PROMPTED: #4

May Challenge [Unofficial]

By Randy BakerPublished 2 years ago • Updated 2 years ago • 3 min read

Top Story - May 2024

PROMPTED: INTRODUCTION

There are now three Prompted Writer's Challenges in the books. Overall, I would consider the series to be a success, but the participation has slowed down. Hopefully, this one will generate some enthusiasm. I am excited to see what the entries will hold!

For Prompted: #4, we will be returning to the art of the short story. But...there's a catch. There will still be some poetry involved! Keep reading to find out what I've concocted for this month's challenge.

I welcome your feedback and encourage you to join in the fun. Also, please help spread the word. The more the merrier! I enjoy hosting these challenges, but participation is key to their success.

Now, let the games begin!

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THE PROMPT

The May Challenge will be to write a short story between 1,000 and 3,000 words in length. To be clear, this is not a flash fiction, or microfiction, challenge. Your entry must be newly posted to Vocal, not something from your archive.

For this challenge, you must choose a poem and then retell it in the form of a short story. The poem can be one that you have written, a poem by another Vocal creator, or a poem by any other poet (famous, or not). The only stipulation on the poem is that it must be publicly accessible online. You will need to include a link to the poem as an Editor's Note in your submitted short story.

I am including an example from my own writing to better explain the challenge. I wrote a poem called "Song of the Jelly Man" several years ago, which you can read here:

"Song of the Jelly Man" by Randy Baker

A few years later, I wrote a short story called "The Jelly Man", a retelling of the story contained in the original poem.

"The Jelly Man" by Randy Baker

When you submit your completed short story, please include an "Editor's Note" at the end of your submission. This note should name the poem you used as inspiration for your short story, as well as a link to an online copy of the poem.

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THE RULES

The rules are simple.

Follow the instructions above for using the prompt. Your story must be posted in the Fiction community. You must provide the link to your story in the comments below. Only those entries that follow these instructions correctly will be considered for a prize.

Entries will be accepted from the time the challenge is publicly posted until 11:59 PM (US Central Time) on May 20, 2024. Winners of the challenge will be announced on, or before, May 25, 2024. Only one entry per person will be accepted for this challenge.

It is not required that you link back to this post for your entry to be valid, but it would be appreciated if you help spread the word by doing so. To reiterate, you must post a link to your entry in the comments below.

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THE PRIZES

Winners will be chosen by me, at my sole discretion. Prizes will be distributed on Vocal as Tips. Winners are determined by content and quality, but you MUST have tipping enabled to receive payment. The awards will be as follows:

1st Place: $50.00

2nd Place: $30.00

3rd Place: $20.00

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Keep track of this and future prompts by hitting the "subscribe" button on my profile.

Questions or feedback? Let me know in the comments. Good luck!

- Randy

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