Story Ideas About Siblings and More...
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Story Starters about the Five Senses
SIGHT: Your character has a new girlfriend, who is blind -- at least, that's what she's led your character to believe believe. Recently, your character is noticing signs that she might actually be able to see. What's going on? Why would someone pretend to be blind?
HEARING: Recently, your character has been hearing strange noises in the house. Sometimes it sounds like someone sobbing; other times, she thinks she can make out words, or names. "Mary," she heard once. "Mary, please, no." She can't figure out where the sounds are coming from. She doesn't know anyone named Mary. And her husband claims not to hear anything at all...
SMELL: A week ago, your character's sister disappeared while hiking in the woods. The police searched the woods and didn't find her. But your character isn't satisfied. He goes to his sister's house and gets her dog Buster, then drives to the woods in the hope that Buster might pick up her scent...
TOUCH: Your character goes on a camping trip with her friend and the friend's boyfriend. In the middle of the night, she wakes up in the dark tent and feels a hand on her arm. She touches the hand -- it's her friend's. Then the friend's finger starts moving over her arm, and your character realizes that she's drawing the shape of letters, that she's trying to tell her something...
TASTE: Your character's new stepmother brings him a glass of orange juice with a funny taste. About an hour later, he starts to feel dizzy, and he spends the whole weekend sick in bed. The next week, she has to go on a business trip for several days, and he starts to feel better while she's away. Then she comes back and makes dinner for him and his father, and when he takes a sip of his milk, he notices that funny taste again. Your character is beginning to have suspicions, but what can he do? His father would never believe him...
SIGHT: Alone at home, your character takes a selfie to post online. Later, when your character looks at the photo again, s/he discovers something unexpected -- a stranger hidden in the shadows behind where your character was standing! Who is it, and what was this person doing in your character's house? Could s/he still be there?
HEARING: Your character overhears someone planning a crime. Your character considers calling the police, but thinks s/he may have misunderstood, so s/he decides to investigate first...
SMELL:Your character wakes in the middle of the night and smells smoke. S/he can't find any signs of a fire, so s/he returns to sleep. In the morning, s/he hears that his/her brother's house across the city burned down that night. Coincidence? ESP? Or could there be another explanation?
TOUCH: In the library where your character works, there's a case of rare, valuable books which no one is supposed to touch. One of these books has an unusual title or cover which piques your character's curiosity. One night, when your character is at the library alone, s/he decides to unlock the case and see what's inside the book. As soon as s/he reaches inside the case, an alarm goes off. Without thinking, your character grabs the book and runs...
TASTE: Your character, a baker, is secretly in love with one of his/her customers. Too shy to speak to him/her, your character finally decides to bake a message for him/her into a cake. But when that cake ends up being bought by the wrong customer, it leads to a major misunderstanding...
Story Starters About Animals
Your character desperately wants to get back together with his ex-girlfriend. When he hears that her dog has gone missing, he sees an opportunity. He decides to find the dog and win her back.
Your character has a phobia about spiders. After an argument with his roommate, he keeps finding spiders around their apartment. He doesn't believe it's a coincidence...
Your character develops the ability to communicate with animals. This ability helps your character to solve a mystery...
Your character's a child whose mother is about to get married. Unfortunately, the husband-to-be is allergic to dogs. Your character has a dog which she loves and doesn't want to give up. She decides her only option is to break up the relationship...
Someone, or something, has been killing pets in the neighborhood. Your character, a pet owner, decides to get to the bottom of it...
Your character and her daughter are camping. They take a walk in the woods, and when they get back to the tent, there's a bear standing outside it. Your character and her daughter get in their car, lock the doors, and wait for the bear to go away. But the bear shows no signs of going away. Your character's daughter's on medication, which she needs to take at regular times, and they left the medicine in the tent...
Your character has fallen in love with an apartment and decides to rent it. Unfortunately for your character, a pet owner, there's a no pets allowed rule. Your character decides to keep his pet hidden, but the pet doesn't want to cooperate...
Your character's dog is digging in the garden and uncovers... (you choose: the wedding ring your character's wife claimed to have lost, a plastic bag filled with cash, a dead body, a staircase that leads to an underground city...)
Your character is disturbed when their pet parrot starts saying words related to violence and death. Who has taught the parrot these words? Is this someone's idea of a joke? Or is it something more sinister?
When your character sees their neighbor mistreating a pet, your character concocts a plan to kidnap the pet and find a better home for it. Your character will face three challenges: (1) pulling off the kidnapping, (2) hiding the pet once it is in your character's home, (3) giving up the pet -- your character will fall in love with the animal and want to keep it.
Your character adopts what they wrongly believe to be an ordinary kitten...
Story Starters About Siblings
Your character is under suspicion for a crime she didn't commit. Her husband and parents all think she's guilty, and her whole life seems to be falling apart. She knows who did commit the crime -- her brother, whom she adores. If she tells the truth, he'll go to jail. Will she take the blame for him?
Your character and her husband are desperate to adopt a baby. After many months, they finally get the news they've been hoping for: a pregnant woman has chosen them to adopt her baby when it's born. But they're not expecting her to have twins. Your character thinks it's wrong to separate them and wants to adopt them both, but her husband only wants one child. What will they do?
Your character's best friend married your character's brother. Now, they're in the process of a messy divorce, and they want your character to take sides...
Your character's brother has always been their parents' favorite. Your character decides it's time to change that. He comes up with a devious plan...
Story Ideas About Waiting
Your character is waiting for the results of a medical test. Certain that she only has months to live, your character quits her job, leaves an unhappy marriage, starts an affair with an unsuitable but attractive stranger, and begins spending all the money in her bank account. But then the test results come back, and it turns out the medical scare was a false alarm. Your character's perfectly healthy. What will she do now? How will she put her life back together, and does she even want to?
Your character was late to pick up their child from school. In the meantime, the child got tired of waiting and decided to walk home on their own. But the child never arrived home. Panicked, your character begins to search the town...
Your character's brother is on a waiting list for a kidney donation, but he's in danger of dying before a donor is found. Your character's the only eligible donor in the family, and your character's brother and parents begin pressuring your character to donate a kidney. But your character hates the brother, who has bullied your character their whole life. And now, your character's also angry with their parents for, as always, putting the brother's needs first...
Your character proposes marriage to their girlfriend or boyfriend, who responds that it's a big step and they need some time to think about it. While your character is waiting for their girlfriend or boyfriend's answer, they begin to feel attracted to someone else...
A stranger sitting next to your character in a dentist's waiting room makes a strange proposal. He wants your character to provide him with an alibi for the previous night, in exchange for a large sum of money. The stranger explains that he's been falsely accused of murder and has no way to prove his innocence. Your character really needs the money....
Story Ideas: A Change of Plans
On a business trip overseas, your character and a coworker your character hates both test positive for Covid and are forced to quarantine together...
Your character is writing a novel about a museum heist. They research a local museum to figure out how the robbery could play out in their story. But the plan they come up with seems so brilliant that instead of writing about it, your character decides to put it into practice...
When their parents are killed in a car crash, your 18-year-old character is suddenly put in charge of their four younger siblings...
Your character is approached in a café by an extremely attractive stranger. "Are you Irene?" the stranger asks. Your character is not named Irene, but the stranger is so attractive that she answers yes...
When your character is unexpectedly fired from their job, they decide to take revenge. They know their boss's passwords...
Story Ideas about Gifts
1) Years ago, your character betrayed their best friend, who since then has refused to speak to your character. Your character misses this friend desperately, so, ten years after the betrayal, your character takes a chance and buys the friend an extravagant birthday gift, a ticket to go on a Greek cruise with your character. Knowing that the friend has always wanted to visit Greece, your character hopes they'll be tempted to accept the gift -- and the plan works, the friend sends a one-sentence email agreeing to go. But now, faced with the trip with their friend, your character starts to get very nervious. They know the friend will confront them about what happened in the past. And your character's betrayal was worse than the friend even knows...
2) Your character buys their child a cat. Soon afterward, the child's behavior begins to change. The child spends a lot of time alone with the cat in their bedroom. Through the door, your character can hear the child talking to the cat. What is more alarming, your character thinks they hear someone answering the child...
3) Your character goes on a date with someone they meet online. The date gives your character an unusual but beautiful gift, an antique hat pin. Your character feels a bit uncomfortable accepting this gift from a stranger (also, your character doesn't wear hats), but their date insists. At the end of the night, the date offers your character a ride home, but your character refuses and heads home alone on public transport. On the way home, the police stop your character, search their bag, and find the hat pin. The hat pin turns out to be the murder weapon in a recent homicide, and now your character is a suspect. Your character tries to explain how the pin ended up in their possession, but no one seems to believe your character's story...
4) Your character's boyfriend keeps giving her gifts of clothing. The clothes are all the wrong size. "Don't worry, we can get them altered," her boyfriend says. One day, your character finds a photo album that includes pictures of the boyfriend's ex-wife Jocelyn wearing some of the same clothes that the boyfriend gave your character. Further back in the album are photos of another previous wife, Carrie, also wearing the same clothes. Your character decides it's time to talk to the boyfriend's ex-wives...
More Story Ideas
1) Your character receives a mysterious text message from her best friend. It says, "Meet me behind the water tower at midnight. Come alone. DON'T TELL ANYONE. DELETE AFTER READING!"
2) For years, your character has been madly in love with her colleague, but he doesn't feel the same way. Then your character hears about a woman in a nearby town who sells love potions. Desperate, your character decides it's worth a try. She purchases a tiny vial of what she's been told is an extremely powerful love potion and pours it into a cup of coffee which she believes belongs to her colleague. Unfortunately, she chooses the wrong cup of coffee...
3) Your character goes to visit their adult daughter. This daughter has had a lot of personal and professional struggles, so your character is relieved to see that the daughter looking well and happy—radiantly happy. The daughter says that she's made some wonderful new friends and she's planning to go live with them. These friends have also offered the daughter a job, which she's excited about, though she's vague on the details. The more she talks, the more your character suspects their daughter is being lured into a cult...
4) Your character, a professional burglar, falls for an attractive stranger, only to discover they are a police detective. Despite the risk, your character pursues the relationship, managing to hide their criminal activities from the detective. But things become more complicated when the detective is assigned to investigate a series of violent burglaries in town. Your character is not personally responsible for these burglaries. However, the detective frequently discusses the investigation with your character, who has professional knowledge that could help. Your character attempts to strike the delicate balance of helping their lover without revealing too much about their own background...
Next steps
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20 answers to "What happens next?"
