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!

#248: From the Top

Often, one of the most difficult parts of writing a story is giving it a name. I've been known to agonize for days over finding the "perfect" title — because, like it or not, we do judge a story by its title. Those few words at the top of the page set the tone for what follows, and picking the right ones matters.

This week, I'm asking you to approach titles in a different way. Rather than writing your story and then choosing your title, we want you to start "from the top" with a just title and see where it takes you. I've selected some evocative titles from literature to inspire you — but don't worry, you don't need to have read the original works to respond to them.

This week's prompts

Write a story titled 'A Tale of Two Cities'.

Adventure – 34 stories

Write a story titled 'Paradise Lost'.

Angst – 70 stories

Write a story titled 'Desperate Remedies'.

Dark – 66 stories

Write a story titled 'The Wind in the Willows'.

Spring – 50 stories

Write a story titled 'Persuasion'.

Funny – 41 stories

Stories

“Persuasion” by Julia Laity

Submitted to Contest #248

“She’s cute,” Ingrid says. She’s stirring her coffee with a butter knife. The scrape of metal against stoneware scratches an itch in my brain. “Although,” she continues, “I suppose that goes with the career she has chosen.” The word “career” slips off her tongue like something sour she can’t wait to spit out. Ingrid pas...

Read story

“Persuasion {The Devil You Know}” by Lucas Marrow

Submitted to Contest #248

{ They always say the Devil you know is better than the one you don’t. Whoever said that clearly didn’t know Jaakobal. }What happened to ambition? No one seems to have real goals anymore. People these days are satiated by the mundane and the meaningless, selling their souls for cars, fame, money. Things that are temporary, like they are. What will happen when they all inevitably die and hand over their soul to the scheming devil that bade them to forfeit their eternal ever-after for some shiny, momentary thing.The Devils always came on our e...

Read story

“"Persuasion"” by Linda Stone

Submitted to Contest #248

Persuasion I have always worked hard to be considered a good person. I am a good, loving, faithful mother and wife. I’m a social worker who helps children that have no one else to stand up for them. I coach our community’s youth soccer league. I volunteer at the homeless shelter and the nursing home. Every Sunday I’m there in the front pew worshipping our Lord and Savior. I have always worked hard to be considered a good person. I do for others but today is about doing somethi...

Read story

“Dreaming through Despair: A Tale of Hope and Resilience in Depression-Era New York and Los Angeles” by Andrea Sturdivant

Submitted to Contest #248

In the bustling streets of New York City, the echoes of dreams fainted away like an old photograph. The year was 1929, and the Great Depression loomed ominously on the horizon, casting a shadow over the dreams and aspiration of many. Families were struggling, wealth and jobs begin to wither away, and hope was a rare commodity.The moonlight splashed down, its white-silver glow sparkling across the deep, calming waters of Manhattan's harbor. In the distance, the cool breeze swept through the bustling streets of the city. The city streets becom...

Read story

“A Tale of Two Cities” by Jess Dee

Submitted to Contest #248

Lazarus pulled a petal off the small dandelion flower in between his index finger and thumb, he examined it. Sniffing it, taking in its tainted fragrance. He blew it away and continued to stare at the passing clouds. Lazarus lay on his back on the outskirts of the wheat fields. There was a small pasture just beyond the brush. Lazarus would take the livestock to these pastures early in the morning. He would watch the sunrise and wonder. On his back, he imagined he was flying with the clouds, traversing their thin matter taking no thought of e...

Read story

“A Tale of Two Cities” by Grayson Chilcote

Submitted to Contest #248

In the far reaches of space, there lies a planet so small, only two cities are able to rest upon its surface. The two cities made an agreement long ago that only they would be the sole residents of this planet, no more and no less, and thus named it Ilostor. On one side lies a city named Ichirite, and on the other there is Unoqor. Both cities lived separate lives away from the other, only ever convening once per rotation to celebrate another successful cycle. They called it the Festival of Gold, and it was a glorious time. Both cities ...

Read story

“A Tale of Two Cities, October 25th of 1948” by Jeffery Young

Submitted to Contest #248

“Why . . . is everything . . . so stinking . . . difficult . . . in . . . Alaska?” Reverend Hugh Gregory complained between gasping breaths. He was hiking, as he had every day since arriving in Birbour, to visit the locals. The rain pooled in his shoes, completely soaking his socks as it ran into and over them. The weather was fighting his mission, Gregory speculated, and was trying to sweep him back into the ocean. The steady incline of twenty or so degrees proved easy enough the first day, but as the weather continued to sour so did the Re...

Read story

“Arrival In My Home Port” by H.e. Ross

Submitted to Contest #248

(1731 words)‘It matters little how much is destroyed, if only a germ of the miraculous be preserved and nurtured.’ -Henry Miller My city is seven miles by seven miles, maybe a little more or less on either side but essentially is a round-edged square. San Francisco is the kind of place you come to or leave. All of my life’s memories of that beautiful place are captured in movements with only one big and important memory-box showing me sitting still and that was the day I started sailing. I sat on a rock beneath a...

Read story

“Paradise Lost” by Nick Campbell

Submitted to Contest #248

He had been through it before as a younger man, with bolder intention and weaker resistance, or so he’d thought. But even as a grown man, his erratic heartbeat still made him tremble, and he pressed himself against the sliding door as if he could hide from the guilt that followed him like an evening shadow, stretching from the servant’s quarters, past the lantern lit corridor, and to the main house, where he stood hopelessly alone. He shouldn’t have been over there in the first place. He was the honorable son of a high-class merchant, and he...

Read story

“Paradise Lost” by Cortney Murchie

Submitted to Contest #248

Through tears, I say the only thing I can think of, “I will never give up on us.” With a blank stare, colder than I have ever seen, she responds, “There is no us.” I stand there as the door is closed behind her. Those four small words took everything I thought my life was and flipped it completely off-axis. The world stills and everything fades into the background as I take in this new revelation. When you spend over 12 years with a person, they become your best friend. At least that is what happened to me. Yes, there had been some disconnec...

Read story

“Paradise Lost.” by Miron Oana Alexandra

Submitted to Contest #248

Note: The text contains mentions to triggering topics such as domestic violence and suicide One could say Samatha has worked in an office her entire adult life. Throughout the years she learned indispensable lessons to make her mornings easier. She had a small leather-looking case hooked to the zipper of her backpack where she would always put her access card at the end of her workday. Instead of searching for comfortable heels, she settled with the thought that they do not exist. Now, she had a pair of office shoes hid under the desk which ...

Read story

“Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained” by Ali Anthony Bell

Submitted to Contest #248

Paradise LostAfter washing their faces in the small sink in her maid’s room, Aimée dressed while Paul Barry waited on the landing. They caught a fiacre and went to his studio, where he changed clothes and picked up his papers while she waited in the fiacre.Léonie’s portrait was there to greet him and a flood of dolor rushed through his mind and body, making him tremble. He covered it with a cloth thinking “I have to get rid of this, I can’t bear seeing it every day. What should I do with it though? Perhaps send it to her parents? Later thoug...

Read story

“Paradise Lost” by Marchea Sovde

Submitted to Contest #248

Paradise LostMaggie is anxious to move into her new log cabin in the country. She long ago tired of the hustle and bustle of the city, the hordes of people rushing to who knows where with empty yet determined looks in their eyes. In a few hours, she will be there, in her paradise. Thank goodness her grandmother left her an inheritance that most people would envy. With this inheritance money, she bought a log cabin far away from the grit and grime, the gray, and the concrete of the city. Away from the exhaust smells, the blaring horns, and an...

Read story

“Paradise Lost” by Natalie Portera-Sickler

Submitted to Contest #248

The rain pattered gently into the pooling city streets as Randall Mortensen sipped his whisky, contemplating how to get himself out of the mess he was in. The streetlamps had flickered on at least an hour ago, illuminating the drizzle that floated down from the sky, and Miranda was surely wondering where he was by now. He swirled the ice cubes in his slowly draining glass, picturing his wife pacing the kitchen in front of the casserole growing colder by the minute, fiddling with her freshly manicured fingers before giving in and putting them...

Read story

“Paradise Lost” by Mary Reid

Submitted to Contest #248

Paradise Lost by Mary Margo Reid In the old cane field where we played in our youth, it’s hard to believe what we hear is the truth, that this time next year it will be no more, replaced instead with a swanky resort. “Momma, momma…” “Boy, how many times I tell you don’t run into this place, like a threatened mongoose have you in a chase!” “But momma...” “And stop slamming that door also when unruly you rush in. Why must I tell you this again and again?” “Sorry momma, but I got terribly bad news, the old cane field we soon can’t u...

Read story

Load more stories

$250

Prize money

261

Contest entries

97

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - May 03, 2024 EST

Won by Honey Homecroft 🏆

Title: Paradise Lost

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 ⭢