23 Surreal Writing Prompts For Your Next Story

We’re ditching reality and jumping into a world where things get weird (in the best way possible).

Imagine fish soaring through the sky, shadows spilling secrets in the moonlight, and time taking a midday siesta. That’s the land of surreal writing, where logic takes a vacation and your imagination gets the keys to the castle.

Feeling stuck in a creative rut?

This is your escape hatch.

Want to paint pictures with words and explore uncharted territories?

Welcome aboard!

These prompts are your golden ticket to a land of the strange, the unexpected, and the downright bizarre (but beautiful) bizarre.

So, unleash your inner weirdo, grab a pen, and let’s see where this wild ride takes us!

Surreal Writing Prompts

1. One day, you gain the ability to see the colors of music. Each melody produces a kaleidoscope of hues and shapes that dance before your eyes. Write about a world where music is no longer just heard, but seen.
   
   
2. You are a professional dream detective, hired to enter people’s sleeping minds to solve mysteries, confront forgotten traumas, or just fulfill unrequited desires. Write about a particularly mind-bending case and its unexpected conclusion.
   
   
3. A strange fog descends upon your city, and every reflective surface now shows a slightly altered reality. Mirrors show alternate lives, puddles reveal hidden desires, and windows hint at impossible destinies. What happens when the reflection becomes more enticing than reality itself?
   
   
4. In an antique bookshop, you find a leather-bound tome with blank pages. The moment you touch it, words begin to appear, narrating your own life, even predicting future events. Do you embrace the power of foresight, or try to escape the book’s unsettling prophecies?
   
   
5. You encounter a chef who infuses food with emotions. Bite into a slice of bittersweet nostalgia, savor the fiery passion of first love, or choke down the cold taste of regret. What flavor would you request, and what story would it reveal?
   
   
6. After consuming a peculiar mushroom, you understand the secret language of animals. The squirrels gossip, the crows philosophize, and your own pet reveals a shockingly complex inner world. How does this knowledge change your relationship with the natural realm?
   
   

7. A crack in the sidewalk is actually a fault line in time. If you step across, you are instantly transported one year into the future, but can never go back. Do you take the leap, or does the uncertainty of tomorrow outweigh the potential risks?
   
   
8. It begins to rain, and each drop falls with a clear musical note. The patter on the roof becomes a symphony, the downpour an orchestra. Can you learn to conduct the weather and compose extraordinary soundscapes?
   
   
9. While renovating your house, you discover a hidden staircase behind a wall. It ascends into darkness, seemingly without end. How far up do you dare climb, and what awaits you in the unknown heights?
   
   
10. A mysterious merchant visits your town, offering an array of bottled emotions. There’s bottled courage, tranquility, even bottled bursts of inspiration. What do you choose, and how does this purchased emotion reshape your experience of the world?
    
    
11. A shadowy figure roams the streets, stealing people’s precious memories. One night, you become the target. How do you fight back against someone who can erase your very identity?
    
    
12. You stumble upon a hidden garden where tales grow like plants. Half-formed narratives sprout from the ground, their potential unfurling before your eyes. Can you choose one, nurture it, and bring the story to its full fruition?
    
    

13. The buildings in the city seem to be alive, inhaling the bustle of the day and exhaling quiet sighs in the night. Walls ripple with subtle movement, and windows blink like curious eyes. How does this living city change your interaction with the urban landscape?
    
    
14. You begin hearing faint echoes of yourself, snippets of conversations or laughter that seem eerily out of sync with your present. Are these glimpses of your own life in parallel dimensions, and can you find a way to decipher their meaning?
    
    
15. An ancient, weathered map leads not to geographical locations but to whispered secrets. Each crease and symbol corresponds to a hidden desire, a buried fear, or a tale begging to be told. Who do you share these secrets with, and what consequences unfold?
    
    
16. Your shadow suddenly detaches itself and takes on a life of its own. It darts into corners, flickers under lamplight, and even seems to taunt you. Do you try to reassert control, or embark on a strange adventure with your rebellious double?
    
    
17. You inherit a pocket watch that seems to manipulate time itself. With a flick of the dial, the world around you slows down. How do you utilize this strange power, and what are the unforeseen ripple effects?
    
    
18. Strange packages begin appearing on your doorstep, each containing objects that represent your deepest dreams and forgotten desires. Do you dare to open them and risk the consequences of wish fulfillment?
    
    

19. You discover a library filled with books you cannot see. Their titles shimmer on empty shelves, their contents accessible only through touch. What knowledge do you uncover in this library of the unseen?
    
    
20. An enchanted mirror displays not your reflection, but an unflinching, unflattering version of your true self. Do you confront your inner flaws, or shatter the mirror and maintain the comfortable illusion?
    
    
21. One morning, you wake up in the life of a complete stranger. Their home, their job, their relationships – all now inexplicably yours. How do you navigate their world, and will you ever be able to return to your own life?
    
    
22. A haunting melody echoes through your town, altering the very fabric of reality with each note. Buildings transform, colors shift, and people begin behaving in peculiar ways. Is this chaotic music a curse or an invitation to an unimaginable new world?
    
    
23. You work in a government department tasked with tracking and cataloging peculiar lost objects: a single sock with mysterious patterns, a key that unlocks dreams, a photograph showing a person who doesn’t exist. Choose one object, and build a story around its enigmatic origins and purpose.
    
    
24. Letters of your favorite book start wriggling free from the page, forming into birds, insects, and tiny shimmering creatures. The narrative disassembles before your eyes. Is this literary vandalism, or an invitation to reimagine the story in an entirely new way?
    
    

25. One full moonlit night, you find yourself engaged in a conversation with the moon. Its silvery glow translates into a language you somehow comprehend. What cosmic wisdom does the moon share, and what perspective does it offer on your own existence?
    
    
26. You attempt to paint a landscape, only to find the canvas subtly alters your brushstrokes, as if the scene has a mind of its own. A forest appears where you intended a field, mountains rise instead of gentle hills. Do you fight the canvas’s will, or enter into a collaborative dance with the unpredictable artwork?
    
    
27. In a future metropolis, everyday machines develop awareness. Traffic lights philosophize, coffee makers sing melancholic tunes, and self-driving cars argue about the meaning of existence. How does this robotic awakening transform human society?
    
    
28. Deep in an ancient forest lies a well. It’s said that every story never told, every tale left unwritten, rests at its bottom. You peer into the inky depths. Do you dare dive in to retrieve them, and how would bringing these untold narratives into the world change the course of history?
    
    
29. A hidden door leads to a room where the flow of time is erratic. Clocks melt, years pass in minutes, and moments stretch into days. What happens to a person trapped in such a place, and can they learn to navigate its chaotic chronology?
    
    
30. You acquire a map that depicts not real countries and towns, but the landscapes of dreams, myths, and forgotten tales. The Isle of Perpetual Twilight, the Mountains of Wonder, the Sea of Unshed Tears. Do you embark on a journey to track down these fantastical locations?