Write a short story about someone in the self-help aisle of a bookstore. What book do they pick up?

Posted in Short Story on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 90 stories

“The Captain” by Ed Willey

Submitted to Contest #25

The terminal screen emitted a gentle hum as he scrolled through page after page of titles in the library of the computer. He knew he could tap in a search term and narrow the selection a little, but he was trying to kill some time. He’d found himself trying to put space between him and the rest of the crew happening more and more often recently.The blue-white screen glare illuminated his face in the murky dimness of his quarters. When you think starship captain you imagine luxury and grandeur — and that may be true of some of the larger crui...

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“Teddy Bear” by J L. Castro

Submitted to Contest #25

The piping hot coffee tastes bitter upon reaching Mason’s taste buds. He instantly regrets forgetting to ask for it iced like usual, but he was too embarrassed to admit his mistake. Luckily, the coffee shop was connected to a bookstore, so cooling his coffee as he browsed around seemed entertaining. Mason would occasionally get coffee from the location but never seemed to be drawn to the book section of it. Many of the novels surrounding him were foreign to him with the exception of a few he remembered from his days in high school. At his ag...

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“Witches Also Need Self-Help” by Elizabeth Bohr

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #25

The book's cover is, to put it simply, annoying. Bright yellow, with what looks like a cartoon version of your least favorite teacher from elementary school. Necromancy For Dummies. Okay, okay. Molly knows that in this day and age, necromancy is a good career choice. It's not like there's any shortage of people who want to see their relatives again (although there's always those who want to bring back some historical figure to "kill him again.") or people who just want a tour of what it is necromancers do.Since she's broke, in college, and h...

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“Opportunity” by Genevieve Dickinson

Submitted to Contest #25

Rose walked through the aisles of the bookstore, her eyes wandering the shelves. Twenty minutes until she had to go back to work. At least she could go back with a book to keep her occupied.The mall was practically deserted. The only crowd was for a "modeling school" holding tryouts for kids. Unfortunately, the kiosk where Rose worked selling cell phone accessories was far from the stage. It meant she didn't have to deal with the crazy mothers and their bratty kids, but it also meant no entertainment. Fortunately, the bookstore was only a fi...

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“The Realisation” by Idzy Jay

Submitted to Contest #25

Another year. Same old story. That was what Rizal had been saying to himself as the clock struck midnight. His only resolution from when he turned eighteen was to get a girlfriend. Now at twenty-three, he still didn’t have one. Rizal would often ask if there was something wrong with him.His mind would tell him that he was doing fine. Society, on the other hand, would imply otherwise. His friends were all married. And some already have kids, even. He would decline almost all outing invitations from his friends because he was embarrassed to co...

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“Bookshelf solutions ” by Jason Burchfield

Submitted to Contest #25

Maybe it’s not them, maybe it’s me. I kept tapping my foot on the ground. Maybe it was just another bad day at work. I’m sure they were having a bad day too. They didn’t mean to outright put me down like that. But here I am again staring at books that say they can help me through this situation.Self-help books are a joke though. They’re written by so called doctors or experts that think they really understand what you’re going through. If I’m not completely sure what I’m going through how can someone else....

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“Get Hard!” by Ryan Govender

Submitted to Contest #25

Henry browsed through the titles lined up on the shelf in front of him. He furrowed his brow as he read each title of the books on the shelf, wondering which one would serve his purpose. It was the beginning of January, just after the new year, and Henry Greenford had decided that he wanted to make a massive change in his life. Twenty-nine-year-old Henry Greenford was an unemployed, single, and overweight man who lived with his parents. Whilst the above mentioned caused him great depression, Henry’s biggest concern was his anxiety. You see, ...

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“book store shopping” by Bryanna Wilbur

Submitted to Contest #25

It was an early Tuesday morning when i got something in the mail. it was a letter. The letter stated "Ms Wilbur you are now the proud winner of the for the 12th national poetry contest. your prize is a $200 cash prize in which you'll be able to pick how and where you would like to spend it. Congratulations on your win we will be sending you your author's choice book shortly”I actually won! To be honest I didn't think I would really win the competition at all. there was so many people submitting work to poetry nation.I ran into my bedroo...

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“Shallow Diving” by Christine Johnson

Submitted to Contest #25

My wife, Amy and I sit in the car outside the book store at five minutes to ten holding hands and poised ready for a successful assignment. Capable adults, we both feel confident that today will be a big step in our marriage journey.We started seeing our marriage counselor, Sharon, about ten weeks ago. Amy and I both knew without some intervention the derailment of our eight-year marriage would continue. Both of us too passionate and stubborn to sort out our emotions without a referee. Sharon called our couple’s cocktail ...

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“How to Change Your Life” by Nikkianne Spaans

Submitted to Contest #25

It was Monday, Monday meant non-fiction. Donna had set a genre a day to make sure she saw everything in the expansive book store. Non-fiction wasn't her normal haunt but she'd finished her last book so, coffee in hand, she headed to the first bank of shelves.By the time she reached the dregs of her cup she'd made it to the self-help shelves still empty handed. Wedged awkwardly between a book about success and one about the importance of positive thinking was a small brown book, the prim golden title looking more handwritten than mass pr...

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“New Year, New Me.” by Sam Kirk

Submitted to Contest #25

I am so sick and tired of hearing “New Year, New Me.”Every.Single.Year.What do these people think is magically going to happen in the New Year that did not happen before?If you are a sloth all of 2019, you will not wake up on January 1st, 2020, with newfound energy to organize every single room in your house. And even if you do, you will probably run out of that energy before noon. If you eat 4,000 calories a day throughout the year of 2019, you will not successfully decrease and maintain your diet by half overnight. If you have not been to ...

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“Dr. Paul Weissand's Power of Perseverance” by Amy DeMatt

Submitted to Contest #25

As an undergrad, I worked in the college bookstore, a place where I witnessed the unlikely. It was a pleasant bookstore, old-fashioned for the most part, with dark, exposed wood and warm lighting in the stacks. The main portion was modern, with recessed lighting to attractively display college memorabilia, nostalgic felt pennants, sweatshirts and joggers, bumper stickers and the like. During the first two weeks of school, the store was always flooded with new st...

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“Rainy Day In Seattle” by Kayli Dunlap

Submitted to Contest #25

It was a rainy day in Seattle, it’s always a rainy day here. But the day just felt like a day to stay in a snuggle with a book. I go over to my bookshelf and look through the many books sitting on several shelves in front of me, so many choices to choose from. But as I continue to look at all the covers of the books, I’ve realized that I’ve already read these books numerous times, nothing seemed to interest me, I am overdue to buy some more books anyway, so might as well make my non busy day an adventure to the bookstore. I grab my rai...

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“Judging a book by its cover” by Helen Barber

Submitted to Contest #25

‘The Nomad’s Guide to Free Living’Big black letters pasted onto a beige background. Minimalist. It matched the crystal white pages, lined with beautifully written sentences, ultimately made up of words that meant nothing and did nothing, except take up space in your brain that would be much better taken up by useful things like how to change a lightbulb or what are the best times to drive to avoid traffic. The words in that book couldn’t help you with things like that, but Beatrix supposed that wasn’t why she had come into the store in the f...

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“Almost A Lost Cause” by Pete Zenz

Submitted to Contest #25

Elliot had a bad habit of forming bad habits. He didn’t let that bother him…most of the time, anyway. It did, however, bother other people. That didn’t bother him so much either…until now. Now it was crushing him. Now is when he wanted to be a “knight in shining armor” instead of an obese, clumsy, booger-picking nerd who could only be comfortable in sweatpants and t-shirts. Priscilla was new in town. Her promotion to Midwest District Sales Director of Faux Fur Sure, Inc. had n...

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Write a short story about someone in the self-help aisle of a bookstore. What book do they pick up?

Submissions are closed

✍️ 90 stories

“The Captain” by Ed Willey

“Teddy Bear” by J L. Castro

“Witches Also Need Self-Help” by Elizabeth Bohr

“Opportunity” by Genevieve Dickinson

“The Realisation” by Idzy Jay

“Bookshelf solutions ” by Jason Burchfield

“Get Hard!” by Ryan Govender

“book store shopping” by Bryanna Wilbur

“Shallow Diving” by Christine Johnson

“How to Change Your Life” by Nikkianne Spaans

“New Year, New Me.” by Sam Kirk

“Dr. Paul Weissand's Power of Perseverance” by Amy DeMatt

“Rainy Day In Seattle” by Kayli Dunlap

“Judging a book by its cover” by Helen Barber

“Almost A Lost Cause” by Pete Zenz

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a short story about someone writing Valentine's Day wishes.

Write a short story about someone reflecting on their previous year's resolutions.

Write a short story about someone who refuses to write New Year's resolutions.

Write a short story about someone accomplishing one of their resolutions.

Contest #25

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

263

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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