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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#141: Everyone's a Critic

Like it or not, everyone gets criticism sometimes. And while a dose of reality can be healthy once in a while, it’s important to not get stuck in a rut of viewing the world, or yourself, too critically.

This week’s prompts examine criticism from a range of angles, from professional hole-pickers, to well-intentioned advisors, to the ones on the receiving end.

This week's prompts

Write about someone who critiques things for a living, or acts like they do.

Character – 35 stories

Start your story with someone receiving a one-star review.

Dark – 52 stories

Write a story about someone struggling to swallow some harsh (but fair) constructive criticism.

Middle School – 26 stories

Set your story in the lowest rated restaurant in town.

Fluff – 52 stories

Write about a character named after one of our contest’s judges.

Fiction – 12 stories

Stories

“Hollow Contemplation” by Jordan Williams

Submitted to Contest #141

"Truly a display so perverse and assaulting to the senses that I would relate it to being not much preferable to being attacked by a crackhead in the urine filled streets of the East End. A dispassionate creation of the lowest order, truly, I cannot imagine what has given Professor Merrill such a poor judgement of her students to send them out into the world with this as their only offering." Constance Stetson said. The gathering crowd oohed and simpered at the delivery of his verdict, dooming another artist to mediocrity and a swift...

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“There's No Accounting for Taste” by Jim Loughran

Submitted to Contest #141

I could close my eyes and count to ten and with a bit of luck he’ll be gone when I open them again. On the other hand I could try the expeliare spell from Harry Potter and hope that he will disappear in a puff of smoke, back to his boring house with the white walls, the polished parquet and the le Corbusier chaise longue that looks so elegant but is impossible to sit on. Even the floors are painted white and there are no rugs to absorb the sound so that the house constantly echoes to the sound of people moving around. There are no curtain...

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“Critic's Choice” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #141

It was 7:00 AM, and Justin rushed down the stairs of his one-bedroom flat in the city’s lower west side. The early edition of the local newspaper should have arrived at the newsstand around the corner, and he eagerly awaited to read something that would impact the rest of his day, and perhaps his career. Justin had opened a bistro in the east end of town, right next to park. The setting was traditional with smal...

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“Five-star plan” by Vera Kurt

Submitted to Contest #141

Oh man, it’s 7:30 a.m, I’m unemployed and it’s December 25th, for god sakes, who could that be?! Still in the dark, I reach for my phone. Screen light burns my eyes and I see “Boss” in the middle of it. Shit, what does he need! He fired me a week ago, giving me a short notice as a Christmas present. Did that jerk change his mind? Let’s see what this is about. -Hello, - I let out a dry moan. -Hey, I hope you still remember me, - the idiot tried to make a joke, -I know you are not a part of the team anymore but I have something interesting for...

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“Wanted: Notoriety” by Maureen MacLennan

Submitted to Contest #141

Wanted: Notoriety Munching on a slice of bagel with her left hand, her right hand clicked on the mouse until finding her submitted piece in the contest section. She wasn’t really expecting glowing feedback in this case, but one never knew. She’d had a couple bad appraisals in the past and it had taken her some time and mental strength to move past them, it was time to see if she’d been successful. She understood that her grammar and punctuation needed work that she wasn’t ‘all that’ as a writer. It had also been pointed out to he...

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“Death for Sale” by Yusra Rahman

Submitted to Contest #141

25 years of delivering death, just a few steps away from retirement and that blithering old hag has the AUDACITY to leave me a one star review? ME?! Sir Fell of A rank?! After all that I have done for her? All the secrets I have kept! All the silly wishes for her Passage! That blimp won't leave a man at peace even in death. For a moment I see a flash of my arm band turning from white to gold... Absolutely unacceptable! I must make this right at once! I grab my phone and ring her daughter; taking a deep breath to regain my composure as I do...

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“Honey Lavender Latte” by Ella Bennett

Submitted to Contest #141

Monika took a deep breath and steadied herself against the bartop counter. Her heart raced and she stared at the review. The one star mocking her. Monika’s Muses, a new victorian themed coffee shop located off of Fifth and Main does have an aesthetic appeal, unfortunately, that is where the appeal stops. The honey lavender latte I received was not only atrociously frigid, but tasted of only sugar. Not worth my time or money. She knew it was coming, not everyone would rave about her small cafe. Monika just hoped that it...

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“The Review” by Marissa Marie

Submitted to Contest #141

One star. One. Out of five, to be exact! I spent weeks impatiently waiting for my artwork to be reviewed by the illustrious art critic and painter Dr. Gabriella Montagne and this is what that talentless hack has the audacity to write in the paper? Blasphemy! To be quite honest, I am shaken to my very core at the unrestrained insolence she dares to express towards an artist as remarkable as myself. What does she know anyway? My work is revolutionary while her work is a disgrace to the integrity of the art world. I mean, who actually co...

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“"It's Only Words"” by Jeannie Labelle -Potvin

Submitted to Contest #141

Ginny's face blanched, her stomach knotted into a tight fist. The social worker standing in front of her said very few words. The look on her face however, spoke volumes. Ginny, through an ingrained default process, interpreted that unspoken language. Unfortunately, her abilities to accurately assess were somewhat out of kilter. She immediately turned it against herself and came up beaten by both the short end and the long one. She cringed with shame as she mentally tallied the litany of mistakes she had made; as a mother, as a...

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“Flies” by Minerva Noiropp

Submitted to Contest #141

Melissa unlocked the front doors. Opening them, she tucked a door stopper in with a gnarled toe.Not a person was to be seen.Positioning herself at the table nearest the door, she pulled out her laptop, looking at her website. Once again, shock flooded through her. Though no one had been to eat, alleged recent customers had left cruel reviews without stars.Melissa mused over once again how she would pay the rent that month. No one had been in to eat in 3 weeks and the rent was due next week. There were still the food suppliers to pay as well....

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“First Date” by Erika Fisher

Submitted to Contest #141

It looked like a dump. The smell of cigarettes lingered in the air outside. But it was all Brandon could afford on such short notice. He still couldn’t believe Dolores had said yes to him when he asked her out on a date. Her arm was tucked into his elbow and, unlike the restaurant, she smelled amazing. She was absolutely exquisite. Which made his stomach sink when he looked back up to where he was taking her.With his other hand, Brandon googled and began to read the online reviews of The Beef Hut. The reviews were mixed, but the top review c...

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“The Lowest Rated Restaurant in Town” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #141

It was Paul’s first Friday night in the new town to which he had just moved. The company that had hired him promised him a better job than the one he had worked at for ten years in the big city that was his hometown. He felt that his life was going to change for the better. He was going out to dinner. Friday night dinners in restaurants had been established as a ritual for him over a very long time. He felt that there was no reason why he shouldn’t continue the practice here. There was a restaurant, Diana’s Diner ...

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“The Nachos Look Good” by Kristina Raynor

Submitted to Contest #141

"Today's the day, Sam. Today's the day we finally do it." “What if they’re onto us?” I replied, my eyebrows wiggling as I tracked a shifty-looking fellow who shuffled past the giant window of the infamous Coyote Café for the third time in less than a minute. Though it was common for people to need to work up the nerve to eat at the worst-rated restaurant in Seattle, this guy seemed to be looking for someone, and I didn’t trust how roughly he kept yanking on the leash of a dopey-looking Dalmatian who couldn’t stop trying to gobble dog biscuit...

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“Rated” by Lizzie Gilchrest

Submitted to Contest #141

I sat nestled in my favorite spot in the Wildwood Grove Library, a warm cup of peppermint tea sitting in my hand. The steam fogged up my round rose-gold glasses which were resting on the tip of my nose. My gray cat, Chesterfield, slept coiled under my book. It was a peaceful moment indeed. The smells of tea and freshly printed books, the sound of pages turning, and the feeling of warmth and safety in this cold, cold winter. Before I knew it I was the last person in the library besides Ms. Talbot. I looked up from my book, Anne of Green...

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“Casa Cosy” by Dylan Pritchard

Submitted to Contest #141

When Claire turned up at Casa Cosy – the worst restaurant in town - she knew she was going to lose her job.She stared into the window and saw plastic seating covered in moss, dirty tablecloths. She turned and looked at where she should have been, The Imperial, drooping in garlands of pink and red geranium. She knew who must’ve got that job but stopped herself obsessing over him and her professional failures: a career that started as a journalist, then a respectable food critic was now ending with a trip to Casa Cosy. &...

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$250

Prize money

177

Contest entries

111

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Apr 15, 2022 EST

Won by Hannah P. Simmons 🏆

Title: The Lonely Color

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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