Our new contest has arrived! For this contest, you must write a short story incorporating this painting by Rachel Ramm. Be creative! Use this picture prompt however you see best to construct your story!
Basic Guidelines
Your story must be between 800 and 3,000 words in length, and be written in English. It must be submitted by 11:59:59 EDT on the night of May 29th, 2015, in submission format (please refer to the list of details below for information on this formatting),
The rest is up to you!
This contest is open to writers within the age range of 13-19.
Judging Process
Two KP staff members will narrow down the pool of submissions to the top six, and will then select the top three and the winner from the remaining six.
The judges will scale your story on each of the following categories, with a potential of between 1 and 10 points, with 1 being lowest and 10 being the best quality in that category. These points will then be added together (with a max of 100 possible points each). The submissions receiving the highest scores will move on to the final round of judging.
Strength and clarity of message in balance with artful presentation (how clear and strong but not preachy your theme was, in other words) – 10
Strength of style (how readable and captivating your actual writing is) – 10
Strength of narrative (how captivating your actual story is) – 10
Consistency of story (self-explanatory) – 10
Strength and realness of characters (how identifiable and believable they are) – 10
Strength of setting (how real your setting is and how realistically it effects your story) – 10
Flow and pacing of plot (how well your story works with itself and is paced appropriately) – 10
Strength of dialog (how real-feeling your dialog is) – 10
Creativity (how do you use the picture prompt to tell a compelling story) – 20
Notice that creativity is worth a whole fifth of the score, and the majority of the creativity score will be determined by your use of the picture prompt.
Prizes
First place:
The winner of the contest will receive $100 (Payable via Paypal) and a print of the story prompt painting.
Second place:
$50 (payable via Paypal)
Third place:
$25 (Payable via Paypal)
Additionally, the top three finishers will all have their submissions published on the Kingdom Pen website, and will receive comments from the judges on their submissions.
How to Enter
As we mentioned above, the only requirement to enter the contest is that you be a Kingdom Pen subscriber and between the ages of 13 and 19. If you’re not, we’d love to have you. You can sign up for free right over here.
To submit your story, email it as an attachment to kingdompenmag@gmail.com by May 29th. Please include the subject line, “Story Prompt Contest” in your email. If you are unable to attach your story for whatever reason, please contact us at the same address and we’ll work something out so that you can still submit.
Details (These Are Important!)
Writers retain full rights to their stories. All stories must be the original, previously unpublished works of the submitting author. No story that fails to meet these requirements is eligible.
To claim prizes, the winner must submit their Paypal email address. If they are unwilling to do so, they will retain their place in the contest but will forfeit their prize. Only the winners need submit this information.
If you finish in the top three, we will require a 3rd person biography of you consistent with our general submission guidelines to place under your story in the magazine. An appropriate photo of you is optional.
Stories should be submitted in Submission Formatting.  All words of emphasis in italics. All text should be in Times New Roman font, double spaced. Paragraphs should be indented at the beginning. Write your legal first and last name in your submission email, but please do not put it in the header or footer of your document.
If a minimum of 10 stories are not submitted for the contest by May 29th, the contest will be called off.
After the deadline, the judges will be given three weeks to review the material. Following this, the winners will be announced via email and the Kingdom Pen website.
Any content in any story which could be judged as objectionable or offensive (cursing, extreme or inappropriate violence, adult content, ect.) See our submission guidelines for more details.
I’ve never used a picture prompt to write a story before. I was wondering, should the painting actually be in the story, or just inspire it in some way? (However vaguely?) Thanks!
Mallory, as I understood it, I think they want us to look at the picture and weave a story from how it strikes us. What do you notice about the boy in the picture? Is it his deep, somber, almost unhappy eyes? Is it the gun in his hands? Is it the stubborn set of his chin, and the almost unchildish expression on his face? Or is it his too big clothes, or the dark-ish background of the painting that lends an air of somber mystery? Think about why the boy should be unhappy, or why one so young would be holding a gun with that determined set to his chin. Does he have a tragic story behind his dark eyes? Is he hiding something? Is he in need of something so desperately that he would be willing to threaten someone with that gun to get it? Ask yourself questions like this, and I think you’ll come pretty near to understanding the meaning of ‘picture prompt story’. Hope this is helpful!
Kate summed it up pretty well. It is completely up to you on how you interpret this painting. Use it however you want, and the more creatively you use it, the better!
I noticed that the picture is called “Major the Cowboy”. I can name him something different in the story, right?
Absolutely. The picture is just there to inspire your story. 🙂
Certainly! Like Joel said. The prompt is just there inspiration. You can take the story however you want. Remember, creativity is the major (no pun intended) emphasis in this contest!
Alright, thanks! 🙂
There are multiple paintings in the link. Is it the cowboy painting?
Huh, that is strange. When I click on the link, it just goes to the cowboy painting, and yes, that is the one for prompt.
When sending the entry, do I have to use my last name? Could I use a pen name, or middle name? I’d rather not put my last name out there..thanks!
Please submit your entry with your first and last name in the body of the email. If you wish to include a pen name, you may include that as well. If you are one of the three finalists and your submission is to be posted on the website, then we will publish your submission under your pen name.
Does this answer your question?
– Reagan
Yes, thank you!
What format should my doc be in? PDF, odt, rtf…what? Thank you!
We prefer word documents. We accept other formats, but we can’t promise that we will be able to open them.
After the contest, when will you be announcing the winners? Thanks!
We will announce after the judging is completed, which should be around three weeks from the time the contest ends.
I sent mine in. Hope there are enough stories entered to keep this going! 🙂
Huzzah! And yes, we got enough submissions!
I sent mine too! It was fun to write. Thanks for holding this contest!
Thank you for entering!
What defines “previously unpublished”? Would it be okay to put my story on my blog?
When will the results be announced?