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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 – 57 stories

Stories

“Revisions, Revisions” by LC Reid

Submitted to Contest #266

“Emily, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?” I grin and look at Ben. His golden blond hair is perfectly in place for the first time in his life, and his eyes are still glassy from when he cried as I walked down the aisle. Today is the most magical, perfect day – except it’s not. “No,” I answer, and several people in the crowd gasp and there’s a murmur of voices questioning whether they’ve heard right. “I’m sorry, but I can’t get married today. Actually, there’s somewhere else I need to be right now.” I scoop up the front...

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“Close Enough” by Search Bar

Submitted to Contest #266

“You haven’t been yourself lately.”“I know.”“Why?”“I don’t know.”“Oh, that you don’t know?”“It’s stupid.”“Is it? Try me.”“I guess I’m scared.”“Scared of what?”“Meeting you…?”I clenched my teeth. I didn’t realize how it sounded before I hit send. “Sorry, that sounds messed up.”“Very messed up, but I get it. I’m not a catfish, I promise. Haha.”“I’m so relieved,” I texted back with a sigh.Long-distance relationships can be…complicated. Sometimes, they work out, and sometimes, they do not. Sometimes, they stick, and sometimes, you grow apart and...

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“Dust to Dust” by Bailey Skater

Submitted to Contest #266

Note: This story contains use of tobacco and also the death of a partner. “From the day I met you, I knew you’d be mine.”The words I see on the page of what would have been my wedding vows to you. I feel my eyes well up as the sheet of paper gazes my hands. Seeming to find every crack, crevice, and seem in my hand as I try and comprehend what has just occurred… that was until the day you left me.September 5th,2024. The day that will always bleed into my mind. Sitting on my grey concrete slab of a patio that my landlord considers a “considera...

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“A Perefect Day” by Tom Roselle

Submitted to Contest #266

“Ah, fer fook’s sake!” I shout. It was me first day off in ages, and I’d only gone and forgotten to turn the bladdy alarm orf, hadn’t I? Fookin dick’ead. My one chance to lie in, and I had fooked it. Dun’t matter, coz I can sleep anywhere, me. Which, y’know, I do, but daft twat hit ‘snooze’ and not ‘off’, din’ I? So it only ‘appened again. Well, y’know, no goin’ back ter sleep now, too pissed at meself, so up I get. Nout a good, strong brew can’t fix. I get up, stretch, scratch me balls, take a good, long piss and feel how fuzzy me ‘ead is f...

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“A bowl of oatmeal and a tiger” by Randy Miller

Submitted to Contest #266

“Sunny and warm with a high of seventy-one degrees,” the announcer said from the radio. Rodger turned the knob and shut it off.The car was packed, and he was ready to go. A perfect day for fishing. He had waited months for time of from work to take this day. Nothing would stand in his way, now.He pulled down the wide brim of his straw hat, savoring its familiar weight as he swung open the front door. The sun greeted him with open arms, a gentle warmth draping over his shoulders like a soft blanket.Above, the sky sprawled in a brilliant blue,...

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“Jacob & The Ritual” by Calliope Ross

Submitted to Contest #266

Jacob sits with his legs crossed. The house is quiet, all seven candles are lit, the moon is in the right phase, and he's exactly eight feet underground.The ritual can finally begin.He peeks at the grimoire before he closes his eyes and settles his nerves.A steady breath in and out as he reads the list one last time."Seven candles, waxing crescent moon, and eight feet underground."That's all—wait.His eyes scan the last item."One cup of ice water."His body tenses.Ice water?How could he have forgotten something so simple?!Jacob scrambles to hi...

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“The gods are Stirring” by Annabelle Lang

Submitted to Contest #266

I was 13 when she disappeared, presumed dead.And that day, a piece of me was rewritten. Taken, my destiny changed, and given back.My grandmother and I were always close. The closest, ever since my parents also met her fate.Though our relationship wasn’t like others.A duty has been passed down our lineage. Gone through generations. A gift.The Artist of Deities.This was who my grandmother was. What I am now.The role of a mortal artist with gods as their muses, gifted the freedom to draw blindfolded through sacrifice.In an old vineyard at the e...

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“Prestige to Purpose: The Heart's Compass” by Valens Aum

Submitted to Contest #266

Chapter 1: The Corporate Ladder Ethan Walker stood at his high-rise office window, gazing out at the cityscape below. The sun was setting, casting a warm, orange glow over the towering buildings, but the moment’s beauty was lost on him. All he could think about was the upcoming meeting that could change his life forever. For the past decade, Ethan had devoted himself to climbing the corporate ladder at Sterling & Co., one of the largest and most prestigious companies in the country. He had started as an intern, working long hours and sac...

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“Stan” by Michael McKean

Submitted to Contest #266

Ralph pulled into the coffee shop parking lot and parked in his usual space. He grabbed his book bag and laptop and set off toward the front door. Once inside, he nodded to the plastic skeletons at some of the coffee tables (a running gag at this particular coffee shop) and he ordered his usual vanilla latte with whipped cream and sat at his usual spot in the rear, beside his friend Betty (a rather cute female plastic skeleton).He checked his watch and saw he had about an hour left before work. If he was going to let off some steam, now was ...

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“Bolts from the blue” by Louise Hill

Submitted to Contest #266

Prompt: Your protagonist discovers that everything they want comes true. What happens next? Luke lifted his fingers from the keyboard and lay back against the hospital pillows. He rested his hands on the bed beside him, his laptop open in front of him on the table that a nurse had pushed into place. Monitors and cables and cords surrounded him. A metal stand lurking beside his bed held a bag, a drip line leading from it to the back of his hand. The room smelled strange. Writing on his laptop had drained him of the little energy he had,...

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“That's Nuts!” by Donna Sims

Submitted to Contest #266

I wake up groggy and open my eyes to an IV tube dangling above my head. What the hell? I look down at my body. A flimsy white and blue gown is all I’m wearing. I turn my head from side to side noticing the blank walls, and then gaze straight ahead. My eyes need time to focus. Then, the flowery impressionist painting comes into view. I know where I am. Looking down I see the straps. Both arms have soft ties that encircle my wrists. My legs, via the ankles, are tethered to the bed frame. “Hey!” I yell, as I struggle to get free. I ...

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“the Cosmologue” by Emily West

Submitted to Contest #266

The cursor prompted a command be input. The text field screamed white, blank. Waiting. Saydn caught himself glancing at the test subject, then checked himself and returned his gaze to the monitor. He felt that looking away too many times would surely paint him in an unfavorable light with his observers; he tried to operate with a feigned cool confidence despite his anxiety that he might be perceived as somehow anxious for some reason. Saydn caught himself glancing at the test subject. A panel of displays washed from crimson...

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“A Main Character's Annoyance” by Arianna Porter

Submitted to Contest #266

Joanna, unlike her siblings… No, that can’t be right. Last rewrite I was an only child. Oh well, it’ll be nice to have someone else around the house. Joanna, unlike her siblings, had never been one for academics. That wasn’t to say that she was a bad student, she’d graduated with a solid B average. Oh, I guess I’m not in high school anymore, I wonder how old I am? Joanna had never invested much into math, science, or history. They weren’t hard, just uninteresting. Or, as Maria would say, a total snooze fest. That’s o...

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“Eyeryones' gods” by Bea Staab

Submitted to Contest #266

“There are several wolfs in each of us. Some are benevolent and good. Some are mean and evil. Be careful which one you feed most!”Just another author I am sure, you’ve had a deja vu before. Like, you’re totally stuck not knowing what you wanted to do a second ago – and suddenly you want to overthrow the whole world order. I keep getting more of those lately. Maybe it is a first sign of dementia. Yesterday, I wanted to feed my cat and I was absolutely sure, I had bought her favourite food at the supermarket – and at a discount on top! The thi...

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“A bad case of writer's block” by Cat Lockhart

Submitted to Contest #266

I see what he’s doing and I think I like it. Cropped dark hair, chiselled jaw, bulging arm muscles, tee-shirt stretched tight across my buff chest. I feel strong, invincible, an alpha male at my peak. I’m what you’d call a fine specimen. No one can defeat me. Ha, yes, I could get to like this, very much indeed. His bare arms rippled in the sun. He sprinted, leaping three metres and mounting the motorbike from behind. He revved wildly sending a cloud of fumes into the path of the red-headed gorilla chasing him on foot. The gorilla, a KGB hitm...

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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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