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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#105: Gaining Perspective

Selecting which point of view to tell their story from is one of the most crucial choices an author can make. Whether you opt for the intimacy of first person (“I”), the directness of second person (“you”), or the versatility of third person (“they”), this decision is critically important in creating a story that resonates with readers. Identifying your POV characters is also of the utmost importance: a story might actually be more interesting when told not from the perspective of the action hero, but through the eyes of their overshadowed, long-suffering sidekick.

With this week’s prompts, I’d like you to consider your choice of perspective, and maybe try something new! Put yourself into the shoes of an unexpected character — or ask your character to consider another’s point of view. How meta!

Like I mentioned, we’re currently working on some big changes to Prompts. With that in mind, we’re asking again for you to submit your stories 24 hours earlier than usual, to make those changes possible. The deadline for submitting a story to this week’s contest is 11:59PM EST on Thursday, August 5th. Stay tuned!

This week's prompts

Write a story from the point of view of three different characters.

Character – 191 stories

Write about a person trying to see something from another’s point of view.

Nonfiction – 92 stories

Write your story from the perspective of a side character.

Character – 143 stories

Write a story that switches between first person and third person point of view.

Kids – 100 stories

Write about a character who can suddenly see through another person's eyes — literally.

Adventure – 131 stories

Stories

“a broken mirror ” by Cami Moore

Submitted to Contest #105

March 7th, 2018 8:52 a.m. (Lana) The best and worst summer/fall of my entire life had started with a passing glance. I had left my favorite hole in the wall coffee place, my iced maple latte in hand, when I saw her. She had long silver hair that had gentle waves spilling over her shoulders and down her back, she was probably a couple inches shorter than me, and she had the most beautiful hazel-green eyes. As she had breezed by me on the sidewalk we made and held eye contact and for those few seconds I swear I had never wanted to reac...

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“The Other Side” by Jenny Grinwis

Submitted to Contest #105

You could have been a stranger, lying there, livery and inert. Yet, I know it was you; almost everything about you was familiar; known. The frame of you was the same: strong features, high forehead, wise eyes and gentle gaze; wide shoulders always ready to carry my world, but your long arms always loving, rested empty, listlessly, at your skeletal sides and your jaundiced skin hung on your bones, your face, drawn and gaunt, bearing the mask of an insidious cancer subduing its host. Your dark hair, always so perfectly slicked back – regal and...

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“A Division's Remainders” by Dimi Tra

Submitted to Contest #105

She heard the news of his death from social media. This was a pretty antisocial way to hear about something so direct and personal to her. She was not anticipating having any kind of emotional reaction to such news. On the contrary, she thought that she would have felt indifferent about his death. A “good riddance” feeling. If anyone knew what she had been through, they would not blame her...Yet, her momentary feeling was a very unexpected but distinct experience; She felt that something was poking her somewhere very deep, yet the only ...

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“A tale of two Sarahs” by Marie McLaughlin

Submitted to Contest #105

My name is Sarah Swanson and I'm Eleven and a half years old. I'm laying in my bed, laptop in my hands. My mom and dad are downstairs having an argument over something probably not worth arguing about anyway. "Do you think I make a million dollars at my desk job!?!? I don't make enough to afford that museum field trip for Sarah!!" That's my dad, Mike. He's always complaining about his job at the office, and he talks about how everything my mom and me want to spend money on means "one more day that he has to work a job he hates", but he thi...

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“A Chance Encounter” by Victoria Gawler

Submitted to Contest #105

MelanieA grey day in a dreary northern city. The streets are crowded with shoppers, their heads bowed to the perpetual rain. If only the sun would shine a little, then maybe their spines would unfurl and their faces lift to the grandeur bequeathed them by the city fathers in long gone prosperity. Instead the grey faces rise no higher than street level, to shiny shop windows promising Christmas bargains. A slim figure is picking her way through the crowds. Like the flocks around her, she wears a coat, jeans, dark boots, but a discerning ...

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“Gina” by Kiki Abbi

Submitted to Contest #105

Oliver Today was the day. The day I would tell Gina how I felt. I was going to look in her bright blue eyes and everything was going to be perfect. I've longed for this day to come for the past 5 years. Gina has been one of my best friends since we were 8. The only problem about my magnificent plan was that Gina is currently unavailable. Noah Peters is the guy who actually has the gift of being her boyfriend. The stuck-up quarterback who spends half his day looking at himself in the mirror and the other talking about the amount of his...

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“OPEN SECRET” by Sivaram Govindaraj

Submitted to Contest #105

RUBY SAYS: I am a woman with a ‘past’ and wonder who would marry me. I am fair, tall and have nice features. I know that if I dressed provocatively somebody would give me a wolf whistle. I have remained a spinster long enough and have decided to somehow take the plunge into matrimony. I had started reading matrimonial ads and one day this ad caught my eye : I am 43 and am a widower. My wife died of natural causes after 22 years of marriage leaving behind a daughter who is now 19. I am idealistic, broad minded and in good health. I am looking...

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“Time and Hope goes hand in hand” by Emma Bates

Submitted to Contest #105

There was once a boy I loved. He wasn’t handsome, nor was he tall. He didn’t have hazel or amber eyes full of passion, He didn’t know how to flirt, nor did he even try to. He wasn’t the perfect guy everyone wanted. He was just ... a boy. A boy who brought trouble. He was cast away and rarely mentioned by those around him because he reminded them of their mortality. He made them feel like they are inadequate and he sometimes was mistaken as the culprit who took away their loved and close ones. Silly little beings, the real culprits behind tha...

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“Fickle Finger of Fate” by Nathalie Menard

Submitted to Contest #105

“Just say no.” If only I had taken the warning more seriously, I’d be in college now. That’s what people say looking back, if only I had known, if I could go back, if only… I loved him like a brother, I utterly trusted him, I knew him better than anyone … at least that’s what I thought. I met Carl the summer between fourth and fifth grade. My family moved into the house next to where he had always lived. Our mothers were becoming acquainted over the fence when he invited me to jump on his trampoline. I was a year older than him, b...

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“A Genius Up in the Stars” by Alex Arias

Submitted to Contest #105

Yara sat in the cramped emergency pod, her muzzle twitching in the stale air. What an adventure, she thought. Her claws scratched at the metal as she stood on her two feet, her tail swinging out to balance herself. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed since she’d stowed away on the visiting ship, only that she was probably miles and miles away from home. “You don’t belong here,” a feminine voice said from nowhere. Yara looked up at the ceiling and around the curved structure of the pod, finding a small speaker built into the wall. ...

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“Spencer Robel's Story” by Mathis Coden

Submitted to Contest #105

I knew he was a main character from the second he walked in the door. His name was Spencer for God’s sake, it doesn’t get more obvious than that. My name’s basic Max, it’s not even cool like Drew or Chris, just your run of the mill Max. It doesn’t get any more non-main charactery than that. I have a perfectly boring family: a father who works all day and watches TV all night, a mother who cooks and makes us do our homework, and finally an annoying little sister. I mean, we even have a dog, named Spot. We go to church on Sundays and Gr...

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“The Sea Serpent and the Village” by Xara Ashmann

Submitted to Contest #105

You had a bad day at the café, and right now, all you wanted to do is read at your favorite library a few walks away from your house. As soon as you walk past the library’s towering doors, the smell of bibliosmia greets you and the books on the shelves seemed to give a warm welcome. You take random books one by one from their shelves, and in your impatience to rid yourself of the day’s stress you fail to notice the miniature tower that began to form. Soon, the weight of the books became too much for you to carry, and you drop them all on the...

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“Inspiration comes in many forms” by Hazel Osborne

Submitted to Contest #105

Quick warning: a tiny bit of homophobiaTravis gave the grumbling barista a small smile as he picked up his coffee, though he only received a dismissive wave in response.He didn’t take it personally. Maybe she was just having a bad start to her day.Her name tag red ‘Amy’. Simple enough to remember, though not many people looked. Who really cared about the name of the person who prepared their coffee?As he wasn’t in a rush, Travis sauntered over to the nearest free table, a small 2 person table situated in the middle of the little caféhe ...

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“I HAVE A VISION ” by Mahita Ghattu

Submitted to Contest #105

“Five years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the emancipation proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon of light of hope to millions of negro slaves...” My mother said, lowering her voice, and finally stopping. She looked away from the notepad that read-- Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a dream” speech. I was fast asleep. My mother kissed my forehead and got up from her chair. She looked back at me and shook her head. Then she frowned. She opened the door, and closed it, quietly, in an a...

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“Being a Grown-up” by Katharine Johns

Submitted to Contest #105

Being seven years old stinks! This evening I was supposed to go to the soccer club pizza party, but I’m grounded for failing a test in school and trying to lie about it. I wouldn’t have been able to go anyways just for failing the test but I still didn’t want to miss it if I could help it! Wendy Green was going to wear her new JoJo Siwa watch and Taylor Gates was bringing her Glitter Girl doll in a new outfit, and I have to miss seeing them! And it’ll be so embarrassing to explain why I couldn’t go! Mom and Dad are out on a date t...

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$50

Prize money

662

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Aug 05, 2021 EST

Won by Vi Bisky 🏆

Title: The Next Good Day

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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