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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

“The Murder Games” by ❤️✒️𝓗𝓪𝓻𝓹𝓮𝓻 𝓔. 𝓝𝓲𝓬𝓱𝓸𝓵𝓮📝❤️

Submitted to Contest #66

“So that’s it, then.  Plain and simple.  I’m just going to lose.”  I cross my arms and dare Morana to come back at me with anything less than total agreement.   “It doesn’t count if you’re already planning defeat!  Besides, you literally just took the fun out of the whole competition!” “But it’s not fun!  It promotes violence!”   Morana sighed in exasperation.  “Why on earth did they send you here?” Here being Tombstone, of course.   “I had the best grades in class.  ...

4 comments 4
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“The Leviathan Games” by Saizen 🦜

Submitted to Contest #66

Ikal blinked. He was utterly disorientated by the vivid colors. Coming from the Southern Ocean, he was used to the plain dark depths beneath the pale surface. He calmed himself.It was the opening ceremony of the Leviathan Games. Merfolks across the five oceans congregated at the hosting sites, looking forward to the once-in-a-decade revelry. Tens of thousands arrived at the Scarlet Reef of the Western Ocean, where the first game would be held.The procession toured the city. As a contestant, Ikal stood in front of his kingdom's ento...

33 comments 33
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“The Bachelor: Season 492” by Lani Lane

Submitted to Contest #66

“Ladies, it’s time,” said Chris Harrison, his voice satin (much like his designer suit). The twenty-five women in the room nodded.“It was nice meeting you,” Christie said to Rebecca, wrapping her arms around her new friend.Across the room, Kristine and Hannah similarly embraced.“I’ll let your parents know,” Maddie whispered to Charlotte, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. “If, you know, it happens.”“I’ll do the same, of course,” said Charlotte.After much hugging and squeezing of hands, the twenty-five women followed the producers into t...

10 comments 10
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“Freckled Catwalk” by Sucheta Regikumar Nair

Submitted to Contest #66

I gaze at myself in the mirror. A pale, skinny, freckled figure with hip length ginger hair and chestnut brown eyes. This is not a bad appearance for my first day of college. Besides, it’s not like anyone will notice me anyways, I am a nobody. “Estelle, come eat your breakfast, it’s getting cold!” my mother yells from downstairs in her strong French accent. Some say her looks would have gained her a modelling career back in the day if she hadn’t chosen to become a bank associate instead. Although, her life choices are not what bothers me, wh...

5 comments 5
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“Triple Threat” by Sam S.

Submitted to Contest #66

“Are you sure about this? You can still back out from it you know.” Cara said, even though Leonardo showed no signs of abandoning the challenge.“Yes. I’m two hundred percent sure about this; trying to change my mind won’t work, you already know that, don’t ya?” came a determined voice from Leo as he swiftly unlocked the car with the key.Cara shot him the no-use-telling look. “Well, I guess I’m left with no choice.”A worried face spoke, “My instincts tell me we’ve forgotten something-” “This is not the first time your instincts have lied...

8 comments 8
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“The Darkest Path that Leads to Light” by Emmanuel Olaleye

Submitted to Contest #66

This was a battle you had lost three times before, even after you had made great speeches and grand promises. You carried along with you the laymen, even as you rose to the highest point of diction, to outshine your competitors, at every Presidential Debate floor. But it all came to nought, as you lost... again... and again... till your fire began to die slowly on its hearth.This is your lifelong dream, and you're at it again, probably for the last time. The Presidential Debate was a success, just like the previous three before it, and the P...

10 comments 10
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“Nosebleed” by Amy Utami

Submitted to Contest #66

On the evening of October 17 last year, I met a woman. That day, I was tired of work and took a short escape flight to Japan. I was walking around Sapporo and I saw an old DVD store. The door ringed as I pace my step inside. It was a long room with a plethora of doors behind the counter and a small trail beside it. In front of the counter, the 3x4 meters room was dedicated to old DVDs and vinyl from the old memories of someone else and a classic for someone like me. My eyes trace along with the shelves, looking for something old yet familiar...

9 comments 9
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“Subway” by Holly Pierce

Submitted to Contest #66

Tricky “Good bye… I’ll see you after I get back,” I smile weakly. I hug Noah one last time. “Please, don’t stay too long. I know you have to go but-” I turn away from him as tears seep from beneath his eyes. “I’m sorry… I’m so, so, sorry,” I whisper into his ear. A gruff voice yells to me from the black limousine. “Let’s go! We’re on a time limit here!” Noah and I roll our eyes and pull apart. He gently brushes the tears from my eyes. “I love you. Don’t forget, okay?” Noah says. I nod slowly. “I love you too…” I pick up my small duffel bag a...

4 comments 4
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“Would you cheat? ” by Gabrielle Marian

Submitted to Contest #66

"Ten more minutes!" Eliza's brow furrowed as she stared at the paper. The numbers seemed to blur and the bright white of the paper made her blink. She read the problem again. Five people were eating apples, A finished before B, but behind C. D finished before E, but behind B. What was the finishing order? Uh, maybe the next question. A man has 53 socks in his drawer: 21 identical blue, 15 identical black and 17 identical red. The lights are out and he is completely in the dark. How many socks must he take out to make 100 percent certain he h...

3 comments 3
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“CyberAthena” by Leviathan Four

Submitted to Contest #66

Marisol had been ready, willing and able to earn the contract the right way. After all, her cybersecurity firm, CyberAthena, was the best, and Nicholas Kozlosky needed the best.Kozlosky, Inc. was a multinational hedge fund, voraciously engaged in trading on financial markets around the globe. As far as Marisol could see, if a firm ever needed CyberAthena’s expertise in keeping the trading volume of short selling, leveraging, and derivatives safe, it was a target as rich as Kozlosky, Inc.  She'd shown up an hour early for her appoin...

7 comments 7
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“Luck by chance..or by worth?” by Pratheeksha R

Submitted to Contest #66

There’s a cold breeze blowing up that gives me goosebumps. I’m normally acquainted with the cold, given that I’m in Canada where the temperature drops to -45° C. We spend nearly 7-8 months in a year in snow, but today, I’m not my usual self. I have been summoned to the “Provincial Centre of Speakers Bureau” for a debacle that happened 3 days ago at the Area Contest where I was contesting. However, I’m not alone. Along with me, there is Dimple Mehta - the Area Director, Meena Bhat - the Division Director, and Lily Murphy - the Chief Judg...

8 comments 8
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“The Pains of Success” by Daniel Roueche

Submitted to Contest #66

November 6th My Sweet Lizzy Love, I miss you so much it hurts. And the kids, man, my heart aches not seeing their little faces smiling up at me! You’re on my mind constantly and I long for you to be with me again.   This week has been one I’ll never forget. It’s felt like a year wrapped in a week, wrapped in forever—not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. It’s just a thing, and that may be all right. I barely even know where I am right now. I think I’m in Dallas, but maybe that was yesterday. :)  Anywa...

1 comment 1
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“What COUNTS Too...” by Yellow Lemon

Submitted to Contest #66

"It doesn't count if you're already planning your defeat." Six said, as she rolled her eyes. "For heaven's sake, Six. I'm not planning my defeat!" Zed said, exasperated. He shook the knife in his hand dramatically, and then swished it down on the bright orange carrots on the chopping board. Six, who couldn't take it any longer, snatched the knife from Zed's hand, pushed aside the board, and said sternly. "Zed. You'll win. Hard-work pays off, and you've wasted much of my ingredients than I have ever used in my life to make this one recipe." ...

2 comments 2
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“The Welcoming Window” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #66

“It doesn’t count if you’re already planning your defeat.” Well, that’s the kind of thing I’m used to hearing from my cousin Loretta. Cousins by birth, friends by choice, as she is wont to say. I don’t contradict her. It would be cruel. Like kicking a particularly ebullient puppy. But the fact remains that though puppies are, of course, adorable, it is their purpose in life, and kicking one would be an unspeakable act, beyond even me on my grumpiest days, there are still times when you wish they’d just simmer do...

0 comments 0
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“Dear Future Me” by ℂ𝕁 𝕄.

Submitted to Contest #66

December 29th 2017 Dear future me, Sophie Bryant started writing, do things ever get easier? Friends, family, drama? Sophie has been through a lot and only being nine makes it even harder. When Sophie was three her parents got divorced, and still find a way to fight, when she was six her older sister died making her an only child, when she was seven she had cancer. When she makes friends not long after they disappear into a new life just leaving her in the dust with no one to go to. She filled the paper up with questions and quickly shove...

6 comments 6
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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 | Many Hands | 2024-09

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Prompts | Many Hands | 2024-09

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