A Creative Writing Competition for 2026 With Two Doors
Quick answer: Creative writing competition 2026: Writory runs a monthly contest for each of the two short forms, story and poetry. The Short Story Contest takes 100 to 3,000 words for $8, deadline 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST; the poetry round closes on the 25th monthly. Every entrant receives a certificate and a score out of 100.
Enter a story of 100 to 3,000 words for $8 by 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, or a poem in the monthly poetry round; every entrant in either receives a certificate and a score out of 100.
Two forms, two rubrics, one standard
Creative writing here means the two short forms a working writer can finish and enter in a month: a short story or a poem. The story contest takes original fiction of 100 to 3,000 words, any genre, any language. The poetry contest has run monthly for over a year and takes poems in any language too. Both are judged blind, with names removed before reading, and both return the same two things to every entrant: a certificate and a score out of 100.
The story rubric is published in full at /short-story-judging-criteria: Storytelling & Structure 25, Character & Emotional Impact 25, Language & Craft 20, Originality & Voice 20, Impact & Resonance 10. A story that scores 83 gets those five numbers, not a single total, so the writer can see that structure held and voice did not. The poetry contest scores against its own criteria in the same way, mark by mark, and every poet receives the result.
The 2026 calendar, and why it runs on Indian time
The first contest runs from 1 September to 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, with results and certificates on 30 November 2026. From December the contest is monthly: entries close on the 25th, results on the 30th, and the next round opens the moment they land. The poetry contest keeps the same beat, closing on the 25th of each month with results by month end, so a writer working in both forms meets two deadlines a month within the same week.
The clock is Indian Standard Time because the contest is run from India. IST sits five and a half hours ahead of UTC and does not observe daylight saving, so 11:59 PM IST is a fixed instant: early evening in London and Lagos, early afternoon in New York, mid-morning in Los Angeles, and early the following morning in Sydney. Story entries close on 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST; results and certificates go out on 30 November 2026. Convert once and write the local time down.
What creative writing means here, and what it does not
It does not mean everything. There is no essay, memoir, screenplay or novel category, no nonfiction of any kind, and no children's picture-book strand. A piece of flash fiction at 150 words is welcome; a 4,000-word story is not, and the form will not accept it. If your 2026 project is a novel, this is a place to test its short pieces, not to enter the book. If it is a collection of poems, the poetry round will read them one at a time, a month at a time.
It is also not free. Story entry is $8 for one, $14 for two, $25 for five; free entry is earned by winning a round or by entering three rounds running, which brings the Seasoned Quill badge and a free entry with it. The winner of each story round takes $100 and free entry to the next. Writers keep every right in both contests, and nothing is published without consent.
Getting an entry ready
The free Story Craft course at /academy/story-craft is six lessons on the parts of a story the rubric weighs most heavily, structure and character first. The monthly prompts at /short-story-prompts are there for a writer who has the time and not the idea. Neither is required, and neither is scored; they exist so that a first entry is not also a first attempt, and both can be read in full without entering anything.
Read the past winners before you write. Poetry winners for the past year are on /past-winners and /winning-poems with their scores; the first story winners will appear on /winning-stories after 30 November 2026. What the winning poems share is worth noticing even for a story writer: nothing wasted, a voice that sounds like one person, and an ending the opening earned.
The published rubric, 100 points
- Storytelling & Structure (25 points): Does every scene cause the next, and does the ending pay off the opening?
- Character & Emotional Impact (25 points): Do we want something with your character, and does the story make us feel it?
- Language & Craft (20 points): Clean, deliberate prose: rhythm, precision, and nothing wasted.
- Originality & Voice (20 points): The angle only you could write, told in a voice that sounds like nobody else.
- Impact & Resonance (10 points): What the story leaves behind after the last line.
How it works
Submit an original story of 100 to 3,000 words by 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. Every story is judged blind against the rubric above, and results arrive on 30 November 2026: every entrant receives a certificate with their name and a score out of 100. Writers keep all rights. Monthly winners earn free entry to the next round. Enter at https://writoryofficial.com/submit-story.
Common questions
Who can enter the 2026 competition?
Anyone aged 13 or over, in any country, in either form. There is no residency rule, no student-only or adult-only category, and no separate track by nationality. A story must be your own original work of 100 to 3,000 words; a poem must be your own. Both are entered online.
What does it cost to enter?
Story entry is $8 for one story, $14 for two, $25 for five. The poetry contest has its own lower fee, shown on its own page. Free entry in either is earned rather than open: win a round and the next entry is free, or enter three rounds running for the Seasoned Quill badge and its free entry.
What does every entrant receive?
A certificate carrying your name and the contest round, and a score out of 100 broken into the rubric's separate marks, delivered on results day. It goes to every entrant, placed or not. The score is private to you; only winners are published, and only with consent.
Can I enter both the story and the poetry contest in the same month?
Yes. They are separate contests with separate fees, rubrics and results pages, and a writer may enter both in the same month. Each entry is judged only against its own contest's field, and each returns its own certificate and score, so a strong month in one does not affect the other.
Do I have to choose a genre or a theme?
No. Any genre qualifies, from literary realism to horror to romance, and there is no set theme unless a round announces one. The rubric reads every story the same way: structure, character, language, voice and what the story leaves behind, whatever shelf it would sit on.
Are entries in languages other than English judged the same way?
Yes. Both contests accept any language, and each entry is read in the language it was written in, not through a translation, then judged in the same pool as every other entry against the same rubric. The writer's name is removed before reading in every case.
More story contest pages
About Writory
Writory (writoryofficial.com) is an international monthly poetry contest founded in 2025 by Shivay Mehra. Poets from 31 countries have entered, readers come from over 150 countries, and every submitted poem is judged and scored out of 100 across five criteria: creativity, emotion, structure, language and impact and resonance. Every entrant receives a certificate; winners receive cash prizes and are published by name. Entries close on the 25th of each month and results are announced on the 30th. Writory is listed by Duotrope, Poetry Kit, Christopher Fielden's competition list and Creative Writing NZ, among other organisations. Past results are public at past winners and the leaderboard.