Fiction Writing Prompts: Time Travel

Time Travel Writing Prompts

Events are influenced by time travel…

1. A time traveler attempts to prevent a global catastrophe but accidentally exacerbates it.
2. An artifact from the future appears in the past, altering the course of technological development.
3. A young child stumbles upon a time portal and brings back a pet from the prehistoric era.
4. A historian travels back in time to interview renowned figures but inadvertently changes their fates.
5. A detective from the future visits the past to solve a crime that spans centuries.
6. Two time-traveling lovers from different eras try to find a time period where they can be together without changing history.
7. A scientist creates a time machine, but it can only move forward in time.
8. During a pivotal battle in history, a modern weapon appears, turning the tide of the war.
9. Someone travels to the future to bring back a cure for a deadly disease but finds humanity extinct.
10. An artist from the past visits the modern era and gets inspired, leading to a new artistic movement centuries before its time.
11. A tour company offers trips to the past, but one tourist keeps causing trouble.
12. Someone keeps revisiting their past to correct their mistakes, only to find each alteration makes their present worse.
13. A future civilization studies the 21st century by sending observers back in time, but one gets too involved.
14. The world wakes up one day to historical monuments that never existed before.
15. Time travelers accidentally bring back an extinct predator.
16. An elderly person travels back to give their younger self life advice.
17. Two countries at war discover the existence of time travel and race to change historical outcomes.
18. A modern engineer is transported to ancient Rome and tries to introduce futuristic technologies.
19. A time traveler’s journal is discovered which has detailed entries of events that haven’t occurred yet.
20. A rogue time traveler sets up shop in various eras, selling future tech for gold.
21. Someone travels back to their childhood to try to save a lost loved one.
22. A detective discovers that crimes in his city are being committed by a time-traveling thief.
23. Time travelers create a “Time Refugee” crisis by bringing people from doomed timelines.
24. Time tourism becomes the latest fad, but the effects on the timeline are catastrophic.
25. In a future where memories can be recorded, a black market arises for “live” experiences from the past.
26. A future dystopian leader sends assassins back in time to eliminate those who would oppose his rise.
27. A student from the future decides to “borrow” historical artifacts for a school project.
28. World leaders receive letters from their future selves with advice and warnings.
29. A time-traveling archaeologist digs up sites before their historical importance is realized.
30. An extinct plant is found in the modern-day, leading to the suspicion of time-traveling botanists.
31. A young writer travels forward to see if they ever become famous.
32. A philosopher from the past is brought to the present day and has to grapple with modern values.
33. Time-traveling paparazzi chase celebrities through various eras.
34. Someone tries to gather great thinkers from various times for a once-in-an-eternity conference.
35. A watch is discovered that counts down to significant moments in a person’s life, both past and future.
36. A town cursed with random time portals appearing and disappearing daily.
37. A museum from the future contains displays of the “ancient” 21st century.
38. A couple discovers an old camera with photos of their future.
39. An AI learns to time travel and starts fixing what it sees as human mistakes.
40. Future archaeologists try to understand the 21st century, but all they have are memes.
41. A competition where contestants have to change minor historical events without affecting major ones.
42. A diary is found which contains daily entries from different centuries.
43. A ship lost at sea reappears after vanishing for centuries, with the crew having no idea they were gone.
44. Scientists discover that deja vu is a side effect of someone time traveling.
45. Time travelers from the future participate in historical battles as a rite of passage.
46. An artist in the modern era finds sketches of their own work in ancient ruins.
47. A network of spies from various eras working together to maintain the timeline.
48. A detective finds evidence of time travel in unsolved cold cases.
49. A musician hears a song from the future and decides to make it their own.
50. An underground market where experiences of the past are sold as virtual reality modules.
51. A time-traveling merchant tries to sell today’s mundane items as rare artifacts in other eras.
52. Time-hopping fugitives trying to evade an inter-temporal police force.
53. A family heirloom is discovered to have a history that spans millennia.
54. A school trip to ancient Egypt goes horribly wrong.
55. The greatest achievements in history are found out to be the work of a time-traveling genius.
56. A world where you can hire time-traveling body doubles to attend events for you.
57. Ancient prophecies are discovered to be warnings from time travelers.
58. A person is cursed to relive the lives of their ancestors.
59. A cafe where you can meet alternate versions of yourself from different timelines.
60. A team of historians disputes over whether to use time travel for research or to leave history untouched.
61. A paradox detective who solves cases related to time travel anomalies.
62. A future where time travel is used as a method of prison – convicts are sent back to harsher times.
63. A mysterious individual prevents disasters but leaves cryptic clues about the future.
64. A society that has forbidden time travel due to the chaos it once caused.
65. Ancient cave paintings depicting modern day life are discovered.
66. A romance that blossoms between individuals from different centuries, with each visit aging one but not the other.
67. A struggling playwright uses time travel to “borrow” scripts from the future.
68. A secret society of time protectors who have taken it upon themselves to keep history intact.
69. A library where you can “check out” real experiences from the past.
70. A game show where contestants have to identify artifacts from different timelines.
71. A lone traveler who’s lost track of their original time and tries to find their way back.
72. Time travel becomes a therapy method to confront personal traumas.
73. A contest where artists from various eras compete against each other.
74. An explorer finds a city that evolves a century with each day.
75. A detective has to solve his own murder by traveling to the past.
76. A grieving individual travels to the past to collect moments with a departed loved one.
77. A ghost from the future haunts the present day, trying to communicate.
78. An age where time travel is a basic utility, like electricity or water.
79. A war veteran finds peace by traveling to a time before the war began.
80. A time criminal who steals unnoticed moments, erasing them from existence.
81. Time-traveling bounty hunters retrieving individuals who have overstayed in other eras.
82. A time portal in an old bookstore that takes you to the era the book was written.
83. Ancient ruins are discovered to be a time-travel hub.
84. A reality show where contestants have to survive in different time periods.
85. A detective discovers that an unsolvable crime was committed by their future self.
86. An arms race to develop the most advanced time-travel technology.
87. A band of rebels from the future tries to alter past events for a better world.
88. A treasure hunt that spans different centuries.
89. A watchmaker who can craft devices that bend time.
90. An Olympic event where athletes from various eras compete.
91. Time travelers are treated as celebrities in eras they visit.
92. A love letter that takes centuries to reach its recipient.
93. An academy that trains time guardians.
94. An era that’s stuck in a time loop, reliving the same events repeatedly.
95. A scientist trying to prevent the discovery of time travel.
96. An experiment that accidentally sends a whole city through time.
97. A festival where the traditions of multiple eras are celebrated.
98. A bank where you can deposit or withdraw time.
99. A lighthouse that shines light across centuries, guiding lost time travelers.
100. An unexpected meeting between multiple versions of the same person from different times in their life.