The Fantasy Prologue
Write the first chapter of a fantasy fiction story. We’ll give you the first sentence.
Prizes
- First Place:
- $10,000
- Second Place:
- $5,000
- 25 Runners-up:
- $50
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
May 10, 2022
Submissions closed
Jun 07, 2022 3:59 AM CUT
Results
Jun 21, 2022
Prizes
- First Place:
- $10,000
- Second Place:
- $5,000
- 25 Runners-up:
- $50
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
May 10, 2022
Submissions closed
Jun 07, 2022 3:59 AM CUT
Results
Jun 21, 2022
About this challenge
Hear ye! Hear ye! A new Challenge hath been proclaimed. 📜
The time has come. Dust off your wizard staff, don your mithril breastplate, and prepare yourself for an adventure of epic proportions. We are asking the Vocal community to craft the first chapter of a fantasy saga. Your story may be romantic, historical, or filled to the helmet brim with swashbuckling action. You can build new worlds populated with mystical creatures, or you can bring the magic into your own backyard. What's most important is that your tale captures the reader's attention and leaves them wanting more! And, who knows, maybe somewhere down the dusty road you’ll have a chance to write the rest of the story...
To begin your quest, we are supplying you with the first sentence. Be warned, fellow adventurers: You must use the line below to start your tale. After that, the rest is up to you.
Here’s the first sentence:
There weren't always dragons in the Valley.
Now be off! May your swords—er, pens—remain sharp, and your will resolute.
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 June 6, 2022, at 11:59 PM EST will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.
The Fantasy Prologue 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
Whispering Woods Challenge Winners
Congratulations to Morgan Christy Rickards for their winning Whispering Woods story, Guardian at the Gate. Morgan has been a Vocal creator since February 2021, and this is their first time placing in Challenge — well done, starting with a win! Guardian at the Gate draws evocatively from Welsh tales of the Cantre'r Gwaelod, a lost sunken kingdom between the forest and the sea. Heledd’s dangerous adventure pulls her towards the water but her spirit is anchored in the woods: Morgan’s writing is atmospheric and exciting.
Vocal Curation TeamPublished a day ago in ResourcesSnacktime Sonata Challenge Winners
Well, your Snacktime Sonatas made us hungry, and that’s about the highest compliment we have. Food — taste, smell, sensation — is a powerful conduit to the past, to memories pleasurable and painful and sometimes bittersweet, a mixture of comfort and challenge. Congratulations to Penny Fuller for Sativa — it’s a first win for Penny — a hymn to the “secret, unbounded/freedoms” of fresh peas in the pod. The narrative voice of the poem doesn’t really want to be outside, but finds joy in the green things of the earth; this is a lovely work of resilience.
Vocal TeamPublished 7 days ago in Resources'The Dragon Beside Me' Challenge Winners.
"The Dragon Beside Me" has ignited the spirits of writers across the Vocal community and PViM have had the exciting opportunity to work beside our friends at Vocal on discerning the winners. No easy feat let us tell you. From initial shortlist to final deliberations, the standard was as high as our spirits.
Proud ViM ProductionsPublished 29 days ago in Resources