Menu

Prompts

Contests

Stories

Blog

Menu

✕

CONNECT

Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites

BLOG

Success Stories

APPS

TOOLS

Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships

ABOUT

About Reedsy Terms Privacy

CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#75: New Year, New You

For many of us, the last year was like living through a low-budget disaster movie — but the good thing about the new year is that it gives us an excuse to start fresh. And even though flipping a calendar doesn’t necessarily fix all our problems, it’s still good to take a moment and think about everything you do have the power to change.

In that spirit, this week’s prompts are all about fresh starts. From small, personal achievements to huge goals that will change the world, everything starts with the decision to try. What sort of things will your characters achieve this year? What sort of things will you?

This week's prompts

Write about someone who has finally managed to succeed at a long-standing New Year’s resolution.

Winter – 98 stories

Write about someone whose job is to help people leave their old lives behind.

Adults – 246 stories

Start your story with one character making a vow that they never would have made the year before.

Holiday – 102 stories

Write about someone who doesn’t remember their past — and doesn’t want to.

Thriller and Suspense – 205 stories

Write about two characters who each want to change the same thing, but resolve to go about it in very different ways.

Teens – 84 stories

Stories

“Blind Love” by Lydia Shona

Submitted to Contest #75

Trigger warning: suicide I stare into the oncoming train lights. After Sam and Devon, I had vowed that in this life, I would never love again. Damn my heart that I follow with such blindness. My head is swarming with memories that hold so much pain. I can barely stand. I can scarcely breathe. My heart strains like a sack of grain almost splitting in half. Reason tries to make my feet move, but I am rigid. Nothing can stop me. Nothing can knock me over, not even this train. I am ready to meet oblivion. Finally...

Read story

“Goodbye, Old Elizabeth” by Sam Reeves

Submitted to Contest #75

Everyone tells you how important it is to remember. Everyone tells you the days or the moments that are special, and you’ll be grateful to look back on in the years to come. No one ever tells you, that sometimes, it’s ok not to remember. 22nd FebruaryOk, so my name is Elizabeth Monaghugh and I have lost my memory. I was told to keep this journal by my doctors as it may help me remember something. Right now, I know my name and where I live. That’s it. The doctors told me I was found alone on a road, near some forest. Apparently, I’v...

Read story

“Behind closed doors ” by DREW LANE

Submitted to Contest #75

Janice fixed her scarf with hairpins, behind her ears and across her temples, to make a hairband. She adjusted the bun at the top of her neck and hid the remaining of her camomile strands under the silk patterns - without metamorphosis, she struggled to slip into her evening role.She rolled down the iron curtain of her dry-cleaning shop and switched the sign on the door to “Closed”. Her hand glued to the top of her headscarf, and her long pleated dress floating in the wind, she rushed down to the bar at the corner of the littered street. Che...

Read story

“The Re-building of Me” by 🐔zen Chicken 🐔

Submitted to Contest #75

There’s always going to be a jerk in your life. I should know. I dated one. In my defense, Mark Robinson didn’t seem like a jerk. He was a famous celebrity, and celebrities are supposed to be nice. They always are on-camera. I was just one of the rare ones that tried to be nice off-camera, too. But Mark was not like me in any way. Not that I could mention it, though. Mark's reputation was crystal-clear to the public. Most people didn't want HGTV celebrities to be terrible people, and Mark and me were some of the best-known House Hunt...

Read story

“Stand up” by Aaina Aleszezyk

Submitted to Contest #75

“Listen, I’m sorry. Last night I was inebriated,” Said Joss to his injured wife. Though he did not look guilty as such, but his wife was inclined to forgive him. Marabi looked at him and fell in love again. His auburn hair and eyes reminded her of sunset and of their long romantic walks on the beach. Maybe, after all, it was a mistake. Maybe he’ll never repeat his mistake. Maybe he still loves her. But at least once in her life she wants to be sure, she wants to get rid of maybes. She walked over to him and threw her arms around him. H...

Read story

“Mini-Me” by Lavinia Hughes

Submitted to Contest #75

MINI-ME By Lavinia M. Hughes Loretta Draper arrived home after a punishing commute of icy roads, witnessed accidents, and detours to a kitchen of chaos. The table was covered with the ruins of a pasta supper, tomato sauce dripped down the front of her white stove, and the sink was filled with greasy meatball pans. The poor cat, Missy Draper, was staring forlornly at her empty dish and mewing piteously. Coats festooned the backs of the kitchen chairs, and shoes were indecorously sprinkled throughout the floo...

Read story

“Finding Himself” by Ishita Nara

Submitted to Contest #75

Leonard was a son of a billionaire. His father had a well established business. Leonard's parents loved him more than anything in this world. He was a spoiled kid who was always reluctant to do something for himself. He never thought of being independent. He lived on his father's money. He was a party freak who was always surrounded by people. He had never experienced being alone. One night he,his family and his friends were having a party on a yacht. Leonard was drunk, he went at the top of the yacht. When he reached the railing of the yach...

Read story

“The Phone Call” by Estelle Westley

Submitted to Contest #75

"I'm going to call my sister today!" Sandy thought if she said it out loud it would make her more determined to take this step. She scrolled down her contact list for her sister's number. No! I wouldn't know what to say, it's been twenty five years, will she just cut me off or she might not even answer her phone. She put her phone down and decided to make herself a cup of coffee first and think of how she would start the conversation. I need the caffeine. Sandra's mother had passed away twenty five years ago and would not have been ...

Read story

“Re:birth” by Ray H

Submitted to Contest #75

I help people. Or at least that’s what I tell myself. Nobody wants to remember the pain, the fear, the suffering that has been inflicted onto them in their lifetime. So they come to me, and I make it all go away. However, my technique is unorthodox, because it does involve removing old memories; happy memories. The thing with pain, you can try and try to forget it, and you achieve that, to an extent, I mean the thoughts start fading away, but why does the body still remember the feeling? It doesn’t need to be physical pain for the body to re...

Read story

“Longing” by Sincerely Cezlie

Submitted to Contest #75

Leela sat at the sidebar at the Lipton Tea Lounge cafe, grasping tightly onto her glitching phone with both hands. The air grew stale around her as she slapped her hand onto her forehead. Again! This was growing into a pattern of people sending fraud messages and links to Leela. It was hard already to meet people who were open to building a friendship with a quiet girl who’d been homeschooled all her life. Leela grabbed her worn-out faux leather bag and headed for the glass door to get to the Mobile repair shop before it closed for the day.&...

Read story

“Soul Reaper” by C. Fallaci

Submitted to Contest #75

He sat there, waiting. Waiting for the sound he hated the most to ring through the semi-empty white room.Beeee-There it was. The sound he hated the most. The sound that indicated someone had died. He stood up, he hated this part and waited for the soul to materialize before him.The young soul, blue in color, slowly began to form before his eyes. Beginning as a small orb and then slowly transforming into the small form of a human boy.He waited for the young soul to open his eyes, not pleased at how young he died. But nonetheless, it was his j...

Read story

“Grizzly Sam Addams” by Howard Seeley

Submitted to Contest #75

Grizzly Sam Addams Howard Seeley The sound of the passing street car woke Sam up. As he rolled on his side, his tattered blanket fell to the curb. Huh. Another day. He scratched his unkempt beard, wondering how much lice were living in there with him. Sam picked up the blanket and stuffed it in his backpack. He stood and got his bearings. Howard Street and Arena Parking. Yup. Been here before and probably will be again. He started walking towards Baltimore Street. The 7-Eleven should have some good stuff in their dumpster. As he walke...

Read story

“The marriage problem” by Sasan Sedighi

Submitted to Contest #75

It was the fourth session that Sarah had with Mr. And Mrs. Harvey. They had married for over thirty-five years, and their two daughters had grown up and left home for a long time. But now, instead of enjoying their life and freedom, Jim and Karen were fighting all the time. They both were tired of their miserable life, and each was blaming the other. They ultimately concluded there was only one option left for them, and it was to get a divorce. But their daughters were strongly opposed to their separation. Their older daughter made an appoin...

Read story

“Forbidden” by Alex Calvert

Submitted to Contest #75

Short Story Choice of Genre Writing Assignment - Fantasy It was just like every other Thursday evening in the castle; the king and queen stood strong among their people in the royal court, taking mind of the issues among their kingdom while the princess sat up in her room, laying on silk fitted bed sheets in a puffy purple gown with the most stunning floral embroidery, reading the royal lore. Nothing was unusual about this Thursday evening, until there were guards screaming in the courtyard. “Over there! Get her! Don’t let her get a...

Read story

“My Dark Flower ” by Amy Jones

Submitted to Contest #75

It was during the war that I came to realize the horrors of mankind. How we are doomed from the start from birth to the day we die, and it was in the moment when the battle cries pounded in my ears, the dried blood sticking to my skin and the heavy sword across my back that I saw her, not on the battlefield of course, but in my head almost like I was daydreaming but it felt a lot more real like I could reach out my hand and touch her, feel her soft skin against my rough calloused hand from years of battle. I could see a hand painting, making...

Read story

Load more stories

$50

Prize money

735

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 08, 2021 EST

Won by R. A. 🏆

Title: The Violinist

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!

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢