
Good Deeds
Tell us about the small acts of selflessness or generosity you've experienced.
Prizes
- First place:
- $2,500
- Second place:
- $1,000
- Third place:
- $500
Matching total prize donations to benefit World Central Kitchen.
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Dec 11, 2020
Submissions closed
Jan 29, 2021 4:59 AM CUT
Results
Feb 02, 2021
Prizes
- First place:
- $2,500
- Second place:
- $1,000
- Third place:
- $500
Matching total prize donations to benefit World Central Kitchen.
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Dec 11, 2020
Submissions closed
Jan 29, 2021 4:59 AM CUT
Results
Feb 02, 2021
About this challenge
‘Tis the season of giving back! Spreading generosity can guarantee to make somebody’s day a lot brighter. So we’re in search of more ways to give back to our communities at an individual level. In the end, any and all acts of kindness are ways to express our gratitude towards each other!
Enter our Good Deeds Challenge and help us inspire more acts of generosity. Whether someone in front of you in line paid for your coffee or you gave your Christmas bonus to a cause you believe in, we want you to tell us more about the small acts of selflessness you've experienced. This can be anything good that you did for someone, or something that someone did for you! Small gestures are underrated so let's celebrate some of these good deeds and encourage others to do the same. In an effort to give back, we'll be making a donation to the World Central Kitchen. With your help, we can build a better future together!
How to enter
For your story to be eligible, it must be between 600 and 5,000 words and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until January 28, 2021, at 11:59 PM EST will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.
To be eligible to win the grand prize, second place, or third place 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 35 countries will not be eligible to win.
Open challenges
Challenges you can enter now for a chance to win.
Out of Season
Write a story about something appearing, happening, or returning at exactly the wrong time of year.
$1,000 Grand Prize9 days leftNegative Space
Write a poem shaped by what's missing. Let an absence, omission, or empty space become as important as what you put on the page.
$1,000 Grand Prize16 days leftYou Are Here
Write a story entirely in second person that puts the reader somewhere they aren't supposed to be.
$1,000 Grand Prize23 days leftOctober
Write a poem that makes October feel like a place you can enter.
$1,000 Grand Prize30 days leftDead Air
Write a horror story about a broadcast, recording, phone call, or transmission that should not exist.
$1,000 Grand Prize37 days leftScroll No More
Imagine that every smartphone in the world suddenly stops working. Write about what happens next.
$1,000 Grand Prize44 days leftNo One Remembers It That Way
Write about a memory that you and someone else remember completely differently.
$1,000 Grand Prize51 days leftSteal From Yourself
Return to something you wrote years ago and use one idea, image, character, or line from it to create something entirely new.
$1,000 Grand Prize58 days leftNot on the Menu
Write about something memorable you ate that you'd never find on a restaurant menu.
$1,000 Grand Prize65 days left
Challenge resources
Twenty-Four Hours Challenge Winners
The best Twenty-Four Hours entries weren’t really about fitting as much as possible into a day. They were about showing us a version of a place that felt personal, shaped by favorite stops, old memories, local quirks, and the little things you only notice only after knowing somewhere for a long time.
By Vocal Curation Team6 days ago in Resources
The Most Overrated Challenge Winners
The Most Overrated challenge wasn't really about tearing down popular things. A lot of the best critiques came from writers who understood the appeal, sometimes even loved the work, but had one particular thing they couldn’t get past. That made for arguments that felt less like hot takes and more like conversations with something the writer had actually spent time thinking about. They gave credit where it was due, then got specific about characters, choices, or ideas that kept the hype from matching their experience.
By Vocal Curation Team14 days ago in Resources








