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!

#161: Digging Deep

Released to much critical acclaim, Jennette McCurdy’s recent memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died is one of the most talked-about books of the summer (and potentially the year), not least because of its provocative title. But behind the clickbait-y headline, the book is a masterclass in memoir writing — digging deep into McCurdy’s life and deftly handling sensitive material, including her time as a child actress and an abusive childhood.

This week’s prompts are inspired by some of the themes in McCurdy’s memoir — the pressure of stardom at a young age, finally speaking one's truth, and starting a process of healing — encouraging you to explore the complex and often gritty nature of human relationships and emotions.

This week's prompts

Start your story with someone sharing a secret that has a big impact on everyone.

High School – 39 stories

Write a story where someone finds comfort in an unexpected event, place, or person.

Adults – 56 stories

Write about a character who lives a seemingly charmed life.

Teens – 25 stories

Write a story where a character has to take on heavy responsibilities (perhaps beyond their age).

Kids – 48 stories

Write about someone who needs to face their past in order to move forward.

Adults – 73 stories

Stories

“Coming to Terms” by Ben Zuffi

Submitted to Contest #161

Never did his hands feel this way. Soft, gentle to the touch where she expected a strong, callous rubbing in her palms. His hands represented so much of who he was. A brash, cavalier type of gentleman. She loved him for it. For it was this brashness that brought him into her life. Yet it was this brashness that pushed him out of it too. She remembered seeing him for the first time. It was dark out, past dinner but not past midnight. Cool air and traces of mist flirted amongst the streetlights and the damp asphalt let off a long day's exhaus...

Read story

“'Til Death Do Us Part” by Dani Potter

Submitted to Contest #161

“I hid Mavis’s keys yesterday.” “Why?” “I dunno. Because … because I’m still angry. And because I know she was going to meet him.” “Jack, we’ve talked about this. You’ve got to stop going over there. It isn’t doing you any good.” “I know, I know…” “If you can’t overcome this hurdle, if you can’t face this part of your past, you’re going to remain stuck. Don’t you want to move on?” “I’m in no hurry.” “Jack…” “Of course I do.” “…but?” “But I just don’t know if I can unless I talk to her. I need to know why she did what she did.” “Th...

Read story

“Atomic T'Chu” by Ian T. Smyth

Submitted to Contest #161

I The Company owned just about every part of North America. The seas, the land, the air; they owned it all. Nobody got into the state, or out. Susan Simons was a Learner. At just sixteen years old, she’d already mastered the difficult Bo’Shi martial arts, and the puzzlingly complicated Langua language. All Learners reported to a Teacher. In Susan’s case, this was Mr. Frederick Wilson. Fred also happened to be the son of the head of The Company itself. II It was a fine day in late August when Susan climbed the steps up t...

Read story

“The Dances (and Falls) of Life” by Nathan Blackwood

Submitted to Contest #161

It's never easy, starting over. New homes, new schools new jobs, no matter what it is, beginnings are always hard. Almost as hard as endings. But the hardest of all, the hardest of all is when the line between the two blurs, when the before and after and in-between mix and mingle in one lively, breathtaking dance. This, he believes, is the essence of life. The flow, the change, the uncertainty. To grow is life, to be static is death. To fall, to fly, to keep going. You form the tapestry of your life and it is beautiful and vivid and messy, a...

Read story

“Unpacking” by Marya Kalen

Submitted to Contest #161

My dad was famous. Not a big, crazy kind of famous, but in Winnipeg he was a big fish in a little pond. He’d taken over half a million photographs in his lifetime, images of his hometown. Shots of the city, the museums, the zoo and the nature preserves. Pictures of City Hall and the theatre district. Boats at the Forks market. Assiniboine Park, with its duck ponds and English gardens. If you ever saw a postcard or tourism poster for Winnipeg or Manitoba, or ever read a MacLean’s magazine or Canadian Geographic magazine, you’ve seen my d...

Read story

“The Trap” by Rosetta Thomas

Submitted to Contest #161

This was the last chapter, the last line to be exact and he was on the last word. 85-year old Jonathan Moses had just finished reading his new book. This book was an autobiography of a woman that he knew all too well … Amanda Lovelace, a former child evangelist and a former member of his church. Jonathan knew when she was born, in fact, he Christened her. He watched her grow and blossomed into a graceful young woman until she left and went overseas to study and then to live. She was visiting from abroad, and had stopped by the day before, to...

Read story

“How the Story Ends” by David Wilson

Submitted to Contest #161

‘Tell me a story,’ Savannah says. It always starts with a story. And sometimes, if we’re lucky, it ends with one. I ask her what kind of story, and she shrugs. ‘Paint me a picture,’ she says, moving closer to me on the sofa and leaning her head on my shoulder. Then she closes her eyes, as though blocking out the coffee shop around us. The scratched glass table in front of the sofa, covered in board games. The upright piano in the corner, with an A key that sticks, and the armchairs next to it. And further away, the bar and an ever-rev...

Read story

“Sisters” by Stella Fletton

Submitted to Contest #161

“There's something I need to tell you…” Shelly signed to her three sisters. They were in their bedroom; the door was closed and the four girls were sitting facing one another on the bed. “What is it?” Cassandra signed back, speaking as she did so. Shelly gave a long, steadying sigh. “OK, but you have to promise not to get upset because it's going to be okay... everything is going to be okay. Do you promise?” Shelly’s searching gaze was also reassuring. She never asked a promise of them lightly, so this was serious. Angelina, Adrienne and C...

Read story

“The fall of Zion” by Sarah Parker

Submitted to Contest #161

Selena's alarm went off, and she toppled out of bed with a crash. Her rimless glasses fell from the dresser on her head.Selena groaned, picked her glasses up, and pushed them onto her nose.Her room door was thrown open, and her mother was standing there." Selena, Honey, is everything alright?""Yep." Selena pushed herself to her feet, "I just fell out of the bed. It's nothing too serious."Her mother let out a sigh of relief, "Ok. We leave in five, hurry."Selena opened up her closet and pulled out an outfit.She changed her clothes a...

Read story

“My Little Dove” by Calypso Cassiopeia

Submitted to Contest #161

“You came down here to tell us something, did you?” Mum asks, everyone sitting around the table; Mum, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Jean, Uncle Daniel, and a few others. I feel seen for once—as I sit at the head of the table—but it doesn’t feel good. “Well, yes,” I clear my throat, my lungs heaving with all the grief I have shoved down for all these years. It’s time to tell them the secret I have been keeping for four years. “Spit it out then,” Grandma hurries, her voice scratchy and breathless from the countless cigarettes she ha...

Read story

“Just a few moments” by Simone Garrison

Submitted to Contest #161

TW: Contains some mentions of the mental illness depression, and self harm. Also the mention of death. Looking at my grandmother making her famous apple & peach cobbler. Her fingers covered in fresh flour that my mom just finished making in her new mini grain maker dad got her for her birthday. I never thought it would be this hard to tell the truth to tell my truth. “It never is and never will be,” Daga said. Already I’m just like the real Daga to read my mind and reply back to me with such casualness you’d think we were linke...

Read story

“The Secret” by Richard Morris

Submitted to Contest #161

“The baby isn’t yours,” Sarah-Tempest said to her husband two weeks after announcing her pregnancy. Rekthorne’s face blanched. She stopped taking the pill months ago, and they had diligently worked to get her pregnant. They both stopped all alcohol consumption. She started taking extra calcium and other supplements she believed would help a baby develop without problems. They tracked her body temperature, waiting for the telltale jump up one degree for her to be fertile, and they made love twice a day. In the meantime...

Read story

“Such a Crazy Dream, Right?” by Katherine Saltwell

Submitted to Contest #161

I walked into my room in Meredith High Boarding School, exhausted. Jeannie, and Margret were there, chatting. “Hey guys,” I said, dropping my stuff on my bed. “How was your weekend?” “Good,” Jeannie said. Margret, without looking up from her book, said, “I got a gerbil. His name is General Marshmallow.” I grinned, “Was that your idea?” “Not even a little bit.” “How about you?” Jeannie asked. I shook my head, “God, I had the weirdest dream. It was about you, actually.” “Really?” I nodded. “What kind of dream?” Margret asked, smirking. “Gross,...

Read story

“The Ghost Collector” by Gary Wells

Submitted to Contest #161

Steve Griffin sat sullenly at his parent’s dining room table. Steve was a thirty-one-year-old YouTube celebrity wannabe. He had spent several years rooming with various friends who were also trying to become on-line personalities. They had created a number of channels, none of which gathered many subscribers. Their current focus was on creating ghost hunter-style videos. While Steve had been focused on the technical aspects of contacting the dead, his friends were more focused on making the channel “entertaining”. But they didn’t make it ...

Read story

“Coming Out” by Chris Skelton

Submitted to Contest #161

‘Mum, are you telling me you’re a lesbian?’ Cullum’s question sounded more like an accusation. His sister, Penelope, sitting next to him on the living room couch, looked equally surprised, but with a guise of delight. Jenna, sitting opposite her children, brought her legs up close to her chest as her face flushed. That morning’s practice sessions in front of the mirror had not prepared for the stunned silence following the announcement. Penelope broke the silence, ‘WOW! My gaydar missed that one. You’re not just my mother, ...

Read story

Load more stories

$250

Prize money

241

Contest entries

125

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Sep 02, 2022 EST

Won by Marty B 🏆

Title: Long Distance Phone Call

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 ⭢