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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

“Like Clockwork” by Louisa Cleary

Submitted to Contest #141

The pitiful chimes of a fifty-two year old grandfather clock rang out in a small studio flat. Two large windows allowed spotlights to stream in from the sleepy town outside, bouncing off of various mirrors and glasses scattered around the dusty space. If you were to follow these paths of light, you would find yourself privy to the few signs of a sole occupant. A pair of trousers were strewn over the back of a chair, which has been placed next to the sink for some unknown purpose. Perhaps it had something to do with the wet pieces of paper...

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“The Blue Mermaid” by Courtney Renee

Submitted to Contest #141

Grandmother June was what people call a giver. There wasn’t a moment she was around where she wasn’t baking something to gift, pressing a dollar bill into my tiny hand, or scouring her cupboards for something to send a visitor off with, even if it was just a 20% off coupon for the department store. If she was breathing, she was giving. I didn’t think much about it until she wasn’t anymore. It’s funny how life works that way, we don’t notice things until we lose them. Fresh baked cookies, dollar bills, and coupons suddenly held more value.&nb...

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“Rat-A-Toohey” by Susan Gore

Submitted to Contest #141

Bali; Not the highest rating holiday hot spot on my agenda, but, a great place to visit non the less. Shopping here is a must. Barter to your hearts content, every woman's mecca. The hotels and apartments are of a high quality that caters for all budget levels, and all manner of accomodation. Frequenting this island on a yearly basis with friends and family, I have become quite familiar with the shopping and dining outlets. One particular evening, our group of four were wandering aimlessly along and decided that we were ready to eat, drink...

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“Rendezvous” by Oriana Claramay

Submitted to Contest #141

The air was reminiscent of summer nights, an undercurrent of buzzing that shook the creaky boards and a thin veil of heat, with the exception of their nuance. The buzzing was not a rhythm that subtly weaved into the chaos heat had invited, but instead an absolutely distasteful sound that had violated her ears. It fluctuated in volume and pitch so often, setting her heart into a nervous melody. On the other hand, the heat felt more like an itchy blanket, and coupled with the moisture that hung in the air, it felt more like a mockery of the fa...

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“Little Miss Perfect” by Rebecca Wonsang

Submitted to Contest #141

Amber Lambda, or 'Know-It-All Amber' as she'd been aptly nicknamed ever since the first grade, when she marched right up to Miss Lewis and promptly scolded her on the order of the classroom books, telling her, "they're all wrong". Hands on hips, head tilted to one side, "because everybody knows that books go in 'alphabetal order!" And Miss Lewis, with the patience of all the saints combined replied, "Amber, not everybody can read in the first grade, so I put the books in topical order, making them easier to identify for little ones by the pi...

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“Sherry” by Harlow Jones

Submitted to Contest #141

That was the day Shana lost all light in my eyes. *** “Shana, Bridget said you needed to see me.” I knocked on her door, one minute after service was scheduled to start. With superhuman speed, Shana opened the door, grabbed my arm, and dragged me into her sanctuary. There was where she meditated and recharged after every session. When she double-checked that the door was locked, I knew something was wrong. When I counted three sandalwood incense sticks burning, I thought she hit rock bottom. “I can’t go out there,” she started, while pacin...

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“Helpful Hannah” by Taylor Spears

Submitted to Contest #141

Trigger Warning: mental health and allusion to suicide --------------------- “Hannah, why are you so embarrassing?! Sit down- oh my God!” Abigail covered her forehead with her hand to hide her face. “I have to get the right lighting for this or it will suck ass.” I pulled the overhanging light toward me, half-standing in our booth, so that it shone directly over my strawberry and goat cheese salad. “If I don’t get this picture posted by today, I will lose follower engagement. If I have to look a little ridiculous in the proces...

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“Be a critic” by Yoana Krasteva-Pyuzantyan

Submitted to Contest #141

One time I got asked to participate in a stand up comedy open mic. Got told that I'm fun and charming, that my stories, or at least the way I tell them, are entertaining. All that being said, it didn't come off as something too difficult at the moment. I mean, I do have a sence of humour - and a marvelous one, especially if you catch me on a 'wave' or in a mood. Nah, I make people laugh, I do those fun little bits, I have the snarkiest of remarks in all the right places and, quite frankly, I'm fun to be around. I don't have a problem...

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“A Critical Error” by Mark Nero

Submitted to Contest #141

Being a food critic is often a thankless and tedious undertaking and sometimes, I just couldn’t be bothered doing my job. There have been nights when all I wanted to do was sit in front of my TV in my pajamas with a pizza and not an artisanal or authentic pizza, either! I’m talking, Pizza Hut or Domino's or any ‘stuck to the cardboard’, delivered by Uber Eats, cold by the time it gets to me, pizza! Obviously, I would never tell anyone this as it would destroy my career and finding another job didn’t intrigue me. I had always been a good co...

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“Table For Two” by Heather Hagy

Submitted to Contest #141

Max sat at the dining table, white linen napkin spread open on his lap. He bent over the steaming bowl of soup and inhaled, eyes closed. He sat up, opened his eyes, and picked up his spoon, carefully dipping it into the bowl. He scooped up a hearty spoonful of broth, lamb, and vegetables, blew twice on the spoon, then put the food in his mouth. He chewed slowly, thoughtfully, staring into space. Then he put the spoon down, picked up his pen, and jotted down some notes in the medium-sized black notebook on his right. ...

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“Take This 1 and (Shove) Love It” by Frank Lester

Submitted to Contest #141

I read the review. My chin left a bruise on my sternum.I joined this online critique group, the name lost somewhere in the aging folds of my memory, only a week prior to this literary catastrophe. I don’t know why I chose this site out of the plethora out there, but I did, and this was my first story since joining. It was a good story. I knew it was good—like the second-coming-of-John-Steinbeck good.I reread the review.My pride hissed through the hole in my ego. An empty hologram, I heard the chuckles and catcalls of “You thought?” and “You ...

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“A Human's Opinion” by Fraya M.

Submitted to Contest #141

"One star," Thalia noted down. "If I could give it zero, I would." The young girl in front of her crumpled as her friend offered a reassuring hug. They walked away feeling completely defeated. One star? Maria had spent days, weeks even, working on that painting. It was one of her finest works, she believed. Did that mean she thought she deserved five starts? Of course not, but one star? Disgraceful. "Come on Maria, don't give up! That was a beautiful-" Susie began. "Thanks, but she was right. I can't call myself an artist after that." Maria ...

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“The Cutout on the Wall” by Eoin Treanor

Submitted to Contest #141

The first ever review of my restaurant still hangs on the kitchen wall, a little crooked, right inside the entrance. I can look at it every time I come to work. In fact, it’s hard not to look at it. I made sure it’s as in your face as possible when you walk in the kitchen doorway, the heading leaping at your eyes right after the smells of the day’s cooking flood into your nose. It hangs on a small plastic hook in a cheap wooden frame. The ink has faded slightly since the day I cut it out from the local newspaper, but...

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“One Star for a Change” by Gregory Wright

Submitted to Contest #141

Salvador sat at his desk and stared at the open newspaper in front of him. He sat there quietly in the small cluttered office at the back of the restaurant. With his arms in his lap, hands folded together, he tried to comprehend the article in front of him. ‘How was this possible?’ he asked himself. ‘Where did this come from? Who did this?’ were his last thoughts as he looked up from the review and gazed at the pictures adorning the yellowing wallpaper that surrounded him as if looking for some guidance. Looking down from their posts ...

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“The Work-it Girl” by Andrea Doig

Submitted to Contest #141

One star? ONE STAR?! Who does Ted even think he is? How dare he give me a one-star rating? What have I been thinking? A competent Salesman on a good day, and an uninspiring manager on a normal day, a gleam of unopposed charmer runs through him. He knows what he wants, and how to get it. Just like I do. Ever since the first day he arrived - strutting around the office in his hip-hugging jeans and blue shirt that perfectly matched his eyes (how does every shade of blue somehow perfectly match his eyes?), I knew I was in trouble. ...

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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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