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Once upon a time 🧚


Earlier this week, we published a blog post about modern fairy tales, and it got us thinking about the fact that no genre of literature is without its own set of tropes — and that certain literary tropes we still see commonly today are rooted centuries back.

This week's prompts are all elements pulled from fairy tales — both modern and old. You can feel free to play them straight: in other words, using the trope traditionally. Or you can feel free to turn the trope on its head. That's the great thing about tropes: they might provide you with a foundation that's already well-worn, but the opportunities to make it your own are endless.
  1. Write a story around the theme: Be careful what you wish for.
     
  2. Write a story that involves love at first sight.
     
  3. Write a rags-to-riches story.
     
  4. Write a story in which characters are warned not to go into the woods.
     
  5. Write a story about a character on a quest, trying to "prove themselves."

Short Story Contest — $50 Reward


Reedsy challenges you to create a short story based on these prompts. Winners will be featured on Reedsy Prompts and receive $50 via PayPal! In order to have your story considered, it is important you follow the submission guidelines.

The latest winner 🏆
Congratulations to the latest winner, Ruey fern Tan! Their short story, "On Becoming Marcus," is based on the prompt: "Someone in the story has a lot of hard lessons to learn."

The 'The Plot Thickens' edition of our contest received 251 submissions! Thank you to all who submitted! You can read all of the entries here.

Submission Guidelines:
  • Go to this week's Reedsy Prompts contest page. 
  • Select the prompt you'd like to submit a story to.
  • If you haven't already, sign up for a free Reedsy Prompts account.
  • Enter your title and story, and then hit "Submit story."
  • The length should be 1,000-3,000 words.
  • The deadline to submit a short story based on any of the above prompts is the end of the day on November 22nd, at 11:59pm EST. 
Any other questions? Check out our Terms of Use or FAQ!
Looking forward to reading your stories!

– Arielle, Blog Editor @ Reedsy

P.S - Want to brush up on your short-story-writing skills? Our free, online course can help you out. Check it out here!
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