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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#266: The Write Stuff

Hello, fellow writers! Before diving into this week’s contest, I have an exciting announcement to make: the Reedsy Book Editor, our beloved (and free) writing app, is now Reedsy Studio! This cozy space is designed to be your creative haven, where you can make boards to sketch out your wildest character ideas, set goals to help you reach the finish line, export your stories with beautiful, customized typesetting, and so much more.

Studio is a gorgeous, functional book editor where your creativity can truly flourish… which brings me to the focus of this week’s contest. If you’re an aspiring author like me, you’ve probably experienced writer’s block at least once in your life — not to mention all the distractions life seems to perpetually throw at you. So, this week, let’s write stories inspired by artists and the creative process. Whether you’re the world’s biggest procrastinator or have been waiting for inspiration to strike, there’s bound to be a prompt below that speaks to you!

🥇 Winner

“inspirAItion” by Derrick M Domican

🏆 Winner of Contest #266

08:50:05.000:RequestGeneratedHey Phaedra, can you give me a recipe for vegan lasagne with a rich, creamy bechamel sauce?08:50:05.005: ResponseDispatched++Certainly! For a delicious vegan lasagne, you'll need lasagne noodles, marinara sauce, vegan ricotta, and a homemade bechamel sauce. Here's the recipe and step-by-step instructions, Michael!++08:50:05.012:RequestGeneratedPhaedra, how do I fix a leaky faucet?08:50:05.020: ResponseDispatched ++Here’s a step-by-step guide to get that faucet fixed. Grab a wrench and some plumber’s tap...

186 comments 186

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“See What Sticks” by Ian Gonzales

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #266

Okay, this is your story. I get that. You’re the writer, the creator and all that. But I’m the protagonist. The main character. The one the story is all about. So we need to talk.*I stop in front of the door to Room 451. I can tell it’s supposed to be locked, but the splintered jamb and inch of darkness showing tells me it isn’t any more. Pushing back my fedora, I scratch my head, glance up and down the dimly lit hallway, taking in the faded wallpaper and worn carpeting. This case has already been one for the record books, and it keeps getti...

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“Sinew and Silence” by Emma Morgan

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #266

I drop the pen, its tip scraping across the paper as I step back, paralyzed by a vast nothingness that grips my being. The emptiness is turbulent and numbing. It takes my breath away while keeping it flowing through my mouth and nose. I must break free. I must find the muse who waits for me on the mountain. She must call my name, and I must call in response. I must go. Go up the mountain. --- The mountain beckons. Its silhouette falls upon itself under the full moon’s gaze. Light shines onto the valley floor below, reflecting the snow that’s...

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This week's prompts

Start your story with someone who wants to give up on their career right before their big break.

Short Story – 39 stories

Your protagonist discovers that everything they type comes true. What happens next?

Short Story – 54 stories

Write from the POV of a character in a story who keeps getting re-written by their second-guessing author.

Short Story – 92 stories

Your protagonist has the perfect day scheduled — but things don’t go according to plan.

Short Story – 40 stories

Write about someone who summons the creative muse through a convoluted ritual or method.

Short Story – 57 stories

Stories

“inspirAItion” by Derrick M Domican

🏆 Winner of Contest #266

08:50:05.000:RequestGeneratedHey Phaedra, can you give me a recipe for vegan lasagne with a rich, creamy bechamel sauce?08:50:05.005: ResponseDispatched++Certainly! For a delicious vegan lasagne, you'll need lasagne noodles, marinara sauce, vegan ricotta, and a homemade bechamel sauce. Here's the recipe and step-by-step instructions, Michael!++08:50:05.012:RequestGeneratedPhaedra, how do I fix a leaky faucet?08:50:05.020: ResponseDispatched ++Here’s a step-by-step guide to get that faucet fixed. Grab a wrench and some plumber’s tap...

186 comments 186

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“Do Me Write” by Alexis Araneta

Submitted to Contest #266

Hey, Stephanie! I have a little request. If you’re going to keep changing me, reach those artificial nacho cheese-dusted hands onto the Wheel of My Fortune and spin it to figure out who I’d be this thirty-second time (Yes, I counted.) around, could you at least swap out…you know?Yes, I’m aware, all too much, in fact. You say that you’re a pantser, that you’re a flâneuse who would rather meander the winding alleys of your imagination rather than follow some preset road map. You balk at the idea of anything other than the thorny weeds of a plo...

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“The Art of Being Fickle” by Max Wightwick

Submitted to Contest #266

When Charles was a wee boy, in the midst of his youthful glory, he swore that naught would waylay him from achieving his paramount goal: being a fluent, recondite, whimsical, and comedical writer. “NO,” exclaimed John, after having his mind, body, soul, and - acutest of all - wrist ossified upon the weaving woes of wavering for hours. “No, Charles is such a common, hackneyed name. My protagonist must be elegant, suave though not pompous, and relatable.” In a trice, a miracle twinkled upon his derelict page where inked those insipid words, “A...

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“First Byline” by Jonathan Page

Submitted to Contest #266

Driving up to Elmira, NY was a sheer act of desperation. The kind of act a newly minted staff news reporter should never consider. But, I had yet to score my first byline. And the clock was ticking. How trivial such worries seem now. My fledgling journalistic forays upstate were about to unlock the vault of the supernatural and place me in mortal peril. But, just maybe, the journey might make me a real writer in the process.Real writers can afford a Keurig, I thought. This is how one knows they have not yet joined the ranks. I tilted the pot...

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“The Clash of Ed, Burt, and the Author” by Daniel Rogers

Submitted to Contest #266

The dragon lay prostrate, wounded and exhausted."No! No! No!" The author yelled.The scaled beast collapsed, wounded and exhausted."'Wounded and exhausted?' What are you doing? You think you're a writer. You're crap! That's what you are! Crap!"The scaled beast collapsed, bleeding from his many wounds. Exhausted and weakened by the fight, the ancient dragon sensed his end was near."Okay, that'll have to do for now. What's next?" The author searched in the dark recesses of his mind for a while before spotting the muse, who was lighting a match,...

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“Clarity” by Arthur Ingham

Submitted to Contest #266

Author's note: This story should be in the prompt: "Someone who wants to give up on their career right before their big break." I can't change it. New member mistake, sorry.The tunnel was pitch black, save for the faint glimmer of the enforcers’ flashlights bouncing off the damp walls. My lungs burned with each breath, the cold air of the Swiss Alps slicing through my throat like a razor blade. The train was coming. I could hear it—a low, distant rumble that echoed through the darkness, growing louder with every second. There was no room to ...

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“Too-Cute Couple” by Mary Bendickson

Submitted to Contest #266

Too-Cute Couple Russell laid on his side with his hand propping up his head as he gazed at his beautiful sleeping wife, Chrissy. After nearly five months of waking up next to her, he still couldn't believe how much she blessed his life. As the newly risen sun peeked in through the blinds, he thought back to the sunny April day he bent down on his knee and surprised her with his proposal in the midst of 299 other couples all saying 'I do' in the four minutes of the total eclipse. Always so sensible and stable, she surprised him when she said ...

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“See What Sticks” by Ian Gonzales

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #266

Okay, this is your story. I get that. You’re the writer, the creator and all that. But I’m the protagonist. The main character. The one the story is all about. So we need to talk.*I stop in front of the door to Room 451. I can tell it’s supposed to be locked, but the splintered jamb and inch of darkness showing tells me it isn’t any more. Pushing back my fedora, I scratch my head, glance up and down the dimly lit hallway, taking in the faded wallpaper and worn carpeting. This case has already been one for the record books, and it keeps getti...

Read story

“Daniel, Danny, Dan” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #266

I enjoyed Dan from Season Five the most. That was when Erica was writing most, if not all, of the episodes. Her idea of Dan was that there was a lot going on under the surface. There was always something behind the eyes. I forget how many actors had played Dan (Daniel, Danny) at this point. We were deep into the twenties by now. Nobody could ever seem to get Dan right when it came to portraying him. I understand that turmoil. I, myself, am currently on my forty-eighth actor. Before you become too confused, I should distinguish the actor from...

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“The Protagonist's Beef” by Kaitlyn Wadsworth

Submitted to Contest #266

Attention Kaitlyn,I have a beef with you, but not of the bovine kind.I can't even say who I am because you changed my name so many damn times during my character arcs. And it's not because I clamour from the wings to be in the limelight. You created me, and instead of casting me as a true hero, you gave me all these character flaws and foibles. In fact, I don't know who I am anymore despite trying to rise above the defective personality you cast me in. You put me into impossible situations in which you think you know how I will react. Agains...

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“SHADOWS OF A GENIUS” by Darvico Ulmeli

Submitted to Contest #266

The room is a tomb, its stillness suffocating, heavy with the scent of old books that have long surrendered their stories to the relentless march of time. The air is stale, thick with the weight of forgotten dreams, and every breath feels like an intrusion, an unwelcome disturbance in a place where silence reigns supreme. Dust clings to every surface, a fine gray blanket that dulls the once-sharp edges of my creations, now reduced to mere artifacts of a past that feels increasingly distant. A past where I was a titan of innovation, a master ...

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“The Writer’s Stone” by Jim LaFleur

Submitted to Contest #266

In the quiet solitude of his cluttered study, Tom sat hunched over a keyboard that seemed to groan under the pressure of unmet deadlines and unrealized potential. Beside him, a teetering tower of empty coffee mugs testified to the caffeine-fueled desperation that had consumed his life these last few weeks. Tom was a sci-fi writer—a profession that, despite its often romanticized allure, had lately felt more like a Sisyphean struggle beneath an avalanche of creative paralysis. And there it was, mocking him: the blinking cursor on the otherwis...

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“The Phantom Storyteller of the Ship Destiny's Dreams” by Kristi Gott

Submitted to Contest #266

Below the clipper ship's deck, deep in the darkness of the steerage, Ana turned up the flame on the wick of her lantern.Light shined through the blue etched glass. In the indigo glow, Ana felt the ancient stories begin to awaken within her.Characters seemed to waver and dance in the shadows. Patterns flickered on the walls from the light of the blue lantern. The ship's passengers gathered there turned toward Ana and the source of the blue light.A girl named Liliana and her younger brother called Juan crawled closer to see Ana and her blue la...

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“Story's Mission” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #266

Story’s MissionFinally, the library was one of the few places that offered any comfort in the old drafty Woodleigh Manor. The roaring fire was the main, though inadequate source of illumination in the cavernous book lined room. The light from the candelabra at Sir Percy’s elbow allowed for reading but did not reach beyond the well-worn leather club chair.Sir Percy turned the page of his book, pushed his half specs back in place and reached for the brandy snifter. Suddenly he paused in the lifting of the glass, his body at full alert. His bre...

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“The Picture of Daria Cray: A Professor Deshpande Mystery” by Martin Ross

Submitted to Contest #266

The Dancer entreats the audience with a blossoming left hand, and although the blazing lights at stage’s edge render invisible the bedazzled masses, She feels the silence, the moment of transit, when observer becomes one with the Dance, believes the doors have opened to a universe of possibilities. With one inviting gesture, The Dancer has become the Conductor of Dreams…Her fingers pause. A double-tap, and a blue nail hovers over the keyboard. It descends, and all begins again…**“These mitigating circumstances,” Curtis murmured. “Whyn’t you ...

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$250

Prize money

282

Contest entries

108

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Sep 06, 2024 EST

Won by Derrick M Domican 🏆

Title: inspirAItion

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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