20 Short Stories That Will Make You A Better Writer

Don’t try to write short stories without reading some. Here are 10 modern and 10 classic stories to get you started.

Reading in front of the fire

Chosen by members of the StoryADay Superstars community

  • Perhaps you want to write short stories because novels seem overwhelming.
  • Perhaps you’ve been told that you ought to start with short stories.
  • Perhaps you read a short story you loved and thought “I want to do that!”

The rules for novels and movies don’t apply to short stories. Part of the fun of short story writing is that the form is so flexible.But how would you know that if you’re not reading them?.

Here are 20 great short stories you should read, suggestesd by the StoryADay community.

Each story is either a classic or one that stuck in the reader’s head for years.

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Top 10 Podcast Interviews

Over the past ten years, StoryaDay has been fortunate to have some great guests on the podcast

Here’s an easy-access list:

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Here’s the list, with clickable links

Never miss an episode: Subscribe to the podcast here.

Top 10 Guest Writing Prompts

Over the past ten years, StoryaDay has been fortunate to be given original writing prompts from some pretty outstanding authors.

Here’s a list of the 10 that had the strongest response from StoryADay participants.

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Here’s the list, with clickable links

And there are many more guest writing prompts here.