Painted Prose
Write a story inspired by a work of art.
Prizes
- Grand Prize:
- $500
- Second Place:
- $250
- 10 Runners-Up:
- $50
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Jun 05, 2023
Submissions closed
Jul 01, 2023 3:59 AM CUT
Results
Jul 21, 2023
Prizes
- Grand Prize:
- $500
- Second Place:
- $250
- 10 Runners-Up:
- $50
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Jun 05, 2023
Submissions closed
Jul 01, 2023 3:59 AM CUT
Results
Jul 21, 2023
About this challenge
The Prompt
Write a story inspired by a work of art. Make the artwork your featured image and give credit to the artist in the caption.
"Art is not what you see, but what you make others see." - Edgar Degas
In honor of the launch of the Art Community, this challenge invites you to create a narrative that incorporates elements, themes, or characters from the chosen artwork. You may choose any artwork that resonates with you, whether it be a painting, sculpture, photograph, or any other form of visual art, created by yourself or another artist. The artwork will serve as a visual prompt, igniting your imagination and setting the stage for the story that unfolds.
You may explore the backstory of the artwork, delve into the emotions it evokes, or invent a completely new storyline inspired by its visual cues. The goal is to bring the artwork to life through the power of storytelling, immersing readers in a vivid and engaging tale.
Be sure to include the selected artwork as the featured image for your story and provide proper credit to the artist in the caption.
In order for your submission to qualify, it must:
- Be between 600-5,000 words.
- Be entered into the Art Community.
- Include the artwork that inspired the story as the featured image and credit the artist in the caption.
The Prizes
- Grand Prize: $500
- Second Place: $250
- 10 Runners-Up: $50
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 11:59 PM ET on June 30th will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.
The Painted Prose 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 Team5 days 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 Team13 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 Team19 days ago in Resources
