Summary
- Free entry
- No more than 100 words
- 1st prize: $250 cash + your choice of free deck of writing prompts from storyenginedeck.com
- 2 x runner-up prizes: $50 gift card to storyenginedeck.com
- Submissions close on September 30 at 11:59pm ET
- Winner announced: late October
Basic Rules
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100 Words, 1 Entry
Check out our blogStories must be 100 words or less. 1 entry per person. Need tips for writing microfiction?
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Use the Prompt Below
You do not need to use the words on the cards or the literal meaning. Interptet the prompt however you like.
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No A.I.
We care about human creativity. We will only accept stories written by a real flesh-and-blood person.
Contest Writing Prompt
Judging Criteria
Good fiction often defies easy categorization, but judges will consider 5 elements to keep judging objective and fair.
- Style: Is the writing engaging, clear, and/or descriptive?
- Originality: Have we seen a story like this before?
- Use of micro-format: Does the story use the compressed format of microfiction to tell a larger story or present a larger theme?
- Use of prompt: Does the story interpret, respond to, challenge, or otherwise make use of the prompt?
- Je ne sais quoi: Sometimes a story has something special that doesn't show up on any rubric.
Win a $250 cash prize and one of our decks of writing prompts
Choose one of our acclaimed decks of writing prompts to accompany your $250 cash prize.
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The Story Engine Deck
Regular price $37.99Regular priceUnit price per -
Deck of Worlds
Regular price $41.99Regular priceUnit price per -
Lore Master's Deck
Regular price $57.99Regular priceUnit price per
Our decks of storytelling and worldbuilding prompts have helped more than 50,000 writers smash their creative blocks.
Contest Judges
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Mae Miller is an author and narrative designer. She's the lead writer at Greenheart Games where she tinkers away creating the fantasy world and many inhabitants of the gently satirical Tavern Keeper. She authored the microfiction project A Small Fiction, which was collected for publication by Unbound and 2018 and by Andrews McMeel in 2020.
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Brent Lambert is a Black, queer man who heavily believes in the transformative power of speculative fiction. He is a founding member of the Hugo Award-winning FIYAH Literary Magazine. His novella A Necessary Chaos is out from Neon Hemlock and he is part of the Black horror anthology All These Sunken Souls and the exceptionally gay I Want That Twink Obliterated.
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Jordan Shiveley is the author of the Dread Singles X account. Their work has been seen in a variety of short fiction venues such as The Best Horror of the Year Vol. 15, Nightmare Magazine, Voidjunk, Baffling, and tabletop roleplaying games. They live and work in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Learn more at jordanshiveley.com.
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Miroki Tong spent a decade as an award-winning performer and producer in theatre and film before taking the helm at The Story Engine. In 2020, she was nominated for WXN Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women. Miroki writes about wine under @9OuncesPlease and co-hosts podcast Tasting Together. By moonlight, Miroki is releasing her opera metal music as Mahjong Witch (Spotify, Apple Music).
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Peter Chiykowski is the creator of the The Story Engine Deck, Deck of Worlds, and six books of comics and microfiction. He has twice won the Aurora Award for “Best Graphic Novel” from the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association. His fiction, game writing, and poetry have appeared in the award-winning tabletop RPG EMBERWIND, the video game FRACTER, and publications like Best Canadian Poetry, Asimov’s Science Fiction and more.
Got your story ready?
We're looking forward to reading it!