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!

#136: The Old College Try

Though its origins are debated, it looks likely that the phrase “the old college try” was first used in baseball. According to Babe Ruth, to “give something the old college try” is to keep going, even when the odds are stacked against you — like chasing a flyball out into foul territory, just in case you somehow make the impossible catch.

There’s a lot to be said for those who keep trying despite knowing that their chances are slim. This week’s prompts take a closer look at those determined (or perhaps foolhardy) folk among us. After all, as the saying goes, God loves a trier.

This week's prompts

Start or end your story with someone saying “You’ll never know unless you try.”

Dialogue – 57 stories

Write about somebody who knows they’re probably going to fail at something, but does it anyway.

Narrative – 32 stories

Write about a character giving something one last shot.

Narrative – 51 stories

Set your story on a baseball field.

Middle School – 39 stories

Write a story where hard work doesn’t pay off.

Angst – 28 stories

Stories

“Escape” by Lexi Duckett

Submitted to Contest #136

I slowly open my eyes. I rub my eyes with the backs of my hands. It’s dark here, but my eyes adjusted to the darkness a long time ago. I slowly sit up, I am lying on the floor that is my bed. The floor is very hard and not comfortable at all. The floor has a light pink stained carpet on it. There is no furniture here. And it smells bad down here it smells like there’s a lot of mold down here. But I have a little bathroom that has a toilet, sink, and shower. But the water is cold all the time. I’d love a hot shower right now. But that’s just ...

Read story

“Full Count” by Peyton Bowyer

Submitted to Contest #136

As I stepped into the mound, throwing a few warm-up pitches with my catcher, nerves overtook me. My body felt jumpy, and overstimulated, I fidgeted as my catcher retrieved the ball I had released too late. "Hey! Gilbert, keep your head on your shoulders!" My coach called to me. I held my glove out for the ball and nodded at his words. "Get up there, Jones," The opposing team's coach hollered. The first one up for this inning was #46, she was a heavy hitter, but she struggled with fast balls sometimes. I watched as she positioned herself in f...

Read story

“Struck Out on a Full Count” by Dhruv Srivastava

Submitted to Contest #136

The slender maple wood felt like the hand of an old friend between his calloused fingers, and the wear of home runs showed on the barrel. This was not his latest bat, but rather the one he’d hit his first high school single with, and the one he thought he’d take with him to Texas. The unlit stadium lights loomed like sentinels over the nearly pitch black field, and in the darkness Jeremy Davis gripped the old bat in one hand and a scrunched up letter in another. Occasionally he swung the bat from his familiar home plate, memories of crushing...

Read story

“The Boy of Summer” by Bill Kurtze

Submitted to Contest #136

Have you ever felt the exhilaration of smashing a home ball into the stands, of throwing a 120 km/hour fast ball, or experiencing the sting of the baseball as it slapped into your glove. If you have, then you probably understand what it’s like to be one of the boys of summer. If not, then sit back and I’ll tell you what was like for a young boy named Michael. His full name was Christopher Michael Cartwright known simply as Chip or sometimes Chipper to his friends. One look at the him told you that he was no longer a child but a some...

Read story

“At All Costs” by Tanner Burke

Submitted to Contest #136

“I have a competition in me. I want no one else to succeed. I hate most people.” In Little League, we play six innings win, lose or, God forbid, a tie, the old sister-kisser or something akin to that like dying by a thousand fastballs to the head. Losing is almost as bad, but losing is a wrong I can correct sometime later on, with intent and malice and I can put myself back on top and feel great. Losing is a great motivator, but tying’ll turn a nun to drugs within a couple of hours. I don’t give a damn if you’re playing tee-ball or ...

Read story

“All Star” by Mary Kurpiewski

Submitted to Contest #136

THE ALL-STAR It’s that time of year again, SPRING. Standing on this baseball field in this clear, crisp weather makes me feel at home. My husband and I have been here many times before with our three children; Ronnie, 11, Timmy 10, and Missy 9. Somehow this time seems very different. Our fourth child, Joey, is waiting anxiously beside me to hear if he made the All-Star Little League team. He practices around the clock and counts the hours until his Saturday game. Quite a few people can’t believe he has such a pitching arm at his age...

Read story

“You Can Go Home Again” by Daria White

Submitted to Contest #136

The bullpen phone rings just as my cutter settles into Johnny’s glove. He nods, but I know the ball was a little outside. I have the pitch if Johnny signals for it, but I’d rather not use it. Liggs, our bullpen coach, answers the phone, but other than his “Bullpen” greeting, he hasn’t uttered a word. The hair on the back of my neck stands up as I prepare to throw a 2 seamer. I can feel Liggs’s eyes on me. He nods and hangs up. “Turner!” This is it. The moment I’d neve...

Read story

“Learning to Bat” by Sonali Sinha

Submitted to Contest #136

Rhea woke up early on a Saturday morning because the accounting firm she worked at required all hands on deck when they found multiple errors that caused a ripple effect which meant everyone had to go in and redo a month’s worth of work. She looked into the mirror as she prepared herself for a day in Corporate America. She dabbed her foundation over her freckles and then pulled her hair into a tight ponytail. She played around with it so that her black hair covered purple highlights. After slipping into her pantsuit, she grabbed her “I hate ...

Read story

“Fantasy Field” by Marissa Ciliberto

Submitted to Contest #136

Blueberry shaded skies were held together by odd shaped cotton balls. If I could, I would give the sun a hug for shining so spectacularly upon the green field in front of me. My dreaded soul has always been eased by the grace of nature. It seems to be my only friend in this dull, cruel world. My head has never been screwed on right. I know this for a fact. All the other humans out there are far too similar. Their brains work connectively. Conversations never seem to roll easy with me. I always say something horribly out of the ordi...

Read story

“The Inventor” by Lee-Anne Lenore Archibald

Submitted to Contest #136

THIS STORY HAS SENSITIVE CONTENT, ABUSE AND SUBSTACE ABUSE. She had problems. She had real, identity thieft problems. No one, knew who she was. She lived in a world, where she would be considered, a hostage. A free hostage, if there was such a thing. Her identity thieves, were relentless, hacking her phone, answering her calls, from her business associates. They would knock her out, with a device, that would render her unconscious, and answer her door. Impersonating her, the woman, Lee-Anne, to anyone that came along. "Do you have something ...

Read story

“Weight Cycling” by Andrea Moya

Submitted to Contest #136

TW: Disordered eating, fatphobiaMom is in the kitchen today. I’m slumped in the recliner, pretending to watch TV in the living room. I always feel compelled to watch her as she goes through her weekly ritual. It’s Wednesday so she did the grocery shopping and she’s laid out the food across every available surface. Her food and our food. She keeps them separate as if proximity to our full-calorie, full-fat, sugary, highly processed regular food will somehow contaminate her 100-calorie, non-fat, sugar-free, organic and natural diet food. I wat...

Read story

“Definition of Hard work ” by Leanne Drain

Submitted to Contest #136

I struggle; I fall every hurdle faced with the demining errors of my past. I see it now where I want to be, how I want to be accessible away from all the mishaps of life. There is a sign outside my house in two different directions. One route leads to my warrior, my hero, my beloved grandad, where he shines the brightest of the stars. The other road leads to failures I have faced in this little life as I come to a halt at a crossroads. I see my path; it is either the goodness or the badness. I take each path and approach them with caution. T...

Read story

“The Well” by Lucas Gaier

Submitted to Contest #136

He desperately tried to wipe his eyes to see her clearly, but his tears blurred the image of the limp body he held in his arms. She was still warm. He tried to brush her hair from her face, but the blood knotted the strands together making it an impossible mess. He held her tightly in his arms as she slowly turned cold. He opened his eyes and stared into the darkness. He was exhausted from the dream, but he was used to it. How could he rest when her darkened eyes were all he could see every time he closed his own? Every night, for four lon...

Read story

“New Mexico In My Dreams.” by Ellie Blair

Submitted to Contest #136

When an unexpected event occurs in one’s life and particularly if it is associated with something you like, love, enjoy, and understand, you sit up and take notice. Travel has played a major role in who I have become. It has educated me, it has opened my mind and heart, it has shown me the most beautiful places and people, and most of all, it has taught me gratitude. Having a deep interest also in Spirituality, Mindfulness, Alternative Medicine and Healing, I took myself off to a London Mind Body Spirit Show, an environment that feels famili...

Read story

“My Grandad” by Jordan Williams

Submitted to Contest #136

"My grandad used to teach me about history, not in a lecture way or even in telling stories himself kind of way, but with books. He gave me the first Sharpe book, chronologically not in release order which was weird when I made it back around to Sharpe being in Spain cause Bernie C didn't fill out Sharpe's back story until after he'd finished the Peninsular War. Reading about Dick Sharpe and his riflemen really sparked my interest and from that I learnt as much as I could about the war, Napoleon and Wellington. After that he gave...

Read story

Load more stories

$250

Prize money

207

Contest entries

100

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Mar 11, 2022 EST

Won by Howard Halsall 🏆

Title: Cigarettes: A Romance

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 ⭢