
New Worlds
Write the first chapter of a science fiction story. Win $10,000.
Prizes
- Grand Prize:
- $10,000
- Second Place:
- $2,500
- 25 Runners-up:
- $50
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Jul 28, 2022
Submissions closed
Aug 17, 2022 3:59 AM CUT
Results
Sep 06, 2022
Prizes
- Grand Prize:
- $10,000
- Second Place:
- $2,500
- 25 Runners-up:
- $50
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Jul 28, 2022
Submissions closed
Aug 17, 2022 3:59 AM CUT
Results
Sep 06, 2022
About this challenge
The mysteries of the night sky have fueled storytelling since the dawn of time. The celestial bodies above tell a tale of the past while beckoning us to step into the future. What might that future hold? Commercial space travel? First contact with alien lifeforms? Technological advancements that extend the human lifespan to 500 years?
The Prompt:
For this Challenge, look to the stars and write the first chapter of an exciting new science fiction story. We are providing the first sentence to get you started. Be advised, space explorer: you must use the sentence below to start your mission into the unknown.
Here's the first sentence:
Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say.
As long as your story begins with this line, every detail is up to you. The sky is the limit—or should we say the galaxy’s edge? Good luck out there. See you on the other side of the universe.
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 August 16, 2022, at 11:59 PM EST will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.
The New Worlds 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.
Open challenges
Challenges you can enter now for a chance to win.
Challenge resources
Shining a Spotlight on the 2023 Vocal Writing Awards Shortlists
The Vocal Writing Awards concluded earlier this month with a flourish, when we announced the winners here. Now, we are delighted to share with you the incredible shortlisted entries for each category. Passing the muster of the Vocal Curation Team to be shortlisted is no small feat. The entries on this list displayed extraordinary creativity, innovation, and a profound ability to convey emotional resonance through their compositions. Please join us in honoring these entries by giving them some well-deserved reads and comments.
Vocal Curation TeamPublished about 16 hours ago in ResourcesSnafu Senryu Winners
Dana Crandell’s ‘Hand Stamp’, the winner of our Snafu Senryu Challenge, brings humor and a thoughtful, original idea to our theme. How to convey that awkward moment in seventeen syllables, neatly dispersed over three lines? The delight of this challenge is that form and content seem perfectly matched: no one wants to linger too long over these embarrassing moments (to say the least!) and yet we can’t help giving them space in our minds. Why not make good use of that space and turn anxiety into art?
Vocal Curation TeamPublished 8 days ago in ResourcesUnveiling the Winners of the 2023 Vocal Writing Awards 🥁
We've judged, you've judged, and we've all waited... It's finally time to announce the winners of the 2023 Vocal Writing Awards! This year's winners, comprised of the highest caliber works across 8 categories — haiku poetry, free verse poetry, romance fiction, young adult fiction, horror fiction, fantasy fiction, science fiction, and flash fiction — are so worth the read.
Vocal Curation TeamPublished 12 days ago in Resources