A Romance Short Story Contest That Takes the Love Story Seriously
Quick answer: Writory's romance short story contest accepts original love stories of 100 to 3,000 words in any language, judged blind against a published five-part rubric that scores two people who want something, not the arrival of the kiss. Entry is $8, the deadline is 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, and every entrant receives a certificate and a score out of 100 whatever the result.
Romance of 100 to 3,000 words enters Writory's short story contest for $8, with a deadline of 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, and every entrant receives a certificate and a five-part score out of 100.
How the rubric reads romance
Romance is the genre most often marked down by judges who do not read it, usually for delivering the ending it promised. Writory's rubric is written so that does not happen. Storytelling & Structure (25) asks whether the story's shape pays off its opening, and a love story that earns its ending, happy or not, has done that. A happy ending is not penalised. An unearned one is, in any genre. The rubric is public at /short-story-judging-criteria.
Character & Emotional Impact (25) is the romance writer's home ground, and it is scored on whether we want something for these two people separately before we want it for them together. A pair who exist only to meet do not score; a woman who needs the job and a man who needs to leave town, who then meet, do. Impact & Resonance (10) is the feeling that stays after the last line, and a good love story collects that mark without trying.
The obstacle has to be inside
At 3,000 words there is no room for a rival, a war and a misunderstanding. One obstacle, and the best ones are internal: a pride that will not bend, a grief that has not finished, a lie already told. Anton Chekhov's "The Lady with the Dog" is two married people in a seaside town and nothing else, and it is the greatest love story in short fiction because the obstacle is who they are. O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi" runs a whole marriage through two presents.
Dialogue carries romance, and dialogue in romance is almost entirely subtext. Let the two people talk about the weather, the train, the bill, and let the reader hear what they are not saying. Kate Chopin's "The Storm" and Edith Wharton's "Roman Fever" both turn on a conversation in which the real subject is never named. James Joyce's "Araby" is a love story in which the beloved barely speaks.
Craft notes for the 100 to 3,000 word love story
Give each of the two people a want that has nothing to do with the other, then let the romance interfere with it. Specific gesture beats stated feeling: the way he folds the receipt, not the fact that he is nervous. Skip the first meeting if it is only a meeting; start on the second scene, where something is already at stake. Choose the ending rather than defaulting to it. A story that ends apart can score higher than one that ends together if the ending is the one the story has been building toward.
Cut every sentence that tells the reader how to feel. Language & Craft (20) is where romance most often bleeds marks, to adjectives and to the summary paragraph after the kiss. End a beat early. Alice Munro's "The Bear Came Over the Mountain" follows a marriage into memory loss and never once explains itself, which is why it lasts. The free Story Craft course at /academy/story-craft has lessons on dialogue and endings that apply directly.
Fee, deadline, and what every entrant receives
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. Entry is $8 for one story, $14 for two, $25 for five, and each is scored on its own. The top story of the round takes $100 and free entry to the next round. Every entrant receives a certificate and all five marks out of 100, and writers keep all rights, so a story scored here can go on to a magazine or an anthology.
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
Is romance eligible, and is a happy ending marked down?
Romance is eligible on equal terms with every genre, and a happy ending is not penalised. The rubric scores whether the ending was earned by the story that preceded it, so a love story that builds to its ending collects Storytelling & Structure marks for doing so. The only rules are 100 to 3,000 words, original work, age 13 and over.
What does it cost to enter a romance story?
$8 for one story, $14 for two, $25 for five, entered online at /submit-story before 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. Each story is judged and scored separately, so entering a story that ends together beside one that ends apart shows which ending you write more convincingly.
What does the certificate and score record for a romance writer?
Every entrant receives a certificate and a score out of 100 on 30 November 2026, split into the five published marks. For romance the useful pair is Character & Emotional Impact against Language & Craft: a high first and low second usually means the feeling is real but the sentences are telling the reader about it.
Is there a word limit, and how much of a relationship fits in it?
Stories run from 100 to 3,000 words. Chekhov's "The Lady with the Dog" covers months in a few thousand words by choosing four scenes; at 3,000 you have two or three. Pick the scenes where something changes between the two people and cut the rest, including the first meeting if nothing turns on it.
Can I enter romance that includes explicit content?
The contest is open to writers aged 13 and over and stories are read by a panel with that readership in mind, so write with that in view. Intimacy is part of the genre and is not penalised; what the rubric scores is whether a scene reveals character and moves the story. A scene that does neither costs marks, whatever its heat.
Can I write my love story in my own language?
Yes. Stories in any language are accepted and each is read in its own language, in one pool. Love stories in Urdu, Tamil, Tagalog and Spanish carry their own conventions of restraint and address, and a story written inside one of those traditions is scored on the same five dimensions as an English one.
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.