Looking for some inspiring hero story ideas for your next writing project? You’ve come to the right place! Here is a slew of story ideas, for middle-schoolers to high school students to NaNoWriMo warriors to any seasoned writers!
Read on for ideas like a group of teens seeking to heal their broken society, to a lonely guy standing between Hades and the world peace.
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The Basics of a Hero Story
Let’s start off with the basics: what exactly is a hero story? It’s the hero’s journey. Joseph Campbell describes the narrative pattern of a hero’s journey in his acclaimed book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949) as follows:
A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.
Joseph Campbell
The Three Acts of a Hero’s Journey
There are three stages or three acts of a hero’s journey:
– Departure: it’s where the hero’s ordinary life gets turned upside down by the call for adventure.
– Initiation: while on the mission, the hero must overcome difficulties and prevail against the enemies.
– Return: the hero returns home a changed person.
A closer look at popular culture and literature, from C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia to Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games, it’s clear that they all follow this simple pattern of the hero’s journey, and you, too, can emulate the formula in your works to create a compelling hero’s story.
With so many themes and ideas out there, it can be difficult to find one that really speaks to you. So we’ve put together this list of story ideas in case you need some inspiration!
Hero Story Ideas
There are so many different story ideas out there that you probably feel like you’ve read them all before, or they’ve all been done before. But the devil is in the details!
Throw in some of your own unique twist, and there’s nothing more inspiring than creating heroic characters and putting them in situations where they can do things we secretly wish we could do ourselves.
Please note that all the genders in these prompts are just placeholders.
Dystopian
1. One disillusioned teenager in a dystopian world finds the horrifying truth that their soulmate is genetically manufactured by the Elders to ensure full compatibility and help achieving the “perfect” society. (This prompt originally appears in my post Soulmate Story Ideas)
2. In a dystopian city where social interaction outside of the nuclear family is highly discouraged because of its correlation with criminal rate, a group of teens communicate via Morse code and bond over their shared love for the constellation, and inadvertently revolutionize the society in the process.
Apocalyptic
1. Following an apocalyptical crisis, a scientist who shuts himself inside of a bunker thinks he’s hearing things, which turns out to be a radio transmission from a colony of survivors. Then, the scientist must attempt a rescue mission for them.
2. When the zombie outbreak starts, and a grave-digger working at a cemetery which is the epicenter for the zombie outbreak is the only one with an immunity against it. Then, he must attempt to help develop the antidote to the virus.
Fantasy
1. When a portal opens up in the living room of a lonely teen straight to the Underworld, he might be the only person who stands between Hades and the Earth’s safety. (This prompt originally appears in my post Surreal Writing Prompts.
2. In an alternate universe where animals have evolved into intelligent humanoid creatures who enslave humans, write about one human who sparks a rebellion to free the humankind.
Everyday life
1. When all the communication system in a secluded fire lookout is destroyed by lightning, a lone fire watcher has to battle illness-induced hallucination to save the city from an impending forest fire.
2. Write a story following the lives of doctors and other medical professionals at the height of the corona virus pandemic.
Picture prompts
Here are some hero story ideas based on picture prompts, because, a picture speaks a thousand words! Below are some image prompts as well as some prompt ideas to accompany each.
(Please click on the image for more information.)
1. A wild west story of a new, young sheriff stationed in a rowdy town full of criminals who gang up against him following the discovery of a legendary goldmine.
2. A recluse mountain dweller saves the survivors of a plane crash.
(Please click on the image for more information.)
1. In a world where immortality is a luxury reserved for the rich, a scientist proceeds to distribute the luxury to the common folks, but what follows is only chaos.
2. Adam and Eve as the heroes of their story as opposed to fallen people who introduced sins into the world.
More Ideas?
Here are some other posts that you might find interesting:
- 12 Paranormal Romance Writing Prompts
- Witch Story Ideas
- Enchanted Forest Story Ideas
- 25 Non-Cheesy Ways for Your Characters to Meet
Or browse our Story Ideas & Writing Prompts category for more ideas!
Have any question or feedback? Feel free to contact me here.
Until next time!
