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About the Competition
If you love to write and are up for a creative challenge, the #GWStoriesEverywhere Contest is the perfect opportunity to showcase your talent. Each month, Gotham Writers invites you to share a super short story, just 25 words or fewer based on the monthly theme.
Theme
November’s theme is “Scrap paper.”
Contest Guidelines
- Entry must be original and unpublished.
- Word limit: 25 words or less.
- Judging will focus on originality, quality, spelling, and grammar.
- Gotham Writers will post the winning entry on GothamWriters.com and social media.
What’s the Prize?
The winner will receive a free Gotham Writers class of their choice (excluding premium classes). It’s a fantastic opportunity to further hone your craft with one of the leading writing schools!
Tips for a Good Entry
- Do not include the theme in your entry. For instance, if the theme is “This pie I had,” don’t start your story with “This pie I had was so good that it…” and so on. It often leads to automatically being looked over. We want the theme to resonate within the story without you having to remind us that it does.
- Make sure that your entry is actually a story. Using the pie theme, if your entry is, “This pie I had was so good that I enjoyed it,” you aren’t going to win. That’s not a story, it’s a statement. However, if your entry talks about the first pie you ever had at your grandmother’s house and how every time you catch a whiff of blueberries baking, you’re transported to the seat in her dining room with the photos of you as a child on the wall… that’s pretty good. Now just make that into a cohesive story that stays under the word limit and you’ve got a great chance.
- It doesn’t have to sound fancy. We don’t need big words to be impressed by your storytelling capabilities. Use smart, sensible words that tell the story but don’t draw attention to your excessive vocabulary.
- That said, make sure it sounds good. Sometimes the best stories have a lyrical component. Through use of such tools as alliteration (so long as it isn’t forced), you can help your story rise above the pack by simply making it a pleasant-sounding story. Words are instruments to be wielded by you, the writer. Don’t just toss them on the page. Give them some melody and rhythm.
- A sense of humor always helps. Being able to get a smile from the judges to pair with the depth of your story is never going to hurt your odds.
- Lastly, it really does pay to look at the winning entries and see what made them so special. You can do that here.
How to Submit?
Interested participants can submit through the link mentioned at the end of this post.
Deadline
The deadline for submission is November 30, 2024.
Click here to submit.
Click here for the official notification.
