Tweet Me A Story Contest on nycmidnight.com

Click here to register for the 2011 Tweet Me A Story Contest!

AUDIENCE AWARDS

1st Place (WINNER of US$100)

"Aren't you skydiving?" "Yup." "You're calling from midair? That's sweet!" "I love you..." he said, watching the tear in the fabric spread. CREATED BY Chris Bridges

2nd Place

The air was bitter cold. A frozen tear fell from my cheek, crushing a small school. I thought to myself, "Keep it together, Godzilla." CREATED BY Brian Joines

3rd Place

About at the instruction to "tear up your CANDY wrappers and BURY them!" I began to suspect that this was a pretty sub-par ninja academy. CREATED BY David Malki !

4th Place

She shed a tear. Licked its saltiness. Then looked in the mirror. Then she Googled "calories in one salty tear." CREATED BY Frank Ferri

5th Place

Loyal to the end, Spot realized what was about to happen. A tear formed in his eye just in time to reflect the shovel flying towards him. CREATED BY Dalton Paper

TOP JUDGES PICKS

1st Place (WINNER of US$100 & Free Entry to the CWC2009)

The old man scoffed and told me to tear up my “stupid” time travel machine plans, so I did. Too bad I didn’t recognize the old man as me. CREATED BY Brent Vaughn

2nd Place - 13th Place* (Free Entry to the CWC2009)

*The Stories are listed below in alphabetical order, not in order of placement

"Aren't you skydiving?" "Yup." "You're calling from midair? That's sweet!" "I love you..." he said, watching the tear in the fabric spread. CREATED BY Chris Bridges

"I want to like you, but I don't," she said, a tear streaking her makeup. He removed her arms, placed them in the box, and mailed her back. CREATED BY Motke Dapp

"We're the only 2 humans left!" she wailed. "You could at least shed a tear!" But he simply blinked. One whirring, clicking, terrible blink. CREATED BY Katherine Boboris

5 years after the halted divorce, Peter watches his son tear into his birthday presents. It scares him how much he still wants out. CREATED BY Vanelis Rodriguez

A lone VHS tape sat on a shelf, neglected and dusty. It looked at the DVDs, then decided to tear its own magnetic tape out and end it all. CREATED BY Frank Ferri

About at the instruction to "tear up your CANDY wrappers and BURY them!" I began to suspect that this was a pretty sub-par ninja academy. CREATED BY David Malki !

His trowel draws her face in the mortar. A tear on the tile. Mosaics geometric, arabesque & floral hide 1,000 loving portraits in his city. CREATED BY Candace Coulombe

I should tear it up, she thinks. Too late. Enters jealous husband. Sees photo. Dead woman. Dead lover. Dead husband. Messy. CREATED BY Mee Vang

Loyal to the end, Spot realized what was about to happen. A tear formed in his eye just in time to reflect the shovel flying towards him. CREATED BY Dalton Paper

My tear falls into the ocean, becomes one with infinity. I dream it finds my love where she rests, that part of me might touch her again. CREATED BY John Dowgin

The air was bitter cold. A frozen tear fell from my cheek, crushing a small school. I thought to myself, "Keep it together, Godzilla." CREATED BY Brian Joines

When finally she died, he allowed himself one tear. It grew from there, not stopping ‘til he drowned. CREATED BY Nadim Dimechkie

She's home late, tear in her stocking. He's waiting, tear in his eye. Was it Jim again? Someone new? She shrugs. He picks up his bag. Adieu. CREATED BY Karen Sumpter

The old man scoffed and told me to tear up my “stupid” time travel machine plans, so I did. Too bad I didn’t recognize the old man as me. CREATED BY Brent Vaughn

The air was bitter cold. A frozen tear fell from my cheek, crushing a small school. I thought to myself, "Keep it together, Godzilla." CREATED BY Brian Joines

"Aren't you skydiving?" "Yup." "You're calling from midair? That's sweet!" "I love you..." he said, watching the tear in the fabric spread. CREATED BY Chris Bridges

“Tear along dotted line.” If moments had instructions like the release form: Feel guilt. Visit weekly. Watch mom decay from a distance. CREATED BY Chelsea Werner

About at the instruction to "tear up your CANDY wrappers and BURY them!" I began to suspect that this was a pretty sub-par ninja academy. CREATED BY David Malki !

When finally she died, he allowed himself one tear. It grew from there, not stopping ‘til he drowned. CREATED BY Nadim Dimechkie

A lone VHS tape sat on a shelf, neglected and dusty. It looked at the DVDs, then decided to tear its own magnetic tape out and end it all. CREATED BY Frank Ferri

I should tear it up, she thinks. Too late. Enters jealous husband. Sees photo. Dead woman. Dead lover. Dead husband. Messy. CREATED BY Mee Vang

His dad always said boys don’t cry. He remembers this as a tear runs down his cheek landing on his blood stained dress. He had a long night. CREATED BY Dia Hancock

I once said I’d rather die than make you cry. But then I saw the way a tear travels down your cheek. The way it drips off your chin. Lovely. CREATED BY Halli Melnitsky

Carl felt the tear rip his heart as he read the epithet, crudely written in banana. Now he knew. Tango, his helper monkey, had gone rogue. CREATED BY Brian Joines

5 years after the halted divorce, Peter watches his son tear into his birthday presents. It scares him how much he still wants out. CREATED BY Vanelis Rodriguez

Loyal to the end, Spot realized what was about to happen. A tear formed in his eye just in time to reflect the shovel flying towards him. CREATED BY Dalton Paper

I began to tear into the fresh corpse's ribcage. Her organs were slipping and popping through my fingers. "I will find my ring, you whore." CREATED BY Jo Anna Van Thuyne

My tear falls into the ocean, becomes one with infinity. I dream it finds my love where she rests, that part of me might touch her again. CREATED BY John Dowgin

"We're the only 2 humans left!" she wailed. "You could at least shed a tear!" But he simply blinked. One whirring, clicking, terrible blink. CREATED BY Katherine Boboris

Mom marked the bark as I grew, Dad built me a fort in the branches, I kissed Julie under the leaves, the City’s going to tear it down today. CREATED BY Kimberly Wisneski

"I want to like you, but I don't," she said, a tear streaking her makeup. He removed her arms, placed them in the box, and mailed her back. CREATED BY Motke Dapp

“You'll tear your cape doing that,” Mom scolded. "Nuh-uh!" She watched as her superhero son bound the villain until the police could arrive. CREATED BY Brett Williams

His trowel draws her face in the mortar. A tear on the tile. Mosaics geometric, arabesque & floral hide 1,000 loving portraits in his city. CREATED BY Candace Coulombe

There is a tear in her dress. Her hair is dull and lifeless. Her eyeliner is smudged. But when she smiles, he thinks she’s perfect. CREATED BY Elise Brand

If it weren’t for the tear, I wouldn’t be here. CREATED BY Nadim Dimechkie

She shed a tear. Licked its saltiness. Then looked in the mirror. Then she Googled "calories in one salty tear." CREATED BY Frank Ferri

"TEAR HIS HEART OUT!" He wakes up in a panic, grabs his chest, sighs. Only a dream. Next to him, she sighs too. Maybe tomorrow night, then. CREATED BY Katherine Boboris

▪ It is free to enter, but only one registration per person and you must be at least 18 years of age.

▪ The competition begins on Wednesday, May 27th at 7PM EST.

▪ Registered writers are placed in 20 different groups. Each group will receive a word (which can be a noun, verb or adverb) which must be included in their story.

▪ The stories are due on Wednesday, May 27th by 11:59PM EST and must be no longer than 140 characters with spaces. Each writer may submit up to 3 stories.

▪ Judges choose the top 15 stories in each group and they will be posted here on Monday, June 1st. Online voting begins and the top 5 stories in each group with the most votes advance to the finals.

▪ The 100 writers in the finals all receive a new word (everyone in the finals receives the same word) on Wednesday, June 10th at 7PM. Each writer may submit up to 3 stories and they are due by 11:59PM EST on Wednesday, June 10th.

▪ The top 25 stories are posted here on Thursday, June 11th. Winners are chosen by a panel of esteemed judges and an overall audience winner is also selected.

Registration is now closed. We will have many more exciting writing competitions this year, so make sure to join our mailing list (bottom right of this page) and we will let you know about our next contest. Thanks and good luck to the writers!

Click here to view the Top Stories from the 1st Round!

▪ Top 10 writers chosen by the judges receive free entry to the Creative Writing Championships 2009.

▪ The overall winner chosen by the judges receives US$100.

▪ Top overall winner determined by online voting receives US$100.

▪ Exposure - The top writers will have the option of displaying their twitter page, blog or e-mail address next to their story here on the competition website and in our newsletters, which should get lots of clicks and new followers.

For more information on becoming a sponsor for this contest and/or providing prizes for the winning writers, please contact Natalie Raben at natalie.raben @ nycmidnight.com

The judges will be announced very soon.

Q. Who owns the rights to the stories submitted?

A. You, the writer. NYC Midnight reserves the right to publish the story along with the writer's name on nycmidnight.com, but that's it.

Q. Can I participate if I live outside the United States?

A. Yes, you may participate from any country.

Q. Can I participate if I am under 18 years of age?

A. Yes, but you must have a parent or legal guardian send us an e-mail at nycmmm @ msn.com giving consent for you to participate in the "Tweet Me A Story" Contest on nycmidnight.com.

Didn't find the answer you were looking for? Please contact us or ask away in our Q&A forum.

The mission of NYC Midnight is to inspire creative minds. Each year, we design intense competitions to challenge the stamina, determination, and originality of aspiring filmmakers and writers. Since our inception in 2002, we have provided our winning filmmakers and writers with over $200,000 in cash and prizes to help them take their next big step in the industry. For updates on our competitions, make sure join our mailing list (bottom right) or follow us on twitter - twitter.com/nycmidnight.

The cute bird illustrations were created by Pasquale D'Silva.

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