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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#216: Show, Don't Tell

As autumn marches on, we once again find ourselves back to work and study, hopefully filled with renewed energy and the desire to write. But before we start typing away, why not revisit some craft fundamentals?

"Show, don't tell," is age-old advice that encourages writers to tell stories through sensory details, actions, and images, rather than exposition. But that’s easier said than done. The best way to incorporate it into your writing is to practice.

With that in mind, you might enjoy our free 10-day email course on Show, Don't Tell, along with this week's prompts, which are inspired by it and invite you to refine this foundational storytelling skill.

This week's prompts

Start your story in a coffee shop without using obvious words to describe it (e.g. barista, coffee cup.)

Narrative – 69 stories

Write a scene in which a character’s behavior or reaction to something is affected by a past experience — without saying what that experience was.

Character – 51 stories

Include dialogue that shows that a character is socially awkward.

Dialogue – 28 stories

Include a scene in your story in which a character's body language conveys their hidden emotions.

Character – 25 stories

Write a story with an open ending that gives readers just enough details to draw their own conclusions.

Narrative – 111 stories

Stories

“The Grave of Valerie Kovsky” by Noah Aylward

Submitted to Contest #216

I stepped out of my car and slammed the door behind me. The sky was a deep, bright blue with a few wisps of white cloud scattered throughout. The grass was full, thick, the same shade of green you see in fertilizer commercials, and probably due to be mowed soon. The air was silent, and I could feel the sun caressing my left cheek. I scanned the yard and picked out the tall oak tree, the same one my daughter was buried next to. I crossed the gate into the cemetery, stopped, thought I left the flowers in the car, and then realized I was holdin...

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“Funeral toll” by Sally-Ann Hodgekiss

Submitted to Contest #216

The passing bell. Anticipation.Those that always pay attention, vultures, recognise the lonely peal, it’s lagging echo foreboding with dwindling enthusiasm. They wait for the second chime, tasks forgotten. A silent hunger. Self-indulgent, they ready to spin misfortune into spectacle.Too long the pause.Disappointment.Smile.Move on.Soon.Those that feign righteousness anticipated the disruption. They blaze in retrospect, clumping ravens cawing and composing, their lofty perch an illusion embraced with precipitous certainty. Purpose all-consumin...

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“Bonfire ” by Emma Chavez

Submitted to Contest #216

I got out of the car, slamming the door behind me. A guy around my age jogged up to me with a beer and popped the cap off. “Here!” He shoved the drink into my hands. The bottle was ice cold, chilling my hands thoroughly it was almost difficult to hold. I tipped it up to my mouth, wasting no time and took a drink. “Come on! You guys are behind!” The guy that brought me the beer shouted at me, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the fire. Dust kicked up behind my feet. My laugh got lost in the sounds from the other shouting pe...

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“The First Thursday ” by Megan Bacher

Submitted to Contest #216

“ID please.” The short woman in front of me with the club's logo on her shirt stuck out her hand. I had prepared for this exact moment the entire twenty minutes I stood freezing in the line. Take out the card and hand it to the nice lady. And yet I still found myself shuffling to pull my ID out of my phone case with my hands shaking not from the cold. I handed out my card, smiling a convincing smile that ensured I was breaking no laws. My chest felt like it was caving in, suffocating my already shaken breath. I could not tell you why my hear...

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“The Siren” by Len Rely

Submitted to Contest #216

“She’s just sixteen years old, leave her alone they said…”THE SIRENMr. Harris’ English class assembled at the bell. There was a thin paperback placed on each desk with a sailing ship on its cover. Mr. Harris sat straight-backed wearing a tartan vest out of charity to whoever had given it to him. Among teachers he was one of the most respected by students, in fact he had just diffused a fistfight in the last period by dr...

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“How hard can it be?” by Chris Belton

Submitted to Contest #216

Contains themes of miscarriage. Days after they discharged her from the hospital, she still lay curled in a foetal position, her mind lost within an empty chasm, searching for answers. “Maybe it’s time to think about adoption, Jane?” He broached the subject every time she wept away the heartbreak of another failure. But she wasn’t ready to give up. Test results offered no explanation. Forcing herself back to work, she continued to wrestle with the enigma, turning it over and over inside her head. “How hard can it ...

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“Pegs” by Rose Lind

Submitted to Contest #216

In the basket contained wet red cotton shorts, two black leggings pilling on the crutch, a wool blend navy jumper included in a laundry bag, nickers with various patterns and a pink dressing gown with faded coffee stains and cigarette holes. Each was lifted and left to dry in the Australian winter sun.We had had long, cold nights, westerly winds, and the adaptation was to catch the warmest part of the day and when the sun would air dry the garments.Australia has a unique washing line called the Hills hoist. Although the company closed their ...

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“Domonico” by Ariana Gregovich

Submitted to Contest #216

There’s a community with a population of 600, their location unknown to everyone but their two very powerful leaders, King and Prince. 10 years back, a child was having a dream, not realizing that what was happening in their dream was actually happening in real life. In the child’s dream they were slaying their parents. King and Prince didn’t want anything like this to happen again, so they made dream protectors... aka Domonico. At this, they came up with their new motto, “Maintain your happiness!”. Welcome to the community! Here is a m...

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“Escape of Broken Girls” by Ro Davis

Submitted to Contest #216

Disclaimer: This story contains sex trafficking and Suicide“The world is a dark and dangerous place.” That's what everyone says. That's what everyone believes. I guess that’s what happens when you live in this type of world.Let me start over. I am known as 14. We’re not supposed to talk about our birth names, I have a hard time remembering mine anyway. When I was 4 years old, I was taken and sold into the ring. The ring where we are kept in cages like animals. hung upside down for hours on end. Raped. Left shaking, cold and alone after ...

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“Graces in Dark Places” by S Nicole Langley

Submitted to Contest #216

Graces in Dark Places By S. Nicole Langley Magdalene felt as if she was stuck in such a dark place. She suspected that she was a bit lost in her own life and was not exactly certain how she had gotten there. She had recently made some uncomfortable choices such as entering into a relationship with a guy she had met online. He was kind, and posed no threat, but he seemed a bit too anxious for her liking. Everything was going so well for the first few months as they communicated via social media and phone calls, but as soon as the two ...

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“The End, for Real This Time, or Is It?” by Ashton Macaulay

Submitted to Contest #216

How many times can someone tell you the world’s going to end before you stop believing them? Ally takes a drink from her glass, swills the ice, gives it a good long think. Twice. Someone could tell her the world was ending twice before she’d start giving it a second thought. Everyone could make one mistake, especially when it came to doomsday predictions. A comet could be off by a few days; The second time, she’d still be heading down to the bunker. That was just common sense. But the third time? The third time she was going to sip a drink i...

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“All's Dark Here” by Lucy Robertson

Submitted to Contest #216

This story contains scenes that are graphic in nature and may affect sensitive readers. This includes bodily harm, violence, and a child's death. “They say the living ain’t never know what it’s like to be dead. But the dead know what it’s like to be livin’”. No truer words ever came out of my Mimi’s mouth before that moment. Even as a teenager, I reckoned that whatever happened that summer out in Rutherfordton County would be my opus into adulthood. My hair had finally grown out from an abysmal bowl cut sworn onto me since I was five, m...

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“That's it: the night is lustrous, the cake is styrofoam, and the child is finally still. ” by Hosea Guy

Submitted to Contest #216

“Good,” the professor says, his deep voice echoing across the vast lecture hall, carried and emphasized by the microphone clipped to his collar. “Now, once you’ve written five ‘I am’ statements, we’ll take a look at the average responses from the population and see if they correlate with yours.” I examine the immaculate sheet of white before me, five proclamations of individuality scrawled in pencil between the blue lines: I am a writer. I am a son. I am a brother. I am confused. I am scared. The third s...

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“A Greeting from the Edge of the Universe” by Dragon The Poet

Submitted to Contest #216

As an intern for Area 51, I’ve seen a lot of strange things. A lot of strange things. I’ve learned to expect the unexpected. Even before I got here, I’ve been doing research on extraterrestrial life, since the summer before I started high school. I remember being bullied for being obsessed with aliens in middle school, so the research stayed classified. My own way of showing that I wasn’t crazy. Sure I probably seemed as crazy as the Ancient Aliens guy Giorgio A. Tsoukalos (who ironically works here in the history department). I got a degree...

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“Remember When...” by Ryder Blow

Submitted to Contest #216

I can hardly remember the last time I was here. It must’ve been awhile. God, I look back at this place fondly. So many happy and tragic memories here. Most I’d rather not remember, hence why I can hardly recall this place in a lot of detail. The only thing that I do recall that’s never changed is that sweet scent of dark roast. My favourite. I always used to get it black, iced, and with a fruit muffin on the side. Their bakery was great as well. Nothing better than a fresh baked muffin on a Moody Monday. The smell of fresh baked ...

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$250

Prize money

284

Contest entries

115

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Sep 22, 2023 EST

Won by Hazel Ide 🏆

Title: Long Live the King

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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