Prompt: Write the opening sentence (25 words or fewer) to a story based on the photo to the left. (Official Rules)
Thanks to everyone who voted on WD’s Your Story #45! Here are the results. The winning entries, in ranking order, are as follows:
1. The umbrella slipped from her hand out of stunned fear as she turned and ran—ran from the man who murdered her a century before. (Shannon Grossman)
2. I wish I could say it had been the first time a woman had thrown an umbrella in my face. (Larkin Casey)
3. Karen threw her umbrella on the slick cobblestone alley when she realized, that by opening it, she had set off the bomb inside. (Beverly Semrow)
4. Her fingertips gripped me as if I was her life support, but quickly I was left upside down, drowning in the cold autumn rain. (Kara Haug)
5. I swear to God, I did not leave the house this morning with the intention of transforming my brother into a giant red umbrella. (Elisa Bonnin)
6. Rachel dropped her umbrella when she realized it was raining men. (Marla Johnson)
7. The new nanny’s first attempts with the flying umbrella didn’t go so well. (Laura Loomis)
8. Jewel’s skin burned as she ran through the streets—deserted, of course, because no one dared to risk the deadly acidic rain. (Kristie Bharjo)
9. No one knew why the stranger was running, but since she brought the first rain in three months, they didn’t really care. (Hannah Hixon)
10. In cities everywhere, umbrella cocoons appeared, then sprung to life, begetting the New Earth’s population with their first mission in mind: Eat the current inhabitants. (T.J. Coltrin)
For more writing exercises to spark your creativity, check out The Writer’s Lab!
Can we submit more than one entry? I have already submitted once.
Only one entry per contestant is permitted. Thanks, and good luck!
Does this contest cost anything?
No. The contest is free.
My first submission as well. I get the Idea of only submitting the prompt, but where do you get the length of the whole story from? thank you .
Scratching my head!
William
I have found the answer to my own question. Da! Just look a little closer and the answers are there.
Slapping my head
William
Sorry- I don’t quite understand the competition. Please clarify for me.
We write a prompt sentence of 25 words or less and then the story of 750 words? Is that right?
I just submitted the first sentence? May I submit the full story of 750 words?
Thank you
Resham
This prompt/contest requires that you only submit a sentence of 25 words or fewer. No full 750-word stories; they will be discarded. Good luck!
Ah, great. Thank you Tiffany.
Cheers,
Resham
I loved the photo! This was my first submission as well.
Awesome photo! Had lots of ideas…. Hard choice!
Tiffany,
Will my submission not be counted if the word count is just shy of 25 (it’s 28)?
-Pasha
Unfortunately, no. Submissions more than 25 words will not be counted. If you’d like, you can resubmit another entry that’s 25 words or fewer.
I’m new to this, too. Can’t wait to see what everyone else came up with.
Is there anywhere you can check to see where your sentence rated…if at all?
You can see the top 10 winning sentences when the contest is over and vote on the favorite sometime in late October on our forum.
I’m new to this and I just realized it said opening sentence. I wrote two sentences. Can I resubmit?
Yes, you may resubmit.
I accidentally copied my sentence wrong. Can I resubmit it?
Yes, you may resubmit your entry.
I look forward to reading people’s work. Best of luck to all.
djm.