Monday's Minute Challenge: Writing Prompt Contest for Teens & Up

A quick writing challenge (and contest) to help get your creative juices flowing for the new week.

1. The entry must be between 150 - 300 words. Otherwise, your entry will not be accepted. (In order to see how many words your entry is, write it in Microsoft Word, or you can copy and paste it here.)
2. The deadline for the contest will be the following Friday. 
3. You do not have to be a teen to enter the contest.
4. The same person cannot win first place two weeks in a row. (Some exceptions may apply.)
5. If there is at least 5 entries, the panel of judges will select a 2nd and 1st place. If there is at least 10 entries, the judges will select a 3rd, 2nd, and 1st place. However, if there is under 5 entries, the panel of judges will only select one winner.
6. If there are at least 10 entries, there will be a few Honorable Recognitions, which are the next highest winners. They will receive a badge, as well as 3 points.
7. The winners will receive a badge for their blog, as well as extra points (see the point system below).
8. The winner will be chosen based on the judges's preferences, as well as the following questions: Does this entry capture my attention immediately? Does it make me want to continue reading? Is the writing clear? They will also take into consideration the writer's voice and style--not necessarily technical issues, such as grammar, punctuation, etc. 
9. If you have entered at least 3 contests and have yet to place, send me an email and I will be happy to give you a critique of your last entry, which will include tips and suggestions.
10. This is only for fun and to stretch your writing muscles--not necessarily to be taken too seriously. =)

Prizes:
More prizes to come!

• 30 points: You will be able to create your own prompt that will be used in Monday's Minute Challenge!
• 40 points: You will receive a critique based on your current week's entry.
• 50 points: You will receive a free blog critique and helpful suggestions.
• 70 points: You will receive an 700 word critique on your novel, short story, article, etc.
• 80 points: You can help judge one of the contests!
• 90 points: You will receive two weeks free in my Write Now Mentoring Program!
• 100 points: You will receive a free ebook of PURPLE MOON. =)
• 150 points: You will receive a personalized handmade notepad. 

Earning Points:

• 20 points: If you sign up for a month of my Write Now Mentoring Program!
• 5 points: If you post a review of Purple Moon on Amazon and/or Goodreads. (Let me know in the comments if you do!)
• 5 points: If you join the Purple Moon Publicity Group on Facebook. (You will have the chance to participate in monthly giveaways!)
• 3 points: If you cast your vote! (See the end of this post.)
• 3 points: If you post your entry on your blog, linking back to this post
• 3 points: If your writing prompt is selected for Monday's Minute Challenge.
• 2 points: If you post a tweet about Monday's Minute Challenge, with hashtag #MondaysMinute (You may tweet more than once in a week, however the points will only count for one tweet.)
• 2 points: If you follow this blog via Google Friend Connect. (Let me know in the comments if you do!)
• 2 points: If you "like" my Facebook page. (Let me know in the comments if you do!)
• 2 points: If you follow my Twitter account. (Let me know in the comments if you do!)
• 2 points: Become a "fan" of me on Goodreads. (Let me know in the comments if you do!)
• 2 points: Follow me on Pinterest. (Let me know in the comments if you do!)
• 10 points: If you win 1st place in the writing prompt contest.
• 7 points: If you win 2nd place in the writing prompt contest.
• 5 points: If you win 3rd place in the writing prompt contest.
• 3 points: You receive an Honorable Recognition. 

Points Tracker:

• Angela: 13
• Anna: 44
• Armina: 20
• Benj. Evans: 40
• Brittney: 3
• Brooke: 15
• CeCe: 25
• Elisabeth: 72
• Emily F: 25
• Evan: 10
• FlyGirl: 15
• Funto: 9
• His Princess: 87
• Jacqueline: 59
• Jillian: 10
• Kaira Anne: 35
• Kaley: 2
• Karina: 23
• Katheline: 16
• Katie: 58
• Kendra: 40
• Lottie Le: 23
• Maddie J: 5
• Mary B: 103
• Marsh: 20
• Rcubed: 69
• Rebekah B: 53
• Russian Pianist: 38
• Sarah: 103
• S. Brightly: 68
• Sofia Marie: 5
• Tara T: 61
• TW Wright: 142

*Points are updated every Monday.

*When you request to use your points for a prize, the points you use will be taken away from your total. In other words, when you reach 30 points, you can claim the prize for 30 points--but it will cost you all of your points. Or you can continue to try and earn points so you can claim a bigger prize.

 

If you have entered at least 3 contests and have yet to win, please send me an email and I will be happy to give you a critique of your last entry and offer suggestions.

The judge panel chooses these winners based on a point system (not to be confused with the point system mentioned above!) 

Thanks so much to everyone who voted! It helps the judge panel tremendously.

Please don't discouraged if you have yet to place (or haven't in a few weeks). The competition becomes more and more tough each week, but the judges still think every one of your entries are impressive. 

Remember: The more times you enter, the more chances you have of winning. So keep it up!

Also: A blog post will soon be posted on how to strengthen your writing and increase your chances of winning. =)

(Keep in mind that the judges are not aware of which entry belongs to which participant until after the judging is complete.)

The entries that the judges thought was the most intriguing (based on rule #4) is ... 

Third place winner: 

That night, the door on the old truck was harder to open than usual.
Than again, no one ever promised it would be easy. 
My grip on the worn leather handle of my suitcase loosened as I tossed it into the middle seat, clambering in after it and settling on the faded upholstery, slamming the creaking door behind me in what I hoped was a signal of defiance and not finality. 
Outside, I heard Livie burst into tears.
I wouldn't meet her tear-filled eyes. The sound muffled suddenly, and I could picture it- Livie burying her head into Mom's shirt, the way she always did when she was beyond comfort. I clenched my jaw against the tears rising in my own eyes.
I didn't care what anyone else said, this wasn't right.
I heard Bridget shift slightly in the driver's seat, too near to mine, as if waiting for me to say something. From the corner of my eye I could see her looking at me, but I only pulled my baseball cap further over my face. She could wallow in the silence. Maybe the lack of empty words would teach her something.
Instead, she missed the lesson and dared to speak, her synthetic words polluting the last of my fresh air. "It's all for the best, Laney. You'll see."
See? My fists clenched in unrepentant anger. All I saw was the only people I'd ever dared to call "family", dared to love, being ripped away from me. How dare she?
The truck lurched as she pulled away from the curb, and I heard little Peter cry out. In that instant, my heart shattered. Breaking my last and final rule, I looked back, realizing this may be the last time I ever saw my home or my family again.

Congratulations, S. Brightly! Click here for your badge. =)

Second place winner: 

Hunted. The word rang through her ears. She could hear the hounds barking from the other side of the river that was roaring behind her. War cries sounded ahead of her, slowly growing closer. They would soon be upon her. The chill wind swept her hair back, her cloak ruffling in the wind. Her horse shifted nervously, knowing the danger they were in. 
“I know your scared girl; I am too, but we need to keep our wits about us. We obviously can’t go straight and we can’t go back either, which leaves us with the mountains to our right and the cliffs to our left.” Amira knew her horse could not make it up the steep mountainside and doubted if she could do any better. She looked down the cliff, a sheer 200 foot drop with sharp, jagged rocks waiting at the bottom. She was trapped.
Amira tried to think of a way out of this, the way she always did, but she could not concentrate. 'Come on Amira, you can do this, just think!' But for the first time in her 13 years of living, Amira was too scared to think. She had always had some option of postponing the danger so she could come up with a plan, but now there was nowhere to run.
The shouts grew louder, and then they were upon her. The mob slowly forced her to retreat until she was nearing the edge of the cliff. They waved their spears toward her, threatening to hurl them at her. Men shouted commands over the viciously growling dogs. The hounds drew nearer, her horse drawing closer and closer to the drop that would surely be their deaths. Amira’s horse stumbled to keep her footing. A hound sprang upon them and then they were falling.

Congratulations, Armina! Click here for your badge. =)

First place winner: 

He looked back, realizing this may be the last time he ever saw his home or his family again. He slid his hand along the unsanded rail. Where splinters had once torn the skin, the irregular grain of the wood now knobbed over lumpy callouses. How many times had the thought crossed his mind? Innumerable. Once it had perturbed; now it flitted with an ironic levity that quirked a smile on his lips. 
Home. What was home? Smokestacks choking out their cigar breath into a steely gray existence stained with red? A stuffy apartment with sheets hung from the ceiling being the only dividers between Grisha repeating multiplication facts and Babushka clucking about the price of herring? Plywood walls that failed to stifle the drunken expletives of the factory workers that Mama had to share a kitchen with? At least curses at the conservatory accompanied interesting things like hammers breaking on the pianos or impossible passages of octaves.
His wry smile untwisted, softening into fond remembrance. The conservatory, its witch-hat spires a landmark among city residents. Saratov, untouched by the raging war. Beautiful Mia with gold-flecked eyes who could talk about Brahms with him in the abandoned practice rooms until midnight.
The thought of Mia quickened his pace. He turned sharply, not caring that his broad shoulders clipped the odd angles of the narrow stairwell. At the base, instead of gingerly touching the greasy knob and imagining some hideous creak as it turned, he pushed open the door, letting the bells tinkle. Let them hear; he didn’t care. Defiance inflated within. No more would he slink around, worried they would discover who he was.
What was there to hide anymore? Nothing of significance. 
Only himself.

Congratulations, The Russian Pianist! Click here for your badge. =)

Honorable Recognitions: 

These winners will receive a badge, as well as 3 extra points:

1. FlyGirl
2. Emily
3. TW Wright

Congratulations! Click here for your badge. =)

Thanks so much to everyone who participated!

• Submit your response in the comments below. 
• Your response should range between 150 - 300 words. 
• The deadline for the contest will be this Friday. 
• Let me know which prompt you have chosen.
• If you'd rather not submit your post in the comments, you may email it to me instead.

Remember:

1) Your response should range between 150 - 300 words, otherwise it will not be accepted. (Copy and paste your entry here to count the words, or you could write it on Microsoft Word.)

2) The deadline for the contest is this Friday.

Choose at least one:

Note: You can always combine the prompts into one entry.

• (Optional) Write a passage continuing your entry from last week week (or whichever week you'd prefer). If you can, try to continue it using one of the following prompts.
• Write a passage using these items: stool, pillow, flashlight (submitted by His Princess)
• Write a passage based on this picture (submitted by CeCe)
• Write a passage incorporating this phrase: There was only one thing left to do: run. (submitted by Katie)

Submit your prompt idea!:

The prompts that are used for Monday's Minute Challenge are submitted by the participants. Here's how this works:

• You will be able to submit 3 prompts each week in the same format as above: three objects, one picture, and a piece of dialogue or phrase.
• On Mondays, I will choose 3 prompts that have been submitted by 3 different people.
• If your prompt is selected, you will receive 3 points!
• You may submit in the comments below, Monday through Sunday.

Cast Your Vote!

Here's how it works:

• You can vote for 3 entries per week, but you may not vote for yourself.
• You can only click "submit" once per week, so be sure to wait until you have selected your top 3 entries before casting your vote.
• Please do not vote until at least 7 entries have been submitted. (If you do before then, your vote will not count.)
• Only the participants of Monday's Minute Challenge may vote.
• Voting will only take place from Monday - Thursday.
• We will choose the 3 people with the highest amount of votes, then select another 3 or 4 that we think deserve to win as well.
• From those 6 or 7 entries, we will then select the winners (including the Honorable Recognitions.)

You will also receive 3 points for voting. So when you are done, please post a comment below saying that you have casted your vote.  

To vote, please enter the names of the 1 - 3 writers you are voting for below (or click here instead):

Current Judge Panel:

• Sarah Holman
• Tessa Emily Hall (me)
• Kate Petty