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

“The Ferryman” by J M

Submitted to Contest #75

`My name is Charon. You may know me from tales of long ago, in which I am the mythical ferryman of the dead. Newly departed souls step onto my boat, and I guide it across the river Styx, leading them into the kingdom of Hades, god and supreme ruler of the Underworld. `When I was first created, long, long ago, at the convergence of Erebus and Nyx, I was mindless and blank. My thoughts - if they could be called that - had a singular focus. Take their coins and guide the boat across the river. Guide the boat across the river. Boat. River. ...

Read story

“Agents of Death” by Kieri Zink

Submitted to Contest #75

The spartan room seemed to shrink the longer I sat in the cheap, plastic seat. I shifted uncomfortably, a futile attempt to unstick my thighs from the slatted plastic. I made a mental note to adjust my skirt as soon as I stood up. I reminded myself training would be over soon. I would be able to design my own office - or at least choose where to meet with my clients. For some reason, the experience employee to whom I was assigned, Agent J., kept his room spartan. And sweltering. The balding ma...

Read story

“The Past Life Exterminator” by Tara Shuttleworth

Submitted to Contest #75

My job doesn’t require a website, business cards or the occasional networking event. I find my clients rooted to the stool of their local dive bar, scowled and hunched over in the drugstore checkout line with drool clinging from their chin, a token of boredom at the company holiday party. Holding onto ones past reveals itself in the way we operate, it’s not hidden in thoughts of the tormented. It’s center stage and will accompany you throughout your life, until you meet me. My name is Beatrice Ragtul and I’m ...

Read story

“The Lake” by Solomon Sessums

Submitted to Contest #75

I emerge through the trees and the fog, and find myself standing at the shore of an enormous lake. There are no ripples, no waves, no reflection, and no one else. Endless and empty. Like a vast silver coin. I find companionship in it. The only unique thing I found in these empty woods. So I stay with it and circle it for a very long time. Occasionally I throw a stone into it or trace it with a stick. Again, it makes no ripples or waves. It’s like it just swallows my stones. I have no warmth as I lay here bare. The sun never shines, the night...

Read story

“I Travel For A Living” by Ivy Kova

Submitted to Contest #75

One may not think of me as a man of good. Lucky ones find me a criminal, a hooligan, a somebody wanting a paycheck with no remorse to the consequences of how it was signed or how much blood pooled the money I used for a red bull or socks. In fact, I prefer people consider me a nobody. Do not consider me. I do not exist, as the missing people's reports state. My instructions are clear cut, obvious and simple. I leave my beauty of a ruby red pickup truck in overnight parking, get into a mini van with her fair share of scrapes and bruises ...

Read story

“Happiness is Self-Made ” by Sanjana Sarah

Submitted to Contest #75

James sat there on the cold, concrete bench, wearing nothing but a ragged jacket, a faded pair of jeans, and a gloomy look plastered across his rugged face. He stared solemnly at the white trees swaying from side to side, and snowflakes, each a different shape, dancing in the wind. James was a simple man, and some would say depressed too. At parties, he would stand at the corner and refrain from socializing with the crowd. At work, no one would include him in their daily gossips and banter. He didn't give much thought to what people might th...

Read story

“It's Hard For Sober Minds to Pretend” by OB Jato

Submitted to Contest #75

My new year’s resolution is to let things be as they are. I wouldn’t have thought so twelve months ago. Back then, my marriage was on the brink - full of misery for me, and full of apathy for my husband. It still is. But now, I’ve learned to live with it, just like him. Is it a good thing or a bad thing that I keep becoming like Wilson as the days go by?He cannot hear me now, because I have ceased to speak in front of him - all he can hear is my keyboard as I write this down. The sounds they make accompany the ticking clock from the liv...

Read story

“Fealty” by H Noss

Submitted to Contest #75

Had she been told a year before, she would have fervently denied it happening. The idea of her family falling into tatters, of struggling to survive, and of the need to go to such extraordinary lengths. But her father did what he had to do, and she believed in him. He knew what was right for them both. So too did he know what was required of him. This was his decision. Though she also knew he would never have wanted to agree to it a mere season ago. "By the Lord before whom my word and honesty is heard, I will to Aldous Grimwick be true and ...

Read story

“Dodong and His new-year Smile” by Ara Nezza Espinosa

Submitted to Contest #75

"I will never smile for a girl again."A day earlier... Dodong licks his palm with his tongue and wiped it on his head to secure the stubborn standing hairs in his newly polished head. Forget the stinky smell of his saliva; what matters is that he is a fine man in front of Aurora. Today marked the end of the year and still he is in love with Auring. He looked down his body and adjusted his ties. ‘Damn this tie doesn’t suit my long-sleeved shirt but it was what only Tatay has!’ he thought. He looked down his slacks bef...

Read story

“Ruination” by Ella Black

Submitted to Contest #75

“I vow to never love, to never care, and to never allow foolish emotions to get in the way of a mission” It was the first thing they were taught. They repeated the words every day before training. I never meant them, they were simply hollow words. Just another broken vow of a naive girl. From a very young age, I knew I was the best. To most, it was not obvious, but I saw it. I saw it in the way my instructors would look at each other almost cautiously after target practice. I saw it in the subtle smiles from the leaders of my group. In the e...

Read story

“On That Day and Forevermore ” by Blythe Vega

Submitted to Contest #75

Numbness was a fickle thing. Some days, it would feel like the thinnest and most fragile veil, ready to tear apart and let the emotions consume me. On the rest of the days, it would be a thick, steel wall that showed no chance of reprieve. Reprieve of what? The numbness itself. On that day, the numbness was something that I invited and welcomed. It was a bliss that kept me away from the realities and cruelties of this world. But now, it has locked me away from everyone and everything else. I knew that to ask for its help would mean bein...

Read story

“High Risk, High Reward ” by Darsh Sharma

Submitted to Contest #75

As the late hours of January 1st slowly turned into morning, Jane looked back on the previous hours she had spent partying. She remembered the vow she had made to herself when the clock struck midnight, alone in the corner while her friends rejoiced around her. “Work hard no matter the cost.” The advice had been in the back of her mind throughout the previous year, however she decided that this brand new start was the time to implement it. Long gone were the nights where she’d prioritize sleep over her work. Forgotten were the days wh...

Read story

“Daylight and Starlight” by Ella Healey

Submitted to Contest #75

“An afternoon.” The tall boy murmured, his words falling softer than snows embrace on a moonlit night, its cool touch kissing the blades of grass, entwining with the frozen dew that clung to its green tuffs. “Pardon?” The petite girl blinked, her cheeks flushed from winters icy caress, her faintly pink lips slightly agape as wondrous eyes marvelled up at him. “Spend an afternoon with me.” His rich voice so uncharacteristically quiet, like each word bracing for the tender throb and sting of glass shards. Yet, his piercing gaze was u...

Read story

“New Year, Not Me” by Srishti Mitra

Submitted to Contest #75

When 2020 had started, I was very excited. 2019 was not a very exciting year for me. I had just joined my first ever job, I was traveling every week, I was eating junk food everyday, and I was licking my boss's ass at the rate of 2 times per hour. When the year was coming to an end, I decided I will take charge of my life and navigate it the way I want. I will not care about what the society has to say about the life choices I would make, as long as the Universe was in my favour. Who would have known that the Universe was more in the favour ...

Read story

“A change in perspective” by Emma Harris

Submitted to Contest #75

2 Years ago I had just hung up on May. I didn't know what to do. She said she was pregnant. I ... I don't know what to do! I wasn't expecting this! I don't even know her that well! I've met her twice! The second time didn't even really count because we were drunk for most of it and neither of us remembered much. I wouldn't usually do things like this. One night stands weren't my thing and ... doing it, unprotected wasn't something I do either. I feel like an idiot! I need to slow down and give myself a chance to think. I sat down on the...

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 ⭢