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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

“Three matchsticks. ” by Minnie Malfoy

Submitted to Contest #105

It had happened all too quickly. One moment the streets were filled with its usual silence and the next it was filled with that horrific sound. The woman had been on her normal afternoon walk. The sky was a summery blue, painted with soft, cotton-looking clouds and the occasional pigeons would swiftly fly by, their wings a whisper in the winds. Wraiths of the sky, a stranger once called them. The streets were empty with not a single being in sight, not even a single car. As if the whole world had been put on pause for her, so that she could ...

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“Through The Eyes of a Stranger” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #105

William had been driving home from a friend’s cottage after celebrating his twenty-first birthday weekend. The whole weekend had been filled with drinking, dancing, and more drinking. His blue eyes were surrounded by red veins. He was still inebriated when he got behind the wheel on Sunday evening, but insisted to his friends that he was fine to drive. He wasn’t. William was heading along a winding path on Hende...

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“The Attic” by Book Lover

Submitted to Contest #105

The attic. One would think nothing special about an attic. It is just a room, after all. But mine was different because of its contents. I don’t know when it started. Maybe with the Doll maker from the early 1900s or further back with the puppeteer who lived during the 1800s? All I know is I am now a part of the sinister collection on the third floor. A strange energy wafts around the entire property. It doesn’t necessarily feel evil, but it still gives me chills. Between the basement and the attic, just being in the house is unbearable at t...

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“I'm okay being a side character” by J D Hernandez

Submitted to Contest #105

In life do you ever feel like the side character, like your siblings and parents are more important? I often used to that was until last summer when i realized I'm okay with it. They are so worth it. It started like any other family trip, we left in the dark of the night just to make it to Yosemite during the day. It was just after seven in the morning in Yosemite national park when we drove through the gates. We had been driving for eight in a half hours straight. Dad refused to stop. We were forced to hold it in biting out cheeks. In a mad...

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“My successful exam! ” by Kenny Boy

Submitted to Contest #105

It is a lovely morning day, I wake up, brush my teeth, and dressed my uniform on. I go downstairs to have breakfast with my family. It's now 6.30 A.M. However, I suddenly remember that I got a really important exam at school at 7.00 A.M. It's a math exam, which I forgot to review some hard math problems that my teacher gave me yesterday. Yesterday, my teacher Ms.Laura mentioned about the exam that we would have today, she told us to do some advanced math for homework. Honestly, I am really bad at math. I often get the D- in class or if I am ...

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“The Reckoning ” by Tom Vandel

Submitted to Contest #105

The Reckoning I was told in high school by my English teacher, Mrs. Eliason, that writing helps you think. Helps clarify things in your mind. Especially during hard times. Jus...

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“It’s the End of The World As We Know It” by Ayesha 🌙

Submitted to Contest #105

The day began with a bowl of cereal, because the apocalypse is no cause for an unhealthy breakfast. Of course, no one knew the world would be ending that day. The girl certainly didn’t, so she started the morning the way she always did. She walked down the creaky wooden steps into the kitchen, where her mother Cassandra already was. Cassandra was nursing a glass of scotch, as per usual, and sipped it by the window. A breeze swept past the glass. The girl ate her breakfast as quietly as always, but something about the crunching snapped Cassan...

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“Clusters ” by Edgar Diamondclaw

Submitted to Contest #105

CW: suicideI read these words, and I am not yet dead……the terminal was crowded with anxiety and lifeless eyes. The air itself seemed to squeeze your chest the more you breathed in. We saw the bodies of suicide strewn about – it’s strange how unaffected we were by this; I suppose we understood why…. I continued to hug the head pressed into my shoulder as I guided her through the labyrinth of teary faces and scattered luggage. Maybe I was just conditioned by years of strict routines, but I was more panicked by the thought of missing the plane ...

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“Unrequited” by Triniti Brown

Submitted to Contest #105

Thursday, April 21, 1:05 p.m.Throughout our whole friendship, Bella has always wanted to be an actress. Every Saturday she made me be her love interest and run lines for plays she wasn’t even going to audition for. So watching her on that stage right now auditioning for the lead in “Romeo and Juliet” is making me the proudest best friend in all of South Carolina. All of her hard work is paying off at this moment, whether she gets the part or not.In my position in the auditorium, I can’t hear the lines she is reading but from the faces of the...

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“Commit a Crime, We'll Always Know” by Melford Maderazo

Submitted to Contest #105

The hologram screen displays complex interconnections of thin green lines. The lines represent the lively streets of Lypee City, the only city in the world that has the lowest crime rate in five months. A yellow dot emerges on one horizontal line bordering the city. It continuously blinks in rhythm to an alarm sounding through the operator’s earphones. The operator touches the blinking yellow dot on the hologram screen. The blinking and alarm suddenly stops. She pinches the yellow dot to magnify the location. She pinches again and now sees a...

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“Before the Storm” by Kira Krieger

Submitted to Contest #105

I rushed through the Philadelphia Airport. Only I could wake up two hours early and still be running late for my plane. No one was going fast enough. Certainly not security. Certainly not the bonehead in front of me that had to go through the metal detector so many times he was pat-down. The hands on my watch raced as I wish I could. They jerked forward past my departure time as it sat in the x-ray box. If only it could have been running fast. People rushed around me. Left. Right. Colliding with each other. And One tripping over some...

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“Duplicity With the Demagogue” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #105

There aren’t many upsides to being the best friend of a psychotic murderer beyond your own survival. When I first knew him the future Lord of Death’s Fire was just a talented mage who tolerated me in his long shadow. I was a coward not to try harder to divert him from the violent road he started down. He always had a short temper. The Masters of the College of Magi could not contain his curiosity or keep up with his raw power. I was the runt of the class, passing only I think because tutors were hoping my timid nature would rub off on Maz....

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“The Cajun Conundrum ” by Eric D.

Submitted to Contest #105

PETER Those who strayed too far from the grassy knolls and cemented sidewalk of Mother's shotgun cottage were sure to face a bad case of juju. Living in New Orleans as pet rabbits hadn't been a difficult ordeal while Mother watched over us. It was a comfortable place, brightly painted yellow with a triangle roof and stairs that lead to a porch that circled around long enough for me to stretch my legs. Me and Snoball had our own spacious enclosure inside, a never-ending supply of food and water and even a cushioned space to sleep. Out...

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“Teenagers are Stupid” by RIC .

Submitted to Contest #105

The passing streetlights went by so fast they almost looked like stars. The road was smooth, no bumps, good. Everyone inside the car was cramped. Or, they were. The driver wasn’t really driving as much as he was talking. The woman next to him chatted him up easily, the two locked in their own conversation, in their own world. Forgetting on the people in the back seat. The car was dark, the leather smooth against their shorts. They were in th...

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“The switch” by Harsh Maurya

Submitted to Contest #105

“I cannot tolerate this anymore”, I said to my wife Sarah as I pushed the food plate away from me on the dining table in anger. “This food is inedible. It is so bad that even a dog is going to reject it. It has been years since you have been trying to cook. How hard can it be?” Sarah blasted in anger too - “If you think it is so easy, why don't you do it yourself? All you ever do is complain.” Our voices were so loud that our 3-year-old son woke up crying in the bedroom. “See what you have done. Now don't ask me to get h...

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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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