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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

“Web of Life” by Karen Lethlean

Submitted to Contest #105

Web of Life Grandmother came over to discuss plans for a baby shower. Arrangements being made for a family gathering, celebrating our cousin, Jenny’s baby bump. On this happy event, Gran wanted, as usual, to stamp her signature. So even though left-over wedding champagne barely consumed, and cake slivers topped with thick white almond icing hadn’t even been fully distributed, plans were well underway to celebrate impending arrival of my new second cousin. ‘You can’t be serious; you’re still doing those cards?’ She asked when Grannie saw Je...

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“Hunting Season” by Ambah Jamz

Submitted to Contest #105

It was dark inside the wolf. Her swollen knees tucked at her chest. Her nightgown was covered in the slime of canine saliva. She had a gash in her leg from where the wolf had bit down. Her own wound pooling within the barley stuffed stomach. Being gobbled up had not been on Grandma's to-do list today. The blood that pooled around her sloshed as the gaffer wolf stalked the room. Clanking through her belongings, for God knew what. She could hear him still licking his chops and felt him rubbing against the stomach wall with his ...

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“Ground Heist” by Jay Dani

Submitted to Contest #105

A volley of wild shots is quite an effective way to make a crowd of civilians scatter. Of course, nothing about the strategic bullet pattern on the dead clerk indicated that the shots were wild. Well planned murder, Cibrian mused. His amused gaze darted over the stampede of frenzied citizens. The war had taught them to run for shelter at any sign of a threat. It was a real pity they didn’t realise this was a staged homicide. Mass hysteria tended to cloud one’s detection skills. Cibrian stalked towards the corpse in the bloody snow, slumped...

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“Tick Tock Croc” by Queen Rena

Submitted to Contest #105

Tick Tock Croc I could not take my eyes off Pixie Hollow, the island where the fairies live, it was beautiful, always glittering with gold pixie dust. It has become a habit of mine to admire their fantastic island from my boring one, Croc Creek, but today is different, today is the day I visit Pixie Hollow. Mama Odie, the Voodoo priestess, promised every creature in Croc Creek one wish, provided they present an outstanding gift to her. It seemed like a fair deal, I had asked creatures who had visited Mama Odie, for gift ideas. They a...

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“Dust Covered Girl” by Dani M

Submitted to Contest #105

Allow me to tell you a story. A sad story, true, one that you think you know. It is short, and simple, and easy to remember, but you do not know the true tale. Nonetheless, I shall share it with you now: She’d always been a special kind of girl, that one - not that she ever noticed. She used to go through the house, humming to herself as she swept, content in her own world, never realizing that there were those who plotted against her behind closed doors. She had been born there, ...

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“Does not Play the Accordion” by Juliet Martin

Submitted to Contest #105

Friendly, tidy, young professional, the application had read. I suppose I never thought to ask what kind of professional, but you usually assume something in IT or finance or maybe marketing. Gabrielle Poole: non-smoker, meat-eater, does not play the accordion. I assumed that was a bit of humour. By that time I had already had a few people round to visit the flat: one sweaty young man with a creased shirt who had asked exactly how often the landlord usually came to visit, an exceedingly tall woman who felt inclined to kick each inch of skirt...

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“Love and the stars” by Yvette Francaise

Submitted to Contest #105

They always fawn over the main character. She is always perfect and beautiful, but what if I told you some had major flaws. Half the time side characters fade away to the side only to never ever be heard of. We don't ever get our happy endings. Well, most of the time. Today was their wedding today. In this case, it was Adam's and Bridgette's day.There Bridgette stood with one of the groomsmen in the white woman's bathroom. My dumb ass was in a stall when her heels clicked into the rooms. Her white silk robe shimmered on her slender body. Her...

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“THIRD WHEEL” by Theresa Anna

Submitted to Contest #105

He watches the man and woman reach for each other’s hands as their favorite song lures them to the dance floor. She, whispering in the man’s ear as his hand slides down her back. He, head thrown back, laughing as the woman spins him awkwardly. They’re terrible dancers. Even he, standing in the dark corner of the club with his hand in a deathlike grip around his vodka soda, can hardly bear to watch them, their arms and legs and hips moving to a private beat no one can hear. But he also can’t look away. He gives them a thumbs up and a grin whe...

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“Forgotten” by Eisley Kang

Submitted to Contest #105

Smoke curled from my fingertips, enveloping me in a fog. I held myself against a wall, and felt for my dagger. I was ready to murder. A man passed me slowly, and to him I was all but invisible. Brushing his ginger hair out of his eyes, he laid a briefcase in the middle of the empty courtyard. It felt a waste to kill such a pretty man, but I hadn't really been given another option. The man entered a code, and the briefcase unlatched itself, fire erupting from the inside. Ginger Man was mesmerized by the flames, a rookie mistake, and that's wh...

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“Pepper and Her Boy (And Maybe Someone Else Too)” by Shemn C

Submitted to Contest #105

Pepper took her responsibility as Cat Of The House very seriously.Her Boy, Conan, as they call him, is her best friend. Inseparable since the day they met actually! Long conversations about anything and everything, jumps of happiness, bitter-filled nights of crying, she’s been through it all with her Boy. Pepper remembers when she first came home with him. He was frantic, panicky, his whole body frozen as they stared at each other from opposite ends of the Couch. She couldn’t understand why at the time, but now she knows that her Boy ju...

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“Thick Madam And Her Iphones” by Philip Ebuluofor

Submitted to Contest #105

I sat on the long form in front of my lodge, wondering how I will navigate my way to the local government secretariat for I have never been there. I knew the town it was situated in but I don’t actually know how to and where to enter bus that will take me there without wasting my meagre resources. I was given project topic that warranted me to interview some of the key staffs of the local government area. My school is about three towns away from my village and another three from the local gove...

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“The lynching” by Anthony David M

Submitted to Contest #105

It took me by surprise. It was so sudden. Within minutes, a huge mob baying for my blood had gathered in the room. They were shouting loudly. Shouting that I was to be beaten up. Flummoxed, I was speechless. Never expecting such a thing in all of my life, I was in a quandary. "What do I do now?" My friends who were with me till that moment were in two minds. It is wiser, they thought, to disown me, at least in t...

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“Witness to My Life” by BRIG CORBAN

Submitted to Contest #105

As the first light of day eased itself through the mist, I no longer noticed the slight chill in the air. Winter was closing its doors as we slowly started to move into spring. But still we sat there, wrapped together in a woolen blanket I had received when my grandfather had passed away. It was magical. Not just the sunrise. Not just the night before, but the events that had led up to this. Well, mostly magical. That was what my mind was allowing me to see at this time. The good times. I glanced over at him, blinked, and then looked ba...

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“Berry Picking” by Millie Squires

Submitted to Contest #105

In comparison to the dragon they were fighting, the hero didn’t look all powerful and mighty. They had gangly brown hair and limbs that looked too long for them. They swung their sword towards the scaly beast, hitting its scales but ultimately doing no damage to the creature, their sword bouncing off the plates as if they were made of stone. The dragon let out a war-cry of a screech and levitated into the air, beating its wings just right so it wouldn’t hit the roof of the cave. The roar echoed around the rocks and bounced back to the hero. ...

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“Get Yourself Free” by Erin F

Submitted to Contest #105

Dear Corey, I am a long time listener of your show, but this is my first time writing in. My name is LTC Eugene Buckley, USA, Ret. but everyone calls me “Buck”. I’m 67 years old, retired about 7 years now, with over 40 years of honorable service to my country. I’ve been to war, been blown up, taken lives, saved lives, negotiated with the enemy, but I’m not writing today to talk about all that. I’m writing in to talk about the, hands down, most difficult situation I have ever been faced with in my life: learning to communicate with my far-l...

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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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