Every writer knows that moment - when the cursor blinks, the chai turns cold, and your mind goes blank. You want to write, but no idea what feels good enough. That’s when writing prompts come to the rescue. Prompts are tiny sparks - small, open-ended ideas that help you break the block and find new directions for your stories. Here are 20 creative writing prompts designed for Indian storytellers - writers who see poetry in chaos, beauty in contradictions, and stories in the streets of their cities.

Character & Inner Life Prompts

1. Three things you would save if your house were burning down. What do they reveal about you?

2. Your childhood memory - a rainy afternoon, a kite lost to the wind, a festival you still remember by smell.

3. What scares you the most about losing? A person, a dream, or your self-respect?

4. The lie you tell most often. Why do you tell it - and to whom?

5. A secret you’ve hidden - something your best friend still doesn’t know.

6. If you could live your life again from age 18, what would you change?

Dialogue & Conflict Prompts

1. “Why did you leave without saying goodbye?”

2. “You think money can fix everything?”

3. “Let’s pretend this never happened.”

4. “I didn’t know you could lie so easily.”

Use any two of these lines in a scene. Let the tension breathe between them.

Scene & Situation Prompts

1. A train compartment at midnight. Two strangers, one shared secret.

2. A family home after a funeral. Food, memories, and unresolved anger.

3. A monsoon flood in a small town. A child goes missing.

4. A power cut in Delhi during peak summer. One night, one confession.

5. A politician’s rally in your village. A sudden moment of truth.

6. A stranger leaves a parcel outside your door. What’s inside — and why you?

Genre & Twist Prompts

1. India, 2050. Dreams are now traded like currency.

2. A love story that turns into a political thriller halfway through.

3. A tourist in Varanasi meets someone who claims they were lovers in another life.

4. You wake up one morning and the world has forgotten your name.

How to Use These Prompts

• Free-write for 10 minutes. Don’t judge - just go.

• Combine prompts. Mix a dialogue with a scene.

• Change perspectives. Write from the least obvious character’s view.

• Push deeper. After writing, ask: What does this reveal about human nature?

Conclusion

Prompts aren’t assignments - they’re invitations.

Invitations to explore what’s been hiding in you all along.

Write freely. Write badly. Write truthfully.

Every story begins when you stop waiting for the “right idea.”

If one of these prompts made your fingers itch to write - don’t ignore it. Start today. Turn that spark into your next story, scene, or screenplay. Explore our writing courses at Unfold Words and start building your story world today!