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: 38
• Armina: 7
• Benj. Evans: 37
• Brittney: 3
• Brooke: 12
• CeCe: 10
• Elisabeth: 62
• Emily F: 16
• Evan: 10
• Funto: 9
• His Princess: 74
• Jacqueline: 59
• Jillian: 10
• Kaira Anne: 25
• Kaley: 2
• Karina: 23
• Katheline: 16
• Katie: 46
• Kendra: 24
• Lottie Le: 6
• Maddie J: 5
• Mary B: 88
• Marsh: 20
• Rcubed: 69
• Rebekah B: 47
• Russian Pianist: 23
• Sarah: 97
• S. Brightly: 38
• Tara T: 61
• TW Wright: 124

*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 has become very tough, but the judges still think every one of your entries are impressive. So keep it up! =)

(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: 

Corrie checked the scribbled directions on her notepad and kept walking, the white skirt of her sundress swishing around her legs. This was the right town. A tiny, insignificant, cell service deprived speck on the map. Two hundred four residents and none would talk to her about the Charles’ boy murder. It was only ten years ago. Someone still had to be around who knew about it. 
She walked down the lonely street and stopped when she came to an address she’d read in the old reports. The house was boarded up and locked, with signs warning off trespassers. 
Corrie circled it, looking for a way in, but when none presented itself, she turned to the shed in the backyard. It was a small, squat building. Faded and weather worn, the yard grown up around it.
The door swung open easily and she stepped in, taking a moment to adjust to the dim lighting. A gasp caught in her throat. Small shelves full of odd items. A rock, seashell, a baseball trophy. A metal whistle hung from a nail. Drawings and signs that read “Clubhouse. Keep out” hung on the walls, curled from age and water leakage. A single light bulb hung from the ceiling, but nothing happened when she pulled the chain.
A little notebook lay on a chair with a child’s magic wand, turned to a written on page. Corrie stepped toward it, sending a pencil rolling across the floor when her shoe bumped it. She picked up the notepad and tried to read the childish writing. 
She slid the chair toward the open door where the light streamed in and read the wobbly, poorly spelled words. 
"They told me not to come. That made me really want to. I didn’t want anyone to die." 

Congratulations, Maddie Jay! Click here for your badge. =)

Second place winner: 

Amira awoke to find herself unable to move. Surrounding her was pitch-black; she could not even see the cot she felt underneath her. She tried to remember what had happened but her brain was all muddled and confused. Amira strained against whatever held her but soon realized it was hopeless, she wouldn’t be escaping that way. Her feet and hands were starting to lose circulation and she had no way of stopping it. ‘How am I to get out of here? And how did I get here in the first place?’ Her mind was full of questions that she had no way of answering.
After groping around with her hands for what felt hours in the blackness, but she knew must have only been minutes, she finally found a lantern resting beside her. Breathing a sigh of relief, Amira turned it on and looked around. She found herself in a cell, and the reason she couldn’t move was that a thick chain enveloped itself all around her body.
Amira leaned back against the wall, trying to think of how to escape. She began her usual habit of drumming her fingers but stopped once she heard the soft rustle of paper. She immediately began positioning herself so she was able to see it; and once she had settled herself she saw that it was a letter in her fiancés handwriting. ‘How could this have gotten here?’ Amira pondered. She began to read-
-Amira, help is on the way. We will…
The faint tap of footsteps interrupted her. Amira quickly hid the message when she heard the rattle of keys and the distinct click of a lock. A door swung open cascading a stream of light into the small cell and a commanding soldier stepped in. 
“You are to come with me.” 

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

First place winner: 

She planted her feet, pressing them into the cracking pavement to ground herself. “You insist on such formal terms. Call me Vika—all my friends do.” 
“Alright…Vika.” He stepped closer; his hand was at her cheek. Where had it come from? The urge to run tingled inside her stomach. Resisting it, she hugged her arms to her body to prevent herself from recoiling from the nearness of his touch. The smile vanished; the features, though insipid, were drawn tight over the bone. “Enough games. What are you doing behind this building?” 
She blinked. Keep the world in focus. “Waiting for my father.”
“In an alley?” The slate eyes didn’t flinch. 
She clutched at her power of reasoning, but it melted like ice in a warm hand. “There are too many automobiles on the street. It’s safer back here.” 
“Safer?” he smirked, glancing down the alley. Her eyes trailed to the fraying cuffs of her coat sleeves. She didn’t have to look to see the tramps with bloodshot eyes, the gutters with wadded up newspapers, ink mottled into illegible smears by the fetid waters, or the vodka bottles drunk and thrown and crushed into the dirt.
“That’s why you’re here—to protect me.”
“Then why am I confronting you instead of some drunk?” he spat out. “Speak!” Jerking back, she knocked her head against the brick building. The rough mortar snagged her skin as she ran her hand along the wall. The breath came fast and shallow. Anything but intimidation. Outwit her. But “physical means of persuasion”—she knew what that meant. They all did. He shoved her into the brick. “Your last name—tell me.” He squeezed her thin shoulders until she writhed under his grip. 
The forbidden letters slid off her lips. “Dubrovskaya.”

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

Honorable Recognitions: 

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

1. S. Brightly
2. Emily F.
3. Brittney J.

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: map, rose, basket (submitted by Mary B)
• Write a passage based on this picture. (submitted by S. Brightly)
• Write a passage incorporating this phrase: Everyone told me not to blame myself but I knew, deep down, that I could have prevented it. (submitted by Kendra)

*NEW* Submit your prompt idea!

From now on, the prompts that are used for Monday's Minute Challenge will be submitted by the participants. Here's how this will work:

• 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