30 Time Travel Writing Prompts
Ever feel stuck in the present moment?
Wishing you could grab a pizza with Cleopatra, mastermind a plan with Machiavelli, or explore a future city filled with gadgets we can’t even imagine?
Hold onto your hats because we’re about to blow the doors off time travel stories!
Forget boring timelines, paradoxes are your new BFFs. These prompts will have you rewriting reality, jumping through history, and making the rules of time as bendy as a pretzel.
Let’s check them out.
Time Travel Writing Prompts and Story Ideas
Winds of the Lost Era: A gust of wind has the unique ability to transport anyone it touches to a different time for just one hour. When a young woman gets caught in this wind, she finds herself in the midst of a pivotal historical event. She has exactly sixty minutes to observe, interact, or possibly change history. What event does she witness? And what choices does she make?
The Last Sunset Before Eternity: The world’s leading scientists discover that there’s only one sunset left before the earth stops rotating, plunging half the world into perpetual day and the other half into eternal night. They’ve also created a one-time-use machine that can send one person back in time to prevent this. Who is chosen? And what historical point do they go back to to make things right?
Messages Across Time: A young woman discovers she can send messages to her younger self through dreams. Each message can only be a short sentence, but it’s enough to give her past self clues or warnings about the future. However, every change she makes creates ripples in her present, and sometimes, the outcomes are not what she expects. What message does she send first? And what unforeseen consequences emerge?
The Day the Clocks Stopped: Time everywhere freezes, except for one city. Its inhabitants live through days, months, and years while the rest of the world remains static. As they advance technologically and culturally at a rapid rate, they prepare for the day time might resume for everyone. How do they plan to reintroduce their city to the world, which is now centuries behind?
Chrono-Tourists: A company starts offering ‘Time Travel Tourism’. You can’t change major events, but you can witness them. A young couple decides to go on their honeymoon to witness a peaceful, beautiful moment from the past. But when they arrive, they realize it’s the eve of a significant, unrecorded disaster. How do they reconcile their experience with the joy they were expecting?
The Museum of Moments: In the future, there are no traditional museums. Instead, there’s a museum where people can experience any moment from the past in full sensory detail. A teenager decides to relive the ‘most peaceful day on Earth’, only to realize that peace is often a matter of perspective. What does he truly witness on this so-called peaceful day?
Time’s Locket: A locket passed down through generations in a family doesn’t just contain pictures; it allows the wearer to briefly live in the moments the pictures were taken. A young girl decides to experience a day in her great-grandmother’s life, hoping to understand her better. However, she discovers a family secret that has been hidden for decades, changing her understanding of her lineage.
Letters in the Sands of Time: In a small coastal town, messages mysteriously appear at sunrise on the beach, always addressed to someone present there. These are letters from their future selves. A man, skeptical at first, starts reading a letter addressed to him and discovers details of a choice he’ll soon have to make. What decision looms in his future, and how does this knowledge affect him?
The Two Lifetimes of Ms. Daniels: On her 30th birthday, Ms. Daniels wakes up to find herself back in her 10-year-old body but with all her memories intact. She lives her life again, making different choices based on her memories, until she reaches 30 again. And then, she’s back in her original timeline. How do her dual experiences shape her perspective? Which life felt more real to her?
Echoes of the Time Vortex: A cavern hidden in the mountains is said to echo not sounds from the present, but conversations from the past and whispers of the future. When a grieving mother enters the cave, she hears the voice of her departed child from a future that never happened. What message does she receive, and how does it change her healing process?
The Train at Midnight: There’s a legend of a train that passes through a town at midnight. Those who board it are taken to any point in time they desire, but they can only observe and feel emotions—they can’t interact. A woman boards to revisit a day she considers her life’s biggest mistake. What day does she return to, and what closure does she seek?
Chronicles of the Hourglass City: In a city shaped like an hourglass, the top half lives in the past and the bottom half in the future. A bridge connects the two, and citizens are allowed a single journey across it. A young woman from the future decides to cross into the past. What or who is she seeking, and what challenges await her in this duality?
Diary from Tomorrow: A man finds a diary on his doorstep, and to his astonishment, it’s filled with detailed entries from the next year of his life. Each day he reads about tomorrow, and each time he’s faced with the moral dilemma of acting on or ignoring the knowledge. What major revelation does the diary hold, and does he dare to change its course?
The Timestream Weaver: In an old attic, a loom is found that doesn’t weave fabric but moments in time. When operated, it can merge moments from different times into one. A curious teenager weaves together a day from her childhood and one from her elder years. What harmonies or conflicts emerge from this singular day?
Guardians of the Temporal Oasis: Deep in the desert lies an oasis where every drop of water lets you relive a moment from your past. But, you can’t choose the moment—it chooses you. A traveler, seeking refuge, drinks from the oasis and is thrust into a forgotten memory. What long-buried moment resurfaces, and how does it change his path forward?
The Timeless Town Square: A secluded town has a central square where time doesn’t flow linearly. Every day at dawn, the square chooses a random day from the past or future to reflect. Townspeople can enter to relive memories or see snippets of what’s to come. One day, the entire town gathers as the square displays a date significant to all. What date is shown, and how does it bind the community?
Candles of Yesteryears: A boutique sells candles, each corresponding to a year in history. When lit, the room transforms, enveloping the person in the ambiance of that year. An elderly woman buys a candle corresponding to a year she wants to forget. As it burns, what secret memory unfolds, and what catharsis does it bring?
Threads of Time: In a mystical land, there are multiple threaded structures that showcase the entire timeline of the universe. When touched, a person can feel the emotions of any moment stitched into it. A young prince touches a seemingly insignificant thread and is overwhelmed by its intensity. What hidden moment did he discover, and how does it reshape his understanding of history?
The Mirror of Moments Past: A mirror in an antique store doesn’t show the present but a past version of whoever stands before it. A woman sees herself as a child, interacting with someone she doesn’t remember from her childhood. Who is this mysterious figure, and why have her memories of them been erased?
Temporal Tunes of the Old Gramophone: An old gramophone has the power to play not just songs but also ambient sounds from specific moments in time. A listener can immerse themselves in the atmosphere of that moment. A man hears the background noise of a place and time he never visited but finds strangely familiar. Where does this sound take him, and what lost connection does he rediscover?
The Garden of Future Blooms: In a secret garden, flowers bloom showing visions of potential futures. One rare flower is said to bloom only once every century, showing a vision crucial for humanity. As it blossoms, many gather to witness its vision. What future does the flower reveal, and how do those who see it react?
Clockwork of Cosmic Consequences: A clockmaker designs a timepiece that can turn back time, but for every minute turned back, it fast-forwards another person’s timeline by a year. The creator, desperate to rectify a personal mistake, uses it, but at what cost? Whose life gets fast-forwarded, and how does this unintended consequence play out?
Whispers of the Time-Touched Tree: A tree in a forest is said to be touched by time. Those who sleep under it dream of a moment from their past, but from the perspective of someone else who was there. A soldier, burdened by guilt, sleeps under the tree, hoping to understand a decision he made in battle. Whose eyes does he see through, and how does this new perspective aid his quest for forgiveness?
Shadows of the Sundial: In an abandoned village, there’s a sundial said to cast shadows not of the current time but of times gone by. When a researcher places her hand where the shadow falls, she’s momentarily transported to the moment the shadow represents. She inadvertently touches a shadow that takes her to a day the village wishes to forget. What dark secret is unveiled, and how does she reconcile with the truth?
Temporal Café: A café opens downtown where each table is set in a different era. Patrons can’t interact with the past or future directly but can witness and hear conversations. A detective sits at a table set in the future, trying to solve a case that’s stumped him. What revelation about the case does he overhear, and how does it change the course of his investigation?
The Time-Torn Map: An explorer discovers a map that doesn’t just lead to places but to times. Marking a location and date transports the holder to the specified moment. The explorer chooses a date and place where a famous artifact went missing. What happens when he arrives, and how does this journey reshape historical narratives?
Waves of the Temporal Beach: There’s a beach where each wave that crashes ashore comes from a different era. Collecting items brought by the waves can provide glimpses into various moments in time. A historian finds an item linked to her family’s past. What story does the item tell, and how does it redefine her family’s legacy?
Melodies from the Time-Touched Violin: A violin is found that, when played, doesn’t produce sound but images from the past or future. A musician plays a tune, and a series of events unfold before her, hinting at a future personal dilemma. What decision does she foresee, and how does she prepare for it?
Stairs of the Epoch Tower: An ancient tower’s stairs are said to ascend through time. With each floor representing a different era, climbers can observe, but not interfere. A writer ascends, seeking inspiration, but finds himself on a floor mirroring a future event of his own life. What event does he witness, and how does it inspire his next work?
The Time Capsule’s Promise: A school’s time capsule is unearthed not by students from the present but by visitors from the future. They leave behind a message for the current generation about an impending global challenge. What warning do they give, and how does the world rally in response?
