Short Story Competition 2024
FICTION: Tell a tale.
Open
Key Dates Tooltip
Competition Opens:
Request Expert Feedback (Optional):
Competition Closes:
Winners Announced:

Jamie Quatro, our guest judge, is an American fiction writer published in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and Harper's, among others. 

Overview
Who’s Eligible: Young Writers (13-19)Tooltip
Piece Length: 400-1000 words

Stories travel across time and space, inspire joy and sadness, and captivate minds all over the world. Short stories do all that too—in just a few pages. Such brevity is a challenge, but it’s also an opportunity. “The great thing about a short story is that it doesn’t have to trawl through someone’s whole life; it can come in glancingly from the side,” said Emma Donoghue. This month, dear writers, we challenge you to adjust your gaze and tell an entire compelling story in 1,000 words or less.

 

**PRIZES** 

Winner will receive $100. Runner-Up and Best Peer Review will each receive $50. 

Prompt
Tooltip

As you craft your short story, dear writers, here are some methods to try:

 

CHOOSE A MOMENT.

Rather than trying to capture a whole life, zoom in on one aspect of your character’s experience. You might focus, for example, on an encounter or event that changed the way they see or understand the world. You have limited space for full scenes, so you might select one or two to detail.

 

START “IN MEDIAS RES.”

Try beginning your story “in medias res,” which refers to beginning “in the middle of things.” Dive right into the main action or conflict of your narrative. Once you have your reader’s attention, then you can back up to provide context. 

 

JUMP THROUGH TIME. 

Rather than unspooling the plot in real time, try leaping forward and backward, telling the reader just what they need to know. Non-chronological storytelling can build tension, fuel momentum, and help to achieve a full narrative in a small space. 

 

KNOW MORE THAN YOUR READER.

Readers should feel like they’re jumping into a fully-formed world that exists beyond the confines of the page. That means you need to be an expert on your story’s world, knowing things that you might not even tell the reader. You can hint at this expertise with quick brushstrokes of information – a reference to a historical event, a minor character, an invented language. 

 

MAKE EVERY SENTENCE COUNT!

Writing a complete and satisfying short story in 1,000 words or less is a tall order, dear writers! As you revise, ask yourself: “What work is this sentence doing? How is it furthering the story?” Also, see if you can make some of your sentences do two things at once. Can it develop a character while furthering plot, or establish the setting and portray how the protagonist interacts with this environment?

Tags:
Short Story
Prompt Resources
Essential Elements of a Story
Best Short Story Examples To Inspire You
How to Write About Stakes & Conflict
How to Dazzle Readers in Just 1000 Words: Short Tips from Jamie Quatro
Character Study Questions for Realistic Fiction Writing
Tooltip
Other Upcoming CompetitionsView All Competitions
December 2024
People's Choice Awards 2024
SURPRISE: Your choice!
Upcoming
January 2025
Nature Poetry Competition 2025
POEM: Look closer.
Upcoming