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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!

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 – 56 stories

Stories

“Magic Typewriter” by Bracy Ratcliff

Submitted to Contest #266

It was a typically troublesome day at work. Grumpy clients, uncooperative employees, late vendors, and typical tech problems, all just making me wonder, “Is it worth it?” I finally got it all sorted out, tidied up my desk and my desktop, the physical and the digital, and headed for the door. I never looked forward to my commute home, knowing that it was always at least 45 minutes of anxiety, stopping, starting, asking Siri if there was a faster route. Finally pulled into my driveway, parked, headed toward the front door, ...

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“Typo ” by Anastasios Repousi

Submitted to Contest #266

L…o…ll…y…A twisted treat suddenly fell from her father’s wall-mounted file rack, and she caught it, barely, and gave it a gentle blow. Ruby had seen a lot of really swirly sweets, but nothing compared to this. It had a strange mix of colours: periwinkle and tangerine tango, and where the white should normally be was a gloomy grey, like a smudged marble.Ruby had also eaten a lot of really swirly sweets, and this one tasted better than she’d ever eaten. She sat in her father’s office chair, eating the treat, and listening to the impressive sta...

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“The Magic Protagonist” by George Wallace

Submitted to Contest #266

Margret looked out of the window, it had rained all day, the day was so dreary, she had a book to finish her agent had been on the phone to her hourly. The phone receiver was red hot. The noise of the rain was like a broken record, it just went on and on. ‘I will never get this book done, I just can’t be bothered to do it but I need the money, I will lose the house if I can’t pay the mortgage, thought Margret to herself. ‘John, can you ...

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“Text To Truth” by Elain Sho-Avei

Submitted to Contest #266

“Perfection,” I said with a wide, cheesy grin on my face as I shut my laptop. The grin slipped. I guess smiles and fake affirmations don’t help shake you out of the mindset that what you just wrote is a flaming hot piece of garbage. I sighed, exhausted. I spent the whole day at my laptop just trying to think of something noteworthy to write about. Nothing. Zilch. ZERO. I guess that’s not true. I did write an insanely hackneyed piece about some generic dystopia with all the tried and true tropes just to write SOMETHING. It…just made me ...

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“If Romeo and Juliet Lived” by Amy O'Keeffe

Submitted to Contest #266

A test. A test was needed. Verity soaked up the rays of the sun, enjoying the company of her best friend Oriana, while allowing the breathtaking views of the valley to wash over her.It started with a Year 9 English task to change the ending of Romeo and Juliet (Verity had always wanted Juliet to wake up before Romeo drank the contents of the fatal vial). She was astounded on opening up the play the next day to find the ending had altered, it was word for word, the way she had typed it! The funny thing was, that neither her English teacher or...

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“Click.” by Dreux Long

Submitted to Contest #266

Click. The tactile sound of a letter being input on a typewriter. The clicks were what drove Joseph mad being raised by his Grandmother. Joseph’s grandmother was a retired secretary who just couldn’t kick the habit of using her old Olympia typewriter around the house while he was growing up. With his parents killed in a car accident as an infant, his Grandmother was all he knew. But he hated her. And that’s why he hated the Click. One could imagine how the news of Joseph’s Grandmother being diagnosed with dementia would l...

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“Miranda and Lancelot's Happy Ending” by Mary Botsford

Submitted to Contest #266

Miranda and Lancelot’s Happy Ending &...

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“PEN POWER” by Julia Corliss

Submitted to Contest #266

The strange phenomenon started for Karley one day as she sat in her favorite spot in her garden with her journal in her lap contemplating what to write or draw. She loved this garden and cottage which she had called home for ten years now since her retirement decision to leave the city and move to a much more bucolic environment. It was an overcast day. She wished the sun would break through. It wasn’t exactly gloomy, just overcast, foretelling the coming of rain with thick clouds blocking the sun. The roses about her in the garden seemed do...

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“Blank Slate” by Christina Miller

Submitted to Contest #266

I swing my sword...no, my dagger, towards Princess Acantha. Her golden hair, the same color as my sister's, no, my stepmother's, bounces as she avoids my blow. She smiles, the smirk making me grit my teeth. She's been intentionally grating my nerves since the first time we met. That was one year ago. Or was it a month? A week? Regardless, I dodge her counterattack, then, pressing my dagger to her throat, force her against the closest wall. I frown. Why did I suddenly think this seems cliché? And why am I now the one with my back pressed to t...

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“I don't find your sick sense of humor amusing...” by Jeff Meade

Submitted to Contest #266

Chloro Phil was in big trouble. He had traveled south from his adopted community at Chama in search of someone named “Maxwell.” The boy, still unidentified as far as Phil knew, was, as far as Phil knew, still in a coma. The boy had whimpered “Maxwell needs help,” and Chama’s Council of Elders had decided to send Phil to follow the scrap of paper the boy had in his pocket. This scrap of paper had a line drawn on it, like a map, with three X’s marking locations. One of the X’s was circled, and Phil had discovered that it was an abandoned campg...

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“Between the Lines” by Becheru D. Dan

Submitted to Contest #266

I was following Mr. Jules in the heavy rain, in New York. The city was drowning under a blanket of relentless gray, the kind of rain that soaks you to the bone no matter how fast you walk, run, or how well you cover up. I knew it would rain. The clouds were heavy with it, threatening to burst from the moment I stepped out of my office this morning. Yet, here I was, without an umbrella. Why the hell didn’t I bring one? A detective should be prepared. Always a step ahead. But not today...The thought gnawed at...

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“Sun shining in the night. ” by Anonymous Morningstar

Submitted to Contest #266

I was created a week ago. Or at least, I think. It’s not so easy to keep track of time when you’re just a character in a book. Especially when your creator second-guesses every single thing He writes...and keeps re-writing just about everything. Have you ever had your own free will taken away from you by someone who’s supposed to cherish you? If the answer is yes, then you can imagine my entire existence. For what I know He started this book a week ago and we’re still at the first chapter. I mean, I’m not even one of the main...

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“Character Assassination” by Patricia Jablonski

Submitted to Contest #266

Character AssassinationHe’s at it again, and the sun’s not even up yet. Take your hands off the keys, asshole. Breathe. This guy, he thinks he knows me. Making me dream about casting my net wider and breaking out of this crappy little burg. How embarrassing. Why doesn’t he know that’s not me, for God’s sake? After all, he set me lose on the page in this neat little town—one he thinks is boring—and then decided I didn’t fit in here. That I needed to be troubled—a malcontent. What a crock. There’s nothing wrong with this town. I mean, not that...

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“Quod Facis, Bene Fac” by Robert Ryan

Submitted to Contest #266

Okay. So I’m this 5th grader who has no idea what he wants to be when he grows up. Not bad. My parents had very little education. They’re in the working class. But they consider true class to be shown by your integrity, not what you do for a living. They brought me up to value good character above everything else.But it’s not that my parents are contemptuous of the upper classes. They still consider getting a good education to be the road to a better life, including a prosperous career. It’s just that they only consider you to be a good pers...

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“Drafted and Doomed” by Michael Palmieri

Submitted to Contest #266

Cliff woke up and looked around. “Damn it! I’m still here!” he muttered. This was the third time he had woken up at this farmhouse, and he was getting annoyed. Cliff was well aware of who—or rather, what—he was. In moments like this, he hated it. Cliff was the author’s designated main character until the final draft was written, at which point he’d be swapped out for the intended, crafted protagonist. “What was wrong with the last draft?” Cliff yelled up at the sky, as if shouting at a god. He often wondered if the author could even hear him...

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$250

Prize money

281

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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