Fall 2024
The Pursuit is hosting its first-ever fall creative writing contest! We are looking for original, creative work in the form of the short story (1500-3000 words) or the short short story (500-1450 words). We are only accepting work from current ACIT students. The work must be original and must not have been published anywhere else.
Submissions will be judged by seven members of our ACIT faculty and administrative staff. The judges reflect a variety of backgrounds, which we believe will allow more open and insightful takes on students’ writing.
Three-Element Prompt
While students have two options in what form their story will be in (the short story or the short short story), all students will be responding to just one prompt. A three-element prompt simply means that your story must include all three elements listed below. Perceive and use these elements however you’d like (school-appropriate of course). Be creative! In the spirit of Halloween, the elements for this three-element prompt contest are:
a black cat, a piece of candy, and a monster
Story Format
In addition to word count, originality, and publication status (meaning the work you’re submitting has never been published before), all entries must be formatted correctly. Any entry formatted incorrectly will not be judged. If you need help in formatting your entry, seek out some help from your teachers or anyone you know who is good at basic formatting in Google Docs. Here are the format requirements:
- Font Style: Times New Roman
- Font Size: 12
- Spacing: Double
- Text Color: Black
- Title Text: Same font style and size as stated above. Your title should also be center-aligned.
- Body Text: The body of the document (which is to say, your story) should be left-aligned.
Submissions
Submission Window: October 13 – October 20
We will be offering a submission window in a Writing Contest Google Classroom. A Short Story “assignment” and Short Short Story “assignment” will be posted in the Classroom on Sunday, October 13 and will close Sunday, October 20 by 11:59 pm. No late submissions will be accepted.
NOTE: Participants may submit to both story categories; but, participants may not submit more than one story to a category. (In other words, you can submit one short story and one short short story, but you cannot submit more than one short story nor more than one short short story.)
Winners and Prizes
There will be winners for Best Short Story and Best Short Short Story. Winners and runners-up will be announced on October 31, and will be published in The Pursuit. Additional prizes to be announced soon!
Enter the Contest
Click HERE, or scan the code below to enter the contest. Why enter so early? By accessing the Google Classroom now, you’ll be privy to some soon-to-be-shared resources on creative writing tips and see who else has joined the contest. Why not cultivate some support by creating a writing group with some other participants? We might also hold a few writing workshops!
