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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#14: The Plot Thickens

This week, we launched a very fun* tool at Reedsy: our brand-new Plot Generator!

Turning to writing prompts is a great idea when you need that extra bit of help coming up with ideas to write about. This plot generator is here to do the same, offering more than 1 million** story combinations to inspire you.

You can choose to generate a fantasy, drama, mystery, romance, or sci-fi plot — or, just hit "random" and you'll get a little bit of everything! Plot ideas include characters, a theme, a setting, and even a plot twist... with just one click of the finger!

Each of this week's prompts is a plot element pulled right from our generator. You can feel free to incorporate as many of the elements in your story as you want — whether it's one or all five!

*Almost too much fun, if that's possible.
**Actually, trillions!

🥇 Winner

“On Becoming Marcus” by Raven T

🏆 Winner of Contest #14

It was just a week that the capital spent without Marcus. These were long days, in the middle of August, when the stinging sheets of rain left most sane people huddling like hedgehogs underneath the pale white domes of their houses. Petrichor wafted through heavy air. Rich and thick, the scent marked the tail-end of one such shower as Con made his way through the city.Con despised to walk alone. He remembered this now, especially, dragging the wagon of supplies over his shoulders. Had he not lost the horse, he would be at headquarters by now...

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“Equality” by Anna K Firth

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #14

Birds in the trees, singing like there would never be another sun, a white house by a gravel driveway, dew on the grass, the dogs still sleeping; the world held still the day you were born. Somewhere a child let go of their balloon, and it floated up above the clouds, going to the moon for you. A whale rolled over down under the dark mountains of blue water, and it sang a song meant for you. The stars burned brighter because of you. There was no moon in the sky that night. The stars drowned in a swamp of black cl...

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“In Dying Color” by Debra Caples

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #14

There used to be sticker vines here. Months of nuclear winter left only angry thorns, the rest withered from lack of sun. Ash made everything the same color. No greens, no blue sky, no butterflies or birds. Skinny dogs and cats dug in the trash before humans could squabble over it. The fast ones, anyway. The maimed, sick and old were dinner.Beth squeezed through the bars and peeled the clinging vines off her clothes. Across the potholed asphalt she scuttled then plunged beneath the collapsed roof of a house. In the nick of time, she thought....

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“As It Ends” by Joshua G. J. Insole

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #14

1 Sally didn’t see the nukes explode. She’d been sailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Portland, Maine. A short, doable stretch. Training. Preparing for something bigger. In her heart, she knew she wanted to do an around the world trip, in the memory of her mother; raise some money for breast cancer awareness whilst giving herself some much-needed thinking time. Win-win. Oh, Sally knew if she did sail the world her father would worry about her, especially now that his wife was gone. But he wouldn’t stop her. And the proud smile he’d flashed ...

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“Dead Lens” by Viktor C

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #14

He crept forward, feeling the sinuous body of grass brush against his arm. Above the dark heavens, a gibbous moon hung, serving as the only grim guide into this forsaken place. Rightfully, the absence of light would have inhibited his camera any ability to capture images. Any photographer could point that out to him. Even his eyes had trouble navigating the path that lay ahead, despite the fact that his pupils had been fully dilated. Shutter speed. Aperture. Rules of the third. Those words echoed in his mind, remnants of a lecture so lo...

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“Racing Line” by Nigel Holmes

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #14

Fawn pushed the foot of the monopod into the soft turf and, gripping the slender pole tightly, bent to squint through the viewfinder. Standing on the outside of the bend, just back from the protective straw bales, she had the crest of the hill about a third down from the top of the frame. It wasn't the safest place to stand: if something went wrong the car would be coming straight at her, but she'd been doing this a while. She figured she could tell if a car was too fast or the driver struggling for grip, and she trusted her ability to leap ...

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This week's prompts

It's about a photographer, who is a rookie.

Character – 34 stories

It's a literary fiction story about growing up.

Novel – 39 stories

It kicks off on a yacht with the delivery of an important letter.

Short Story – 35 stories

Someone in the story has a lot of hard lessons to learn.

Sad – 35 stories

And there's a twist! It actually all took place in the past.

High School – 32 stories

Stories

“I Write The Songs. (Note: this is based off of the song "I Write the Songs" by Barry Manilow.)” by Cam Croz

Submitted to Contest #14

I’ve been alive forever. And when I say forever I mean, forever. In fact, I wrote the very first song, sort of. It was one of my more great accomplishments. I guess you could say it was one of his greatest accomplishments, but it was not he who thought up of the words or wrote the music. Not really. It was actually me.O------------------------------------------------------------O He was a bright young man, and, like any boy his age, was constantly hoping and wishing that someday he would be well known, and liked by everybody. He was my...

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“On Becoming Marcus” by Raven T

🏆 Winner of Contest #14

It was just a week that the capital spent without Marcus. These were long days, in the middle of August, when the stinging sheets of rain left most sane people huddling like hedgehogs underneath the pale white domes of their houses. Petrichor wafted through heavy air. Rich and thick, the scent marked the tail-end of one such shower as Con made his way through the city.Con despised to walk alone. He remembered this now, especially, dragging the wagon of supplies over his shoulders. Had he not lost the horse, he would be at headquarters by now...

Read story

“Gordon, Surnamed Parks” by Zilla Babbitt

Submitted to Contest #14

Long orange shadows flung themselves against the beat-up bricks of Fort Scott. The bloodred sun disappeared slowly from the sky and inky ghosts of night took its place. The stars, mostly blotted out by the street lights, peeped around the lightning bugs that dotted the sky. Two young boys walked, shoulder to shoulder, down Penn Street. One was white, with red hair and red eyes and a hangdog look that marked him as a troublemaker. The other was darker—dark enough to be called black, in this time of segregation—with short-cropped curly hair an...

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“Unbroken Promises” by K. M. Carpenter

Submitted to Contest #14

The walls of the shabby apartment shook with her sobs, but he knew he had no right to cross the creaky floorboards and comfort her. Her hands pressed against her swollen belly as she stumbled to lean against the paint peeling off the wall. He didn't make a move to steady her. "How could you?" It wasn't the first time that hour she had shrieked the words, but it was the first time he found the strength to answer. The remains of his phone, broken against the wall by her hand, coated the sparse carpet between them. A bar...

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“Equality” by Anna K Firth

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #14

Birds in the trees, singing like there would never be another sun, a white house by a gravel driveway, dew on the grass, the dogs still sleeping; the world held still the day you were born. Somewhere a child let go of their balloon, and it floated up above the clouds, going to the moon for you. A whale rolled over down under the dark mountains of blue water, and it sang a song meant for you. The stars burned brighter because of you. There was no moon in the sky that night. The stars drowned in a swamp of black cl...

Read story

“Racing the Clouds” by Renée Chatelain

Submitted to Contest #14

Hot, wet darkness squeezed on her body. She heard cries of pain and excitement. Then suddenly-- Blinding light! She wailed, trying to cough the icky fluid stuck in her lungs. Someone’s big hands grasped her slimy body. “It’s a girl!” someone shouted. She cried louder. Of course she was a girl! Didn’t they know? The light hurt her eyes--and the noise! These older humans were really very intolerably loud. She felt her body being handed to someone. Gentle, warm arms wrapped around her; it was mother. She just knew it. “My prec...

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“Starry, This Happened Already. Love You.” by Bobby Gupta

Submitted to Contest #14

Once upon a time there was a glass tree house city hidden within the dark brown trees. It was filled with white lights, wooden bridges, slides, ladders, and zip lines. And lots of ropes and pails to haul and unload things. Dad and you walked hand in hand from the wooden boat shop to the market. It was a cloudy day, but you didn’t mind because of all the fall decorations. White and orange pumpkins and gourds lined the wooden walkways. There were autumn leaves with berries and pinecones spiraling around the light poles. Above you and over the ...

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“In Dying Color” by Debra Caples

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #14

There used to be sticker vines here. Months of nuclear winter left only angry thorns, the rest withered from lack of sun. Ash made everything the same color. No greens, no blue sky, no butterflies or birds. Skinny dogs and cats dug in the trash before humans could squabble over it. The fast ones, anyway. The maimed, sick and old were dinner.Beth squeezed through the bars and peeled the clinging vines off her clothes. Across the potholed asphalt she scuttled then plunged beneath the collapsed roof of a house. In the nick of time, she thought....

Read story

“Timing” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #14

Rich listened to the man on the phone and then said, “Graven images? No sir. We are a photographic service, not a funeral home.” Rich wrote something on his pad. “Oh, I see. You are getting married but want no graven images? Got it. Well, here at Silva, we do photography.” Rich gestured to Pete in the vein of ‘Where do these weirdos come from?’Pete was waiting to discuss his first wedding shoot. It had been a huge break for him. He looked around the office. A large light table, for examining negatives, stood against one wall. Another wall wa...

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“As It Ends” by Joshua G. J. Insole

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #14

1 Sally didn’t see the nukes explode. She’d been sailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Portland, Maine. A short, doable stretch. Training. Preparing for something bigger. In her heart, she knew she wanted to do an around the world trip, in the memory of her mother; raise some money for breast cancer awareness whilst giving herself some much-needed thinking time. Win-win. Oh, Sally knew if she did sail the world her father would worry about her, especially now that his wife was gone. But he wouldn’t stop her. And the proud smile he’d flashed ...

Read story

“Of Our Reflections” by Lily Kingston

Submitted to Contest #14

Trigger warning: includes talk of suicide.Ariel I stared at my reflection in Sycamore High’s bathroom mirror. Running cold water from the facet, I splashed some at my face. I glared at my face. I hated it. Flush, and white from the cold water. My pale face only made my polluted-river green eyes stand out more. My nose was narrow and pointy. My cheeks were slightly round from years of over eating. I hated my complexion. I loathed every part of it. I glanced at the door, wanting to leave. In a few minutes, I had an appointment with the guidanc...

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“Her First Taste...” by Dylan Roth

Submitted to Contest #14

She hit the ground hard and the wind was driven out of her. Carpet scraped her cheek and her arms were pulled behind her in a tight grip. She felt him kneel down, his free hand frantically snatching at her pockets. He found her phone and ripped it out. She heard the sound of it cracking against the wall and then he was bent over her, a wolf with hot breath and no mercy. She tasted sweat as a hand came down on her mouth. She struggled and kicked, but he was so heavy. He was trying to reach down to her throat, she could feel him leaning, tryin...

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“To Mrs Norton, with Love and Thanks” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #14

“Sometimes I think there’s no pleasing that child!” I knew that I wasn’t supposed to hear what my Grandma said (I had come home from my ballet class early because the electricity in the hall was playing up) and I knew beyond any doubt that she was talking about me. She did not say it angrily, or resentfully, and it was not as if she had said that I was unkind or stupid or anything like that. I liked my Grandma. I even fancied we had a special bond. We had the same name, Elizabeth, though she was always called Betty a...

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“Code Names” by Lily Kingston

Submitted to Contest #14

“Code names,” Caesar began. “Code names are important and we are going to be using them for the rest of this voyage.” I started to pace around the room. “Now, you all received a letter, inviting you onto my yacht, I would like you to open those letters and reveal your code names out loud.” “Marcus.” “Junius.” “Brutus.” “And I…” Caesar loudly declared. “Am Caesar.” Marcus crumpled up his letter into a ball. “What is this all about?” Caesar stared off longingly into the distance for dramatic effect. “One of you… is going to murder me.”“What?” ...

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“Le photographe” by Nate LaSpina

Submitted to Contest #14

BEEP! BEEP! SMACK! “Ugh” groaned the teenager and he rolled out of bed. After stumbling his way to the kitchen and ignoring the near-distant yelling of his parents outside, which at this point had become like white noise to him, he found the remains of a pop-tart and began to start his day. His mother then came into the kitchen saying, “Let me make you some eggs instead”, as she rubbed small tears from her eyes. David’s parents did not have much and the divorce would soon drain them of nearly everything. David’s feelings towards his parents ...

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$50

Prize money

175

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Nov 08, 2019 EST

Won by Raven T 🏆

Title: On Becoming Marcus

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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