Write a story about a person experiencing pre-performance jitters.

Posted in High School on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 162 stories

“Paraclausithryon” by Natalie Rarick

Submitted to Contest #50

He offers me a final smile, a moment of solidarity from this boy I’ve never met who is competing to take my spot, then tucks his binder under his arm. Shiny dress shoes, perfectly styled hair, and hopeful eyes disappear through the door. It makes a dull clunk when it closes. In. One. Out. Two. Through the door, I hear the rustle of sheet music, murmuring, as he goes over his tempo with the pianist. My finger taps a tempo against my knee, a bodily manifestation of the hammering in my chest, but it is too fast, my song doesn’t go that f...

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“Clothed” by Joshua Scott Hotchkin Wordpress.dungherder.com

Submitted to Contest #50

Sarah rummaged through the costume trailer looking for something comfortable to wear. The costume department had agreed to let her choose clothing she would be cozy enough in to perform uninhibited, even though they would get the final say in which of the outfits she would wear on set from the several she picked. There had only been two occasions in her life in which she had been fully clothed, both times in ceremonial garb, for her maturation ceremony and naming party. Those outfits were nothing like the remnants of humanity's past she wa...

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“Sidewalk to Stage” by Maggie Farnum

Submitted to Contest #50

“Go break a leg.” My director and friend, Jack Wilson, called out to me. I smiled at him nervously. “I’ll try not to.” I said jokingly. My first performance on stage was tonight. My legs were shaking, my jaw was shaking. Heck, my whole body was shaking. I was so nervous. Jack had found me on a New York street singing, just trying to make some extra cash to save up for the dress I was wanting to wear for Prom. I still remember what he told me the day we met. “Skye, you have potential to be on Broadway with a voice like that.” He...

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“FROZEN FEET!!!” by Shiekuma Mnda

Submitted to Contest #50

* * * I couldn’t breathe. I stood in the School Hall’s bathroom and stared at my sweating self in the mirror but couldn’t understand why my brain had abruptly stopped thinking. Maybe I was having a panic attack, no it can’t happen now. Today was my big day, it was time to prove to everyone at home and in my class that I wasn’t as dumb and naive as they thought I was. That I was worthy of something useful, that it was my time to conquer the universe. But here I was, all drenched with sweat to the socks in my freshly pressed suit and bro...

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“Back on the Beat II” by Chris Buono

Submitted to Contest #50

Tony De Fallimento kneeled in the base of the toilet, spilling lasagna and sprite nto the now dirty bowl. Thankfully, he was in the single-person washroom back-stage, or someone could have walked in on the old musician. A knock came at the door. “Hey, Tony, we go on in twenty minutes,” the rhythm guitarist called from the other side. “Alright, tha...

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“Last Hurrah” by Shaun Calvert

Submitted to Contest #50

Deep breaths. Eyes closed. Picture a meadow. Take a sip of whatever the liquid posing as tea was. Tell yourself you can do this, because you can do this. Anyone could do it; the trick was doing it well. This would be his last performance. So many let the fear and sadness get to them and leave the stage having given a dreadful display. Not Alexander. Lives may be short but reputations can live eternal. Besides, his reputation would reflect on his family. They’d be there tonight. At the back, in a private box, out of sight. His brother, of who...

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“The First Performance” by Ryan Hunter

Submitted to Contest #50

James sat on a low wooden stool, trying to look confident. If he looked nervous, William - or worse yet, Father - would think less of him. Mother, before she died, told him that that the best thing for nerves was a smile. Smiling could trick the heart into believing what the head would not. Father’s suggestion was to guzzle the largest flagon of mead one could find. None of these tricks seemed to be working now though. The smile felt forced and the mead sat heavy in his gut. His leather gherkin felt too tight. His gloves felt too loose and h...

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“A bundle of Nerves” by Book Worm

Submitted to Contest #50

At her age, it was absolutely unpardonable. After standing on the stage and facing nearly two hundred eyes boring into her day after day, Kala was not expected to have pre-performance jitters. But she did before every important event she had to preside over and something invariably went wrong. It didn’t help to watch ‘How to Fight your Nerves’ manuals or to listen to narratives of professional performers who confessed to pre-performance anxiety even after having become stars. Kala would begin her day with deep breathing, yoga and meditation ...

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“Passion and Nerves” by Artemis Nightingale

Submitted to Contest #50

She twists her hands nervously as she watches the performances happening before her. Her heartbeat seems to speed up every time they called a new singer out. Every now and then when there is a big event or holidays like Christmas or winter break, karaoke would happen in the library. Of course, despite many students finding it lame at first, the library was the biggest hangout of the school during lunch. especially with over three thousand kids sharing the same lunch break. If you had asked any of her family members they would say that she...

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“Go there and smash that shit.” by Kelechi Okereke

Submitted to Contest #50

"Kevin, could you recite the 36 states and their capitals?" Mama-T demanded as she reclined into her arm chair. That was about the twentieth question she had asked me that cold Saturday morning, and I was about to give her the same response I gave the preceding nineteen questions: a loud, deafening silence. I was seated opposite her, my eyes wet, streams of tears rolling down my red cheeks, catarrh flowing down my nosehole like the Niger and Benue Rivers, my trembling hands fumbling with the empty wrap of biscuits I'd tearfully eaten while M...

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“A first performance” by Flora Viggo

Submitted to Contest #50

Everything is going to run smoothly. People are settling down. I just need to breathe. Deeply and slowly. Evacuate my fears. How do I do that? I should have paid more attention to the yoga classes my mother made me listen to during the past few months. She always knows what is best for me.Wait. What is happening on the other side? People are running. Someone is shouting. It is so loud out there. I can feel the crowd. I changed my mind. I do not want to go. I will just stay here. Why do we always need to get out of our comfort zone? When...

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“Espirit” by Sara Blanch

Submitted to Contest #50

Her heartbeat thundered loudly enough that she could feel it reverberate through her chest as she fiddled with the earpiece hidden behind her carefully styled hair. Focusing on the intricate pattern of the thick curtain, the only thing separating her from the cacophony of the crowd beyond the stage...she gently reminded herself to breathe. Behind her, her backup singers and dancers chatted with ease as if all of them had been raised for the stage and this was just another mundane day for them...although come to think of it, they had ...

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“Among the crowd...” by Misswriter 978

Submitted to Contest #50

Deep breath in, deep breath out, deep breath in, deep breath out.My ears felt clogged as the noise surrounding me dissolved. My heart pounded like a drum in my ears, of who’s beat seemed to be getting louder by the second. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping to ease the throb in my head. The air felt heavy and smelled a bit like paint. Collage was enough of a torture for me, did they have to make the talent show mandatory?My name is Haru Aki. Currently attending my sophomore year at STANFORD UNIVERSITY in California. I am originally from Tokyo, ...

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“The Green Room” by William Webster

Submitted to Contest #50

Attached to the wall across from the mahogany imitation dressing table was the floor to ceiling mirror mounted in a black plastic frame that looked into the room and criticized everyone who waited to go on the air. At least that was how Anthony felt. Like a mannequin, he stood motionless in the center of the Green Room fixated at his reflection until he pulled his golf shirt down in an attempt to cover the ripples around his midsection. Not a six-pack. He saw just flab. No matter how he tugged his golf shirt down or ...

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“Stage Fright” by Brianna Griffin

Submitted to Contest #50

His blood began to warm as he stepped out of the car and onto the concrete of the wide, almost empty parking lot. An unusually hot day, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and shook his hand dry. He decided to contribute his warming blood to the heat. As he approached the heavy door in the side of the large concrete building his heart skipped a beat, he shrugged it off as nothing significant, he had to convince himself that his nerves were not on the fritz.Inside, a cacophony of voices came from throughout the building. As he listened to ot...

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Write a story about a person experiencing pre-performance jitters.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 162 stories

“Paraclausithryon” by Natalie Rarick

“Clothed” by Joshua Scott Hotchkin Wordpress.dungherder.com

“Sidewalk to Stage” by Maggie Farnum

“FROZEN FEET!!!” by Shiekuma Mnda

“Back on the Beat II” by Chris Buono

“Last Hurrah” by Shaun Calvert

“The First Performance” by Ryan Hunter

“A bundle of Nerves” by Book Worm

“Passion and Nerves” by Artemis Nightingale

“Go there and smash that shit.” by Kelechi Okereke

“A first performance” by Flora Viggo

“Espirit” by Sara Blanch

“Among the crowd...” by Misswriter 978

“The Green Room” by William Webster

“Stage Fright” by Brianna Griffin

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about a proposal.

Write a story about an argument that seems to be about one thing, but is actually about another.

Write a story told entirely through one chase scene.

Write a story about a summer afternoon spent in a treehouse.

Contest #50

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

940

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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