by Bryn Donovan
Someone is stealing priceless objects and then returning them without being caught.
The murder victim had recorded several odd phone conversations, but only his or her side of the conversation can be heard.
A multi-level marketing scheme, in which people try to sell products to their friends, turns deadly.
An entire family, except for one girl, is found murdered in their home.
She can talk to ghosts, but the ghost of the murder victim doesn’t want to reveal the killer.
The security footage shows someone dressed as the actual Grim Reaper murdering someone with a scythe.
An outbreak of a deadly disease in a community did not happen by chance.
The three murders in the small town bear no resemblance to one another in terms of method or possible motive.
Someone detonated a bomb in the DMV office, fortunately killing no one.
The corporation said the executive was leaving his or her position “in order to pursue other interests,” but one employee suspects this person was murdered.
Not only does the murder suspect lack a strong alibi, but s/he keeps getting even the most basic details about his or her life wrong.
Nobody called the police for quite a while because the kidnapped person was known for playing elaborate pranks.
The murder took place at the Burning Man festival, and none of the eyewitnesses seems particularly reliable.
The “private investigator” on this case just went into business this week and has no idea what he or she is doing.
When disposing of his friend’s ashes according to his last wishes, he finds a message that seems to be from his friend, suggesting he is not dead after all.
The parade organizer is determined to find out who sabotaged all the floats.
At the scene of the crime, they find a tiny modern-day object trapped in amber.
He evaded the man in the toy store trying to kill him, but has no idea who the guy is.
The murder victim was found with a bite of poisoned apple in her mouth, like Snow White in the fairy tale.
The “Cinderella Killer” murders his attractive young female victims right around midnight.
Her beloved older brother was murdered as an adolescent, when she was a little girl. Lately, strange events and coincidences keep reminding her of his murder.
Three different times now, the police force has gotten clues from an apparent would-be killer about a murder he’s going to commit, but he has yet to follow through.
The murderer left a note saying that the victim was too good for this world.
As he looks for clues, the detective falls in love with the dead murder victim.
Three coffee shop customers have been poisoned, and one barista begins her own investigation.
Cattle rustlers are common, but the sheriff can’t figure out why or how someone would drive all of a man’s cattle off of his ranch and leave them to roam around free.
A handwritten draft of the best-selling author’s next novel was stolen.
The rich widow used a lot of money and influence to make it seem as though her husband was still alive. What really caused his death?
She got an eviction notice even though she owned her own home. Thirty days later, she came home to find most of her belongings tossed out in the yard.
The parent of a murder suspect believes that all of his teenager’s creepy and bizarre behavior is totally normal and rational.
Two of the actors whose characters died on a TV show have now also died in real life.
The 19th-century killer sells the bodies of his victims to medical schools.
When a couple decides to have an addition built to their home, the contractors who dig a foundation find a skeleton buried on the property.
A man in need of a kidney transplant gets one from his dead friend or family member, who previously backed out of donating him one.
A drowned man is found in a pool hundreds of miles from the ocean. His lungs are filled with salt water.
She overheard her would-be killers discussing their plans. They didn’t know that she understood their language.
The murdered therapist engaged in questionable or illegal practices.
No one has called about the necklace sitting at the lost and found, although it’s worth over a million dollars.
A man in perfect health has an apparent heart attack at a spa.
The night after he throws a huge party, he discovers that his custom-painted purple pickup truck has been stolen.
A lottery winner’s suicide is investigated.
A young woman who accused a college athlete of a crime is found dead, apparently by her own hand.
An old woman has uncovered fresh evidence about her husband’s unsolved murder from half a century before.
The thief has developed a huge crush on the person s/he robbed.
The investigation turns up the fact that the missing person was a secret bigamist.
The investigation turns up the fact that the missing person was a good fifteen years younger than she claimed to be, and she changed her appearance to fit this claim as much as possible.
All of the bank robberies take place on the full moon.
The town’s new community center has been defaced with offensive graffiti.
Several women in the city have woken up to find that their long red hair has been cut off.
A celebrated perfume designer disappears at a fragrance conference.
Someone replaces one of the fake swords with a real one, and one actor seriously injures another by accident during the onstage duel.
They got all of the horses out of the exclusive riding stables in time, but the place burned to the ground.
A serial killer only commits murder on major holidays.
A man behind leaks of classified government information turns up dead.
It seems as though someone might have deliberately goaded the elephant into stampeding.
At each of a string of robberies, scattered rose petals are left behind.
Someone is murdered at the top of the St. Louis Arch.
She begins to suspect that the nonprofit is a huge scam.
A murder takes place on the set of a movie or TV show about solving crime.
Professors at an elite university are being targeted.
The murder victim’s social media account is repeatedly hacked with supposed new messages from the victim.
150 Romance Prompts
Romance is one of the biggest fiction genres, and other genres regularly feature a romantic subplot. Some of these prompts are ideas for whole stories, while others are more images or suggestions. It also includes some ideas for how people can meet. Two other lists in this book, “50 “Meet Cute” Ideas” and “50 Cute Date Ideas,” might also be helpful for a love story.
One of the few hard-and-fast rules about the romance genre is that it must have a happy ending—an HEA (“happy ever after”) or at least an HFN (“happy for now.”) Not all love stories belong in the romance genre, and if you want to write a love story with a sad or bittersweet ending, that’s fine! It’ll just go in another category—perhaps mainstream, upmarket, or literary fiction.
As with all of my fiction prompts, some of these are gender neutral, and in the cases where they’re not, you can always switch the genders of one or both of the people, as you like.
One of them learns a shocking secret about the other.
One of her parents is getting married, and she’s attracted to another guest.
They have a meaningful conversation in a bookstore or a library.
She recruits him to help plan a charity or community event.
They meet when a hotel catches on fire and they, like the rest of the guests,
have to evacuate in their pajamas.
She finally learned to trust someone and fall in love again…and now, it looks as though that person has betrayed her.
They broke up years ago, but now they’re on the same long train or bus ride.
He decides to be the high school mascot and wear an animal costume so that he’ll have more chances to talk to a cheerleader.
She helps a wounded man and then realizes he’s on the enemy’s side.
He quits his manager job so that he’s free to ask this employee out.
She becomes interested in him after she fires him.
Someone donates their kidney to a stranger…and then meets and falls in love with the transplant recipient.
She models for her for a painting.
She sees his photo on a friend’s social media account and finds a way to meet him in person.
He learns all of the words to the songs from her favorite musical. He doesn’t even like musicals.
She adopted the dog from the shelter. Weeks later, the original owner tracked the runaway dog down.
One of them is the dog walker or dog sitter for the other.
He gives up on a goal that he’s pursued for years because it will negatively impact her.
They agree to have a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner together, just as friends, because a family holiday isn’t going to happen and all of their other friends are already busy.
She finds out that he’s lost all his money and has been keeping it a secret.
There’s an immediate spark between the tourist and the tour guide.
He believes he’s dying and he doesn’t have descendants, so he marries a widow who’s financially struggling so she and her son can benefit from his life insurance and his estate.
They kiss while watching a meteor shower.
They’re both stuck in the air on a malfunctioning amusement park ride.
The person he was in love with turns out to be alive, after all…but now he’s committed to somebody else.
He learns that she’s actually from another century.
This has got to be one of the least romantic marriage proposals ever.
This has got to be the most unromantic place to first meet the love of your life.
He’s just about to declare his love when he gets interrupted in a dramatic fashion.
She’s just about to declare her love, and then chickens out.
One of them says “I love you” for the first time under unexpected circumstances.
One of them remembers the other from a past life.
She’s being pursued by bad guys and accidentally drags somebody else into it.
Since they’ve been friends forever, he’s getting her advice on how to get another woman to date him.
They build a bonfire on the beach.
They meet in Spanish class.
They meet when he accidentally rear-ends her car in traffic.
They meet as ghosts immediately after dying in the same accident.
The best man has a crush on the bride-to-be.
It’s like Cinderella, but she left behind something very different from a glass slipper.
Apple or cherry blossoms rain down on them during a springtime walk.
She thought she was alone, and someone has overheard her singing.
Okay, yes, she broke into his house, but she has a good reason.
Well, sure, he hot-wired her car, but there are extenuating circumstances.
He’s so surprised by being asked out that he says no, and then he regrets it.
She decides to turn him down, only to be jealous when she sees him with someone else.
They’re the only two people in the movie theater.
They keep meeting in their dreams.
She has a dream about this woman before she meets her.
The detective is falling in love with the sister of the guilty man.
She looks up her ex to ask him if he still has an antique item she gave him, which she has since learned is worth a lot of money.
As they work together to find a girlfriend for their awkward friend, they wind up falling for each other.
They are next-door-neighbors, and a storm knocks a tree in her yard onto his roof.
This is the second year they’ve met at the same conference or convention.
They meet for the first time at a planetarium.
They are counselors at the same summer camp.
She would have a chance at romance with this person if she revealed her real identity, but that would ruin everything else.
One of them catches the other in a lie but doesn’t tell anyone else.
One of them tells an outrageous lie in order to help the other one out.
Because his father murdered his mother in a rage and he himself has a hot temper, he’s scared to get seriously involved with anyone.
They never expected to see each other again, and especially not at this spot halfway around the world.
She’s showing her the ropes at a new job.
The day after she breaks up with him, she finds the handwritten love letter from him (or it arrives in the mail.)
He was always in love with his brother’s wife, and now that his brother is dead he feels guilty even thinking about starting a relationship with her.
They get set up by friends and realize they shared a disastrous first date years before.
She’s sure it can’t work—she’s fifteen years older than he is.
He returns an engagement ring to a jewelry store after his proposal is rejected and develops a crush on the sales associate.
She thought he forgot her birthday, and then he surprises her in a dramatic and unique way.
He likes her, but he’s also intimidated by her—she’s literally a genius.
He comes up with a cute and original pet name for her based on where she’s from or something she likes.
They develop a code word or sign that only they know about.
They meet in person after knowing each other online for years.
A chef creates new recipes inspired by her beloved or milestones in their relationship.
Although they’re strangers, they wind up sharing food or splitting a meal.
They’re cast as romantic leads in the same theater production.
When he sees her for the first time, she’s walking alone at night in the pouring rain.
They try to stay warm on a cold night.
They are both in their nineties, but magically get the chance to be younger again.
He has a late-night radio show and she falls for him before she ever sees him.
One of them gives the other a backrub.
One of them tickles the other.
She helps him look for something.
He helps her get rid of something.
Their first kiss is terribly awkward.
Their first kiss has surprising consequences.
At the office, she sets candy out on her desk, and her coworker comes by to get some candy more and more often.
They discover that they’ve both been hired to kill the same bad guy.
Well into the conversation, he realizes he knew this guy when they were teenagers. In fact, he had a crush on him back then.
They’ve been married for twenty-five years…and have suddenly fallen in mad, passionate love with each other all over again.
She accidentally left her diary in a public place, and a stranger found it and read it.
She accidentally sent an email about him…to him.
They discover that they have the same password.
When they were little children, they swore that they would get married someday.
They fall in love while they’re both in the hospital.
She’s fallen asleep with her head on his shoulder or his knee.
She’s a corporate recruiter trying to persuade him to apply to a new company.
A high school or college reunion rekindles a romance.
They dated years before, and when he meets her again she’s changed her looks and her lifestyle so much, it’s like she’s a different person.
He or she is ridiculous, but hard to resist.
He or she is stiff and formal, but still intriguing.
One of them wants to take their friendship to the next level, and the other isn’t at all sure it’s a good idea.
He never thought he’d attend an actual tea party, but then he meets someone interesting there.
They’re in or around a pool, a lake, or an ocean.
They meet at a coffee shop when they’ve both been stood up by their online dates.
One of them doesn’t show up for a date…but it turns out it wasn’t really their fault.
They’re both heartbroken as they say goodbye.
At the costume party, he thinks he knows who she is, but he’s not positive.
They kiss, but one of them backs off and runs away for some reason.
She learns that he’s secretly made a huge effort or sacrifice for her sake.
One of them sets up a big romantic gesture that goes terribly wrong.
One of them learns that the other is secretly planning a big romantic gesture or surprise.
They are grown adults, but they’re acting like children – in a good way, or a bad way.
They are stuck alone together in the same place for days.
They meet in secret because nobody can know they’re getting romantically involved.
The truth about their secret relationship comes out.
He’s developing a crush on the lawyer he hired to help him through a nasty divorce.
During the wedding ceremony between the woman he loves and another man, he objects.
They’re first drawn together because they’re both appalled by the same person or situation.
They first make a connection because one of them defends the other one in a social situation.