Uncap those pens, pop open those PCs, and crack your knuckles. It’s time for to come up with some good ideas for books, just in time for your next idea or project.

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We kept it random and imaginative. Use one of these book ideas as it is or make it your own! Find yourself stumped and need a way out to overcome writer’s block? Add one of our characters or plot points to your story, add a scene with one of our settings, or sew in a thematic thread from our good ideas for books list.

Below, we’ve broken our list down into Character ideas, Plot ideas, Theme ideas, and Setting ideas. Take what you need and write on!  

Good ideas for books: Character

1.     Someone who can smell magic but doesn’t have any of their own

2.     Someone whose parent is in prison for a crime they (the son or daughter) committed

3.     A non-binary character

4.     A character who dresses in costumes instead of conventional clothes

5.     A girl who is a drummer in a band

6.     An antagonist who functions as dead weight in someone’s life

7.     An alien, monster, or demonic creature (can be friendly or not)

8.     Someone who can step into other people’s memories but loses one of their own each time

9.     A functioning addict

10.  A love interest who doesn’t actually exist  

good ideas for Books: Plot

11.  The climax involves a fire started by one of the good guys

12.  The act one decision is to say yes to cocaine

13.  The novel opening involves someone drowning

14.  A falling action that involves an inter-dimensional chase

15.  A resolution where the protagonist relapses

16.  Overcoming adversity related to a marginalized identity (can be a main element or a moment in the plot)

17.  A climax that involves someone’s mom and a spatula

18.  The act two decision is to go home

19.  The rising action involves finding someone who was missing

20.  An inciting incident where someone or something comes back to life (can be literal or metaphorical)

good ideas for books: Theme

21.  Loyalty and love should come from and belong to yourself first

22.  What happens when you continuously quiet your inner intuitive voice

23.  When you never say what you mean, no one knows who you are

24.  Sometimes the resolution is to let go, move on, or return to how things were

25.  The difference between revenge and justice

26.  How things look when you take off the rose-color glasses and see relationships and situations for what they are

27.  What does it mean when you give it your all and get nowhere

28.  Help from others is useless if you don’t want to help yourself

29.  Sometimes what you need is right in front of you

30.  There’s beauty in the mundane, routine, and little things

good ideas for books: Setting 

31.  A book set in southern swampland

32.  Somewhere with weeping willows (maybe they whisper secrets)

33.  Up on a mountain (or climbing the mountain)

34.  Somewhere where boats can race illegally

35.  A magical meadow filled with flowers and grass that glistens with morning dew

36.  An old cabin with creaky floors, doors whose hinges wail, and dusty windows that catch slanting sunlight

37.  An industrial style high-rise apartment in a major city (featuring ghosts)

38.  A place where the color of the land, water, and sky are all different from what we know

39.  A town whose economy is highly dependent on tree farming

40.  A high school in space

Ready Set Write

From everyone at Good Story Company, we wish you free flowing thoughts, all the words, and all the plot-enriching drama as you run with one of these good ideas for books toward your novel dreams.

When you reach the end of your writing journey, we’ll be here to help you with what comes next: Editing!

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. For now, happy writing!

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