Results: Text Thoughts [an unofficial challenge]

THE RESULTS ARE IN! Welcome to the results for my May/June 2024 unofficial writing challenge "Text Thoughts"!

I would like to sincerely apologize for being so late to posting! This was originally supposed to be released on June 22nd, and I only got to it now... I have started a new full-time job (on top of my other two) and have had some family come to visit, so it has been a busy time. I'm hoping to stay a little bit more on top of things in the coming days!

It is likely I could be switching from bimonthly (twice a month) challenges to just monthly challenges due to work load, but we'll play that by ear!

Enough of that. Let's get into it!

You can view the original post here:

Thank you to everyone who participated! This was definitely not an easy prompt to grasp, but I'm grateful to those of you who entered!

For this post, I will first go over the prompt and challenge rules, for those just tuning in, and then dive into the Top 3 entries (including the 1st place prizewinner and 2 runners up) accompanied by rationales. Then at the end, I will include a full list of entries with hyperlinks!

Here we go!

THE CHALLENGE

The Prompt

Write a story that is entirely made of a text message conversation(s).

I was pretty impressed with all the entries! Everyone took a pretty different take on "text conversation" and I absolutely loved that! I try to give you as much creative freedom as possible, and I'm always impressed with the directions you guys take.

Some notes/reminders:

For the challenge, the prize will be awarded to the 1st place winner only. The prize is that I will subscribe to you if I haven't already, and read, like, and comment on five of your works that I have not already read! This is meant to boost your work/posts/profile, and be a community building exercise.

I do allow for multiple entries by the same author to be submitted; however, only one entry per author can be featured in the Top 3. This means that if two of your entries were Top 3 worthy, the highest ranking one will be featured.

THE TOP THREE

(In reverse order, to build suspense!)

3RD PLACE: "An Unexpected Conversation" by Paul Stewart

In third place, we have Paul Stewart's "An Unexpected Conversation." Paul is a great writer on Vocal, and creates amazing twists and turns in so many of his works. I specifically selected this one to be featured due to its incredible drama, and the unexpected ending! Congratulations, Paul!

2ND PLACE: "Unread" by Silver Serpent Books

In second place, we have Silver Serprent Books' "Unread." This story quickly took traction on Vocal, as a May 2024 Top Story, and for obvious reasons! The story pulls at our heart strings and makes us all weep for the characters! We see similar stories all the time in real life... and fear it everyday. An amazing creation of real fears. Congratulations, Silver Serpent Books!

1ST PLACE: "The Shadow & the Eagle" by Amanda Starks

And in first place, taking the prize, we have Amanda Starks' "The Shadow & the Eagle"! This story is absolutely incredible! I loved the metaphorical bits of it, the strength of the storyteller, the creativity and imagination that goes into just a simple conversation between two characters. Absolutely beautiful, Amanda! I adore your writing greatly. This was without a doubt a well deserved win! Congratulations, Amanda!

P.S. I could not believe that your story got so little attention when it was first published. Hopefully this helps to boost it!

I also wanted to note-- Amanda made two entries, and both were incredibly strong. I had to choose between the two for the Top 3 (since I have my one feature per author rule), but the second entry, "What are Friends For?" is amazing, and I believe it deserves an Honorable Mention! It is actually a June 2024 Top Story!

Note to Amanda Starks: I have subscribed to you, and I will be reading, liking, and commenting on five of your works in the next few days (or week or so, if I'm being more realistic... aha)! Congratulations on your win, and thank you so much for entering!

A NOTE FROM BELLE

Congratulations to everyone in the Top 3! I wanted to, again, thank you (everyone) who participated in the challenge! It has been a great pleasure to host these, and I absolutely love reading your work!

I'd also like to congratulate everyone whose entries made Top Story on Vocal! I love seeing these amazing authors get the recognition they deserve!

Other Challenges:

I want to remind you that I post unofficial microfiction challenges on a regular basis! It has been bimonthly lately, but I think it will go back to monthly just for the sake of availability. I will post them on the 1st of every month (or around there), and if I post two in the month, I will also post another on/around the 15th. These challenges stay open for a month to gain entries, and then I post the results a week after the deadline!

I currently have two other ongoing challenges, including:

"The Conviction [an unofficial challenge]" which closes on June 30th, and the prompt is to:

Write a story that includes, at some point, the sentence "I did what I had to do."

And "Riddle Me This [an unofficial challenge]" which closes on July 15th, and the prompt is to:

Write a story that either begins or ends in a riddle.

You can also view all of my open and closed challenges in my pillar post, linked below!

THE ENTRIES

Here is a complete list of all 8 entries, in the order they were submitted. Again, thank you so much. I invite you all to go and read the other entries, to like and comment, and share love for your fellow contestants! Please go and boost their pages!

1. Dharrsheena Raja Segarran "The Cabin of Silence"
2. Mike Singleton - Mikeydred "The Business Model"
3. Christy Munson "The Plan"
4. Shirley Belk "Tournament Trash Talking"
5. Silver Serpent Books "Unread"
6. Amanda Starks "The Shadow & the Eagle"
7. Amanda Starks "What are Friends For?"
8. Paul Stewart "An Unexpected Conversation"