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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

“Happenstance” by J. Cross

Submitted to Contest #216

On a chilly fall weekday, a young woman with nothing but time takes a walk down the bustling street near her home. As she rounds the corner, a familiar aroma piques her interest and guides her closer to the entrance of her favorite establishment and further from her worries of the past few days. She puts on her armor of confidence and bravado, but underneath is uncertainty and fear. She intentionally conceals her true feeling...

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“Specter” by Scott Jacobs

Submitted to Contest #216

I awake within myself. There’s someone sitting across from me, with jet black hair lightly tempered by hints of placid gray washing into shore; he has to crane his neck from the clouds to meet my gaze. His hardy smile tells me he’s ready to take on the world at a moment’s notice. “You’re up! You talk loud in your sleep, y’know.” “Are we… there yet?” The words are visceral, drifting languidly through the muggy swamp festering in my mouth without my steering the raft. I’m a specter haunting my own body. “No, we stopped and I’ve b...

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“Afloat” by Simon Kent

Submitted to Contest #216

Jason, 40 years old today, surrounded by friends, sat back and ordered himself a coffee ice cream float. He did so with pride and luxurious anticipation. Gone was that hollow hankering feeling, the absence of a good time if the time didn’t include copious amounts of alcohol. Gone was the anxiety, the hang up that maybe he wasn’t good enough, that maybe the people around him were secretly whispering about him, his looks, his weight, his taste in shirts, his taste in shorts, the colour of his face, his pseudo aggressive laugh. Gone. Ye...

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“Coffee Brewing” by Lee Garcia

Submitted to Contest #216

(Story contains violence, mental health, vague mentions of abuse and swearing) One may say the smell of coffee is soothing. For some it is associated with early mornings, the mixing of steam from your fresh brew and the white puffs of breath from the cold air. Others may recall the fondness of sipping from a stainless steel mug as they get caught up in morning traffic. But as the bitter, harsh smell wafts through the air, no good memories come to Clarence's mind. There was no sense of peace or contentment, instead she felt strained, as if ...

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“Me...am I” by Hannah Abrams

Submitted to Contest #216

"Sorry." Abi said after she ran into a boy. Her dad's bosses son. "Ho-how are you today?" She asked him. "Um...ok. You?" He said as he got to his feet. "I am doing well." Abi said. "That's nice." The boy said. "I think my father...w-works for yours." Abi said. "Ok." The dark s...

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“If He Follows Me” by Catherine Corning

Submitted to Contest #216

All I could focus on was his eyes. Brown with gold swirled into them, making them the most beautiful things to look into. My eyes slowly moved from his eyes to the rest of his features. Features I have admired thousands of times before. The stubble surrounding his chin and his beautiful lips. Soft and... “Hello,” he says as he waves his hand in my face, bringing me back to reality. “Sorry,” I whisper, my cheeks heating up as I look down at my feet. This experience has become more frequent recently. I find my mind wandering off while look...

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“The Dinner” by Kalini Kheer

Submitted to Contest #216

“We’re getting a divorce.” The silence around the table was absolute as Victor finished speaking. Eyebrows were raised, forks halfway to mouths. Six pairs of eyes were staring at Victor as he cleared his throat awkwardly, standing at one end of the table. He had started to sit down and was now hovering above his pulled-out chair. “What –” Sue bega...

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“Apartment Overflow” by Gavin White

Submitted to Contest #216

It’s been 3 whole days, Dex thought, staring at the metallic basin full of ragged, half-rinsed dishes. Stagnant water pooled in a wooden bowl at the center, inching closer to the brim with every drip of the faucet. A thick silence hung in the air of his 2 bedroom apartment, only ever broken by the faucet's dripping and the rapid clicking of a nearby PlayStation controller.Drip.He sighed, running a hand down his face before turning to look at the living room. Dirty clothing lay sprawled across the dirt brown carpet and the coffee table was co...

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“Deja Vu” by Jeremy Visser

Submitted to Contest #216

The clouds hung low in the sky, but there was an odd brightness to them that couldn’t be ignored. I felt it was fitting, certainly more conducive to the autumn chill than the sun shining on a clear day. Add in the smell of the pumpkin and apple pastries and the environment was an almost perfect picture of the season. Of course, such moments were fleeting, blinking in and out of existence with but the smallest change. I’d probably been waiting for 10 minutes at this point, if I were to take a guess. I couldn’t order yet, but sitting alone at...

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“Changeling” by Kelsey Williams

Submitted to Contest #216

The path that he follows in the woods is a familiar one, he visits often, he likes the quiet but also the innate hum of life around him. It is so incredibly different from everything else in his life. His home is a busy one, his life is loud and too much. The headphones around his neck make it more bearable, the sunglasses he wears always make everything less bright and obnoxious but what they don't do is make him seem less…other. Everyone around him has always looked at him this way, like he doesn't belong, like he doesn't deserve the very ...

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“Grapes” by Ashley Bent

Submitted to Contest #216

Alex sat back in her chair with a frothy latte, her head slightly askew, looking at her sister across the table. Serena leaned forward in anticipation; her fingers tapped the underside of the table. Alex said nothing. After a few moments of silence, Serena slouched her shoulders and bit into her danish. “Forget it.” Alex leaned forward. “You don’t understand–” “I do!” Crumbs flew from Serena’s mouth. “You don’t.” The sternness in Alex’s voice made Serena soften a bit. “She’s my mother too. I know how she can be.” “You know how she can be. I ...

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“Just Another Day” by Nicole G

Submitted to Contest #216

Note on sensitive content: contains references to traumatic events It was the most perfect fall morning. She walked into the lobby of her office building. This building wasn’t quite as big as the one her dad once worked in, but it still scraped the sky. Behind the front desk there was a huge American flag draped across the wall. She walked as quickly as she could to the elevator banks. When she got upstairs to her desk, she put down her things and walked to the kitchen to grab her first cup of coffee and started to mentally pre...

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“The Woman Without A Name” by Arpad Nagy

Submitted to Contest #216

“I don’t get why you have this place,” said Kelly as she took the order for an Americano. “You don’t even like people.” Taking a stack of books from the counter and setting them on the trolley, I answered. “What? That’s not true. I like people fine; I don’t understand most of them, but I like trying to figure it out. Besides, it’s research.” “Uh-huh. For your novel.” I didn’t have to look at Kelly to see the dubious expression on her face. My “novel” was a stack of folders in my desk drawer stuffed with notes, anecdotes, plot lines, an...

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“Good People” by Jonathan Walker

Submitted to Contest #216

The girl was looking at the TV mounted above the bar, watching the small white and red shapes chase around the pitch. She thought they looked like plastic clothes pins. The bar was shaped like a horseshoe; it was coated in a dull bronze glow and getting warm with the night’s business. The girl and three boys were sitting in one corner of the bar. They were all drinking beer, except for the girl who sat with a glass of vodka and coke upon her crossed legs. “So this girl in the office, she sells them?” asked Calum, the boy with his back to th...

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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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