As a judge for one of the world’s biggest short story competitions, Reedsy Prompts, I’ve seen my fair share of stories — the brilliant, the bizarre, and the ones that crash and burn before the second paragraph.
If you’re wondering how to make your writing stand out among hundreds of submissions, here are 5 tips to help you out. When implemented effectively, these will not only win you a judge’s discerning approval, but maybe even help you bring home the gold!
1. Start strong
A story’s first paragraph is everything. Actually, scratch that — you should hook a judge from the very first line. If you’re not enticing them to keep reading, you’re making their job too easy… in the sense that they’ll likely skim the rest of the piece, then discard it.
Some bad starts I’ve unfortunately encountered more than once:
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- “It was a dark and stormy night.” (Cliché.)
- “Hi, my name is ___ and I’m ___ years old.” (Boring.)
- Five paragraphs of exposition before anything interesting happens.
Strong beginnings usually drop us into a specific moment or deliver a punch. Try starting your story in the middle of a tense scene, or raise a question that’ll prompt the reader to keep going and uncover the answer.
You could also aim to confuse the reader (in a good way); for example, one of my favorite first lines ever is, “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” George Orwell definitely knew what was up.
2. Make every word earn its place
Unlike with novels, there’s no room for wandering when it comes to short stories. Try your best to make every sentence serve a purpose: move the plot, reveal character, or build tension.
A few pitfalls I often see:
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- Describing the weather for multiple paragraphs (unless the storm you’re describing eats people, skip it).
- Flashbacks that take us further away from the story, not deeper into it.
- Overwriting. “She moved with a feline grace, each footfall a whisper on the wind-blessed floorboards…” = cut this in half, at least! Something like “She moved soundlessly across the floor…” could work just as well.
For the Reedsy Prompts contest, each submission can only be between 1,000 and 3,000 words. I’ve seen countless writers waste space by spending half the acceptable word count on too much exposition or info-dumping.
In that vein, question every word in your story before you submit it. Does every single adjective and adverb need to go in there? Can you convey something in 5 words instead of 15? Even for contests with no upper word count limit, remember that concision is still king.
3. Develop memorable characters
Short stories may not allow the luxury of excess detail, but that doesn’t mean your protagonist should be totally two-dimensional. Even if you can’t explore their backstory as much as you’d like, you can still come up with characters who stick with readers and feel real!
Some character-related mistakes to avoid:
A protagonist who doesn’t really change or grow. They never learn anything, face any consequences, or evolve by the end. (Makes me wonder: “Why did I read this story in the first place?!”)
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- Characters who are walking stereotypes. (You know: the brooding hero, the quirky sidekick, the evil villain with no depth, etc.)
- Too many characters. Again, you’ve got limited space in a short story — keep it to a cast of 2-3 main characters at most!
- The best stories I’ve read featured characters who leapt off the page. Don’t just give a laundry list of traits or hobbies; instead, show readers who your characters are through their actions, decisions, and dialogue. Give your characters clear flaws and desires that’ll both drive the plot forward and make them appear more authentic and complex.
4. Stick the landing
A brilliant beginning, as mentioned, will grab a judge in seconds. A great ending, meanwhile, will ensure they remember your story — which is crucial if they’re reading lots of them for a contest. The stories with staying power are the ones that win!
Some things you should always avoid doing:
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- Kill your protagonist just for shock value. (Yawn.)
- End with a dream. (Or worse: “It was all a dream.”)
- Leave everything unresolved and call it “literary.”
The best endings do two things: they feel both surprising and inevitable. They echo something from earlier. They reward the reader for paying attention. Something I personally love seeing is when writers revisit their story’s opening image or line in a new light at the end. That feels like closure — even if the story doesn’t get tied up with a neat little bow.
Think of the last time you went to the cinema and watched a really good movie. If you’re like me, you probably stay in your seat for a few minutes to process everything, even when everyone’s getting up to leave. The credits start rolling, the lights come on, but you’re still sitting, unable to stop thinking about what you just saw. Aspire to something similar in your own writing!
5. Know the terrain
You wouldn’t wear a clown suit to a funeral. Likewise, don’t send your erotic fantasy epic to a literary journal running a climate fiction contest, and keep your bloodthirsty space pirates far away from any contemporary romance competitions!
In other words: research the contest(s) you’re submitting to. There’s no point in writing an amazing story if you’re just going to send it somewhere completely unsuitable.
Some tips to help increase your chances:
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- Read past winners of a given contest. Get a feel for the tone, themes, and style the judges gravitate toward.
- Find out more about the contest’s judges, if possible, to see what their personal preferences are.
- Understand the contest’s mission or values. Some contests are associated with specific causes or communities, such as environmental issues or social justice, so your story should highlight or align with those values where possible.
And a few final thoughts: judging a short story contest isn’t a cold, clinical process. We judges want to fall in love with your story. We’re hoping you’ll blow us away.
At the end of the day, it’s about more than just a clever idea or a catchy one-liner: it’s about crafting a piece that’ll surprise readers and stick with them for a long time. So write the short story only you can write. Then — and only then — should you hit submit.
