and he couldn’t move.
  3. Only the flimsy wall of my tent separated me from the low rumbling growl.
  4. I was not expecting what was waiting for me just as I rounded the corner.
  5. Rosalie stifled her scream and cowered under the blanket.
  6. Those last few steps seemed the most difficult I had ever made in my life.
  7. As I read the contents of the letter, I was aware of the smile on my face.
  8. It happened so quickly I had no time to think, only react.
  9. Jenny finally became agitated by the monotonous ticking of the ornate clock on the mantlepiece.
  10. John stared open-mouthed as the ball soared majestically over the fence.
  11. Wendy didn’t see the danger ahead.
  12. Paul couldn’t resist shouting out his joy.
  13. The eagle swooped low over the trees.
  14. I didn’t know until that moment that Nell was so afraid of spiders.
  15. Greg closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and jumped.
  16. It was not the birthday gift I was expecting.

Just to show how generous I can be, here is a bonus idea:

  • Suddenly, nothing happened – but it happened suddenly.

Happy writing.

Check out my own short fiction here.

More writing hints can be found here.

Related articles:

Check out my other blogs:

Update: for a complete list of my short story starters click here.

 

27 Responses to “Sixteen Scintillating Short Story Starters”

  1. […] Sixteen Scintillating Short Story Starters by Trevor […]

  2. MamaDuck says:

    LOL you aren’t using all those?? 😉 Our list is up if you’d like to look… have a great day!

  3. Shadows Edge says:

    Hey Trevor, nice list! If you ever need a little extra inspiration, check out our Quick Steps. Stop by and let us know what you think of our blog. 😉

  4. Trevor says:

    Yeah – I might get to use them someday. Too many other projects in the pipeline at present.
    The beauty of suggesting a list of story starters like that is one can give the list to a group of, say, thirty people, and the resulting 30 stories will all be different. Some years ago I bought a book of short stories and every author used a single photo as the starting point. All the stories were fascinating, and quite different.

  5. […] My submission is called Sixteen Scintillating Short Story Starters. […]

  6. […] My submission to the group writing project […]

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  10. […] Scintillating Short Story Starters – my contribution to the “Lists” project. < Leave a comment >   […]

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  16. Problogger List Post Project Update says:

    […] Sixteen Scintillating Short Story Starters by Trevor – Just the thing to fight writer’s block […]

  17. katie says:

    these are great! they gave me a good idea for my story. thank you

  18. Trevor says:

    Thanks for stopping by Katie. It’s always good to get positive feedback from readers like this. All the best with your writing.

  19. minniemouse says:

    thank you so much!!!!!!
    These are awsome short story starters!!!!!!!!!!!
    They helped me with many things with my homework…

  20. Trevor says:

    Thanks Minniemouse – it is always pleasing to hear back from happy readers. All the best.

  21. Rebecca says:

    Thank you so much!!! I was able to start an awesome story that I plan to give to my teacher for extra credit to raise my B to an A. Thanks to your awesome story start ups I was able to get an A in Reading!!!! Thank you one again!!! 😀

  22. Trevor says:

    That’s excellent news Rebecca. Keep trying hard with your writing – one day you could be a famous writer – and it all started here!

  23. so ya thank for the sweet story ideas. its going to be easyer to start the story. thank again

  24. Lyn says:

    Thank you for the fabulous story starters and ideas. I can’t wait to start writing! 🙂

  25. Sim Styles says:

    OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Just reading your sentences made me think sbout the story 🙂

  26. Scribd.Com says:

    Très bon poste : continuez comme cela

  27. […] Sixteen Scintillating Short Story Starters by Trevor […]