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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 Monsters Of The Lake” by Sara Margolis

Submitted to Contest #216

The sun was just beginning to set over Wa’l’ta, casting the golden pillar across the water that the Wa’l’tani, the people who lived in Wa’l’ta, revered so. It was a chilly evening now that they found themselves firmly in autumn. Alijandra, a Wa’l’tani warrior, stood in front of a mirror, tying her hair up tightly. Wa’l’ta had grown immensely in the past few generations, but it remained a small village compared to others of the land. Its warriors were not gleaming, silver-clad knights like those found in distant kingdoms, but rather a r...

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“Leticia Was Her Name” by Joe Smallwood

Submitted to Contest #216

There has to be more life in my life! That's it. Get out there...It was a social gathering for twenty-somethings, and everyone welcomed her, although those hi-how-are-yous were beginning to wear thin.She was a little heavy, yet dressed so nicely, her hopeful eyes scanning the room. Will I be happy here? It seemed so natural to let down her guard: Finally, I'm home; this is the place!It could have been a wonderful evening, but that was before she made losing weight her topic of conversation. People indulging in that light spirit and bonhomie ...

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“The Coil of Snakes” by Cade Holter

Submitted to Contest #216

The road was absent of all life aside from her own. It had been as such for going on half an hour now, and, though she had her thumb stuck out in a bid to hitchhike, she was hardly looking at the road, instead taking in her surroundings again. The road she was on was cracked, and the yellow divider line was faded, and along the edges where the asphalt stopped and became gravel and dirt, there was a noticeable dip that led lower, if only slightly, onto the edge of the forest behind her. Her eyes could not adjust to the level of darkness in th...

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“Apple Slices” by Audrey C

Submitted to Contest #216

Ramirah figured that there ought to be a set of rules in life. A specific set of rules, you know–like the instructions you would see on a frozen pizza box, or the directions your teacher gave the class for a chemistry lab. And even those–those weren’t even specific enough for Ramirah. She wanted something definite, something fixed and polished like… like an apple. Yes, an apple. Everyone knew what to do with an apple. You wash it, you cut it, and you eat it. Apples are simple, apples are meant to be cut into four pieces, no six pieces, actua...

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“Loyalty Points” by Damien Exton

Submitted to Contest #216

“The fuck are we meeting in here for?”“Sit your arse down. Act normal. And cut the swearing”.“Hate these places though. Why here. Seriously?”“If you mean: what are two hard-nut hitmen doing in a calm respectable place like this first thing Tuesday morning? Well, there’s a few reasons. For now though, just sit down. Shake my hand, and smile like a good 'un. That’s it. Look; we’re two guys on business, talking a project over. Something like that. So watch the language. Got it?”“Hnnn-Kay”.“Good. So, you don’t like it in here? Rather meet up in ...

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“An Argument that Changed a Man’s Life” by Alana Hartman

Submitted to Contest #216

EDDIEEddie walked into the coffee shop. Warm chatter buzzed all around him, and he immediately felt like all eyes were on him. Obviously they weren’t, but that’s how he felt.Taking a deep breath trying to steady himself, he trekked farther into the store, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. He finally reached the front counter and was met by the perfect smile of the barista who looked like she was in her twenties. She had dark brown shoulder-length hair, most of it hidden by a black bucket hat. She had hazel eyes that reminded h...

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“Reunited?” by Khadija S. Mohammad

Submitted to Contest #216

"Visit Grandma? Oh n-" Sonya stifled an 'Oh no'. "Oh great," she finished lamely, glad that her mother couldn't see her from over the phone. "I thought you would like it," her mother said. "You must be looking forward to seeing her again after so long. You two were so close." She still remembered the cheerful, carefree Sonya of ten years ago, the one who giggled when she was tickled and said in her adorable indignant voice that she 'wasn't a baby anymore'. How much had changed since then. On the other end, Sonya was having the same thou...

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“Bialowieza” by Tyler Brines

Submitted to Contest #216

James sent little clouds of moisture from his mouth as he panted in the chill darkness. With the safety of a thick pine at his back, he allowed the weight of his gear and the pain of his injuries to overtake him. He could ignore them no longer. As he slid down the tree to rest on his haunches against it, he could feel warmth running from the shorn flesh of his arm down to fall upon his legs and the needle-covered forest floor. He didn’t need to look upon his injuries to understand how dire they were. The deep, triplicate grooves carved into ...

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“When You Reach Me” by Kirana Marksohn

Submitted to Contest #216

Dear Lily, I’ve loved you ever since that first day. During the mourning of the autumn leaves, right before the winter sky turned gray. Do you think about me when the stillness of life is insufferable? Or is that experience only one I keep? When we were young, I followed your footprints in the sand until they led me to your house. You had a white ribbon in your hair and cheeks that flushed red while your father opened the door. I picked daisies from my garden and put them in a vase. And when I handed them to you, he threw them awa...

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“Spiral” by Holly Witte

Submitted to Contest #216

NOTE: This story has to do with a young woman's first sexual encounter. Charlotte knew he was going to be the first person she slept with as soon as she saw him. Such an archaic phrase she thought to herself even as she was feeling her heart speed up, a flush start creeping up her body from the regions she was planning on indulging, and her voice rise. She was an intern at a radio station and in between her junior and senior years of college. It was part of her scholarship obligation to find an internship in communications ...

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“Needing More Time” by S. M. Lewis

Submitted to Contest #216

After checking her watch for the second time in five minutes, Ramona grabbed her third breadstick.“I know we’re eating soon, but I’m starving,” she remarked before snapping off a piece of crispy Grissini. “I don’t know why; I had breakfast this morning. Maybe my period’s coming or something.”Her best friend, Tanya, giggled from across the table. “It's okay to be hungry. And these breadsticks are amazing, so you may as well enjoy them.”“Right? Thank you!” Ramona agreed between bites. “I know they tell you—whoever ‘they’ are—not to fill up on ...

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“Playground mom” by Mike Ramsey

Submitted to Contest #216

There she is. I am going to make my move now and ask her about the progressive dinner. It's my way in. I walked closer to her. She looked beautiful of course. I wonder if she puts on make up. I should do that maybe. But when? Oh crap, there's yogurt on my shirt. Maybe if I rub it in it won't be visible. Oh no, Alexa, the mom from Ms. Curley's class is talking to her. I am not sure I can break in between them. Well, maybe I can befriend them both. "Hi!" I said. The women jerked their heads up. Did they see the yogurt. I looked down at...

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“Différents Chemins” by Thunderbolt 69

Submitted to Contest #216

When I opened my eyes, I was sitting in a comfortable gold chair with a rhombus-shaped cherry wood table in front of me. There was another chair on the opposite side of the table, a black cushioned office chair with a cup of red wine on the arm of the chair. Strangely nobody was sitting there; just who was the wine for? Me? The room was large with nothing else; it had no windows or even a door. I didn't see any lights, but it was dimly lit, similar to when you first go into a movie. How did I get here in the first place? I had a slight heada...

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“A hunters game” by Vivacity Rex

Submitted to Contest #216

**Warning - This story contains dark themes. Including violence, death, and blood.**Amid 14th-century Ireland, the darkened night enveloped the briar and thistles as Mar, a vampire of 127 years, strolled through the thick fog clinging low to the ground. The moonlight reflected off her milk-pale skin, contrasting her deep, ebony hair as she glided through the night.As Mar reached the village that was her destination, she noticed the thrum of two heartbeats at a constant distance as she strolled. She aimed for a shadowed area and slowed, waiti...

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“Rosalee” by Aliyah DeVore

Submitted to Contest #216

1. Rosalee The man used his hands to push himself backward and away from Rosalee as she walked toward him; the rasp of his rugged jeans and boots dragging against the splintered, wooden floor pulled her along. She gravitated toward the sound as if she were blind and being guided by a trusted voice, the only other noises being her own footsteps and the man's gasping cries. The man moved quicker, but Rosalee continued a calmly paced walk. He finally came up against the wall behind him and Rosalee watched through blurred vision as the man...

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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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