Authors, need your book published in time for the Christmas shopping season? Contact us RIGHT AWAY and get $125 off at BookLocker! Details and the discount code are RIGHT HERE. 

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*THE FALL, 2025 24-HOUR SHORT STORY CONTEST WILL BE ON SATURDAY, September 20, 2025! Only 500 participants permitted so DON’T DELAY IF YOU WANT TO PLAY!!

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For the past six weeks, we’ve spent every spare moment judging the hundreds of 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 SUMMER, 2025 TOPIC

Did she just see what she thought she saw? She stepped off the path, intending to only walk a few feet. It was only later that the group noticed she was missing. They quickly backtracked, yelling her name. Tensions rose as the sun began to set. And, that’s when they, too, saw…

(Stories needed to only touch on this 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 – Pilgrim at Tinker Cliffs by Jennifer Quail

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

2nd PLACE – Ice by Matt Rickett

(Matt won $250!)

3rd PLACE – The Trapper by Sabrina Fladness

(Sabrina won $200!)

109 other participants won prizes as well and 9 Honorable Mention winners 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 have NEVER seen so many fairy stories…EVER! MANY stories featured other magical creatures as well.

There were also more dreams and hallucinations than we could count.

There were lots of mirrors.

We also read about lots of flashing lights in the forest.

Lots of things the character saw would fade away as they got closer.

Oh, sooooo many “doors” in the forest. Doors, trap doors…you name it. The character would go through the door and, well, things didn’t usually go well for them after that.

Several characters either turned into someone else, or they turned into a younger or older version of themselves, or SAW a younger or older version of themselves.

The numerous demon possessions stories were creeping us out! 😉

Several stories ended with it all being a joke to freak out their friends.

There were LOTS of meadows beyond the woods and, in some of those, the character ran into a deceased relative.

LOTS of stories had time either going backwards, standing still, or speeding up/going forward.

TONS of portals!

And, many stories featured someone being found after being lost for a very long time.

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

These include:

The reader finds out at the very end that the main character is actually dead.

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 (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., 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

14 Tips To Give Yourself A Leg Up In Writing Contests!

Sign-up for the next contest!

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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