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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

“The Ward” by BeInspiredAbstracts/Etsy SarahGreenwood

Submitted to Contest #59

Ruthie was left at the ward one early Saturday morning by her ailing parents. The other nurses shunned them for leaving her there, but it wasn’t their fault. What else were they to do? They were both old enough to be patients themselves. How could they be expected to care for a grown woman with such big needs. They rang the buzzer and I could see their three forlorn faces in the oblong window. I unlocked the unit door. “Good ...

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“It didn't happen on a Monday” by Jessica Primrose

Submitted to Contest #59

As a teenager, I realized growing up wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, cliche; I know. It wasn’t so much the work that bothered me but more so, the deep, overwhelming, bitter feeling of loneliness, it crept up on me when I least expected it, and that included the safest place a person can be, their own home. I still remember the moment it happened. Though, admittedly, it is a bit of a blur. Bits and pieces remain of the memory. I think the mind works that way; it chooses what it wants to remember. And often, what remains of painful experie...

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“The End of the World” by J D Hernandez

Submitted to Contest #59

Monday morning started like any other average day. Sidney woke up, got dressed, and went to walk to school only to find that traffic was blocking the intersection. With a sigh, she began to sneak through the thin space between the cars. As she went her eyes caught something strange in the sky all the birds were fleeing passed a blackened grey sky. Blooms of strange black smoke filled the air. Sidney knows to run. She pulled herself through and began running towards the school for help. The ground began to tremble, shaking as dozens of people...

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“Dear Emmeline” by 𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙠𝙞 ☾

Submitted to Contest #59

𝙳𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟹𝚛𝚍 𝟸𝟶𝟷𝟿Dear Emmeline I don’t even know why I’m writing this as letters can’t be delivered to heaven. But I guess my daughter is the person I love the most. So, even if this isn’t going to send to you, I’ll be contented that the name after ‘Dear’ in this letter was yours. After moving here for work, I just haven’t felt the same. I guess you could call me lonely, but over time I have learned how to lessen the pain. For example, the cafe is my refuge, this place I can make believe that I am in a caring society. At the table...

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“The Old Woman at the Cottage” by Melissa Hassan

Submitted to Contest #59

It was a glorious Saturday morning as James stood leaning against the front door frame of his tiny cottage sipping a warm mug of coffee gazing out into the far distance as his mind started to wander. He had been travelling across the country for months, finding work where he could, never sticking around for more than a day. He had felt like a wanted criminal on the run from the law. It's been exactly a week since he came to live in this small seaside town. He'd been practicing medicine at a reputed hospital in the big city for...

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“An Isolated Tribe of the Upper Peninsula” by Goblin King

Submitted to Contest #59

Welcome to springfield. The sign's white letters reflected the moonlight off of them and into a gleam of white light hitting my eyes as I passed. The top left corner had lost the green coating that covered the rest of the sign, instead sporting a rusted brown. Unincorporated. As if trying to hide the insignificance of the town, the word hung below the initial greeting with parts hidden behind brush. To the other side of the road, corn grew taller than a person. In the distance a swelling of light escaped the crops’ cover. “Continue on Nor...

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“A Farmboy's call ” by J D Hernandez

Submitted to Contest #59

For the first time in his life, Samuel Mcbee was nervous as he entered the small town airport glancing outside the glass windows in the distance he could see his grandfather's farm. As a young man, he had taken this flight every summer after his grandparent's divorce. Though this time to visit wouldn't be joyful it would be a moment of mourning for a great woman. With a deep tired sigh, he got in line every other person in front of him in line had on sneakers and flip flops. With a quick glance at his boots, he smiled to himself; all city sl...

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“Cyrano's Nose” by Maya Zauberman

Submitted to Contest #59

Cyrano’s Nose A Short Story By Maya Zauberman Response to Prompt #1, Writing Contest 208 Two women stand near a French window, their noses pressed against the cold glass. Their hawk eyes trail a loaded moving van across the street, watching it stop in front of an old Tudor manor. Their noses crinkle, and their eyebrows rise as they check out a rather flashily dressed female jump out of the moving van, with what might have been her clone. The woman on the left--Sandra the silver haired, and bedangled with ancient Egyptian jewelry-...

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“A Thousand Eyes” by ✯𝐋𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫✯

Submitted to Contest #59

Moving isn’t really that fun if you think about it. Well, there was no stopping. We had to go. My family had to move across the ocean, to a place where only the population was approximately a 10,000 people. It was a very small island, according to the web. Though, they were not friendly. Always war or dividing land issues occur there because of some sort of argument all the time. I wasn’t really sure if that place was ever going to feel “homey”. I had a bad feeling, even had nightmares about the place. Gives me the creeps...

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“Mad dog ” by Miles Gatling

Submitted to Contest #59

"That dude's fucking crazy, dog…""I know, did you see the way he flipped that desk? I thought Jimmy was a goner. He shouldn't been talking shit… ""Haha, yeah, that motherfucker's strong as fuck. He works out at my gym.""No way… Teacher lifts, bro?""I'm telling you this guy's something else." He puffed, puffed then passed it. "One time, dude was working out minding his business when Rico, the ugliest meatbag you ever saw steps up to him and demands his weights. My man was eyeballing this cunt like it was nothing; screaming in his face and shi...

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“All in the Sword Part 2” by 🐬ᴬᴬᴹᴱᴺᴬ ᴷᴴᴬᴷᴵ🐬

Submitted to Contest #59

Author's note: This story is a continuation of All in the Sword. You might want to read that first before reading this part... Grayson stops scratching with his quill, thinking about what he saw. If he was right, he needed to contact someone. “‘Lady Ella! I need to ask you something,’” Grayson mutters. “No, that wouldn’t work, um, ‘Excuse me, may I ask you something in private?’ No, not that either.” He paces around his room, pondering. “Excuse me, Sir Grayson?” a voice calls out, making Grayson jump out of his skin. “Um, yes?” “Lady Ella ...

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“Mystic Isles” by ✯𝐋𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫✯

Submitted to Contest #59

Under the big old banyan tree, you would find me here, all the time. Always alone sitting in deep thought. Wondering and being curious about the world around me. I believed in magic. For some reason, deep down, I knew that magic was real, whether others believed in it or not. If we do something for others, magical things will come to you. But, day after day, I’m not so sure anymore. Just because I believe in magic, somehow it changes the way people think and view me as a person. I wish they would just accept me for who I am. But no...

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“Welcome Third Graders!” by Meggy House

Submitted to Contest #59

Sophie had the extreme urge to scratch her face. Claw at her cheeks, pat her forehead, rub the whole thing, but she wasn’t allowed to. Touching her face would mean that she would be sent home, and she couldn’t be sent home because her parents were at work and there was nobody home to take care of her. Sophie wriggled in her seat instead. It was plastic, red, and creaky—a screw was probably inching its way out—and tapped one finger against her...

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“All in the Sword” by 🐬ᴬᴬᴹᴱᴺᴬ ᴷᴴᴬᴷᴵ🐬

Submitted to Contest #59

“Go on, patrol the area.”“Now?!?!” Grayson exclaims.“Yes now! Come on, there's a reason that we made you the guard.”Grayson grumbles and stomps off, which is easy for him because of the bulky armor he has on."Remember your horse!"He goes to the stables, saddles up his horse, and trots past the restaurant. Hesees her. The same person Grayson sees every day. After he signals to her, she nods and runs off.Five minutes later, she’s beside him, on a horse.“So,” she says. “Today’s the day, huh?”“Yes, it is. And Max’s already mad at me, so don’t s...

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“The Frog Princess” by Lily Kingston

Submitted to Contest #59

List of my irrational but incredibly paralyzing fears: water.Location of my new home: in Rana’s County, five thousand square miles of trees with one thousand lakes and maybe ten people total.***It took fifteen minutes of my boyfriend begging and coaxing to get me out of the car.First came logic: “It’s a free house since I inherited it from Gramps. You know it would have taken us years to be able to afford our own. Our house isn’t even that close to a lake.”Then guilt: “This place was my childhood home. You know it means everything to me...

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$50

Prize money

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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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