2024 Competition
The Short Story Challenge 2024 is underway! All competition assignments and results will be automatically updated below. Best of luck to the 6,100+ writers participating worldwide!
UPDATES & ANNOUNCEMENTS
IMPORTANT LINKS
1st Round: Kickoff Email / Assignments
Rules: Official Rules & Participation Agreement
How it Works
The 18th Annual Short Story Challenge is a creative writing competition open to writers around the world. There are four rounds of competition. In the 1st Round, beginning on January 19th, writers are placed randomly in groups and are assigned a genre, subject, and character assignment. Writers have eight days to write an original story no longer than 2,500 words.
The judges choose a top 10 in each group to advance to the 2nd Round where writers receive new assignments, only this time they have three days to write a short story no longer than 2,000 words. The judges again choose a top five in each group to advance to the 3rd Round, where writers receive new assignments and have two days to write a short story no longer than 1,500 words.
Judges select finalists, and the remaining writers are challenged to write a story no longer than 1,250 words in just 24 hours in the fourth and final round of the competition. Feedback from the judges is provided for every submission, there are thousands in cash and prizes for the winners, and the writers retain all the rights to the stories they create. Sound like fun? Join the competition below and get ready for January 19th!
A Few Reasons to Participate
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Feedback provided on every submission.
Not only does every writer receive feedback from the judges for every story submitted, but a special review forum is available for the participants to submit their stories for review from fellow writers throughout the competition.
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A Vibrant Writing Community.
Join over 27,000 writers in our online forum to discuss the challenges, post and review stories, and discuss writing in all facets. We are dedicated to providing a forum that is a welcoming and helpful place for writers of all levels. Click here to visit the forums.
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Keep all the rights to the stories you create.
Writers retain all the rights to the stories they create during the competition, which means that we could not and would not share the stories publicly without consent from the authors.
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Thousands in Prizes.
There are thousands in cash and prizes for the top writers, with $7,500 going to first place. Click here to view the full prize list.
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Writing for a Good Cause
We are proud to support global charities currently dealing with some of the most critical issues facing our world. We will be donating two percent of each entry fee, and writers can choose where their donation goes. Click here to view the charities.
What Our Participants Say
“And with less than 50 minutes to deadline, I have done this thing I thought I could never do and submitted a short story in a major contest/challenge. Whew, now to rest and wake up tomorrow beset with anxiety and fear while I wait.”
— Kim B. (Hixson, TN, USA)
“That was exciting! Nothing like a tight deadline to get the creative juices flowing.”
— Dave M. (Katy, TX, USA)
“Wow. What an incredible ride. We all should take a deep breath and celebrate such an accomplishment!”
Susan K. (Thousand Oaks, CA, USA)
“A week of wandering around with ideas rolling around in my head like loose cannonballs is finally over and the result is submitted. Yay! Now, to await the result. Good luck everyone. It's very exciting.”
Deon C. (Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia)
“Wow, what a challenge. Loved it. A great start to the new year.”
— John W. (Main Beach, Queensland, Australia)
“This challenge pushed me to write something better than I've ever written... I really appreciate this contest!”
Liv P. (Providence, RI, USA)
“Done! So excited....this is such an exhilarating exercise. :)”
— Carrie S. (San Francisco, CA, USA)
“Submitted and feeling a great deal of relief. This was such a great learning experience for me. Good Luck to all!!!”
— Kai L. (Hazel Crest, IL, USA)
How to Register
Registration is now closed. We’ll have many more exciting challenges in 2024, so make sure to sign up for our newsletter to know when the next one is announced!
*Get $5 off the entry fee just for tweeting! Click here to make a post to Facebook or Twitter and receive a $5 promotional code.
We will be donating two percent of each entry fee to charities currently dealing with some of the most critical issues facing our world, and writers can choose where their donation goes. Click here to learn more.
Mark Your Calendar
While we send e-mails at the beginning of each round to all registered writers, many times e-mails go to junk mail folders, spam, or are blocked by servers for unknown reasons. We recommend that everyone marks their calendars with the start dates of each round, especially the first challenge at 11:59 PM (New York time) on January 19, 2024 so that you know when to expect an e-mail. Use the "Add to Calendar" buttons below to add each event to your calendar, or click here to learn about subscribing to our entire event calendar.
Results
1st Round
April 9, 2024
Results
2nd Round
June 5, 2024
Results
3rd Round
July 24, 2024
Results
Final Round
September 12, 2024