CONTESTS & SUBMISSIONS

I have not yet paid for this challenge but I plan to participate and will update the Calendar when I do. This is a 2000-word story competition taking place over 7 days. It's the big one and it also marks my one-year anniversary of entering writing contests! 

Prompt cards will be dealt at 10 pm on Oct 20th. I then have the choice to redraw replacement prompt cards until Oct 25th at 10 pm. The specifics of the prompts are unknown but it appears there will be a Genre Card, a Setting Card, and a Character Card. All I can do is wait...

Results Coming soon...

Previous Update: I wrote three stories over three days:

100 Word Story: “Jane” -A noire-inspired piece where a detective is investigates a murder, and tries not to fall in love. 

250-Word Story: “Planting My Bastard Seeds” -A medieval revenge piece where an old king is forced from his throne by his sons, and he must teach them the lessons of the past.   

500 Words Story: “Not in My Backyard” -Patricia, the Neighborhood watch leader has been tracking a child killer on the loose and is close to finding him. How close, will be revealed on a foot patrol during tonight’s late shift.   

The contest results will be revealed on the below dates:

Round 1 results revealed: Jul 22nd, 2024, 23:59 UTC

Round 2 results revealed: Jul 23rd, 2024, 23:59 UTC

Round 3 results revealed: Jul 24th, 2024, 23:59 UTC 

My goal is to finish Top 10 in one or more of the story lengths. I am among some of the best international competitive short story writers, so we’ll see! 

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Oldest Update: I've paid for this challenge and scheduled it on the Calendar. The event begins at 8 PM on July 4th with the story 1 prompt being issued. 'Merica Amiright?! My submission is due by 7:59 PM on Jul 6th. Twist in the Tale has spawned a new peer-judged, peer-powered contest. This is right up my alley, minus the short time frames given to write. I am excited to see where this goes and how well my stories place.   All entrants are divided into two groups that do not compete with each other. In each round, groups will receive unique prompts such as themes, tropes, and more specific prompts. I'll have 24 hours to write and submit my story for each round. This will be 3 consecutive days, and I will have to produce 3 stories, one for each. 

Round 1 begins: Jul 5th, 2024, 00:00 UTC (24 hours to write) 100 Words

Round 2 begins: Jul 6th, 2024, 00:00 UTC (24 hours to write) 250 Words

Round 3 begins: Jul 7th, 2024, 00:00 UTC (24 hours to write) 500 Words

After all writing phases are complete, participants judge a set of stories (4-6) from the opposite group by ranking them. Providing feedback is optional. After that, there's a week to share on the forums before the results are released.

Peer Judging Period: Jul 9th, 2024, 00:00 UTC (7 days to judge up to 4-6 stories)

Prizes:

Top writers in each group win prizes and recognition each round! Then the cumulative score is used to determine the two overall winners.

Round 1 winners (one winner from each group): $40 each 

Round 2 winners (one winner from each group): $40 each 

Round 3 winners (one winner from each group): $40 each 

Overall winners (one winner from each group): $100 each 

This will be a blast! 

I've paid for this challenge and have it scheduled on the Calendar. Prompt cards will be dealt at 10 pm on Aug 2nd. I then have the choice to redraw replacement prompt cards until Aug 3rd at 10 pm. The specifics of the prompts are unknown but it appears there will be a Genre Card, a Character Card, and an Object Card. All I can do is wait...(Anxiously of course)

My short story, "When The Sun Goes Down" was awarded a Thrilling 32 Silver Trophy winning 8 out of 10 duels and ranked in the Top 32 out of 313 writers or the top 10% of participants in the There's Only One Bed genre. It earned a Top 128 placement among 1410 total submitted stories or the Top 9% in the entire contest across all four genres. Also, there were nearly 493 people who were unable to finish or submit in time.  I received 90 reads and comments during the debriefs.

I'm so stoked so many people enjoyed my work and connected to my unnamed "big sis" main character (who will be named upon revision) and her younger sister, July. I'm also proud I created this story in such a short time, only 12 hours, which gives me confidence in writing in shorter windows when I have to. I still prefer more time.

Also, since joining the 11:59 Workshop discord group last battle, I've been periodically reaching out to the members for help Betaing a few of my stories including this one. Getting advice from such an esteemed group of writers has proven invaluable, and I've learned so much from getting other eyes on my work before submitting it. They say it takes a village to raise a child, and I think that concept can apply to my word babies too! Thanks for all your help 11:59-ers. Regardless of not receiving the gold trophy, this story has winning qualities and I'm proud of it. The experience in the Writing Battle community and the feedback was a total win for me. 

Moving forward: Summer Writing Battle is already signed up for, and you better believe that I plan to bring the heat!

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Previous Update: I'm Stoked. I cannot reveal much until the Prompt Cards I received, but I can reveal the Genre! Here is a breakdown of my story.  

Day 1: Fri, May 3rd, 2024 - On Friday at 9:30 pm battlers received a sneak peek of the Four Genres just before the official Start time. The categories were Witchcraft, Disaster, Medical Drama, and the genre I got There's Only One Bed! 

My process for the prompt card reveal night has turned into spending a few hours working out stories and ideas in what I now call the "war room" (my office) with my wife. We usually brainstorm ideas, change prompts and create an initial concept and outline before I go to bed as the reveals happen at 10 pm. I like to get a jump on it and then sleep, hoping I get rest and inspiration by the morning. 

Initially, I got Medical Drama, and stayed on that prompt for a while, but ultimately changed it. Unfortunately, I forgot the other prompts I received for setting and character, but I can say this is the most "click happy" I've been with the prompt cards. Here's what I stayed with:

Prompt Cards:

Genre: There's Only One Bed

Setting: Hunting Shack

Character: Guardian

Day 2: Sat, May 4th, 2024 - I slept like shit and woke up by 5 am. My first story was based around a kidnapped girl from an abortion clinic (and that's all I'm gonna say because I may write it in the future.) I worked on that story the entire day until I had to stop to go out on a dinner date and to see a musical with my wife. I wrote nearly 400 + words and knew it was going south fast due to its complexity. I was overwhelmed with wasting time, fear of failure, freaking out about other story ideas, and not having enough time to develop and edit my story. I nearly gave up and had a mini meltdown. Thankfully, I have an amazingly supportive wife, who devoted the drive to our date, and all of dinner to help pull me off the asphalt. Over Chinese food, we decided on the simpler concept of what was to become When the Sun Goes Down and then I went to watch the musical, Into the Woods, which was so Amazing! I then got home and went to bed hoping for a miracle. 

Day 3: Sun, May 5th, 2024 - I woke up focused, determined, and in a good mood at 7 am entered the "War Room" by 8:00 am after taking a fresh shower, new clothes, a shave, and a warm cup of coffee. I then spent the entirety of the day writing and editing my story by 7:30 pm where I last minute requested Beta reads on the 11:59 discord. I received so much help and then submitted my final battle draft of my story.

It's always a grueling process, but also rewarding, and once again, my wife helped me drag this story over the finish line. Shout out to her again! 

The next phase will involve me reading ten other stories and voting on them in different categories, and the next announcement will be posted when the results arrive near the beginning of June. Stay tuned and wish me luck! 

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Oldest Update: I've paid for this challenge and have it scheduled on the Calendar. Prompt cards will be dealt at 10 pm on May 3rd. I then have the choice to redraw replacement prompt cards until May 4th at 10 pm. The specifics of the prompts are unknown but it appears there will be a Genre Card, a Character Card, and an Object Card. All I can do is wait...(Anxiously of course)

My short story, "Perpetual Override" ranked in the top 130 out of 259 or the top 50% of participants.

Prompts:

Main Genre: Sci-Fi

Subgenre: Galactic Gothic Horror

Character: AI Companion

Originally titled "Stasis," this story was re-named with only 30 minutes to spare before the deadline. Talk about stress! I changed the name because a beta reader of mine kindly brought to my attention that they had just named their story "Stasis" which had a similar storyline where the character and plot were centered around a cryopod for a different contest. Imagine the horror of finding this out at the last minute! It was too bizarre not to take action and as a man who respects originality and my fellow writers, I scrambled to create a new title, while suffering a mini-panic attack. Not really, but close enough.  

The title "Perpetual Override" was the final result I landed on and I love it, but I wouldn't be a gentleman if I didn't shout out my wife for helping create it. She suggested the "Override" addition as I was going to simply name it "Perpetual." Her addition truly rings much better and it adds that Sci-Fi flair it was missing. Thanks babe! 

Much like Ashtray, I pulled from something personal to write this—my fears. I explored the feeling of being locked in tight a space and the mental hell one experiences when unable to escape, then I ramped it up to infinity. I'm mostly happy with this story, and even more stoked that it was published well before the results came in with SFS Publishing on www.scifishorts.co. 

This was my second Twist in the Tale contest. I am still not a fan of the rubric-based grading system and also dislike the lack of transparency with the minimal judges in the contest as I prefer a peer-based voting system, but I do appreciate the prompts and that I have more control over my stories compared to other places. 

I will not be signing up for the next contest which is a 150-word contest which I consider too high of a price point, and I'm still contemplating if I will return for future ones. I have not signed up yet for any additional contests with Twist in the Tale at the time of writing this, but stay tuned for updates. 

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Previous Update:  I took inspiration from Edgar Allen Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum to create my word baby, "Perpetual Override" which weighs in at 985 words and I've written, beta'd, and submitted it for competition. 

Huge shout out to the 11:59 Workshop Discord Group for helping me with a bunch of corrections that streamlined my story into the gothic horror I wanted it to be (Inside of 1000 words of course.) The results of the contest is on Wednesday, July 10th, at 8 pm EST. My goal is to finish in the Top 20—Just to be listed among some of the best international short story writers would be a damn honor! 

Oldest Update: I've paid for this challenge and scheduled it on the Calendar. Prompts will be issued at 8 PM on May 12th. My submission is due by 8 PM on May 19th. This is the second ever Twist in the Tale contest and the first ever 1000-word length contest. All entrants will share a main genre but will be given a secondary subgenre from a pool. Each entrant will also be given a character that must be included in some way, although it does not have to be the main character. Subgenres and characters can be rerolled up to three times each. 

Use this referral link to join if you are interested in this competition too: https://twistinthetale.com/referral/65a6f749a7d41bdaa0b20764 It's going to be a blast! 

The prize pool has been increased from the last contest. 

1. $1200 (US)

2. $400

3. $250

4. $150

5. $100

6. $50

7. $50

8. $50

9. $50

10. $50

11. $20 site credit

12. $20 site credit

13. $20 site credit

14. $20 site credit

15. $20 site credit

16. $10 site credit

17. $10 site credit

18. $10 site credit

19. $10 site credit

20. $10 site credit 

My short story, "Canary" was awarded an Elite 8 Silver Trophy winning 9 out of 10 duels and ranked in the Top 8 out of 375 writers or the top 2% of participants in the False Utopia genre. It earned a Top 32 placement among 1208 total submitted stories or the Top 3% in the entire contest across all four genres. Also, there were nearly 397 people who were unable to finish or submit in time.  This was a wild ride that at times induced near panic attacks, especially on results day, but also during the entire debrief. I received 93 reads and comments during the debriefs. It was insane, and I do not know how, but I return-read every fan who read mine. 

My favorite part of this WB season was that I had so many people get to enjoy and read my work and connect to my character Ellie-May (46). It was such an experience to be among the best writers battling it out in the end and I am so honored to have prior champions and writing badasses such as Suzzane Link, Freya King, and RP Mickler  rooting me on. Additionally this season, I found a wonderful community on Discord named 11:59 Workshop that is insanely helpful and supportive. Spring Writing Battle is already signed up for. Here I come!

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Previous Update: I'm Stoked. I cannot reveal much until the Prompt Cards I received, but I can reveal the Genre! Here is a breakdown of my story.  

Day 1: Fri, Feb 2nd, 2024 - On Thursday at 9:30 pm battlers received a sneak peek of the Four Genres just before the official Start time. The categories were Buddy Cop, Culinary Catastrophe, Enemies to Lovers, and the genre I got False Utopia! 

Prompt Cards: Genre: False Utopia Character: Widow Object: Ladder

I picked my cards, which I cannot reveal yet, brainstormed heavily, and then began outlining most of the Friday until nearly 2 pm. I then spent the following seven hours producing little on paper. I would estimate I ended with around five-hundred words which may sound good for a one-thousand words story, but I had overwritten my outline and only accomplished the first two chapters of my five-chapter story. Needless to say, I ended my day tired around 9:30 pm overwhelmed that I was way off track and disconnected from my story and characters. 

Day 2: Sat, Feb 3rd, 2024 - I got great sleep the night before and woke up at 6 am ready for war. I attacked the story and wrote with little breaks until finishing my first draft at 4 pm. I had 1817 words written for a 1000-word flash fiction contest. Yikes! After dinner with my wife and a much-needed break away from the screen, I came back to the editing phase of my night and skimmed down the story to 1648 words until stopping at 10 pm, 150 words above my goal for Saturday. I then came up with a plan just in case I wasn't able to edit my story down without maintaining its integrity. I went to bed, worried, but focused. 

Day 3: Sun, Feb 4th, 2024 - I woke up focused, determined, and in a good mood at 7 am entered the "War Room" by 7:30 am and spent the entirety of the day editing down to 1000 words by 8:30 pm where I submitted my final battle draft of my story.

It was punishing, yet rewarding, but we did it! Shout out to my angelic wife who deserves a gold medal for helping me with preparations, offering invaluable brainstorming ideas, and contributing to my overall mental health during these three days. 

The next phase will involve me reading ten other stories and voting on them in different categories, and the next announcement will be posted when the results arrive at the end of February. Stay tuned and wish me luck! 

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Oldest Update: I've paid for this challenge and have it scheduled on the Calendar. Prompt cards will be dealt at 10 pm on Feb 1st. I then have the choice to redraw replacement prompt cards until Feb 3rd at 10 pm. The specifics of the prompts are unknown but it appears there will be a Genre Card, a Character Card, and an Object Card. All I can do is wait...(Anxiously of course)

My short story, "Ashtray" ranked 125 out of 312 writers or the top 40% of participants.   

Prompts: Main Genre: Thriller Subgenre: Environmental Event: Blackout

Overall I enjoyed writing Ashtray, and I'm very pleased with my title. To write this, I pulled from personal experiences from my childhood, and at times it was tough to get through. Additionally, I refreshed a bunch of prompts and came up with dozens of great ideas that were more expected for the genre, but in the end, I am happy with what I produced in 500 words and I'm glad I went in a different direction than expected for a Thriller. 

I also learned that 500 words are not a favorite length to write for contests, but I'll continue to write them. 

For Twist in the Tale or T3, I was not as much of a fan of the rubric-based grading system, but I very much enjoyed the prompts and the fact I could have a little more control and choice over my story as we were allowed to cycle through a few before being locked in. 

I have signed up for the second contest and will return. 

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Previous Update:  Coming in at 496 words, I have written, beta'd, and submitted my story Titled "Ashtray."  Huge shout out to Freya for helping me with a bunch of corrections that enhanced the story to the next level in my opinion. The results of the contest will be released on Sunday, March 31st, at 8 pm EST. The Top Ten Prizes awarded are listed below. The best of the best are competing here so it's unlikely I place, but I remain hopeful. 

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Oldest Update: I've paid for this challenge and have it scheduled on the Calendar. Prompts will be issued at Midnight on Feb 24th. This is the first-ever Twist in the Tale contest! It’s 500 words and I will have a week to write. I'll be given the same main genre as everyone else but may get a different twisted (unusual) subgenre. For this contest, I'll be given an event to include and 3 rerolls for the subgenre and the event. Use this referral link to join if you are interested in this competition too: https://twistinthetale.com/referral/65a6f749a7d41bdaa0b20764 It's going to be a blast! 

The prize pool: 

1. $1000 (US)

2. $200

3. $100

4. $25 site credit + rare pet item

5. $25 site credit + rare pet item

6. $10 site credit

7. $10 site credit

8. $10 site credit

9. $10 site credit

10. $10 site credit