It's the final week of our annual Fall into Fiction Short Story Contest. As I cast about for a writing prompt, I realize that the best prompt is one that is true to your personal experience. In this fall season of short story writing, I would like to encourage you to be true to your heart. Follow a story that comes from your personal experience. What are you currently enjoying? What are you struggling with? What season are you living through? Take that kernel and transform it into something extraordinary. I cannot tell you how to write it, but I can tell you that there is someone out there who will identify with your story. You are not alone. Your story will touch others.
Submit to the annual Fall into Fiction Short Story Contest by September 30, 2023. Entries will be published on our Short Édition Portal and available to print via Short Story dispensers. Prizes will be awarded to winners in five age categories for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.
This year for our Short Story Contest we are encouraging everyone to consider your personal story on the move. Perhaps it’s the story of how your family moved from hundreds of miles away. Maybe it’s memories of your childhood. It could be memories of your grandmother in a land far away. How has your move or your family’s move impacted you? What are some stories that your family shares with you from one generation to the next? It’s the connection that you have to the ones that you love that connects us all. We all have moved. We all miss someone from far away. How has moving transformed you and your family?
As you think about this extraordinary prompt of World on the Move, we encourage you to ask your grandparents to share their stories and for you to share yours. Put it down on paper and share your story with the San Jose community.
The second writing prompt is your Coming Out Story. You can transform your story to be as magical and special as you wish. You can also share the coming out story you hope to have or the one you wish you had. It could be true, or it could be fantasy – that's all up to you. You can transform your story to be as magical and special as you wish.
Whatever story you wish to tell, your readers want to share your joys and sorrows. We want to read your story.
Add a comment to: Fall into Fiction: Write Your Story