Write a story entirely of dialogue. Nothing but dialogue. No attributives (he said, she said, etc.). No descriptions of scenes or gestures or movements (unless these things are presented in the dialogue). Just words between quotation marks. Pure, beautiful, untainted dialogue.

Posted in Dialogue on Feb 17, 2023

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✍️ 275 stories

“The Betrayal” by Carleen Victor

Submitted to Contest #186

“I don’t get it Jeff, how the hell could this happen? What did I do to deserve this?” “Damn Paul, that’s really messed up bro. are you one hundred percent sure about this?” “No, not a hundred, a thousand percent sure. Dianne is cheating on me. I may be dumb but I’m not that dumb.” “Does she know that you know?” “Heck no. You think that that’s just something I’m gonna blurt out just like that? Naw, I’m gonna play this one with a smart hand. She thinks she could just up and do me like that? Like I’m some piece of garbage that she could just th...

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“THE FUNNY BONE PLOT” by R. J. Garron

Submitted to Contest #186

“Hey, Burt. Guess what?” “What is it, Bart?” “I was down by the pier having a casual smoke and, in the bay, was a crate I found lapping against the waves. Curious, I fished it out––don’t ask me how––and opened it with a crowbar I happened to find along the quay. And of all the things in the world, do you know what I saw?” “Gosh, Bart. What did you see?” “Nothing!” “Nothing?” “Nothing. Zip. Empty air. So, after groaning a long-winded show of frustration, I kicked the crate back into the bay, went to t...

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“Open your Eyes” by Sera M

Submitted to Contest #186

“I think you need to move on now, Luke. It's been 4 years.” “You just don’t get it. Sora. I love her, and she loves me. I can’t just move on. If anything, I feel lost and confused about what to do. Maybe I need to get away from here and restart somewhere else. I can't bare living where my nightmares began.” “I visited you today because I wanted to see improvement, not because you going on about love. You can move on, just like how you moved on from everyone and everything else, stop living with this mindset and sober up. It's time for yo...

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“The Siege of Montreuil” by Timothy Rennels

Submitted to Contest #186

THE SIEGE OF MONTREUIL “Hey! You! I see you down there! Wake up! Are you going to lay in the mud all day? Come and fight, you invading biscuit headed Englander!” “I am awake, you truffle snuffler! How can a man sleep when you caw like a raven from your perch on that wall? You woke me from a dream of your mum. She was stomping some grapes in a big tub with her bare feet. Want to hear more?” “I do not want to hear anything from you, you British bootlick. You are all alone? W...

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“Two Old Broads and One Parade” by Marcia H.

Submitted to Contest #186

“Have you ever been to the snow?” “No, but I think that snow is overrated anyway.” “That’s sad that you have never been to the snow.” “That’s not as sad as us sharing a seat on top of a fire hydrant.” “Now that is true but that is not the only sad thing.”. “You’re right. The saddest thing is the thing that we are ignoring.” “Yeah, that’s true and my butt is getting numb from this fire hydrant. I don’t see how I used to sit on them as a kid. When my dad took me and my sister trick or treating and we would...

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“The Spillway” by Kade Baker

Submitted to Contest #186

“I didn’t think he’d actually do it.” “This is bad. This is so very bad.” “What’re we going to do?” “We’ll be in so much trouble, forever.” “We? You told him to! You said he was a pussy if he didn’t.” “God, I wasn’t serious. I didn’t mean it.” “There’s no way anyone could make that jump, Ash. Even an athlete would struggle.” “His body, Ed…” “I’m going to be sick.” “His bones are sticking out.” “Stop, please.” “We need to do something.” “Like what?” “Stop crying. We need to get down there somehow.” “No,...

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“Dwell Time” by April Schofield

Submitted to Contest #186

“Thanks for coming to get me.” “No problem. What happened?” “I don't know. It smells like burnt rubber. My headlights kept dimming. It's kind of creepy. It just makes a funny clicking sound whenever I turn the key. It won't start at all now. I guess the battery's dead.” “Doesn't sound good. Lemme take a look.” “Yeah. She ain't going nowhere for awhile. Lemme hook 'er up and we'll tow 'er home. Prob'ly the alternator. I told you it was goin'.” “Well, that figures. Can you fix it?” “Maybe. We'll see.” “Ok.” “The...

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“The Find” by Ubriel Bryne

Submitted to Contest #186

“Over here!” “Whatcha’ got, Dee?” “I think it’s an egg. There’s evidence of bedding and broken shell… It’s lighter than it looks.” “Yeah, maybe it’s hollow. Keep digging. Do you want me to take this and tag it for you?” “Yeah, that’d be really helpful.” ***** “Hey! Where are all the tags, guys?” “Sorry, Prof. I forgot to put them back after cleaning. What’s this?” “Dee found it in k-14. What do you think?” “It’s smoother than similar finds. I don’t think it’s entirely opaque. Look.” “Okay, that’s really strange. Oh, dang, I have to...

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“You Were Always Green” by Lovga Keiser

Submitted to Contest #186

“Green is such a beautiful color.” “It's not green. It's viridian.” “Oh, arguably the same hue.” “Green is an ugly word for an ugly color. Viridian has punch.” “Well, they all work the same, blue, red, orange. They all do their duty.” “None so much as this. This is perfected, better than the original, hotter, brighter, burns faster.” “It also can’t be put out. It's dangerous.” “I would hope it is. It's dangerous and we’ll let everyone know it is.” “Some people are more daring than you think.” “Some people are fools. If they want a f...

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“Asta Disappears” by Richard Messner

Submitted to Contest #186

Asta Disappears by Rick Messner "He's gotta be somewhere around here." "Why do you think that?" "I don't know, just a feeling, I guess." "Well, I think your feeling is wrong, he's not here." "How do you know, we've hardly looked." "I have feelings, too and mine say he's not here and not only that, they say he was in the red car that raced by a couple minutes ago." "Did you see him in there?" "No, but I think he was or could have been." "I saw the same red car and he wasn't in there." "It was going pretty fast so you can't be sur...

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“The Painting” by Wes Montgomery

Submitted to Contest #186

The Painting By: Wes Montgomery “I don't like it, Richard. His eyes follow me across the room.” “Honey, it's just your imagination. There's no way the boy's eyes are following you; it's just a painting.” “It's creepy. We need to get rid of that thing.” “Yeah, you're probably right. With those dark eyes giving an ominous glare and sunken, pale-white cheeks making him look so close to death, I’m not sure I want to see him every day either, and the black, round-rimmed glasses don't help much. It looks like he's up to something. And what k...

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“Marriage Material” by Delphi Jakman

Submitted to Contest #186

"I want to offer my most sincere congratulations but mostly I want a look at that ring." "Sapphire." "Stunning." "We wanted something different." "Very different. Arresting. And big enough to take a dip in." "..." "Do you have a date yet?" "It'll be a ways out." "Planning is good. How's your family?" "On fire." "Oh?" "About the age gap, the cultural gap, the fact that I dropped my classes to run off to Paris with him and never went back. To the classes I mean." "The way they lend out money to teenagers for useless degrees they'll...

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“A Suspicious Phone Call” by Becca Yurok

Submitted to Contest #186

“Hello? He-llo!? Is anyone there? HELLO!”‘Uh yes…Good day…”“You’re lucky! I was just about to hang up! “It must be a bad connection, sir.”“Maybe…but I think that you must mean ma’am.”“Oh yes…I am very sorry for my mistake, please accept my apologies…ma’am.”“Whom am I speaking with?”“Yes, ma’am. This is officer Joseph and I am calling from the Canadian Revenue Agency, badge number 55- ”“Your voice sounds very familiar…do I know you from somewhere?”“No, I don’t believe so. As I was saying, I am ca...

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“Cosmic Latte” by Jennifer Johnson

Submitted to Contest #186

“It’s colder than I expected.” “Who said that?” “I did.” “I couldn’t have. I am the only ‘I’ here.” “Well, I’m also an ‘I’. To me, you’re ‘you’ and I am ‘I’, and I guess I’m ‘you’ and you’re ‘I’ the other way.” “But then who am I?” “I’m…. not quite sure.” “But then if you expected it to be warmer, you must’ve expected to meet me.” “…. I suppose so.” “So where did you expect to be?” “I think I was expecting it to be bright and warm, not cold and… is that smell raspberries?” “What do raspberries smell of?” “I gues...

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“Fodder” by Lizz Dimercurio

Submitted to Contest #186

“911, what's your emergency?” “Help! My crazy neighbor is trying to get in to kill his cat!” “Ma’am. Please slow down. You say your neighbor is trying to break in? Where are you now?” “In my house. He’s pounding on the door. You can’t have him, Frank! He’s mine now!” “Ma’am. Why won’t you give him his cat?” “Because. He's been chasing the poor guy around with a knife for an hour in nothing but boxers. Frank, not the cat. When he ran up to my door, I let him in. The cat, not Fran...

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Write a story entirely of dialogue. Nothing but dialogue. No attributives (he said, she said, etc.). No descriptions of scenes or gestures or movements (unless these things are presented in the dialogue). Just words between quotation marks. Pure, beautiful, untainted dialogue.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 275 stories

“The Betrayal” by Carleen Victor

“THE FUNNY BONE PLOT” by R. J. Garron

“Open your Eyes” by Sera M

“The Siege of Montreuil” by Timothy Rennels

“Two Old Broads and One Parade” by Marcia H.

“The Spillway” by Kade Baker

“Dwell Time” by April Schofield

“The Find” by Ubriel Bryne

“You Were Always Green” by Lovga Keiser

“Asta Disappears” by Richard Messner

“The Painting” by Wes Montgomery

“Marriage Material” by Delphi Jakman

“A Suspicious Phone Call” by Becca Yurok

“Cosmic Latte” by Jennifer Johnson

“Fodder” by Lizz Dimercurio

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story in which each paragraph begins or ends (or both!) with the same sentence.

Write a story of fragments. Many options here: no verbs, sentence fragments, short sections, nothing but objects, etc. The fragments should relate to one another obliquely, hesitantly, subtly, ambiguously, preposterously, marvelously.

Write a story within a story within a story within a ...

Write a story that formally utilizes a mathematical sequence; e.g., the Fibonacci sequence could determine the number of words in each paragraph, or start with a number and work backwards. Make sure the formula is made clear, either within the story, or before or after it.

Contest #186

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

479

Contest entries

141

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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