Write a story in the form of diary entries, written by someone who has set themselves a month-long challenge.

Posted in Narrative on Jan 12, 2024

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✍️ 49 stories

“Where the Monster Played Compliation” by Gale Hemmann

Submitted to Contest #233

This is, sadly, a story that is still being written … This was written as a PSA, a real-life diary over one woman’s use, though not the target customer, of Monster in 2023. This is a compilation as best she can assemble from real-life diary entries!!! She couldn’t expel the monster until it came out in the form of a true story - a speech followed by a broadside. Consider this taped to a bpu Monster Of all the advocacy work in my life, I looked at my forehead in the mirror one day and literally saw an empty “M.” I’m their product – I’d be...

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“The Botanist” by Hannah Martin

Submitted to Contest #233

(The following had been transcribed from French. Inconsistencies may occur, and some translations may be invalid.) August 1, 1901 The lands here are strange, bustling with life and color, and yet everything is poison or wants to kill you. I’ve just arrived, clambering out of a sailboat traveling on the Amazon River. I felt sick, so my first impressions were blurry. I hadn’t been on a sailboat before then. Once I recovered I took a look around. My guide said there was a camp with food and water up a tree-covered mountain, so I set my si...

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“Better with Bouillon ” by Aline Dufflocq

Submitted to Contest #233

January 2nd, 1996 Throw vodka out. January 3rd, 1996For Real This TimeJanuary 4th, 1996 I cannot wind up like Gran. Eighty year old woman blacked out floating in her pool at her birthday party ← bad. Could be fun? Sounds grim. January 5th, 1996This does not mean you will end up blacked out floating in a pool on your eightieth birthday party. BUT a month-long-stay-away from the good stuff will help “ground” you. Or whatever load of shit David used to say before he dumped you for someone with a sensible hair...

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“Dear Diary, I’m serious this time.” by Macauley Moffatt

Submitted to Contest #233

Dear Diary,I did it again. Last night was my coworkers’ going away party at the bar down the street from the office. Everyone came, even my boss. The night started out ok, I guess; we left the office around 5:15 pm and headed to the Milky Hornthistle. It's a stupid name for a bar if you ask me. I didn’t choose the place; Ronnie did. That woman loves a dive bar. But anyway, we got there, and everyone sat at a big harvest table. The light was dim, and the room stunk of old rotting wood and spilled beer. Waves of nausea crashed came over me, an...

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“How to Feel Better in 30 Days: The Gratitude Challenge” by Diane Sowl

Submitted to Contest #233

Dear Diary, Happy New Year! It’s been a while since we’ve talked. Close to a year in fact! Things have changed so much since last year, and here I am, again… but looking forward to this New Year and the fresh start it always gives! I’ve decided it’s time to challenge myself to really prioritize my mental health, so for the next month, I’m committed to writing in a gratitude journal (that’s you Diary). So here we go: January 1: Today I am grateful for my house. The temperatures these last few days have really plummeted, the lows have been i...

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“My Dry Diary” by Ethan Johnston

Submitted to Contest #233

Day 1: This seems as good a day as any to begin an adventure. I told myself that I would not drink for the month of January. Also, I am going to pick up journaling again, so here I go. It’s been years since I could look at myself in the mirror sober. I don’t really know when it started or what happened. I just woke up one day and realized that I didn’t know when my last totally sober day was. I know I need to stop drinking, but I’ve never really had a reason to. Why fix something that isn’t broke, right? Well I guess it’s time to get honest...

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“A month of Sundays” by Jen Boyle

Submitted to Contest #233

Dear Diary.Well here we are, 1st January again. Gosh I've overeaten again, I must try and eat more healthily....anyway, that's not the point.The point is : I need to declutter. If I'm ever going to sell the house and downsize, and let's face it I know I need to, I need to get rid of thirty year's of... of... well crap, really.So. It's time to get this stuff off to the charity shop/ Ebay/ whatever that other one's called. By the end of the month I'll have de cluttered.Mum used to have a little saying " A chuck out a day/ keeps the loony bin a...

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“Wrecked ” by Lee D

Submitted to Contest #233

This is taken from a novel I published in December 2022. Saturday 01.08.2015 Ahhh Saturday. Perfect day to start a Diary. (Is diary too feminine?) My name is Harrison King, and I am 23 years of age. My parents had neglected to give me a middle name. Obviously, they did not love me enough. I have a BA in English Literature, and I currently work as a Commercial Client Coordinator for a company called Eclipse. I would say more about what this company do, but I am not too sure myself. It is in no way related to my English degree. But then, wh...

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“Bad Habit” by Jordan Clark

Submitted to Contest #233

January 1st, 2024 - HAPPY NEW YEARS Goals: - Actually use or cancel gym membership - Read at least one book each month - Call Mom weekly… or monthly - Stop running late - BREAK YOUR BAD HABIT!!!!!!! Hi Mr. Diary. We’re trying this again. I got this diary for New Years 2023 but I never used it. Guess better late than never, am I right? Haha. (Nobody is laughing by the way.) I’m serious this time. I swear. I’ve written down my goals for 2024. Either go to the gym or cancel it. Somehow I can’t bring myself to do either. Read more! I buy all...

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“Mother's Diaries” by Katharine Johns

Submitted to Contest #233

Diary of Amy Matthews, age 14 Jan Dear Diary, I hope I don’t offend starting out like this but, this feels strange. I mean I’ve only heard of people keeping diaries. It seems like something so old though that I never imagined keeping one myself. My family is cleaning out my late grandmother’s house and I found in my mom’s “teenage things” this hardcover journal with shining monarch butterflies. On God, it screamed the Y2K vibe that’s so viral right now! Totally on fleek! I showed it to her, she remembers getting it but never wrote in it so...

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“Thirty-One Days” by S.d. Schwarz

Submitted to Contest #233

December 1st, 2024 11:11am Challenge: suffer for thirty-one more days. (why couldn’t this month only have thirty?) Challenge: stay alive thirty-one days. Challenge: live for thirty-one days. (Dante, if you decided to be a piece of shit and read this, do me a favor and let everyone at my funeral know I did attempt to change my mindset. Depression’s not a fucking mindset.) 6pm Check-in: Mom called today; asked if I wanted to help decorate the tree. Tell me why she had to mention Moscato? Dad, being Dad, brought out the Tequila, and...

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“Homework to mend a broken heart - a journal” by Roser AM

Submitted to Contest #233

1 Jan Dear diary, Screw this. 1 Jan (later) Right, so my therapist told me to keep a journal. I told her that I couldn’t, that I’m too busy, to which she responded: “What about all the hours you spend obsessing about…?” (that would be you), which I thought was not really fair but here we are. I feel ridiculous writing to an inanimate object (a notebook), so I’m addressing this to you instead, which is kind of ironic as the purpose of this is to move on. From you. From us. Was there ever an us, though? I feel like we didn’t quite get ther...

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“The Crash” by Lady Senie

Submitted to Contest #233

Monday, January 1, 2018 I’m finally doing it! My best friend Carl doesn’t believe me that I can make it through January without a single drink, but I know I can. He pointed out that I tried this challenge before last year. And the year before that. And the year before that… No, I am a man who truly enjoys alcohol. It’s been my friend, my comforter, my release valve since I snuck into my father’s liquor cabinet at the tender age of 11. It keeps me focused. It helps me relax. I feel that I...

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“Unintended Odyssey of Rediscovery” by Jasmyne Straughter

Submitted to Contest #233

January 1st: Dear Diary, The first day of January, and here I am, unintentionally on a month-long break from myself. The usual New Year's resolutions replaced by a curious sense of detachment. As a wife, mother, and high school English teacher, life has taken an unexpected turn. The holiday season has left me drained, and instead of actively participating in Dry January, I find myself unintentionally dry from my own essence. January 5th: The week has passed in a haze, and I'm grappling with the inadvertent consequences of this unintended h...

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“Triumph” by Zinat Abdullah

Submitted to Contest #233

Sitting amongst the dusty chairs and tables, sits a man, the mysterious man who lived at the top of a tower, bells clanging at every hour, in the middle of a congested city. This building was the tallest building, and no one dared enter it, as the stories from years, decades and centuries ago filled the walls and whispered horrors which made the light dim in one’s eyes, follow their back as they went home, lock their windows and doors, hide under the covers, and never, never and ever emerge again. Again &nbs...

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Write a story in the form of diary entries, written by someone who has set themselves a month-long challenge.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 49 stories

“Where the Monster Played Compliation” by Gale Hemmann

“The Botanist” by Hannah Martin

“Better with Bouillon ” by Aline Dufflocq

“Dear Diary, I’m serious this time.” by Macauley Moffatt

“How to Feel Better in 30 Days: The Gratitude Challenge” by Diane Sowl

“My Dry Diary” by Ethan Johnston

“A month of Sundays” by Jen Boyle

“Wrecked ” by Lee D

“Bad Habit” by Jordan Clark

“Mother's Diaries” by Katharine Johns

“Thirty-One Days” by S.d. Schwarz

“Homework to mend a broken heart - a journal” by Roser AM

“The Crash” by Lady Senie

“Unintended Odyssey of Rediscovery” by Jasmyne Straughter

“Triumph” by Zinat Abdullah

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about a character participating in Dry January.

Your character, having abstained from their worst vice (big or small), finds new clarity.

Set your story in a bar that doesn’t serve alcohol.

Set your story during a month of drought — whether literal, or metaphorical.

Contest #233

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

230

Contest entries

78

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: