NYC Midnight Contests
The Short Story Challenge is a creative writing competition open to writers around the world. There are four rounds. In the 1st Round, writers are placed randomly in groups and are assigned a genre, subject, and character assignment. Writers have eight days to write an original story no longer than 2,500 words.
The judges choose a top five in each group to advance to the 2nd Round where writers receive new assignments, only this time they have three days to write a short story no longer than 2,000 words. The judges again choose a top five to advance to the 3rd Round, where writers have two days to write a short story no longer than 1,500 words. Judges select finalists, and the remaining writers are challenged to write a story no longer than 1,250 words in just 24 hours.
The 100-word Microfiction Challenge is a competition that challenges writers worldwide to create short stories no longer than 100 words. In the 1st Round, writers are placed randomly in groups and are assigned a genre, action, and word assignment. Writers have 24 hours to craft an original 100-word story in their assigned genre, with the assigned action taking place and incorporating the assigned word.
The judges choose a top 15 in each group to advance to the 2nd Round, where writers receive new assignments and again have 24 hours to craft original stories. Judges select the top eight writers in each group from the 2nd Round to advance to the Final Round, where writers will receive their final assignment of the competition
GENRE: Science Fiction
ACTION: Applying Sunscreen
WORD: Bulb
Legacy
He sits, deep in the Earth between leaden walls and breaths of vented air. Particles smash, raw and fast and cataclysmic. A Big Bang of miniature proportions, until finally, the blazing bulb of a man-made star roars in an armored chamber.
His hands spread mud mixed from the dust of a distant sun-scorched planet as skin reddens, then flakes. He has planned for this. Lathering, repeating, lather, repeat. Rays of poison ripple past precautions, exceed his careful calculations. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
Like a dream that flew too close, he burns. But imagine the look on their faces.
Round 1: Submitted March 22, 2025
8th place in group - See official feedback from the judges!
GENRE: Fairy Tale
SUBJECT: Extinction
CHARACTER: A good listener
Adagia nourishes her garden of one-of-a-kind plants by repeating the birdsong from a nearby forest until one day, the birds do not sing. Her garden begins to die, but a confident man arrives to insist on solving all her problems.
Round 1: Submitted February 2, 2025
3rd place in group - See official feedback from the judges!
GENRE: Political satire
SUBJECT: A blackout
CHARACTER: An architect
When an unexpected snowstorm threatens the small town of Live Oak, the City Council must do the one thing they hoped to never have to do. Govern.
(To be published 10 days after round 2 results announced)
Round 2: Submitted April 6, 2025
3rd place in group - See official feedback from the judges!
GENRE: Ghost Story
ACTION: Attracting
WORD: Declare
A Chilly Night in March
My rocking chair creaks from our porch as I beckon to the mist-cloaked woods. I can’t rock for long, lest other evils find me first. The hills of Blue Ridge have shifted and churned for a billion years, creating cracks in an already thin veil.
Can you hear it? The moan of my chair echoes the vows we declared. The vows you dissolved too early, ten years to the day.
A gust flutters the fuzz on the scarf you made. Trees like guardians rustle and sway to let you through. I smile as your chair begins to rock.
Round 2: Submitted May 17, 2025
Honorable Mention (10th place does not advance) - See official feedback from the judges!
GENRE: Romantic Comedy
SUBJECT: Tech-savvy
CHARACTER: A gymnast
Locker 425
The fancy gadgets in the Olympic Village have left Benjamin fumbling to meet his basic needs, until a secret admirer offers support.
(To be published 10 days after round 2 results announced)
Round 2: Submitted June 8, 2025
Did not advance