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!

#82: How App-ropriate

Love it or loathe it, there’s no denying that modern technology has reshaped literally every aspect of our daily lives. From the way we stay in touch with family and friends, to the ready access of information (or misinformation), to how we work and then spend our hard-earned cash, there’s no part of modern life that isn’t impacted by technology.

And it’s safe to say the advancement of tech is only accelerating. But while some characters welcome — or even help usher in — this changing world, others won’t be so accepting. This week, let’s take a look at some of the highs and lows of a world run by algorithms.

This week's prompts

Write about a technophobe who’s been given a device to solve a problem they’ve struggled with for years, but isn't sure how they feel about it.

Character – 95 stories

Your character has just realized the app they’ve been developing has become self-aware. How do they react?

Science Fiction – 74 stories

Write a historical fiction story about someone working at a company that helped revolutionize early computers.

Historical Fiction – 17 stories

Write a near-future thriller where a piece of everyday technology has turned against your character — and only your character.

Thriller and Suspense – 130 stories

Write about an android just trying to blend in with their human companions.

Science Fiction – 221 stories

Stories

“One Android's Journey To Live” by Maria Moore

Submitted to Contest #82

My name’s Araddius and I’m a humadroid, which was sired by a human woman and an American-Xorban android. My paternal sire is from Xorba, a sun, of the Xieria solar system, of the Xobagawa Galaxy, and my Earth mother is a Spanish-American woman, named Cadyn Dominguez, whom found my sire and repaired him. It was a year before she knew the full of his story and on my thirteenth birthday, my mother told me, of my androdian heritage.It was the year 2025, when a German-American astronaut went missing on a colonization mission to the moon; Ne...

Read story

“Doozy Did It” by Stevie Aldrich

Submitted to Contest #82

"Hey, I need some help in here!" Doozy shouted; his lips peeled back to show his metallic teeth, the same kind of snarl he'd seen on the humans. Nobody rushed to his aid; he was completely ignored. He slumped into a corner, letting his parts bang around and grind against each other as his bottom hit the cement. In the beginning, those broken sounds concerned him, and he whimpered for maintenance, but after repeatedly begging to no avail, he learned the humans had no interest ...

Read story

“Scraps of metal” by Yvone Mthembu

Submitted to Contest #82

"He's a machine Pete stop treating him like a human,okay?"That's Paul uhm forgot it's Mr Hewings my guardian,if you can call it that.I am exactly an android which resembles an old wise man, my creator or mentor Philip use to claim.It's been six months after his demise but I can't help but feel a little bit confused when I think of him.He treated me like a buddy than a machine.He taught me about life,love and death as he was certain those are the cycles of the universe.He taught me manual labor and encouraged reading a lot.We even had a timet...

Read story

“The Robot and the Inevitable” by Rebecca Cole

Submitted to Contest #82

We like to imagine that the future will be better, a manifestation of all that our current life lacks. Maybe it is idealistic to imagine that it will get better, it depends who you ask. The people living in the Slums have long since squashed the hope that it will change for the best, decades of being oppressed tends to do that to peoples spirits. In a shabby room accustomed to silence, a voice coming from a small television ripples through the air, causing a disturbance of the layers of dust accumulated on every available surface. S...

Read story

“Finding Mark” by Daryl Price

Submitted to Contest #82

“It’s just to help me sleep better, so it can’t be that bad.” Cynthia said out loud as she was carefully pruning her tomato plants. She had been growing her own food for over a decade now, and her hands flowed like a well-choreographed dance as she trimmed. Still, her thoughts weren’t on her current task. She had a black box in her bedroom that she was dreading opening. For the last three years, Cynthia had been plagued by the same nightmare. She would fall asleep fine, but then wake in a sweat and a panic. Mark, Cynthia’s husband, went mi...

Read story

“Remember” by Zavier Watt

Submitted to Contest #82

Peter sat at the table, an orange glow flickered on his wrinkled face. He stared at two candles that began to melt a bit onto his cake. 62. “Make a wish.” Peter looked to his left, received a smile from a young woman. He looked to his right and received another smile from a young man. Back to the cake. “I wish I knew where I was.” The two young adults looked across the table at each other. A slight nod. “We’re at your birthday party,” The women sniffled, “you’re the big six-two.” William looked at her, squinting his eyes, “And y...

Read story

“Lacey and Gran (VERY SHORT STORY)” by Sammy Xoxoxo

Submitted to Contest #82

Lillie stood on the large rock, her hand shaking. If you were there, you wouldn't be able to tell if it was from fear or from the cold. Maybe both. She stood upon the large rock, looking down at the fields below her. This was supposed to be her happy place. The large rock in the middle of the cornfields at her grandparents farm, where she could see everything, where she could feel like she was in control. But as she stood on the rock, she felt anything but happy. She was petrified. She was frozen in time. She was 16, but she felt like she wa...

Read story

“Contacts” by Sara Blanch

Submitted to Contest #82

I know I should have been excited about this opportunity...but all I feel is this nauesous mix of anguish and trepidation with the slightest flicker of guilt. Although I have been told numerous times by my parents, siblings, colleagues...and even the head of the Elvish court that I deserve this and that I am a hero to our nation, I cannot help but feel undeserving. So what that I was injured in combat? So what that the unnatural and barbaric weapons of the mortal world had injured another Elf? Hundreds of elves are injured everyday on t...

Read story

“It's a good thing, Right?” by Lamb Lost

Submitted to Contest #82

"It's a good thing, Dad," the girl said, buckling her shoulder-crossed seat-belt. She wore a white button up shirt with red details on the collar. "I know, Alice," replied the man to his tall teenage daughter beside him. He wore a reddish brown jacket with a red bow-tie fixed to his collar. He looked through the rear view mirror and caught a glimpse of his younger daughter in the back seat. "Seat-belt, Lizzy." The younger girl complied. She had her hair pulled into a side ponytail with a bright red bow that matched her white and red ...

Read story

“It's Hard Without a Debit Card” by Atabey Albert

Submitted to Contest #82

It was never easy keeping track of everything at once: your appointments, maybe your kids if you have any, your money, your family, friends, birthdays, even the days of the week can slip us by at times. It's especially hard for someone like me who has terrible memory loss and can't even remember my age when being asked at the liquor store. I'm just kidding(no I'm not) but for real, there's no denying I need constant assistance to accomplish everything I need to get done. There's just one problem: I'm a HUGE technophobe. I don't trust the new...

Read story

“The A/B Test” by Brendan Doyle

Submitted to Contest #82

Sometimes Freddy liked being fat. One time at a bar, a girl had started patting his stomach repeatedly, as if she was petting a furry animal. He had been prepared to ask her for her number, but a guy showed up in a suit and tie who turned out to be her boyfriend. Freddy had finished his basket of chicken wings in silence and gone home alone, the memory of the woman’s fingertips still fresh. In 2020, as the COVID quarantine stretched into months, Freddy lost the last bit of motivation he had to stay in some semblance of shape;...

Read story

“A.P.R.L” by Ze Human

Submitted to Contest #82

Putting on the grey headband and earbuds, I leaned back on the couch in my office. I had to force myself to relax. Everything was going to be fine, I told myself. The black rectangle screen set in the ceiling above me glowed to life with a blue light before fading to a pastel purple home screen. The acronym " A.P.R.L" was set in the middle of the screen in bold letters. I took a deep breath in. With the headband I telepathically selected the " Start" button, and the A.P.R.L moved to the left of the screen setting up like an acrostic poe...

Read story

“I Declare War” by Argyn Myssanov

Submitted to Contest #82

"International Wars has reached 1 million downloads, Ben!" exclaimed my friend Mike, with whom I've been developing a real-time strategy game for Android users. He has been keeping his eyes on downloads for so long that his eyes were starting to glitter."Great news," I replied trying to hold my excitement."Indeed. I can’t believe we've done this," Mike looked off the computer screen to see my reaction.But my reaction clearly didn't match up with his expectations since, having looked at the stats of Google Play on the screen, I recalled what ...

Read story

“Attached” by William Hargrove

Submitted to Contest #82

Albert was the loneliest man he knew. This was not much of an achievement, since he was too lonely to know all that many people. He was embarrassed about his height, ashamed about his pimples, and devastated by his own voice. Maybe that’s why he always spoke with his thumbs and a glowing screen. He rarely saw human faces, he would spend weeks in a row glued to his computer, only occasionally talking to a friend through his phone or PC. Regardless of his lifestyle choices, Albert despised his own reluctance to engage in social interaction, an...

Read story

“Second generation” by وداد أكرم

Submitted to Contest #82

Kamal was engaged in the study of the mathematical algorithm for miniaturizing the work of computer CPUs and despite all his attempts and his supervisor Luther, their attempts failed again and again . The five-person team was most interested in developing the first-generation PC by making it smaller, faster, cheaper and less heat-dissipating. "do you Could redesign the transistor , I want him to be smaller than it is in order to put it instead of valves large size."Luther. "Yes sir, I started working on it, maybe I'll finish it tomorro...

Read story

Load more stories

$50

Prize money

537

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Feb 26, 2021 EST

Won by Cyndy Reads 🏆

Title: ALN23061912RK

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 ⭢