Yes, September is closed and October’s theme of ‘praise’ is open, to be used however you see fit. For details, please take a look at the 100-word comp page.
It’s a free competition and you can win free …Editing and Critique or my Creative Writing Online Courses.
The page also lists the upcoming themes for the next few months so you can write them whenever you like but don’t submit early as they’ll be disqualified. Good luck.
Hello everyone and welcome to the forty-eighth month of this competition. There were 44 entries from 21 authors for the theme of ‘escalator’. NB You can all send in three stories for a better chance of being picked.
A record (I think) ten stories were disqualified this month. Two for only being 99 words – one had the same word written twice the other had an ‘a’ missing before a noun (t-shirt in this case) which was a real shame because it was the only submission from a new entrant. Another had a word missing (don’t come to grief) so would have been 101. And another had ‘rude’ instead of ‘ride’ so lost points. Please read your submissions carefully before pressing ‘submit’.
One for 98 words because a describing adjective (soon to be) was not hyphenated when it should have been. Sadly the only entry from its (regular) participant. Another was 98 words for no apparent reason but did include ‘five-year-old’ (correctly) which could have been manually counted as three words. Fortunately the (new to this competition) author submitted two other stories although sadly one of those was also short: 99 originally but had ‘the the’ incorrectly so actually 98. Another was 99 because a word had been split when it should have been one (mismanagement). It’s a shame because it was a great story but the author had submitted two others (both 100) so my favourite of those went through. Another 99-worder was downgraded from 100 words because an adjective (dark haired) should have been hyphenated. It’s only fair to all entrants to have the same rules apply to everyone.
If you’re not using Word, please copy/paste your stories into the likes of http://wordcounter.net to ensure your story is exactly 100 words.
Another (one of three from a new entrant) lost points because it referred to an elevator (lift) as an escalator, which was a shame as it was my favourite story up to that point. Another piece had ‘stories’ for levels of a building, which is correct in US English (which it was) but we say ‘storeys’ here in Britain so not an error but it happens a fair amount in the UK novels I edit so worth a mention here.
The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way),or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly). Sometimes a story beats another because it has a strong link to the theme so it’s worth writing a story to the theme rather than tweaking a story you already have to loosely fit it.
You may have chosen a different order or indeed not placed one or more of them so if you entered and didn’t find your story / stories here, don’t lose heart. You probably only just missed out so do enter new stories this month*, next month, whenever you like (but not in advance!). It’s an ongoing competition and free, so you could win at any time. There were new and familiar names this month so anyone could win… it’s all dependent upon whether your story grabs me, for whatever reason (whether it be clever, funny, unusual, quirky, or sweet).
Apart from the top three and highly commended, there are some ‘Honourable Mentions’. They don’t win anything but they were so close to being Highly Commended that I wanted them to know how close they came. It’s still something for them to put on their CVs.
*The theme for September is ‘conservatory’ and you can submit your entries (and do send three) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Monday 30th September. Details and entry forms on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/100-word-free-monthly-competition. So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.
First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18):
Laura Besley with ‘Ships Passing’
Ascending: a girl, eyes bright and blue.
Descending: a boy, tired brown eyes.
Ascending: she checks her phone for work emails.
Descending: he plays a game on his phone.
Ascending: she looks up from her phone, sees brown eyes. Smiles.
Descending: he looks up from his phone, sees blue eyes. Smiles.
Ascending: she gets to the top, turns and looks down.
Descending: he gets to the bottom, turns and looks up.
On terra firma…
Briefly she hesitates, but then her phone pings and reclaims her attention.
He contemplates going back up, but he’s worried he won’t know what to say.
*
Second place (winning free access to two of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14):
Anne-Marie Latter with ‘Success’
Roll up! Roll up! Take a trip on the escalator of life!
That’s it, madam, step on at the bottom and hold hands with Davie, your perfect partner. Well, maybe not perfect, but you’re almost thirty and he will have to do.
Keep moving upwards because you have a wedding to organise and children to produce!
Now it’s time to sign these mortgage papers, don’t be shy! That house is all yours, as long as you keep paying the bank every month.
Throw your acting dreams over the side! You won’t be needing those anymore; dreams don’t pay the bills.
*
Third place (winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9):
David Giles with ‘Harsh Lesson in Mortality’
Escalators used to terrify me. I was convinced that, should I make the slightest false move, I was liable to be sucked into the mechanism, dragged into some sinister underworld, and I would never get out again. One day I fashioned a little man out of a drinking straw and stuck him between the grooves, watching him disappear into nothingness. Where has he gone? I asked Mum.
To heaven, I expect, she replied.
When we went back down later, I saw him on the floor, all dirty and twisted, being swept into a dustpan. So much for salvation, thought I.
*
Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitionscourse worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:
Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in alphabetical order:
Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.
If you’ve enjoyed these stories and / or just want to leave a comment, please do so below and / or you can email me at morgen@morgenbailey.com., although I won’t (can’t) discuss forthcoming entries unless it’s a general query.
Hello everyone and welcome to the forty-seventh month of this competition. There were 33 entries from 14 authors for the theme of ‘given the chance’. NB You can all send in three stories for a better chance of being picked.
One was disqualified for only being 98 words with a two-word title. Fortunately the author had submitted two other spot-on submissions, however one of those had two sets of words (include a number) that should have been hyphenated, bringing it down to 98 words. To be fair on every entrant, I have to be strict and it just goes to show how valuable (useful anyway) it can be to submit three stories.
Another story was 99 words because a word (the) was used twice. Again the author had submitted two other stories. One of those however was only 97 words (98 originally but one word had been written as two). The remaining went through to the judging.
A 99-worder possibly was because it included a hyphen/dash which doesn’t count as a word.
Another was 101 words and I couldn’t find any reason other than there being too many words. I pasted it into https://wordcounter.netand it agreed. Ditto a 95-word story and sadly both those stories were the only submissions from their authors so they missed out on the competition for this month. Hopefully they’ll submit again. One author sent the same story three times (and another) but, as per the rules, only the first version is accepted. Another 101 story started as 100 but had a word missing (‘at a time’ rather than ‘at time’) which was a shame so was sadly disqualified, especially sad as the entrant’s only submission.
One was disqualified for having a numbered ‘year old’ half hyphenated, i.e. ‘15-year old self’ rather than ‘15-year-old self’ because it’s only the self that’s the noun rather than old self. Fortunately the author had submitted two other stories which went through to the judging.
The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way),or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly). Sometimes a story beats another because it has a strong link to the theme – and there were several this month that barely stuck to the theme, if at all (sorry!) – so it’s worth writing a story to the theme rather than tweaking a story you already have to loosely fit it.
You may have chosen a different order or indeed not placed one or more of them so if you entered and didn’t find your story / stories here, don’t lose heart. You probably only just missed out so do enter new stories this month*, next month, whenever you like (but not in advance!). It’s an ongoing competition and free, so you could win at any time. There were new and familiar names this month so anyone could win… it’s all dependent upon whether your story grabs me, for whatever reason (whether it be clever, funny, unusual, quirky, or sweet).
Apart from the top three and highly commended, there are some ‘Honourable Mentions’. They don’t win anything but they were so close to being Highly Commended that I wanted them to know how close they came. It’s still something for them to put on their CVs.
*The theme for August is ‘escalator’ and you can submit your entries (and do send three) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Saturday 31st August. Details and entry forms on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/100-word-free-monthly-competition. So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.
*
First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18):
Joyce Nelson with ‘Always in the Wings’
It would be so liberating to be given the chance of taking the lead. Always in the wings, learning the lines and stage directions others will use. I’m just a spear carrier, and my family think I have made it, living the high life in London. I mouth the words of my character as he is played out on stage as I await my entrance. I’m on, and I’m off, don’t blink, you’ll miss my performance as the bustling butler. I have made the part my own, there are no better butlers in the West End. I dream of accidents.
*
Second place (winning free access to two of myonline creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14):
Paul Mastaglio with ‘One More Day’
Given the chance, we’d walk in the fields again. I’d hold her hand, stroke her cheek and make her smile. We’d go to our favourite place. There, we would embrace, look into each other’s eyes and recall the happy memories.
We’d dine in our special restaurant and talk until they threw us out. Then we’d stroll by the river and stare at the moon. Later, we’d amble back home, close the door and go up the stairs one last time.
Tears filled my eyes as I walked away from her stone. If we’d had one more day. Given the chance.
*
Third place (winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9):
Jennie Cordner with ‘Second Chances’
When I left Isobel, six months pregnant, I never imagined the consequences of my actions. I thought she deserved better than a layabout as a father for her child. Later, the pain of witnessing her marrying another man upset me greatly. I had to move away.
Over the years I grabbed every chance to better myself. I’m now a professor. Who would have guessed it? Yet, nothing stopped me thinking of my child or my missed opportunity to be a dad. Then, today, I saw a young man in the lecture theatre who was the image of my young self.
*
Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitionscourse worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:
Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in alphabetical order:
Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.
If you’ve enjoyed these stories and / or just want to leave a comment, please do so below and / or you can email me at morgen@morgenbailey.com., although I won’t (can’t) discuss forthcoming entries unless it’s a general query.
Hello everyone and welcome to the forty-sixth month of this competition. There were 32 entries from 20 authors for the theme of ‘the wrong card’. NB You can all send in three stories for a better chance of being picked – please do as several were disqualified this month…
One was disqualified for only being 98 words, possibly counting a multi-hyphenated word as three instead of one. Fortunately the author had submitted two other stories which were the correct word count. Ditto another two authors who’d not hyphenated pre-noun adjectives, e.g. counting ‘well-known celebrity’ as three words rather than two, so the stories were actually 99 words. Fortunately one author had submitted two other pieces but sadly the other had only submitted the one.
Another story was 97 words where three standalone hyphens had been included in the word count. Tip: if you change – to – Word won’t count it as a word.
This may seem mean on my part but this competition has a strict word count and it wouldn’t be fair on those who were correctly submitting 100-word stories for the errors not to be taken into consideration.
A couple of entrants submitted the same story (or similar, with changes) twice. Another story was 95 words but had a five-word title. 😦 That author also resubmitted the story with five extra words but because it was the same story, it too had to be disqualified. As the rules state, only the first version is accepted. Please don’t submit a story until you’re happy it’s correct. Thank you.
Another story was disqualified for not being to the theme, however hard I tried to work out how it did! It was a shame because it was a really good story, exactly 100 words, and from a new author to this competition, and the only story sent. I hope this author will submit again.
Finally, another story turned out to be 101 words because there were two words separated by … ellipses but with no space between, e.g. ‘fare…as’, which is clearly two words but Word has counted them as one. Another shame because it was again the only story entered by a new entrant.
The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way),or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly). Sometimes a story beats another because it has a strong link to the theme so it’s worth writing a story to the theme rather than tweaking a story you already have to loosely fit it.
You may have chosen a different order or indeed not placed one or more of them so if you entered and didn’t find your story / stories here, don’t lose heart. You probably only just missed out so do enter new stories this month*, next month, whenever you like (but not in advance!). It’s an ongoing competition and free, so you could win at any time. There were new and familiar names this month so anyone could win… it’s all dependent upon whether your story grabs me, for whatever reason (whether it be clever, funny, unusual, quirky, or sweet).
Apart from the top three and highly commended, there are some ‘Honourable Mentions’. They don’t win anything but they were so close to being Highly Commended that I wanted them to know how close they came. It’s still something for them to put on their CVs.
*The theme for July is ‘given the chance’ and you can submit your entries (and do send three) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Wednesday 31st July. Details and entry forms on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/100-word-free-monthly-competition. So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.
*
First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18):
Shona Small with ‘Blonde Ambition’
When it is time to pick a card, any card, the bubbly busty blonde in the front row with the saucy smile is his choice.
He flashes the jack of diamonds and breaks out in a cold sweat when she shakes her pretty head. The audience falls silent, as sharks scenting blood. She reaches forward and taps his breast pocket. He draws out the ace of spades. She claps her hands and giggles. The crowd goes wild.
He looks for her after the show but she has pulled a disappearing act along with his wallet, gold watch and diamond cufflinks.
*
Second place (winning free access to two of myonline creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14):
Anthony James Dandy with ‘With Deepest Sympathy’
Tears dripped onto the card in her hand. ‘With deepest sympathy,’ it said.
Tears of relief.
They said his boat had capsized during a storm, whilst he was out at sea.
Forty years of drunken abuse ended.
Finally, peace. No more fear. No more hiding her pension money.
A fortnight later, she hummed to the music she had not played in years.
The door opened and he came in.
Unshaven, dirty, stinking of drink.
‘Can’t remember where I’ve been. Fell out my boat, swam to the shore and went on a bender.’
Tears rolled down her cheek.
Tears of grief.
*
Third place (winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9):
Jody Kish with ‘A Heavenly Mistake’
“Hello? Yes, my husband has items he’d like to donate. That would be great! Our address is 4635 Sand Hill. Thank you. Bye.”
Feeling satisfied, Beth sat the phone in its cradle. Business cards scattered as her arm hit the pile of her husband’s things. A plethora of color scattered before her. Not remembering which one was the number for church donations, she scolded herself for her rush.
“Uh… may I help you? Robert! Someone is here to pick up your donation!” Beth hissed.
His flushed face watched as his wife sped away, leaving a dumbfounded call girl and husband.
*
Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitionscourse worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:
Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in alphabetical order:
Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.
If you’ve enjoyed these stories and / or just want to leave a comment, please do so below and / or you can email me at morgen@morgenbailey.com, although I can’t discuss entries unless it’s a general query.
Hello everyone and welcome to the forty-fifth month of this competition. Last month I received 29 entries from 16 authors for the theme of ‘irresponsible’. NB You can all send in three stories for a better chance of being picked.
Three stories were disqualified for only being 98-99 words. Sadly they were all by the same author. 😦
Another was only 99 words because a set of ellipses (with more than one in the story) had been left on their own rather than attached to the previous word so when reattached, lost a word.
One missed out on being placed because it less of an impact on me as a judge. I’m a stickler for repetition and there was a lot of repetition in it. That’s personal choice but, for me, it’s how much I enjoy the piece as well as how well it’s written. Its author, sadly, only submitted one story so missed out entirely.
One of the last submissions was only 99 words because a number (ninety-nine) wasn’t hyphenated so ironically was disqualified for only being 99 words. Even sadder is the fact that the author only submitted that story rather than taking up the offer of submitting up to three so missed out. Hopefully he / she will submit again for another theme.
Finally, one story was marked down for a typo (a ‘The’ instead of – I assumed – ‘He’) which was a shame. Please read, reread and read again your story before submitting. Read aloud. Read each sentence in reverse order, from the last to the first. It won’t make sense but that’s the point – you’re too close to your writing. Write it early, let it marinate, then read, tweak and submit when you’re 100% happy with it.
The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way),or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly). Sometimes a story beats another because it has a strong link to the theme rather than being more ‘literary’, so it’s worth writing a story to the theme rather than tweaking a story you already have to loosely fit it.
You may have chosen a different order or indeed not placed one or more of them so if you entered and didn’t find your story / stories here, don’t lose heart. You probably only just missed out so do enter new stories this month*, next month, whenever you like (but not in advance!). It’s an ongoing competition and free, so you could win at any time. There were new and familiar names this month so anyone could win… it’s all dependent upon whether your story grabs me, for whatever reason (whether it be clever, funny, unusual, quirky, or sweet).
Apart from the top three and highly commended, there are some ‘Honourable Mentions’. They don’t win anything but they were so close to being Highly Commended that I wanted them to know how close they came. It’s still something for them to put on their CVs.
*The theme for June is ‘the wrong card’ and you can submit your entries (and do send three) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Sunday 30th June. Details and entry forms on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/100-word-free-monthly-competition. So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.
First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18):
Gerry Coyle with ‘Endless Knot’
Your fingertips brush the bows of my bark, burning to penetrate my heart carved from hearts. You circle me, treading the path where lovers’ palms once kneaded soil and harts fed on grass. You wield an axe to ease my severance. I pine to strip flesh from ignorant bones. One tug on the cord and metal teeth begin to laugh. You fail to hear a warning cry over the laughter of your accomplice. The cry comes from a woman’s face behind a pantry window. In haste, you’ve failed to notice the wind direction. And the direction in which I lean.
*
Second place (winning free access to two of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14):
Lucy Morrice with ‘Won’t Buy you Happiness’
For the first time, he experienced pure joy.
The trigger was another election, a shift further to the right, a society increasingly divided and cruel.
He recognised his part in the country’s downfall, the pursuit of wealth, climbing over others and stamping on their livelihoods.
His mother would be horrified. She always told him to keep something aside ‘for a rainy day’. He had given it all away, to the environmentalists, the food banks, the shelters for abused women.
He had enough to get by, and he had his hot feet cooling in a stream, with trout nibbling his toes.
*
Third place (winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9):
Lestie Mulholland with ‘Payment Plan Percy’
I knew I was being irresponsible but I couldn’t help it. What I wanted was expensive, not-enough-money-in-my-bank-account expensive, but the taste of ownership had become peppery.
Maybe I could stretch my card? Maybe the bank manager would understand? I certainly did.
Caressing the fur, stroking it, feeling its sensual softness, delighting in the creamy colour and contemplating the consequences of my actions, I got lost in my thoughts.
Pure-bred Persian, aquamarine eyes, I would call him Percival. So what if they had a ‘no pets’ policy at the complex, I’d deal with that later as well.
Purring, I drove home.
*
Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitionscourse worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:
Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in alphabetical order:
Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.
If you’ve enjoyed these stories and / or just want to leave a comment, please do so below and / or you can email me at morgen@morgenbailey.com, although I won’t (can’t) discuss forthcoming entries unless it’s a general query.
Hello everyone and welcome to the forty-fourth month of this competition. Last month I received 32 entries from 15 authors for the theme of ‘making a claim’. NB You can all send in three stories for a better chance of being picked.
Not an easy choice this month – as if they ever are! – with me rearranging the stories several times before finally plumping for the order that appears below.
One was disqualified for only being 99 words (according to Word). It did include a correctly hyphenated word so it could be possible that the (regular) entrant counted that as two words. Fortunately it wasn’t the only story the author submitted – it’s always worth sending three… although sometimes that makes my job harder as I struggle to choose between two (or three) of them!
A second was also 99 words (with two words that should have been one) but was the only story submitted by that author, a regular to the competition, so missed out. 😦
Another was disqualified for including the three-word title in the word count and sadly the only other story submitted by the author had two words separated by an … ellipses with no space in between so once separated, made a 101-word story. It’s only fair to everyone to correct the stories to check the correct word count. It’s always worth submitting three stories for this reason.
Another was 102 words because two words had been incorrectly hyphenated (as it stood alone rather than being before a noun, e.g. it was half term rather than a half-term holiday) and another put together, as one word, when they should have been separated. If in doubt, I go by the Oxford English Dictionary (e.g. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/bed_sheet).
Another story had a hyphenated word that did preceded a noun but it was an adverb, a quickly-prepared picnic – https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/6-common-hypercorrections-and-how-to-avoid-them/assuming-that-all-final-consonant-sounds-in-french-are-silent(the fourth of the six) explains. Fortunately the author had submitted two other stories, one of which was successful.
Another author was not so lucky by submitting a story that was, when the punctuation was connected to the relevant words, only 92 words and one of those (a spare ‘it’) shouldn’t have been there. The story was submitted three days before the competition so time to have reread it and ensure it was correct. It’s a shame because it was really good but the author’s only story so missed out this month and sadly new to the competition so a treble shame.
Please please do read your stories carefully. There was a story, for example, which contained an ‘eighteen’ rather than ‘eighteenth’ and ‘where’ instead of ‘were’ – simple mistakes but judges mark down mistakes to be fair to every entrant. Fortunately in this instance, the author had submitted two other stories, one of which went on to the final batch.
If grammar isn’t your strong point, please do ask someone else to read your story and give you feedback on it. There’s no harm doing that anyway. 🙂
I recommend using something like https://wordcounter.net to check your word count, which leads to grammarly.com if you click on the ‘grammar & spell check’ option, although it didn’t pick up on the rogue full stops and commas. 😦
The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way),or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly). Sometimes a story beats another because it has a strong link to the theme so it’s worth writing a story to the theme rather than tweaking a story you already have to loosely fit it.
You may have chosen a different order or indeed not placed one or more of them so if you entered and didn’t find your story / stories here, don’t lose heart. You probably only just missed out so do enter new stories this month*, next month, whenever you like (but not in advance!). It’s an ongoing competition and free, so you could win at any time. There were new and familiar names this month so anyone could win… it’s all dependent upon whether your story grabs me, for whatever reason (whether it be clever, funny, unusual, quirky, or sweet).
Apart from the top three and highly commended, there are some ‘Honourable Mentions’. They don’t win anything but they were so close to being Highly Commended that I wanted them to know how close they came. It’s still something for them to put on their CVs.
*The theme for May is ‘irresponsible’ and you can submit your entries (and do send three) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Friday 31st May. Details and entry forms on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/100-word-free-monthly-competition. So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.
*
First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18):
Jennie Cordner with ‘This Should Be Fun’
“Come camping,” they said. “It will be fun.”
Why didn’t I refuse? I broke my neck tripping over a bloody tent peg. For thirty years, I’ve been confined to a wheelchair.
The telephone rings. “I’m calling about your accident,” they say.
I like to engage in these distractions from everyday life and reply, “I’m so glad you called. I’d like to make a claim.”
They are unable to hide their enthusiasm for my suffering.
“The date of your accident?” they ask.
“Let me think. Yes, June 19 1989.”
There’s silence.
Still, once I Google “accident,” someone else will call tomorrow!
*
Second place (winning free access to two of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14):
Laura Besley with ‘As One’
‘But how will I know which is the right one?’ I ask.
My mother kisses my forehead. ‘Women have been claiming hearts for generations, love. You will know.’
There are rows and rows of them, all beating to their own rhythms. Choosing seems impossible. My own heart flails like a fish on land, until my eyes rest on a small heart at the back, tight as a fist, but slow and steady.
‘That’s the one,’ I whisper.
And its owner, my life partner, appears. We leave hand in hand, hearts beating in unison, bound together until one of them stops.
*
Third place (winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9):
Carol Allison with ‘Living the Dream’
“This is everything we’ve ever wanted.”
Beth stands on the veranda surveying the rolling hills beyond the scented cottage garden.
“Last night there was a family of badgers playing on the lawn. We never got to see anything like that from the council flat.”
Pouring a glass of champagne, she lets out a contented sigh.
“Who would believe we could own a place like this? Apart from me. I always did. I believed it when I took out the life insurance policy. When I put the weed killer in your food.”
She raises a glass.
“Here’s to living the dream.”
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Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitionscourse worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in author alphabetical order:
Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in author alphabetical order:
Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.
If you’ve enjoyed these stories and / or just want to leave a comment, please do so below and / or you can email me at morgen@morgenbailey.com., although I won’t (can’t) discuss forthcoming entries unless it’s a general query.
Hello everyone and welcome to the forty-third month of this competition. Sorry it’s rather later than mid-month but it’s been a particularly busy one, not least with resurrecting my podcast and its 121 episodes! Last month I received 31 entries from 17 authors for the theme of ‘turn down’. NB You can all send in three stories for a better chance of being picked.
One was disqualified for only being 99 words. It came in at 100 but there was a number which should have been hyphenated. Another for the same word count and reason but with a descriptive adjectives preceding a noun, e.g. a well-known celebrity. I know I’m mean but it’s only fair to all the entrants to correct it. Fortunately both authors had submitted two other stories.
Another story was submitted twice, under different titles within a couple of days of each other. They may have changed other than the title – I didn’t check. Only the first version is accepted so the author was still able to send two other stories although didn’t.
One story wasn’t disqualified but lost brownie points for having several adverbs (the dreaded ___ly words) and two points of view in the piece. It’s a shame because it was a great story. Another story had different tenses where it should have stayed in one. I know… I’m strict!
Another also lost a brownie point for having an adverb rather than the correct noun: jealously instead of jealousy. Another had ‘has’ where it should have been ‘as’. Both easy mistakes to make but to be fair to everyone entering, mistakes that should have been picked up in the editing process do need to be marked down.
Tip: although it’s not an error as such, be careful of not having too many sentences starting with a pronoun, i.e. the characters names or He / She / The. One of the stories had seven sentences, five of which started with ‘She’, the other two were ‘He’ and ‘The’. Even adding, ‘As…’ or ‘When’ before a sentence can make them more varied, or you can put the verb first, e.g. Putting the gun down… although you don’t want too many ‘ing’s either. 🙂
The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way),or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly). Sometimes a story beats another because it has a strong link to the theme so it’s worth writing a story to the theme rather than tweaking a story you already have to loosely fit it.
You may have chosen a different order or indeed not placed one or more of them so if you entered and didn’t find your story / stories here, don’t lose heart. You probably only just missed out so do enter new stories this month*, next month, whenever you like (but not in advance!). It’s an ongoing competition and free, so you could win at any time. There were new and familiar names this month so anyone could win… it’s all dependent upon whether your story grabs me, for whatever reason (whether it be clever, funny, unusual, quirky, or sweet).
Apart from the top three and highly commended, there are some ‘Honourable Mentions’. They don’t win anything but they were so close to being Highly Commended that I wanted them to know how close they came. It’s still something for them to put on their CVs.
*The theme for April is ‘making a claim’ and you can submit your entries (and do send three) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Tuesday 30th April. Details and entry forms on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/100-word-free-monthly-competition. So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.
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First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18):
N Sebastian with ‘Proposal’
I had imagined the moment you asked the question so many times. There had always been a happy-ever-after feeling as the scene faded. Of course there had. Everyone said we’d been made for one another.
Believe me, I did not know that I was going to turn you down.
But here in this real world, when your question came, there was no happy ending. At that moment, the image burning in my mind’s eye was of me, on my hands and my knees, trying to sweep thousands of fragments of my broken dreams under the carpet upon which you stood.
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Second place (winning free access to two of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14):
Alan Barker with ‘The Wedding Vow’
She gazed at him despondently. “So that’s your final decision? You won’t marry me?”
“I’m sorry. I’ve considered the matter carefully but the answer has to be no.”
“My love isn’t good enough for you?”
The priest shook his head. “This church takes the view we cannot marry a couple that includes a divorcee, during the lifetime of the former spouse.”
On her way home, she thought about her wonderful fiancé and how she so wanted theirs to be the perfect wedding.
Then she thought of her ex-husband and vowed to invite him for one final walk along Beachy Head.
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Third place (winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9):
Barbara Young with ‘Your Funeral’
You expected me to turn down the invitation. No way – what a grand occasion it is. Your family, draped in black, emit elegantly muted sobs, whispers of suicide slithering through cold air.
I sit, head bowed, as they throw disapproving glances at my inappropriate clothing (I couldn’t resist a splash of colour).
Will I make a scene? Throw my howling body onto the coffin?
No chance, Peter. You know every scar on my body. You should do, you put them there.
I know the exact shape of the bullet wound on your head.
I should do. I put it there.
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Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitionscourse worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:
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Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in alphabetical order:
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Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.
If you’ve enjoyed these stories and / or just want to leave a comment, please do so below and / or you can email me at morgen@morgenbailey.com., although I won’t (can’t) discuss forthcoming entries unless it’s a general query.
