Q.  Can we provide previously written short stories during the competition?

A.  No.  All short stories must be created during the competition and must be based on the genre and subject provided.

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

A.  Yes, but anyone under the age of 18 must have a parent or guardian send their consent to feedback@nycmidnight.com with the following information:
  1. The subject line of the e-mail should be: Parental Consent for Short Story Challenge 2013
  2. Their consent for your participation in the competition in the body of the e-mail. For example, "I am the parent/guardian of __________(Participant Name) and I hereby provide consent for him/her to participate in the Short Story Challenge 2013 on nycmidnight.com"
  3. The full name and phone number of the parent/guardian in the body of the e-mail. 

Q.  Can teams of writers (more than 1) work on the stories?

A.  Yes.  You may list additional writers on the registration form, but please note that ONLY the writer who registers will be eligible for the prizes.

Q.  Who owns the rights to the stories created during the competition?

A.  You, the writer.  NYC Midnight reserves the right to publish the synopsis and e-mail address of any writer that enters the competition for publicity purposes, but that's it.

Q.  How closely do we have to follow the assignment?

A.  The story must be written in the assigned genre, the assigned subject must be integral to the plot of the story, and the assigned character must be a relevant character used in the story.

Q.  Do you have some examples of past assignments?

A.  Yes, here are a few from last year:

  Drama / A laboratory / A teacher
  Romantic Comedy / Recycling / A bartender
  Sci-Fi / Halloween / A bus driver
  Horror / A trial / A CEO (Chief Executive Officer)
  Fantasy / Luck / A lead singer

Q.  What are the acceptable formats for the stories?

A.  The only acceptable formats are .doc (Word Document), .txt (Text File) or .rtf (Rich Text Format).

Q.  What are the rules regarding spacing?

A.  There are no rules regarding spacing, you may space the stories any way you like.

Q.  What is a brief synopsis of my story?

A.  A brief synopsis is a 1-2 sentence summary of your story.  It should be simple, yet very enticing (the main goal is to make the reader excited to read your story).

Q.  What kind of feedback will we get for our stories?

A.  Not only does every writer receive feedback from the judges for every story submitted, but a special review forum is available for the participants to submit their stories for review from fellow writers throughout the competition.  During the Short Story Challenge 2012, there were over 1,700 comments made on the 140+ stories submitted on the forum.  Click here to visit the forums.

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Still have questions? 

Send us an e-mail at feedback@nycmidnight.com or ask us on twitter @nycmidnight