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!

Write a story in the form of a top-ten list.

Posted in Middle School on Oct 26, 2022

Submissions are closed

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 115 stories

“10 New Years Resolutions” by Laura Fender

Submitted to Contest #74

1.     I can feel the nicotine travelling inside of me right into my lungs, and I can even feel it settle in and grasp my insides tightly and then flush out to my bloodstream. It’s like sucking on a twig made of pure euphoria and every time you breath it in you’re letting the tiny particles corrode you with their questionable ingredients. But somehow, amongst them you find the sweet hormonal release of oxytocin and I guess dopamine and all those other ‘happiness chemicals’. I watch the beautiful veil of smoke submer...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Ten Toppers for Topping Top Tens.” by Theodore Gresler III

Submitted to Contest #74

Hello increasingly estranged but dear reader, and welcome to our superficially expansive list summarizing the top ten reasons to abstain from top-ten lists. Given our propensity for rhetorical(and lucrative) neutrality we’ve provided a click-bait link referencing our ‘Top ten reasons to love top-ten lists’ in the event you find the present experience dissatisfying to your serotonin uptake. Alongside this link is a brief but relatable bio describing me as a general human being with a totally sustainable lifestyle and salary which makes writin...

0 comments 0
Read story

“A Top-Ten List of Stories to Write” by Cindy Pereira

Submitted to Contest #74

One“What you lookin’ at?”It was a sweet voice that asked the question, and one that he was very familiar with. It sounded so normal in the room, in his home and in his life that he didn’t even turn. He only answered, his eyes fixed on the newspapers:“The obituary that they have inserted here. Even though the picture is black and white, it looks so bright and beautiful.”“Really?” was the reply he got, and he nodded as a tear rolled down his cheek.“I don’t know how I’ll go on now,” he muttered as he ran his fingers over the picture.“You will,”...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Patriot into traitor” by Amri Gallian

Submitted to Contest #74

Although Mr.Watson was in his early thirties, the recent events had put years on him. He barely slept last night, he was highly concerned about the theft cases occurring in the town. People had started talking behind his back, how he was long in the tooth for a mayor.  It seemed like yesterday when he was elected as a mayor by these people 4 years ago, they all were very exuberant. Ms.White his secretary, a highly ambitious woman in her late twenties, assured him that everything was going to be fine, but he knew otherwise. It was 4 in t...

1 comment 1
Read story

“A Christmas Story” by Riddhima Chauhan

Submitted to Contest #74

On the eve of Christmas a warm upheaval reigns in every home in the world.The festive feeling and the joy of being reunited with family brings to mind a story that I love to tell every year. It is a true story, even if it seems incredible. And it testifies that miracles can happen.A long time ago, a group of young people decided to share some of the joy of Christmas. They had learned of the existence of several children who were spending the holiday at the nearest community hospital. So one of them dressed up as Santa Claus, then they bought...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Why I Need To Stick Around ” by Oren Reed

Submitted to Contest #74

10.  I have yet to find love. I’ve come close a few times in my life. I remember once at work a guy who worked in the back got close to me. We would talk a lot, and I gave him my number. I never intended him to actually text me. I thought we were only joking around. He wanted to be friends. It made me uncomfortable. Not because of anything that he was saying, but because I didn’t know how to ‘do’ friends. I wasn’t very sociable. It wasn’t helped by the fact that his messages had a very unsettling tone to them. His messages were broad, a...

0 comments 0
Read story

“The Forecast is Not Always Correct” by K.t Goings

Submitted to Contest #74

10 steps… I take 10 steps every morning as I struggle to open my eyes. I stumble into my bathroom to hunch over the sink, collecting myself; I forced my way out of the clutches of the lumpy, grandmother’s hand-me down (and down again) stationary murphy bed in my “mid-size” and “shabby chic” studio apartment. I grudgingly stare myself down wondering who will blink first… I always lose. I can’t stand the way my breath tastes. I wince at the thought of anyone ever kissing such a mouth so early in the afternoon. Sticking to routine, adhering to ...

6 comments 6
Read story

“Resolutions” by Emmett Wrighter

Submitted to Contest #74

Dear Christian, Okay. Are you ready for this? After ages, and yes, I mean an absolute eternity of narrowing, whittling, coercing, and wheedling this down, I have finally finished my top ten resolutions for the new year. New Year. It always seems like I should capitalize that, no matter the context, even though I know grammatically, it should be fine alone when saying "the new year". You taught me that, you know. I hated it so much at the time; those nights at the kitchen table hunched over crumpled paper and broken pencils. Even no...

1 comment 1
Read story

“LISTING THROUGH MY LIFE” by Judith Veder

Submitted to Contest #74

LISTING THROUGH MY LIFE-           There are lots of lists I live by- top tens- in my life now at 77 plus. I can trace so much of my life by the top ten movie lists in the many decades of my life.           I was born in 1943. I was the top one that year, the first child of Flos and Moishe, the first grandchild of Sam and Lena and Shimen and Esther, the first great-grand of my Zaide and my other great Rachella. There was not A S...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Ten Things I'll Never Do” by Ed Friedman

Submitted to Contest #74

10 Things I’ll Never Do Most of my friends are either about to retire or recently moved past it. For the people who are currently retired, they run the gamut. Those in more than fine financial shape (not too many) frequently travel to visit friends, or just get away and explore. At the other end of the retirement spectrum are those who can “manage” … meaning they don’t necessarily have to work but need to be careful with their expenses (everyone else). For the latter group, a not so dissimilar life as the one they were leading before they ...

1 comment 1
Read story

“We’ve Got 99 Problems, and Here’s Our Top 10” by Elaine Entenza

Submitted to Contest #74

File Name: Transcription of FWU’s 2020 Graduation Ceremony Introduction and Commencement Speech Transcribed June 5, 2020 [0:00] College President:           Good evening ladies and gentlemen, students and faculty alike. Tonight we gather in celebration, festivity, and merriment, to recognize and honor First World University’s graduating class of 2020! Audience:                      &...

2 comments 2
Read story

“The Top Ten Pieces of Clarinet Music to Avoid” by Sarah Oakes

Submitted to Contest #74

We’ve all been there. Searching through thousands of websites for some new and exciting sheet music to learn. Rifling through shelves in the clarinet section of a music store to find that one book of Star Wars music you’ve always wanted to learn. Or maybe you’ve started a new wind band and have to practice a new repertoire. Or perhaps during the current lockdown period, you’re trying to find something different to try to keep your skills improving until rehearsals return, to find a sense of excitement and calm during troubled times.Ther...

0 comments 0
Read story

“The (Not Always Good) Foods I Loved in 2020” by M Nieto

Submitted to Contest #74

It’s been a hell of a year, hasn’t it? Plagues and politics, a landscape so barren that we believed the dolphins had come back to Italy. 2020. A decade from now we’ll look back and think, how did I survive that? Or maybe we’ll be even worse off.  I try not to think about it. I’m young. I’m healthy. I follow the mandates, wash my hands, I’ve learned how to cook and bake better than I ever have before, and you know what? I get the hype. There’s something immensely refreshing about making your own food with whatever ingredients you find ...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Top Ten Things About Ben (That Make Jessie Maybe Love Him)” by Danielle Arpon

Submitted to Contest #74

10. He's a talented musician (in a band … and they aren’t that great) There is something truly unique to see a talented musician in a band that can't quite put a melody together. She would watch them rehearsing, and she honestly couldn't understand what kept them together. But what bliss she could see on Ben's face when he was playing the bass guitar. He didn't need to be on the Top 40, and quite frankly, that wasn't the point. What he wanted was to create. To create something with his friends, if only just for themselves.  The dedic...

0 comments 0
Read story

“The Top Ten Moments That Changed My Life” by Danielle Petrilli

Submitted to Contest #74

Ten. September 14, 2019. The first day we met you were wearing the crushed army green velvet dress, with a matching necklace and earring set, faux sapphires, a gift from your grandma. You wear that for every special occasion. Henry was on his phone in between picking at his cuticles. He had on a wrinkled collared shirt and oil-stained jeans. Your voice, soft but crisp, asking what exactly he did at the glass museum. My brother’s voice was waning in and out as I couldn’t help but gawk, memorizing your every feature, each breath you took. I’v...

2 comments 2
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about someone scrambling to finish a goal in the last few hours of the year.

Winter – 123 stories

Write about someone keeping track of time with tally marks on a wall — until one day they discover that all the marks are gone.

Thriller and Suspense – 133 stories

Write a story that takes place across ten days.

Kids – 100 stories

Write a story that takes place across ten seconds.

Kids – 256 stories

Contest #74

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Countdown

$50

Prize money

727

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 01, 2021 EST

Won by Scout Tahoe 🏆

Title: Kindergarten

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

NEW VIDEO COURSE 🎉

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

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 ⭢