Table of Contents
- Why Use Fantasy Writing Prompts?
- Before You Start Writing
- Epic Fantasy Writing Prompts
- Mythology-Inspired Writing Prompts
- Science Fiction/Fantasy Fusion Prompts
- Romantasy Writing Prompts
- YA Fantasy Writing Prompts
- Magic Realism Writing Prompts
- Contemporary Fantasy Writing Prompts
- Cozy Fantasy Writing Prompts
- Dark Fantasy Writing Prompts
- Paranormal Fantasy Writing Prompts
- Take Your Fantasy Writing Further
December is the perfect time to reignite your creative spark and dive into a new fantasy project. Whether you’re battling writer’s block or simply looking for fresh inspiration, the right writing prompt can transform your approach to storytelling.
Fantasy writing prompts serve as creative catalysts, helping you develop compelling characters, construct intricate worlds, and discover unexpected plot directions. Additionally, they provide a low-pressure environment where imagination can flourish without the weight of perfection.
Fantasy writers of all experience levels can benefit from these exercises. From epic quests to intimate character studies, prompts offer a structured way to explore your fictional universe and push beyond creative boundaries. Furthermore, they help you discover your unique voice within the genre.
This comprehensive collection spans multiple fantasy subgenres, each designed to spark different aspects of your creativity. You’ll find prompts that challenge conventional tropes, encourage world-building depth, and explore diverse character perspectives. Consequently, you can use these exercises to warm up before writing sessions, overcome creative blocks, or explore new narrative territories.
Try setting a 15-minute timer and see where one prompt takes you. Alternatively, share a prompt with your writing group and compare the vastly different stories that emerge from the same starting point. For even more creative writing prompts across different genres, explore additional resources to keep your inspiration flowing year-round. Adapt freely and let your imagination soar!
Before You Start Writing
Before diving into these prompts, consider what draws you to fantasy writing. Building immersive worlds, crafting unique magic systems, and creating memorable characters requires intentional choices and personal investment.
Think deeply about the story you want to tell and why you’re the perfect person to tell it.
– Writing Wisdom
Your narrative voice should align naturally with your fantasy world. Therefore, consider how your perspective, experiences, and creative instincts can shape something truly original. When crafting your fantasy story, ask yourself: What themes resonate with me? What aspects of world-building excite me most?
Personal connection to your story matters immensely. Because your passion will shine through the narrative, readers will connect more deeply with your creation. Thus, ensure your fantasy world emerges organically from your creative vision rather than market trends.
What makes your story essential? Why must you be the one to write it?
1. Epic Fantasy Writing Prompts
A legendary weapon has been stolen from the royal vault, threatening to tip the balance of power across warring kingdoms. However, the thief isn’t who anyone expected. Describe the political landscape. What makes this weapon so dangerous? Who benefits most from its disappearance?
Your protagonist discovers they can manipulate time, but only in five-minute increments. Moreover, each use ages them by one year. How does this limitation affect their choices? What crisis forces them to use this ability despite the cost? Write about the first time they realize the consequences.
In a world where magic is fueled by emotion, a society has developed to suppress all feelings. Nevertheless, one individual experiences emotions so intensely that they risk exposing themselves daily. What happens when they can no longer contain their power? How does this emotional magic manifest visually?
The royal heir possesses no magical abilities in a kingdom where power determines rank. Despite this disadvantage, they must prove their worth to prevent civil war. What unique skills do they possess? How can they turn their perceived weakness into strength? Who becomes their unlikely allies?
An ancient prophecy warns of destruction, but your protagonist realizes they’re meant to be the villain, not the hero. Consequently, they must choose between destiny and free will. What makes them question the prophecy? Can they rewrite their supposed fate? Write about their moment of revelation.
2. Mythology-Inspired Writing Prompts
Persephone returns from the Underworld each spring, but this year something has changed. She brings shadows with her that won’t dissipate. Therefore, Demeter must discover what happened during those dark months below. What secrets does Persephone hide? How has Hades changed her?
The Fates grow tired of weaving destinies and decide to cut all the threads simultaneously. As a result, the world descends into chaos where free will reigns supreme. Describe the first day without destiny. Who thrives? Who crumbles? How do mortals and gods react differently?
Medusa wasn’t cursed—she volunteered for the transformation to protect something precious. Write about what she guards in her temple and why stone warriors surround her. What does she see in Perseus that makes her hesitate? Can she communicate despite her curse?
Anansi discovers the internet and realizes it’s the ultimate web for spinning stories. However, digital lies have different consequences than oral traditions. How does the trickster adapt? What happens when his stories go viral? Write about his first encounter with memes.
A modern teenager learns they’re descended from Egyptian gods and must complete trials to awaken their full power. Nevertheless, balancing divine responsibilities with high school proves more challenging than defeating ancient monsters. What everyday situations become complicated by divine heritage? How do they hide their abilities?
3. Science Fiction/Fantasy Fusion Prompts
In the year 2525, magic returned to Earth after a thousand-year absence. Technology and mysticism now compete for dominance. Therefore, your protagonist must navigate both corporate tech giants and ancient magical orders. Which path offers true power? Can they coexist?
A spaceship’s AI develops the ability to cast spells using quantum calculations. However, each spell drains the ship’s power reserves, forcing impossible choices during emergencies. Write about the moment the crew discovers this ability. What ethical dilemmas arise? Who wants to exploit this power?
Your protagonist invents a device that can store and transfer magical abilities like data. Consequently, magic becomes commodified, bought and sold by the wealthy. Describe the black market that emerges. What happens when someone steals all the magic? How does society fracture?
Colonists arrive on a new planet only to discover the indigenous species already practices forms of magic unknown to human science. Thus, they must decide whether to study, exploit, or respect these abilities. What mistakes do the colonists make? Can peaceful coexistence happen?
Begin your story here: “The holographic display flickered, showing impossible data. According to every sensor, the asteroid wasn’t just moving—it was thinking. Captain Rivera had explored strange phenomena before, but nothing had prepared her for a sentient rock formation that communicated through gravitational waves and seemed to know her name.”
4. Romantasy Writing Prompts
Two rival mages compete for the same prestigious position, but their magical duel accidentally binds their life forces together. Therefore, they must cooperate to survive while maintaining their rivalry. How does forced proximity change their relationship? What vulnerabilities do they reveal?
Your protagonist inherits a cursed bookshop where fictional characters occasionally step out of their stories. However, one character keeps returning, and the connection between them grows impossible to ignore. What story does this character come from? Why can’t they return permanently? Write their first real conversation.
In a kingdom where soulmates share magical abilities, your protagonist has never found their match. Nevertheless, they’ve built a successful life alone. Then they meet someone whose magic complements theirs perfectly—but that person is already engaged to another. What choice do they make? Can magic be wrong?
A demon and an angel are forced to work together to prevent an apocalypse. Despite centuries of opposing ideologies, they discover their methods aren’t so different after all. Moreover, forbidden attraction complicates their mission. How do they reconcile their natures? What rules do they break?
Your protagonist creates a love potion for someone else but accidentally drinks it themselves. However, instead of falling for the first person they see, they fall in love with their own reflection, which has magically become a separate entity. What happens when your self becomes your soulmate? How do they break the spell?
5. YA Fantasy Writing Prompts
At the Academy for Elemental Magic, students are divided by their primary element. However, your protagonist discovers they can manipulate all four elements, marking them as either the prophesied savior or the greatest threat. Consider how this secret affects their friendships. Who can they trust? What happens if they’re discovered?
In a world where everyone receives their magical specialty at age sixteen, your protagonist’s ceremony reveals nothing. As a result, they’re considered defective and sent to a remedial school. Nevertheless, they begin experiencing random magical surges that don’t match any known category. What’s happening to them? Can they master chaos magic?
Begin this story: “Zara’s reflection had always been her best friend—literally. While other kids played in parks, she spent hours talking to the girl in the mirror who talked back. Everyone said she’d outgrow her imaginary friend. Therefore, her sixteenth birthday brought a shock when her reflection climbed out of the mirror and introduced herself as Zara’s twin from a parallel dimension.”
The popular students at your protagonist’s school are actually fae who attend human high school as punishment. However, when one of them genuinely befriends your protagonist, it triggers a dangerous prophecy. What made this fae different? How does high school hierarchy mirror fae court politics?
Your protagonist accidentally releases an ancient spirit during a school field trip to a museum. Moreover, the spirit can only be seen by them and insists they’re the reincarnation of someone important. Write about their attempts to return the spirit while maintaining normal teenage life. What does the spirit reveal about their past life?
6. Magic Realism Writing Prompts
In your protagonist’s family, emotions manifest as weather patterns. Therefore, Thanksgiving dinner often becomes meteorologically complicated. Write about a gathering where everyone’s trying to hide their feelings but the weather won’t cooperate. What family secrets emerge through storms and sunshine?
Your protagonist works at a diner where the coffee grants customers visions of their futures. However, they’ve never tasted it themselves. What happens when they finally drink a cup? Do they want to know their future? How does this knowledge change their present decisions?
As your protagonist ages, they discover they’re literally becoming invisible. At first it’s subtle—people occasionally overlook them—but it grows more pronounced. Thus, they must decide whether to fight against disappearing or embrace the freedom invisibility offers. What do they discover while unseen?
7. Contemporary Fantasy Writing Prompts
Your protagonist inherits their grandmother’s apartment, only to discover she was a guardian protecting a portal to the fae realm hidden in the bathroom mirror. Now they’re responsible for border control. However, they know nothing about fae politics or proper portal maintenance. What happens when a fae delegation demands entry? How do they learn quickly enough to survive?
A coffee shop operates as neutral ground where supernatural creatures can meet safely. Your protagonist works there, serving vampires, witches, and werewolves their specialized drinks. Nevertheless, tensions rise when a murder occurs on the premises, breaking centuries-old peace treaties. Who did it? Can your protagonist solve the mystery?
Write this opening: “The job posting seemed too good to be true: ‘Personal Assistant needed. Must be discreet, open-minded, and comfortable with non-traditional working hours. Experience with mythology a plus.’ Therefore, when Kai showed up for the interview, they expected maybe a nightclub owner or an eccentric professor. They didn’t expect the actual Norse god Thor living in a Brooklyn brownstone.”
Your city’s subway system connects more than neighborhoods—certain trains travel between dimensions. However, only a few people know how to catch the right train. When your protagonist accidentally boards one, they discover an underground (literally) community of dimension travelers. What rules govern this system? Who controls the trains?
A group of activists discovers that corporate greed has been systematically harvesting ambient magic from poor neighborhoods. Consequently, wealthy areas thrive while others wither. Write about their plan to redistribute magical resources. What obstacles do they face? How do they avoid becoming what they fight against?
8. Cozy Fantasy Writing Prompts
In a quiet village, your protagonist runs a bakery that specializes in baked goods with subtle magical properties. Happiness tarts, courage cookies, and clarity croissants bring comfort to neighbors. However, someone starts requesting darker recipes, and they must decide where to draw ethical lines. What’s the difference between helping and manipulating? How do they protect their community?
Describe a magical bookshop where books choose their readers, not the other way around. Your protagonist tends the shop, matching stories with souls. What happens when a book refuses all potential readers for decades, then suddenly flies off the shelf for someone unexpected? Write about this mysterious connection.
Your protagonist accepts a position as caretaker for a magical greenhouse where plants grow memories instead of flowers. Consequently, they spend days cultivating joy, harvesting nostalgia, and weeding regret. What happens when they plant their own memory? Can memories cross-pollinate? Write about their daily routine and one extraordinary exception.
A village’s protective dragon has retired after centuries of service. Therefore, your protagonist must help the ancient creature adjust to peaceful retirement while training their replacement. However, the young dragon has very different ideas about guardian duties. What generational conflicts arise? Can tradition and innovation coexist?
Begin here: “The antique shop had existed on this corner for three hundred years, though most locals couldn’t quite remember when it opened. Inside, Jamie catalogued enchanted objects and recorded their histories. Today’s arrival was unusual—a music box that played memories instead of melodies. When Jamie opened the lid, the box began playing their own forgotten childhood, note by haunting note.”
9. Dark Fantasy Writing Prompts
In a kingdom where the royal family sacrifices their firstborn to maintain prosperity, the crown prince survives his own execution. Therefore, he must hide among commoners while discovering what power his death was meant to fuel. What dark bargain did his ancestors make? Can he break the cycle?
Your protagonist leads a team of exorcists, but instead of demons, they remove the ghosts of traumatic memories that physically haunt locations. However, one case reveals that some traumas refuse extraction because they serve a protective purpose. Write about this ethical dilemma. What happens when removing pain also removes growth?
Deep beneath a cathedral lies a library of forbidden texts that write themselves. Consequently, each book contains a different future, and reading them makes that future more likely to occur. Your protagonist guards this library but grows tempted to read their own fate. What terrible knowledge do they gain? Can they prevent what they’ve seen?
A plague sweeps the kingdom, turning victims into living shadows that feed on light. Your protagonist searches for a cure while watching loved ones fade. However, the shadows claim they’re not monsters—they’re evolved. Write about the moral complexity. What if the cure means regression? Can humanity survive in darkness?
10. Paranormal Fantasy Writing Prompts
Your protagonist runs a support group for supernatural creatures struggling with modern life. Vampires coping with social media, werewolves managing anger issues, and ghosts dealing with attachment problems meet weekly. However, when a new member joins, they realize something is hunting the group. What pretends to need help? How do they protect each other?
In this world, everyone has a guardian angel, but your protagonist’s guardian is clearly overworked and keeps missing important moments. Therefore, they’ve learned self-reliance. What happens when their angel finally shows up during a crisis, completely unprepared? Can they work together despite past abandonment?
A witch discovers their familiar—a cat, naturally—has been secretly managing their magical affairs far better than they could themselves. Moreover, the cat is now retiring and has arranged for a replacement. However, the new familiar is a goldfish with anxiety issues. Write about this adjustment. How does the magic change? What chaos ensues?
Your protagonist inherits the ability to see death omens but not prevent them. As a result, they’ve become isolated, fearing the visions that accompany every interaction. Nevertheless, when they see their own death omen, they must decide whether knowledge of fate means acceptance or defiance. Can they change what they’ve seen? Should they?
Write this opening: “The cemetery job seemed perfect—quiet, steady, and nobody bothered you. Therefore, Sam didn’t mind the night shift. What they minded was discovering that their coworker Marcus had been dead for thirty years and apparently hadn’t noticed. Marcus made excellent coffee, always remembered birthdays, and refused to believe he was a ghost. How do you tell someone they’ve been dead for decades?”
Ready to Transform Your Fantasy Writing?
These prompts offer starting points for countless stories, but they’re just the beginning. To take your fantasy writing to the next level, you need more than inspiration—you need structured guidance, expert feedback, and a supportive community of fellow writers.
MistWriter provides everything you need to develop your fantasy manuscript from concept to completion. Our platform offers:
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Whether you’re writing your first fantasy novel or your tenth, MistWriter adapts to your needs and helps you overcome creative challenges. Moreover, our tools specifically address the unique demands of fantasy writing, from maintaining consistency across complex worlds to balancing multiple character arcs.
Visit MistWriter today and discover how technology can enhance your creative process without replacing your unique voice. Start your free trial and transform these prompts into your next great fantasy novel.
Because every extraordinary fantasy story begins with a single word – make yours count.
