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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#66: Ready, Set, Go!

It’s almost November, and for many writers around the world that means the start of National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. This wild challenge dares you to commit to writing a 50,000-word novel in just 30 days!

It’s an impressive feat, but it’s hardly the only way to exercise your writing muscles. If you like your writing in smaller doses but still want to build up the habit, today I’m going to challenge you to commit to writing a story from one prompt every week in November! (If you already do that, try for two, three, or even all five.)

To get you started, this week we’ll be focusing on stories all about challenging yourself. Whether it’s running a marathon, finally writing that novel, or just making it through a tough personal situation, challenge is what consistently pushes us to grow into our best selves.

And if you are giving novel writing a try, here are a few resources to help you along:

What Is NaNoWriMo? And How to Win in 2020
Join Reedsy’s NaNo Squad (with weekly live write-ins!)
Crafting a Novel Opening (workshop replay)
How to Write a Novel

This week's prompts

Start your story with one character telling another, “It doesn’t count if you’re already planning your defeat.”

Novel – 132 stories

Halfway through a fierce competition, your character is given the opportunity to cheat their way to victory: do they take it?

Short Story – 52 stories

Write about a character who makes a dramatic life change to pursue a goal they’ve secretly always wanted.

Novel – 120 stories

Write about a contest with life or death stakes.

Adventure – 145 stories

Write about a character who’s finally on the verge of achieving their lifelong dream.

Dramatic – 135 stories

Stories

“Change of Power” by Daryl Oliver

Submitted to Contest #66

“It doesn’t count if you’re already planning your defeat.”“Surely it does count.”“It can’t count if you’re not around to see the changes!”“Look around, tell me what you see.”“Well, the alley is filled with garbage. The sky is grey. The people live in squaller. Everything is in decay. What else is there?”“Son, you only see with your eyes. I only see with my heart. That is why it will count. One day you will see. You will see that each part of this world has more to it than the ways your eyes perceive it. There is hope in this alley, the sky a...

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“TO BE A GUARD” by Christina Ekekwe

Submitted to Contest #66

“It doesn’t count if you’re already planning your defeat.” Ryder placed his hand on Hera’s shoulder, shaking his head in disappointment.Hera was a part of a tradition that found it compulsory for females above the age of twenty-one to fight for who would become the Queen’s personal guard after the previous one loses her life. Ryder was her best friend and trainer, and seeing her want to give up after defeating four competitors just broke his heart. They had come so far.“Ryder,” she pouted, “don’t look at me like that.”He let out a sigh, “Her...

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“The Player In First Place: The Last One Standing PART 1” by Dude Man

Submitted to Contest #66

"It doesn't count if you're already planning your defeat. If you're not willing to play by the rules, I won't go easy on you just because we're friends. You shouldn't have came in 35th place, maybe we could've known each other for longer.... Aline.""The last one of us to finish the race is a rotten egg!" Cried Hannah as she pushed Liora aside and started running in order to give herself a head start."That dirty little cheater!" Grumbled Liora with affection, wiping her strawberry blonde hair out of her face, as she scrambled back up on her l...

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“The Thousandth Strike to Create my Legacy” by B Easton

Submitted to Contest #66

Nine-hundred and ninety-nine different shades of blood stretched down my sword as I fastened the armor around my chest. Off to my side, the other gladiators gazed at me with expressions of fear and awe. Out of the forty men who’d entered the arena today, only twenty of us remained, ten on each side. One of the unfortunate souls on the other end would be my opponent, and with Mars’s blessing, his fate would be the same as the others. One more body beneath me, and I’d finally be high enough to create my legacy. The door swung open, and a cool ...

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“LAOCH.” by OMONIYI WASIU

Submitted to Contest #66

“It doesn’t count if you’re already planning your defeat, Laoch.” Aletto said, looking in my direction. The cell where we are being kept was dark. It reeks of body odour and rotten food. The air inside is thick with strong smell of ale and moist earth. The windows attached to cell are so small that my fist cannot even fit through them. I turn towards Aletto and sigh. I have never been captured before so I have no idea it can be this dreadful being a captive. My armour and the family sword bequeathed to me by my father, Henry Farquarhson III,...

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“The Player In First Place: The Last One Standing PART 2” by Dude Man

Submitted to Contest #66

Drip.....drop.....As the soft petals fall to the ground, and with them... The soft cries.The tears of the rain, filling the forest with their blissful sound.... Trying to call out to the deceived, Alas, it is to no avail... For the deceived cannot hear the truth. Nor bear to understand it.... Their wish is to be deceived until they have to pay the price....Aline woke up. The fresh smell of wood and rain filling her nostrils, outside of the cabin she heard rain pouring aggressively on the wooden roof."Crap, who built this roof to leak?" Lian ...

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“No winners here ” by Samone Dandridge

Submitted to Contest #66

“It doesn’t count if you are already planning your defeat," Cerlix says to him before pushing him through the portal. The words ring in his head as he treks his way through the dark woods, making sure to step over splintered branches and overgrown tree roots. It’s the only words he’s clung to since arriving in his destination. He takes deep breaths trying to center himself. He unconsciously touches the metal wrapped around his throat in a cold embrace. It was a faded blue, that akin to the color of dead lips, littered with so...

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“A Coward” by Sam W

Submitted to Contest #66

“It doesn’t count if you’re already planning your defeat.” The commander says.“Death is not defeat, sir.” The strategist retorts, leaning forward on the desk. “One man is not an army.”Commander March-a tall, square-set man in his early forties-checks the urge to roll his eyes. He looks up from their plan. He’s spent too much time in this room, too much time with the cocky, disrespectful man in front of him. The past three days have drowned March in grim reports from the watchmen and snark from the strategist, who acts like it’s the...

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“Love Without Fate” by A. Nelson

Submitted to Contest #66

The last thing she saw before passing out, was her partners pail white face...“This is gonna be awesome, I can’t wait, we are so gonna win this”,Quinn said with excitement, packing her large army fatigue bag and tossing it over her back. Quinn Lambert has been a adventurous child and grew to be a very enthusiastic woman. She had began mountain climbing when she was only 7 years old and mud races when she was 10. She loved snakes and other slimy reptiles and considered herself a tomboy due to her boyish ways. She never liked dresses and...

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“Death's Haven ” by Phoebe DeNeve

Submitted to Contest #66

Nick was sleeping in what he thought was a safe underground bunker that some survivors had abandoned a long time ago. Nick thought that only the survivors knew about it, but he was wrong. He remembered the metal door swinging open and a group of men and women rushing in. They caught him quickly, blindfolded him, and dragged him to a some sort of vehicle to take him who-knows-where. Nick began to pound on the metal walls; his eyes were adjusting to the dark, and he saw markings on the wall that made him stop wasting his energy. He knew the sy...

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“A New Magical Beginning” by Ana Chirila

Submitted to Contest #66

London is the city that became a world of its own. So many people immigrate and emigrate to London that one would imagine the rest of the United Kingdom does not matter for foreigners. Economy is well, education is well, the health system could be better but still London is a city where many want to work in. Such was the dream of a man in his thirties, an age when adults do not dream anymore but work in order to sustain themselves. But not him. He worked so much that he ended up looking at the world with too many expectations. “10 minutes ...

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“Always Improving” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #66

“It doesn’t count if you’re already planning your defeat.” “I’m not assuming that I’ll win, but that’s a very different thing from ‘planning my defeat’. Geez, Aya, why do you have to be so melodramatic about everything?” Tyler tried to laugh it off, but Aya wasn’t buying it. “Because you do this all the time. You’re a really good artist, why can’t you see that?” “Can we not get into this discussion again? Fine, I’ll enter the stupid competition. Maybe I’ll win, but the odds are against me. I’m not going to go pinning my dreams on somet...

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“So...what's next?” by Palash Jhawar

Submitted to Contest #66

I was running so hard that my lungs felt like they were going to burst. I looked up to see them standing in the distance, but they seemed so far away that I wasn’t sure that I could make it. I just looked down again & ran with every pinch of energy I could muster. I had almost reached them as I felt my head spinning & was about to collapse when one of them caught me & held me up. When I finally looked up at them, I saw bemused expressions on the face of all my friends. “What?”, I barked at them. “We should ask you that. Why d...

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“Phoenix of The Frozen Woods” by D Y

Submitted to Contest #66

"It doesn't count if you're already planning your defeat," Adolpha stated sternly, her eyes blazing with fire. "And since when have I been good at planning things?" Phoenix said casually, just as she would have, had she not been so foolish and got herself in this horrible situation. A couple of moons ago, she had much insulted the Queen of The Black Fire Tribe. It was a Full Moon, and as usual, The Black Fire Tribe had come to trade. The loud bickering of her tribe had silenced when the enemy tribes' presence was noticeable. Even thoug...

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“Sanctuary, eh?” by A H

Submitted to Contest #66

The yellow lines on the highway sped by in a blur, and we flew through the night, and we felt free. But we weren’t, and we knew it. We were running away from something, and running away was never the path to freedom. I thought about telling John to turn back. I thought about suggesting to stop at the next Rest Area because I really had to piss, but I know he’d just toss me an empty container and sarcastically say: “You’re welcome, dude.” Besides, I’m sure all the Rest Areas were closed. I decided to bypass that conversation with him, so I ju...

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$50

Prize money

584

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 22:59 - Nov 06, 2020 EST

Won by David G. 🏆

Title: Mahalo King Cod Filet

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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