I am a big fan of writing prompts. They are a great way to come up with new ideas for flash fiction, short stories, and maybe even novels.
This table below is a writing prompt with tens of thousands of unique combinations. I’ve listed 143 different sub genres within the fantasy, romance, sci-fi, horror, thriller/suspense, and western genres. What I do is use a random number generator (like this one or this one) and set it between 1 and 143. Then I roll that twice to get a sub-genre mashup. Feel free to pick your favorite numbers or ask random people instead.
The results are often fun (like Legal thriller + Immortality sci-fi) or challenging ( like Grimdark fantasy + Cozy mystery). Sometimes they don’t work out. You can find a few more examples of all three in this tweet.
Give it a shot. I’m sure some combinations will make your ears perk up.
If you don’t know what a sub-genre is, most of them are straightforward to look up.
What combos did you get?
| 1. Gunfighters Western |
| 2. Man-Made Horror |
| 3. Furry Sleuth Mystery |
| 4. Young Adult Mystery |
| 5. Young Adult Western |
| 6. Bounty Hunters Western |
| 7. Fantasy Romance Romance |
| 8. Time Travel Science Fiction |
| 9. Colonization Science Fiction |
| 10. Western Romance |
| 11. Generation Ship Science Fiction |
| 12. Paranormal Thriller and Suspense |
| 13. Alternate History Fantasy |
| 14. High Fantasy |
| 15. Young Adult Fantasy |
| 16. Utopia Science Fiction |
| 17. Private Detective Mystery |
| 18. Occult Horror |
| 19. Soft Science Fiction |
| 20. Paranormal Romance |
| 21. Person in Peril Mystery |
| 22. Forensic Thriller and Suspense |
| 23. Technothriller Thriller and Suspense |
| 24. Inspirational Romance |
| 25. Legal Mystery |
| 26. Wagon Train Western |
| 27. Grimdark Fantasy |
| 28. Galactic Empire Science Fiction |
| 29. Slipstream Science Fiction |
| 30. Magical Realism Fantasy |
| 31. Gothic Horror |
| 32. Billionaires Romance |
| 33. GameLit Fantasy |
| 34. Gothic Romance |
| 35. Weird West Western |
| 36. Outlaws Western |
| 37. Steampunk Science Fiction |
| 38. Legal Thriller and Suspense |
| 39. Holidays Romance |
| 40. Howdunnit Mystery |
| 41. Psychological Thriller and Suspense |
| 42. Science Fantasy Science Fiction |
| 43. Time Travel Romance |
| 44. Mystery Thriller and Suspense |
| 45. Cyberpunk Science Fiction |
| 46. Medical Thriller and Suspense |
| 47. Science Horror Science Fiction |
| 48. Revenge Western |
| 49. Creepy Kids Horror |
| 50. Psychic Abilities Horror |
| 51. Military Romance |
| 52. Children’s Story Mystery |
| 53. Psychological Horror |
| 54. Slasher Horror |
| 55. Amateur Sleuth Mystery |
| 56. Crime Thriller and Suspense |
| 57. Political Thriller and Suspense |
| 58. Space Exploration Science Fiction |
| 59. Mythic Horror |
| 60. Young Adult Romance |
| 61. Fairy Tale Fantasy |
| 61. Sword and Sorcery Fantasy |
| 63. Mundane Science Fiction |
| 64. Prairie Settlement Western |
| 65. Hard-boiled Mystery |
| 66. Comedy Western |
| 67. Robots/A.I. Science Fiction |
| 68. Monsters Horror |
| 69. Space Opera Science Fiction |
| 70. Fantasy of Manners Fantasy |
| 71. Comedy Horror |
| 72. Police Procedural Mystery |
| 73. Conspiracy Thriller and Suspense |
| 74. Comedy Science Fiction |
| 75. Alternate History Science Fiction |
| 76. Protag w/ unique talent Mystery |
| 77. Quiet Horror Horror |
| 78. Science Fiction Romance |
| 79. Culinary Mystery |
| 80. Doctor Detective Mystery |
| 81. Historical Romance |
| 82. Biopunk Science Fiction |
| 83. Shipwrecked Thriller and Suspense |
| 84. Espionage Thriller and Suspense |
| 85. Low Fantasy |
| 86. Disaster Thriller and Suspense |
| 87. Land Rush Western |
| 88. Lawbringer Western |
| 89. Cosmic Horror |
| 90. Children’s Story Science Fiction |
| 91. Regency Romance |
| 92. Immortality Science Fiction |
| 93. Action Thriller and Suspense |
| 94. Alternate/Parallel Universe Science Fiction |
| 95. Dying Earth Science Fiction |
| 96. Cozy Mystery |
| 97. Aliens Science Fiction |
| 98. Dystopia Science Fiction |
| 99. Erotica Romance |
| 100. Urban Fantasy |
| 101. Contemporary Romance |
| 102. Bumbling Detective Mystery |
| 103. Whodunit Mystery |
| 104. Heroic Fantasy |
| 105. Body Horror |
| 106. Mind Transfer Science Fiction |
| 107. Social Science Fiction |
| 108. Extreme Horror |
| 109. Historical Thriller and Suspense |
| 110. GameLit Science Fiction |
| 111. Children’s Story Western |
| 112. Cattle Drive Western |
| 113. Paranormal Mystery |
| 114. Historical Fantasy |
| 115. Contemporary Fantasy |
| 116. Children’s Story Fantasy |
| 117. Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction |
| 118. Military Science Fiction |
| 119. Child in Peril Mystery |
| 120. Nanopunk Science Fiction |
| 121. Caper/heist Mystery |
| 122. SpyFi Science Fiction |
| 123. Young Adult Horror |
| 124. Historical Mystery |
| 125. Gold Rush Western |
| 126. Sports Romance |
| 127. Mountain Men Western |
| 128. Comedy Fantasy |
| 129. Comedy Romance |
| 130. Hauntings Horror |
| 131. Historical Horror |
| 132. Young Adult Thriller and Suspense |
| 133. Locked Room Mystery |
| 134. Mythic Fantasy |
| 135. Young Adult Science Fiction |
| 136. Apocalyptic/Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction |
| 137. Romantic Suspense |
| 138. Lost Worlds Science Fiction |
| 139. Religious Thriller and Suspense |
| 140. Mythic Science Fiction |
| 141. Comedy Thriller and Suspense |
| 142. Military Thriller and Suspense |
| 143. Sports Thriller and suspense |
Marcus Vance 
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