A writing prompt generator is a tool that can help you when you’re in writer’s block or stuck trying to find a story idea. This post reviews some of the top writing prompt generators and gives a recommendation on which generator is best for you!
Here’s what I’ll be sharing with each prompt generator:
About: Basic Information on the Company, including writing and prompt information
Overview: How it works + The # of prompts available
Review: MY OPINION on the prompt generator
Rating: My rating of the prompt generator from 0 to 5 + Who should use the prompt generator
Masterpiece Generator (Story Ideas)
Note: This isn’t a prompt generator, but gives a story idea that still lets you control a lot of the writing and it’s fairly popular so I included it.
About:
There isn’t much information about the company, but it’s a set of tools used to quickly create content like songs, plots and poems. The content generated is usually random and silly or very structured.
Overview:
The site allows you to select the ending of the story 🏁 and the number of ideas from 1 to 20. There is no exact number of how many ideas there are. (Considering the site is so popular I’m guessing there’s probably over 1000, but don’t quote me on that)
Review: Simple and Silly. 😜
There is very little control with the idea and you can’t even select a genre. I also find that a lot of the generated prompts can be pretty silly and based on the other generators in this post, this one isn’t that great. (I would like to mention that this site has other generators which are more unique and worth trying out!)
Rating: 2.4
I honestly believe that the other sites in this post are better, but you can still try this site! Who knows, maybe you’ll stumble on an idea you love!
Random Word Generator – Writing Prompts
About:
There isn’t much information about the site, but they generate random words “and more”.
Overview:
This prompt generator is very simple. You only control the number of prompts generated which can be from 1 – 50. Then a word generates and it gives you a little prompt/explanation to help you write a story surrounding that word. They don’t mention how many prompts are available, but I’m guessing there’s probably a decent amount since the website’s entire focus is to generate random words.
Review: Simple, but Effective. 👍
This prompt generator is probably the simplest in this post. I wouldn’t use this for a long story, but it would be useful for a short story. Since I frequently enter short story competitions, I think I would use this prompt generator for those stories, otherwise there are some much “cooler” generators in this post.
Rating: 3.5
I recommend this generator to a writer that likes a lot of freedom with the story, but is looking for some inspiration
Reedsy (Plot Generator)
Note: This isn’t a prompt generator, but gives a story plot that still lets you control a lot of the writing and it’s fairly popular so I included it.
About:
Reedsy is a team that gives writers and publishers access to professionals, tools and educational content. They’re a very popular writing resource and have a large writing community. Their writing plot generator is one of their many tools and generators.
Overview:
The plot generator lets you select a genre (or you can leave it blank) and then fills in the blanks of a premade sentence which includes 2 characters (with their occupations and 1 character trait each) and a plot (with the type of story, what’s it about, the first setting and event, an important part of the story to note and a twist). As you randomize what fills the blanks, you can lock (and unlock) certain parts of the plot. For example, if you like the protagonist and the twist, you can lock them and let everything else randomize again. Because of the way this generator works, there are over 1 million plot combinations.
Review: Wonderful and Unique. 💫
I like the various fields that can be generated, especially the important part to note and the twist. There’s also a decent amount of genres to choose from. This plot generator gives you more information about the characters (and the plot in general) than other generators. I enjoy that you can lock parts of the plot that you like so you can form a plot that you want to write about. However, I don’t like that it takes a while before you can find a plot that you like, and that the plot generator limits you to only 2 characters (though you could add more or less as you write)
Rating: 4.6
I recommend this plot generator to someone who can’t find a story idea and likes a more structured plot (unlike most of these more open-ended generators)
ServiceScape – Writing Prompt Generator
About:
ServiceScape is a global marketplace for service-related commerce. They have a wide variety of services (including many writing services). Their writing services will connect you with freelance writers and a project management system. ServiceScapes’s Writing Prompt Generator is one of their “Side Projects”.
Overview:
The prompt generator has 2 genres, Romance and Science Fiction. Within those genres, there are multiple subgenres. You can select any number of subgenres (at least 1) and the site will generate prompts based on what you’ve selected out of its 1000 prompts. Based on what you’ve selected there can be up to 1000 prompts, but it usually ranges from 20 – 100 prompts.
Review: Specific, but not enough variety. 😦
There were very few genres to choose from, but A LOT of subgenres. I liked the concept of custom combining sub-genres, though not every combination worked (out of the ones I tried). My favourite part by far was the DETAIL. A lot of the prompts I read were some of the most detailed I’ve ever seen!!
Rating: 3.7
I recommend this prompt generator if romance and/or science fiction interests you!
Squibler
About:
Squibler is a writing platform where writers “get serious”. They have multiple resources and tools for writers, including 2 prompt generators. Their main writing tool is a writing software that lets users “draft, edit and perfect” their work.
Overview:
The prompt generator lets you generate a prompt until you find one that you like. Then you can select the writing session length, from 3 to 60 minutes. Next, you’re brought to a blank screen with the prompt where you’ll get the amount of time you selected to continue the story. In the top right corner, you can also change to dark mode and/or full screen. After you’ve finished typing, your work erases and you get a chance to use the same prompt, but write a different story. Their site mentions 500+ writing prompts available. Note that you can select hardcore mode within the session length area. Hardcore mode doesn’t let you see what you’re typing, only which letter you type.
Review: LOVE IT!!! 😍
This prompt generator is probably the best one out of all of these, despite the low number of prompts, I like how the site makes you write within a certain amount of time. I tried writing using the default 5-minute session length (not hardcore mode) and I loved the story I came up with! I even thought of a theme for the book and the backstory of the characters in JUST 5 MINUTES! The only problem was that my work was erased after five minutes, so I quickly rewrote what I had written on a new document, but I recommend copying your work or taking a screenshot so that you don’t lose any of your writing.
Rating: 4.8
I HIGHLY recommend this writing prompt generator to anyone who’s struggling to find a story idea. Even if you’re not, this is still worth a try!
Bonus: Squibler Dangerous
Note: This is another prompt generator by Squibler (the same company above).
Overview:
This prompt generator is very similar to the previous prompt generator, except that if you stop writing all your work will be erased after a few seconds.
Review: Not that dangerous. 🙄
This prompt generator isn’t as great as their regular prompt generator because you can easily “cheat the system” by typing random letters when you need to stop, and then erasing and continuing when you want to start again. If you’re interested in the challenge I suppose you could try to use this without cheating, but I prefer the previous prompt generator, especially if you’re more serious about finding a story idea.
Rating: 4
I recommend this prompt generator if you’re interested in a writing challenge
Which writing prompt generator are YOU going to use? Comment below an interesting prompt you found using a site above!
