Reedsy Prompts

7-28-24

I recently wrote two short stories over on Reedsy for their weekly prompt contests, the first is called “Lockie’s Late” for The Elephant in the Room, and the second is “A Promise Sewn, A Promise Hewn” for A Twist in the Tale.

This was my first time writing short fiction, and going into it I was unsure if I was wasting my time or not, of if I’d even have ideas relevant to the prompts. But I was pleasantly surprised at myself right away when going into writing “Lockie’s Late”. Not only did an idea come to me pretty quickly, but the story itself was a ton of fun to write. I got to focus in on a single family and setting, and was able to make it more horror skewed—which is something I’ve been wanting to do in my stories for some time. And although this story wasn’t chosen as the winner, I still am very proud of it, and it was an experience I’ll always cherish.

My idea for the second short story took a little longer than the first to come to fruition, since I was having trouble with the prompt’s guidelines. However, after I scrapped my first idea, I landed on what “A Promise Sewn, A Promise Hewn” came to eventually be and was satisfied with the premise for the short story. I have no doubt that it won’t be chosen as the winner either for its prompt, as I was less sure of it than “Lockie’s Late”, but again I really only wrote these stories to test myself and to see if I could write short fiction.

I plan to continue doing these prompts as often as they spawn a relevant idea in my head. And I am also considering seeking out some magazines and other media that accept short stories in order to keep exercising this muscle.