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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:

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

“Salt and Pepper” by Joe Swanson

Submitted to Contest #66

Billy Joel Salt and Pepper    Having given up on life, humanity, because of its precipitous disdain for lost souls, he found himself once again stranded. Hitching was not what it once was, but then, what was. Nothing remains the same for a reason, he argued with himself, a means of distraction, as he continued his lonely existence on the outskirts of someplace along the route known as, the Coast Highway.     Billy Joel believed there was opportunity everywhere he had not looked, and was convince...

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“I Hate Roses” by Kevin Schenk

Submitted to Contest #66

Write about a character who makes a dramatic life change to pursue a goal they’ve secretly always wanted. "Do you also have roses?" The man across me asks. If my eyes had the capability of rolling, they'd have been spinning. I answer this question so often each day, it drives me insane. "Yes, sir. To your right." I say in a cheery service voice, as I am accustomed to over the years. He gives me a smile of acknowledgement and starts perusing them. Roses, so uninspired but also our best seller. It is one of the only flowers that sells cons...

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“Stars In Her Eyes” by Cheryl Fulks

Submitted to Contest #66

Stars In Her Eyes Beatrice Cranapple spent most of her days entertaining her elderly mother. She was born late in her mother’s life with her childbearing years almost expired. Beatrice‘s father was absent from the time she was born.  Some town folk gossiped that he was a traveling salesman, others stated he was forced to marry her mother by a shotgun wedding with an overbearing father. No one really knew of where he came from or where he went, even Beatrice. Her mother was no help in the identification of her father,...

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“The Soldier Queen” by Elizabeth Wenzel

Submitted to Contest #66

“Absolutely not! You are not going to war, Ari! I forbid it!” Queen Isodora protested, folding her arms in front of her chest.            “So, you’re just going to discount my years and years of combat training?” I countered, leaning nonchalantly against her desk. “I’ve fought in countless wars before becoming a pillow princess. How is this one any different?”            A crease formed between her brows as she tried to reason with m...

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“For a dream” by Adele Roman

Submitted to Contest #66

I wanted to read again. I’d forgotten what it was like to pick up a book and after a couple dull pages of introduction be swept up and sucked into a world that was not your own. A world of adventure. Escape. And when the book was over. Oh, when your eyes flittered down that last page. Drunk with impatience. When you read that last sentence. That last word. That final period and the book just about slipped from your hands. That feelingagain. That distinct feeling. I could not describe it to save my life. Fills you with wonder. Takes...

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“A writer's starter pack” by Neppi A

Submitted to Contest #66

Everyone has that moment in time when an enlightening thought enters their minds through their cerebral circulation pumped up all the way from their hearts. It reaches after a long journey across different valleys of "what if"s and "but"s that are like waves hitting the shore continuously. Then at one moment, the waves take the form of a tsunami, flooding their blood vessels till every cell in their body is charged with one goal. For Samantha, it came rather late as she sat across a tank full of fish, staring down at a particular book in her...

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“Love or desire” by Hawraa Hamed

Submitted to Contest #66

William and Emily are a nice couple. They have a teenage boy and he's 18. Their beautiful home is at the end of the street near a food store and consumer materials. They have great relationships with the villagers. William was traveling a lot because of his job. He was a pilot who spent most of his time traveling. Emily was living with her son Tom, a wonderful and quiet life. Send it to the nearby stores. To bring some things to their house. Tom was a good boy. Helping his mother and becoming the man of the house. And also good at studying. ...

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“How loved I was. ” by Raza Adil

Submitted to Contest #66

"You want to be a what Dad?" Mirium eyed me as if I suddenly had three heads. The room was split between concern and confusion. It seemed as if everyone had just learned that I’d been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. I let the silence fill the space and waited a while, until it became solid and the weight of it came crushing upon me. “An actor,” I looked outside the window at the waning sun, not wanting to meet their gazes yet. The tantalizing smell of kebabs and the sweet aroma of kheer wafted from the kitchen where the servants were b...

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“The Doctor” by Felicity Edwards

Submitted to Contest #66

“Come inside, boys, your dinner is on the table.” The two boys bounced into the dining room, they chorused. “Yes, Gran, we washed our hands.” She had a shrewd idea what the towel in the bathroom would look like, just as well she had a stack for when they came to stay. Somehow whatever they were supposed to wash off would end up on the towel, not glugging down the drain. Still, it was such a joy having them and she knew it made a big difference to their parents. Her son Harold, after a successful career as a science teacher, had said all he e...

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“A Message in Disguise - The Girl Who Wanted to Clean” by Isabella DJ

Submitted to Contest #66

“I didn’t do it because I didn’t love him. I mean, I didn’t love him, but that’s not why I did what I did. I did what I did because, well – actually, let me go back a bit. So, it was the year two-thousand-and-nineteen when it happened. See, I left my fiancé at my wedding. I know it seems like some cliché, corny movie, but it’s true. What happened is, as my dad walked me down the aisle, he whispered to me, “I’ll never stop loving you, my girl, but I’ll have something now that I’ve never had before: a court family.” See, both my parents worked...

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“BECOMING THE FORDS ” by Loud Paper

Submitted to Contest #66

The family house. Due to hardship and spiritual reasons most of the people in the family got married out of wedlock particulary the ladies, they settle in a small hut with their husband's together with their grandpa, he doesn't want them to disassociate themselves from each other. He's still wanna keep the family bond. Thoughtfully enough they all bought to his ideas but there's a hidden secret that holds their destiny in the house. The virtuous man He got everybody's back, he's head of the family though the youngest, he cares ...

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“Somebody's home” by Carol Namorato

Submitted to Contest #66

He started acting suspicious a few weeks after the wedding. Friday nights were never spent at home. He told everyone he was sleeping alone. Too many job parties. A friend in common is all that it took. She found out the truth within a month. Her parents begged her not to say a word until the guilt was split from his own lips, until he regretted it all. But that never happened. So she remained in silence, not because she was forgiving, but because there was simply nothing to be said anymore. Because love was not even there anymore. ...

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“GHOSTED” by JESSICA-KEN DURU

Submitted to Contest #66

  She's human... he's odd ‼    So odd, and not so sure what he is. Rome, 1971  "Help! Someone please help me... please!"  Tired feet ran through the woods in the dead of the night, and loud breathing rang. The strong malodor of smoke and awful stench of burnt bodies ruled the night, while ouzels danced in the gray clouds.  "Anyone? Please help me. Help me!"  A loud laughter erupted as the black birds hovered low. "You will not get away from me,"  "No, please. No!!!" A piercing cry...

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“Blood Of Kings” by Sword Moonblood

Submitted to Contest #66

Here I was again, not that I did not know that I could not stay in my dreams forever, no matter how much I wish I could. Zackarias came through my little clay hut, and gave me a good lash with his leather whip. I flinched and got up.  He looked me up and down with his grey half blind eyes in disgust. His long dirt caked hair barely clung to his sun burnt olive skin, and his dress shirt with ripped shorts smelled like dried cow dung. I could smell whiskey on him from a mile away, and together with the dung, and the whiskey, the smell ma...

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“Tough Competition” by Keith Burdon

Submitted to Contest #66

A chant rose from somewhere in the audience, the thud of feet in the auditorium sounded like a continuous rumble of thunder. The clapping hands beat out a furious counterpoint to the rhythm from the feet. There was an air of barely contained violence. This crowd wanted blood. Not for the first time Nathan asked himself just how the hell he had got himself involved in this situation. It was like a scene from Gladiator. He was terrified. Pure and simple. Adrenaline was firing round his system, his legs were locked, his bladder howling in pr...

2 comments 2
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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!

Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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