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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#59: Location, Location, Location

One of my favorite parts of writing is picking interesting settings. When used effectively, setting can establish the tone of the story (a murder mystery in a manor house vs. a big city) or even determine the stakes (a sinking ship, a house on fire, a person lost in the woods). Certain settings are perfect for their genres, but it can also be fun to use setting to establish incongruity and a sense of unease.

Additionally, your character’s reaction to the setting reveals a lot about their personality. Are they comfortable because they’re in a place they know well? Or does the familiarity make them claustrophobic?

This week, really dig into where your story takes place. What do these settings look, smell, and sound like? What does the setting offer to the plot? How do your characters feel about being there? When it comes to setting, not even the sky is the limit!

(Struggling to know how to best make use of your setting? We’ve got a video right here that will help!)

This week's prompts

Write about a couple who have just moved to a place that one person loves, and the other hates.

Romance – 135 stories

Write about a character arriving in a place unlike anywhere they’ve ever been.

Novel – 198 stories

Set your story in a place with extreme weather, but don’t use any weather-related words to describe it.

High School – 69 stories

Write a story that feels lonely, despite being set in a packed city.

Sad – 230 stories

Set your story in a small town where everyone is suspicious of newcomers.

Teens – 135 stories

Stories

“Forward” by Lina Oz

Submitted to Contest #59

“This was wrong, David. Wrong.”“Give it a chance, Edith. Come. Let us discover this world.”Edith stares about wearily, looking at the strange world before her.David had parked the space-time teleportation vehicle––his “travel whatchamacallit,” as Edith always liked to mutter when he was not around to hear it––in the dark alleyway between two large brick buildings. She had fallen out of the vehicle rather nauseous, groaning, holding her throbbing head in her hands. David, of course, was giddy, excited; he leapt from his seat and into the humi...

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“A Tale of Two Grannies” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #59

There are jobs that have died out altogether, starting with the Industrial Revolution and running right through to the advent of Artificial Intelligence. In some cases, at least, probably no bad thing as they could be dirty and dangerous. But there are other jobs that are still around, and it might surprise people. For instance, there are still governesses, and Helga Sherman was on the point of becoming one. Oh, she called herself a tutor, as only a man in that role would once have done, but it was not the same as giving ...

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“Greetings From Delilah” by S. Closson

Submitted to Contest #59

There are some places in this world where it would be forgivable to believe you may have stepped through a rift in time, where it can seem that the passage of decades goes by pleasantly unobserved by the denizens that occupy them, while also being small enough to remain unnoticed by the areas surrounding them. Other places seem to exude an almost otherworldly energy, whether it is overwhelmingly positive or unshakably negative depends entirely on who you ask, of course. Over the past few years, I’d spent much of my time enjoying the man...

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“Silent Citadel ” by Elizabeth Inkim

Submitted to Contest #59

It should not have ended like this, and Wu knew it; she was out of time. Weaving through the sea of citizens, Wu stalled by one of the narrow alleyways of Haen. A frigid gust of wind blew through the passageway, ripping the hood from Wu’s head, leaving her gazing at the roiling clouds. Ashen and streaked with the occasional shock of white they did little to absorb the light of the lanterns below. The aroma of spices and old oil permeated the air, clinging to the clothes of every patron and perpetrator who dared to brave the icy winter weathe...

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“A NEW HOME IN A NEW CITY” by Khizra Aslam

Submitted to Contest #59

Despite living in an old shattered house in that huge old town, it was hard for him to settle in a new home of a new city, mingling with so many strangers. It was the city that never sleeps; Bustling, crowded, lively, and also fascinating. How will you imagine a perfect city with all the facilities? But despite having all that comfort, he found it laborious to have a fellow feeling. Even with huge buildings and clean roads, with trees running along the paths and birds cheering on the trees, with the sky showing glints of violet above the hor...

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“Enter the Dream” by He!do I.A.P.N

Submitted to Contest #59

Note:(This story didn't turn out how I thought it would...But I hope you still enjoy it. I think the place for this story, despite Havenmoor, is more like arriving to a different mindset the character has never experienced before, which makes her see things differently) Azalea had only heard stories of Havenmoor. Being from a small town, most people had thought it was a myth. It was only confirmed to her of its existence when she travelled to the Capital to go to school at a university she had been accepted into. That day had been one...

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“Astella: The Partner of My Dreams” by Vinci Lam

Submitted to Contest #59

I am Xion. I am writing this because I am, well, confused. My bunkermate Cass suggested this. Considering my distress recently, she introduced me to this type of writing therapy. “They used to call it ‘confession’,” she said, her hands gesturing outwards as if presenting the word in the air. She explained very little but said that her “parents” made her do this once and she’d felt better. Cass is from the Trad Tribe, a growing group of historiarians who follow the traditional methods of human living passed down from the early 2000s. ...

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“The House that Jack Built” by Sue Marsh

Submitted to Contest #59

The House that Jack Built Suzanne Marsh The add read: Lovely old home for sale cheap. Five Bedroom, two bath, gables, and huge bay window. Handyman Special. Smith Realtors 555-554-5678. It sounded like a dream home. My husband was out of town, we had been looking for a Mid Victorian home for what seemed forever, now it seemed I had found one. I called Smith Realtors, the agent was willing to meet with me that afternoon. I called my husband and told him about the house. He was stationed in Iraq, so it was my decision alone to make. He was due...

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“Kallisti” by Joshua Scott Hotchkin Wordpress.dungherder.com

Submitted to Contest #59

"I hate to say it, but I think we gotta start hitting kids again," Doug says in a tone which straddles matter-of-factly and I-don't-like-it-either."What the fugk are you even talking about?" Chris asks, having missed the build-up to that last sentence."Well, not hitting. Spanking. Basic discipline." Doug corrects himself."Sorry, I haven't been paying attention. What are you going on about?" Chris asks, still not really paying attention, as he spies on the stranger in the park through the window."It's the internet. People are raised to believ...

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“One Of Us Is Comfortable” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #59

“You don’t have to come with us, you know?” Jack started, not having realised that Rowan was looking at him. “Nah, it’s fine. Why wouldn’t it be fine? It’s fine.” “D’aww, what’s this?” Alice said, leaning over Jack’s shoulder. “Is my little brother embarrassed?” That much was clear to anyone walking past them on the street. Jack’s cheeks were redder than the traffic lights, and despite the cool autumn air he had a thin trail of sweat down the side of his face. At being called out though he clenched his jaw and squared his shoulders, sh...

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“Jadivolett and the Shining City” by Michael Boquet

Submitted to Contest #59

The Xulch Desert's sands had given way to barren earth five days ago and the next stone marker still seemed to be hours away. The rays of Ottbof the Sun God bore down ceaselessly as Jadivolett and Tiego trudged across the Ermo Wastes. They sought a city hidden somewhere within the wasteland. The only way to find the city was to follow the markers, large pinnacles of stone that rose from the arid landscape. Yet, Jadivolett felt that they had been traveling in circles. One marker seemed to lead to another that lead back to the first. It w...

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“Spectral” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #59

It was Jason’s first time leaving home on his own, so his emotions were mixed with both anxiety and excitement. Since his acceptance to Langford College, he had been trying to prepare himself for the transition into adulthood. That meant more freedom, but also more responsibility. His mom wouldn’t be there to make his meals or do his laundry anymore. His dad wasn’t going to be able to help him repair the ongoing...

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“Sharla” by Barbara Burgess

Submitted to Contest #59

Sharla hurried through the narrow pedestrian precinct of the town she'd moved into that morning. At nine o'clock, the shops were opening, sellers in the market sorting out their wares.The stallholders greeting their neighbours and empty crates slamming against the ground made for various sounds that echoed off the tall buildings around the market-town square.A cold wind whipped through the scene, sending discarded drink cans, scraps of paper, and empty boxes dancing along the pavement.Sharla pulled her long woollen scarf higher up around her...

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“Where Could I Be” by Loretta Moore

Submitted to Contest #59

Where Could I Be By Loretta Moore A wall of water washed over me, thirty-year-old, single Larry Jackson and I struggled against it as it pushed me downward toward death’s cold embrace. I fought hard to hold on to life but found myself drifting into a frightening, dark watery mass. I felt like Jonah in the belly of a whale. Loneliness engulfed me. A white light traveled toward me, and I felt myself dissolving into a world of shadows and realms and dimensions on a boundless journey, walking in ...

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“El Dorado” by Amalee Bowen

Submitted to Contest #59

The first time she dreamed of the golden city, she woke to the thin gray of morning. Light filtered through the strained gruel of cloud and smog to paw weakly at the whitewashed concrete walls of her apartment. She couldn’t recall anything of the dream, but a subtle, persistent yearning followed her like a lingering shadow as she went through her day. She felt as if she had heard the faint snippet of some familiar melody that she couldn’t quite place. Something ached just behind her breastbone as she gathered up her bag and her coffee and wa...

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$50

Prize money

767

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Sep 18, 2020 EST

Won by Louise Coley 🏆

Title: The Witch’s Daughter

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.

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