WriteFluence

Welcome to our latest story writing contest!

This unique and thrilling competition challenges you to take a single sentence and expand it into a captivating story. From the opening sentence to the grand finale, your imagination and storytelling skills will be put to the test as you weave a tale around a single phrase. Let your creativity run wild and bring your characters, settings, and plot to life!

Select any of the below sentences (which are opening lines from classics) as the opening line for your story submission. You have the freedom to build upon it in any way you choose – any theme, any genre.

• “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” – Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities.
• “It is a truth universally acknowledged…” – Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice.
• “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” – George Orwell, 1984.
• “It was a queer, sultry summer…” – Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar.
• “In my younger and more vulnerable years…” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby.

– SUBMISSION GUIDELINES –

• Any Theme / Genre
• Word count: 2000 – 3000 words. BE SURE OF YOUR WORD COUNT! Entries exceeding the word limits will be disqualified.
• Author eligibility: Writers of age 16 and above
• All entries must be in English
• Only original works that have not been published in print, digital or online publications will be considered.
• Submission fee: Rs. 199/- (which is equivalent to ~$2.25); to be paid using the payment button below.
• Format: 
  • Type your story on an MS Word document (Font: Arial 12) and submit using the participation link at the bottom of this post.
  • No email submissions will be entertained.
  • All entries must be formatted as a single-spaced word document.
• Deadline: July 31, 2023

– RESULTS –

Results will be announced after August 16th, 2023.

• 25 or more winning stories will be published in a book to be released thereafter.
• All winning writers will win an author feature on our website and social feed
• All winning writers will win 1 merit certificate (virtual) from WriteFluence after the publication release.

– OUR JURY –

Palash Basak has been working as a technical writer in a reputed organization in Bengaluru since 2015. He loves reading and writing fiction and vouches that watching old classics by Satyajit Ray, Bimal Roy or Guru Dutt can kill that dreaded writer’s block.

After having graduated and worked as a clerk for 8 years, Basak decided to complete his Masters in Mass Communication in 2001. Post that, he worked in several firms in the capacity of a Business Communications writer. He believes in the continuous process of learning and evolving and has enrolled himself into learning various creative writing and technical writing courses on self-learning apps. He is a die-hard Gulzar fan. He loves to read old classics in English and Bengali. When he’s not reading or writing; he is helping his daughter-in-law cope with the tantrums of his 18-months-old grand-son.

Basak’s WriteFluencing Mantra is: “Writing a perfect novel may takes years and a perfect writer may always want to go back and keep making changes to that very perfect novel every year!”

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Kaumudi Amrute’s writing workshops have received several amazing reviews from students of different age groups. Amrute is a retired educationist and has spread her wings now with her initiative of her small cultural venture ‘Kalaa Kalpana’ where she conducts short term writing workshops for all age groups and also runs handicraft workshops with the help of her students.
When she’s not teaching, Amrute loves to knit, bake and conduct experiments in the kitchen. Amrute lives in Wilmington with her husband and a dog; and loves reading Christina Rossetti, Sylvia Plath and Phillis Wheatley.

Amrute’s WriteFluencing Mantra is: “A good story is what a writer writes and re-writes several times until it is ready to reach impeccability in the eyes of a reader.”

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Arvind Solanki has been writing content for various websites, brands and products since 1998 and has also worked on a few projects as a ghost writer. His expertise lies in writing and editing children’s books and blogs. He has worked on more than 20 websites to create content for children related to general knowledge and stories.

When Arvind isn’t working on his writing projects, he loves to travel, watch sports, play with his four year old son and lose arguments to his wife.

Arvind’s WriteFluencing Mantra is: “A good writer will first read! Especially, a contest’s guidelines.”

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