Menu

Prompts

Contests

Stories

Blog

Menu

✕

CONNECT

Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites

BLOG

Success Stories

APPS

TOOLS

Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships

ABOUT

About Reedsy Terms Privacy

CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#120: Nostalgia

Do you ever get a warm, fuzzy feeling when eating a favorite childhood meal or meeting up with an old friend? On the other hand, maybe you’ve revisited something you were nostalgic for, only to find it wasn’t quite what you remembered. Or perhaps you’ve found yourself longing for a time before you were even born...

This week’s prompts encourage you to write around the bittersweet feeling of nostalgia, and imagine the different ways your characters might confront memories from the past.

This week's prompts

Write about a character who yearns for something they lost, or never had.

Angst – 111 stories

Start your story with the line ‘Back in my day…’

Adults – 28 stories

Write about two characters’ different perspectives of the same past event.

Middle School – 36 stories

Start your story with a character looking through an old family photo album.

Fluff – 44 stories

Your character has always viewed the past with rose tinted glasses. Write about what happens when they’re finally confronted with the truth.

Angst – 25 stories

Stories

“The Photo Album” by Stan Konwiser

Submitted to Contest #120

Ashley Thomas continued the long, slow process of clearing out the nooks and crannies of her condo. She had been living there for more than 20 years as her family grew and then disintegrated. The final divorce settlement was forcing the condo sale. Ashley sighed and took another box out of the closet. It contained about a dozen photo albums from happier times. Looking for any distraction, she carried the box to the living room and set it down on the coffee table. Settling on the co...

Read story

“Past Imperfect” by D. Jaymz

Submitted to Contest #120

The future is the past guided by the blind, ignorant of the present. —Anonymous Looking in the mirror, I see a distorted mug, eyes, vacant piss holes, cried through most of the night, a mouth that droops down to knobby knees, with a nose redder and brighter than Rudolph’s on a stormy night. I drown in nightmares jingling in my brain as they rattle and clink and make a gurgling noise deep in my bowels, nostalgic memories churning, buried deep in the composting heap of maybe were. Little haunting horrors, bite-sized morsels that I worked so ...

Read story

“Nostalgia-Confronting the truth” by Sakaram Puddoo

Submitted to Contest #120

Nostalgia Confronting the truth I am Mario Hubin,son of Mr and Mrs Caldicks. After my secondary studies, I left Mauritius at the age of twenty for Toronto to study engineering. I left behind my fifteen-year-old brother named Ben and my five-year-old sister Angela.. Four years later I got graduated. I was lucky to get a job in a Canadian firm. Having worked satisfactorily and efficiently, my firm lengthened my work permit. When I turned twenty-seven, I made the acquaintance of a Canadian lady. Two years later we got married.in the presenc...

Read story

“Crossroads” by I Jones

Submitted to Contest #120

"I'm pregnant." The pause that followed felt like several hours. "What do you mean, pregnant?" Mel rolled her eyes. "Well, there's pretty much only one thing that could possibly mean." Jamie was silent for another minute as he processed this information. "I just mean... are you planning to keep it?" It wasn't a hard question for Melanie, but nonetheless, she paused, moving her eyes down from his face for the first time since she came in. "Yes." She swallowed hard as Jamie raised his eyebrows. She had anticipated this ...

Read story

$250

Prize money

244

Contest entries

163

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Nov 19, 2021 EST

Won by Rebecca Loften 🏆

Title: Meditation

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!

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢