Hello everyone. A few months ago I made the difficult decision to stop running my 100-word competition due to family commitments and bereavements. I’m pleased to say life is easier and I’m throwing myself back into writing. Although I loved reading the stories, each being only 100 words, running a competition does take a significant amount of work and time, so I had to really consider whether I would pick it back up again. Flash fiction and short stories are my favourite format so I was keen to do so but have come to a compromise. So…
Yes, the good news is that it’s back but in a slightly different format. Instead of a 100-word requirement, i.e. no less, no more than 100 words, it’s now 50 words, again no more, no less. As you’ll likely know from Ernest Hemingway’s six-word piece (For sale, baby shoes, never worn), stories can be that short so you can pack a lot into fifty words.
There will be a different theme each month, with three chosen from the entries, one per author, all of which will be published on this site.
It’s still free to enter and, yes, there are still prizes!
- 1st prize: free prose critique up to 1,500 words;
- 2nd prize: free prose critique up to 1,000 words;
- 3rd prize: free prose critique up to 500 words.
- Each prize will be valid for six months from the closing date (i.e. the prizes for the top three stories for May are valid until end November) so you can combine your ‘winnings’.
- Deadline: the deadline for the inaugral competition is midnight (UK time) on Friday 31st May 2024. It opened on Wednesday 1st May.
Each theme will open on the first day of each month, closing on the last day of each month. Please do not submit a different story outside of these dates. - Theme: the theme (which changes each month, the next few are listed on the comp page below) for May 2024 is: ‘second time round’… however the theme strikes you. Please do stick to the theme or your story will be disqualified. The top stories are usually ones that closely follow the theme and are well written, this is a writing competition after all.
- Submissions: Max three stories per entrant. I will pick my favourite of the three to go through to the final. I’ve had trouble with contact forms on my site where they’ve garnered a lot (many each day) of spam messages so this time I’m inviting submissions via email (one email per story please) with the month, theme and story title as the subject line, e.g. MAY: Second Time Round – Bobby’s Girl. This means you won’t receive an automated confirmation but I will reply within a week confirming receipt. All stories must be in English.
Please include a title for each story and your name please. If you’d like a website (or sales page) linked to your name please include that. So…
Name:
Title:
Story Title:
Story:
Thank you! - Fee: there is no fee for entering this competition. I enjoy reading flash fiction and being a competition judge.
Further details on the https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/50-word-comp page.