Behind the Last Window
Write a dystopian fiction story that includes a window.
Prizes
- Grand Prize:
- $1,000
- Second Place:
- $250
- 10 Runners-Up:
- $25
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Dec 13, 2022
Submissions closed
Dec 31, 2022 4:59 AM CUT
Results
Jan 20, 2023
Prizes
- Grand Prize:
- $1,000
- Second Place:
- $250
- 10 Runners-Up:
- $25
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Dec 13, 2022
Submissions closed
Dec 31, 2022 4:59 AM CUT
Results
Jan 20, 2023
About this challenge
The Prompt
Write a dystopian fiction story about the last window to the outside world, that starts with this first sentence:
The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in his room.
In order for your submission to qualify, it must:
- Be between 600-5,000 words
- Start with the first sentence from the prompt
The Prizes
- Grand Prize: $1,000
- Second Place: $250
- 10 Runners-Up: $25
How to enter
For your story to be eligible, it should be between 600 and 5,000 words and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until December 30th, at 11:59 PM ET will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.
The Weekend Getaway Challenge is exclusive to Vocal+ members. To learn more and upgrade to Vocal+ visit https://vocal.media/vocal-plus.
To be eligible to win the grand prize, second place, or runners-up prizes, you must be over the age of 13 and residing in a country where Stripe is available at the time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need to have a Stripe account created and connected in order to receive the prizes. For this reason, entrants located outside of any of these countries will not be eligible to win.
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Challenge resources
You Are Here Challenge Winners
For You Are Here , we asked writers to put readers somewhere they weren't supposed to be. What really stood out in the stories that placed was how often that line wasn't so clear. Sometimes you knew you were pushing your luck, sometimes you had every right to be there, and sometimes you didn't get much of a choice. Writing in second person made those situations feel a lot harder to watch from the sidelines.
By Vocal Curation Teama day ago in Resources
Negative Space Challenge Winners
For Negative Space , we asked writers to explore how much can be said through what's left out. Our favorite entries found clever ways to make those silences, gaps, and unanswered questions feel just as important as the words themselves.
By Vocal Curation Team9 days ago in Resources
Out of Season Challenge Winners
We’re trying something new with our challenge awards structure. Starting with Out of Season , each challenge will recognize one grand prize , four winners , and ten honorable mentions . That’s 15 stories to celebrate, with a little extra love for the top pick. For this challenge, the strongest stories made the timing matter. Something showing up early or returning when it shouldn’t changed what people did, what they assumed, or how they saw each other. There was humor in trying to carry on as usual, and sadness in realizing why the usual schedule no longer worked. Sometimes the wrong time of year turned out to be just when someone needed it.
By Vocal Curation Team16 days ago in Resources
