For the past month, we’ve spent every spare moment judging the entries submitted for WritersWeekly’s most recent 24-Hour Short Story Contest. In case you’re not familiar with our quarterly contest, this is how it works. On the date of the contest, at start-time, we send out the topic for that specific contest to all registered entrants, while also posting it on WritersWeekly.com.

Entrants must be registered before the contest begins and there is a limit of 500 participants per contest. Entrants then have 24 hours to write and submit their stories via email. The stories “must deal with the topic in some way to qualify” and they must not exceed the pre-assigned word count, which is announced with the topic.

After reading the entries for each contest, we can see how difficult it is to come up with a unique plot when working with an assigned topic. But, inevitably, a few writers do manage to successfully break away from the pack.

THE FALL, 2026 TOPIC

It was a dreary, cold day, but the cast iron stove kept the passenger car warm. Outside, cobblestone streets covered with orange and red leaves started to appear as they approached the town. She glanced around, wondering why the train wasn’t slowing down. As the locomotive hurtled past the depot, she and the other passengers stared wide-eyed through the windows at…

(Stories needed to only touch on that topic in some way to qualify.)

Before you continue reading, take a moment to consider where you would take that story…

CRUCIAL HINT! Whenever a contest happens during a big news event or crisis, lots of entrants insert that into their stories. Before you think about including what is all over the news right now, please know that lots of entrants are thinking the same thing. So, you might want to avoid those topics.

**WHAT’S THE MOST COMMON MISTAKE WRITERS MAKE?
Giving us a bad and/or boring ending!

Please give us a great ending! **WE LOVE SURPRISE ENDINGS!!**

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Congrats to the top three winners!

1st PLACE – The Mighty Cherubim by Kim L. Bruce

(Kim won $300 PLUS a free book publishing package from BookLocker.com valued at $975!)

2nd PLACE – The Gift by Diona L. Reeve

(Diona won $250!)

3rd PLACE – A Special Place by Arlena Joy

(Arlena won $200!)

100 other participants won Honorable Mentions and 14 of those received Special Recognition!

The top three winning stories, along with a list of the other winners, are posted RIGHT HERE.

COMMON THEMES SUBMITTED

Here are our notes about common themes that emerged with this topic:

• We lost count of how many stories featured a plague.
• We received a few stories with tornadoes in them, coming toward the train.
• There were a few levitating trains.
• We received NUMEROUS time travel and time loop stories.
• Several female characters were knitting or embroidering on the train. We thought that was interesting! 🙂
• We also lost count of how many train robberies there were.
• A few stories had the people on the train seeing themselves standing at the station, outside the train.
• We enjoyed the numerous stories that had one or more passengers jumping from speeding trains!
• Another interesting common theme was disappearing train employees.
• A few trains raced right on past that stop because there were angry protestors/rioters/paparazzi gathered at the station.
• There were also some very entertaining ghosts on several trains!
• Lots of trains crashed years ago, but the passengers, not knowing they are dead, just keep riding that train forever.

As with all contests, some common themes come back again and again, no matter what the topic is.

These include:

• The story is about a writer participating in a writing contest (groan).
• We always receive countless domestic abuse stories. We also always receive numerous stories about separation, divorce, and other relationship problems.
• We find out at the end that the entire story was just a movie/TV scene/play or we find out the first scene of the story (usually the topic itself) is from a movie or TV show/play, or even a book or article one of the characters is reading.
• The reader finds out at the very end that the main character is actually an animal.
• We always receive lots of stories featuring characters with dementia.
• We find out at the end that the main character is an unborn child, telling their story from the womb. You only find out it’s a baby at the end.
• The main character dies at the end, and is met by a loved one or an angel of some sort. We also see lots of dead friends/relatives telling the characters it’s their time to die, too, helping them to cross over, etc.
• The story is dramatic but you find out at the end the characters are really children playing make-believe.
• The main character of the story named Angela/Angie (the same name as the publisher of WritersWeekly). Some also use Angela’s family members’ names in their stories.
• Despite the warning about needing to use the topic “in some way to qualify,” we always receive several stories that have absolutely nothing at all to do with the topic.

IMPORTANT: We are seeing an increasing number of stories that incorporate current events (what’s ALL over the news right now) in them. These include protests, global warming, political upheaval, heated social issues, a hated president (or hated past president), etc., etc. Any topic that has received saturated coverage in the news should be avoided at all costs. We’re all drowning in it all day, ever day. Nobody reading fiction for entertainment wants to read that stuff when they’re trying to relax so it’s wise to simply avoid it.

You can increase your chances of winning one of our 24-Hour Short Story Contests by avoiding all of the common themes mentioned above.  Step outside of the box and WOW us with something completely original!

Links to the winning stories of the current contest (and all past contests) appear RIGHT HERE.

PRIZES:
1st prize: $300 + a book publishing package from BookLocker valued at $975
2nd prize: $250
3rd prize: $200
Plus 100 honorable mentions!

103 prizes total!

You can see the complete list of prizes, and sign up for the next contest, here: https://24hourshortstorycontest.com

RELATED

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List of ALL PAST TOPICS and WINNERS of the WritersWeekly Quarterly 24-Hour Short Story Contest!

From WritersWeekly Short Story Contest Winner to Simon and Schuster Contract!

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