Short Story Competitions Open Now
Quick answer: Short story competitions open now include Writory's contest, current status Entries Open. It takes stories of 100 to 3,000 words in any genre, entry $8, deadline 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. Judging is blind against a published rubric, and every entrant receives a certificate and a score out of 100.
Writory's Short Story Contest: Entries Open. Entries of 100 to 3,000 words cost $8 and close on 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST; every entrant receives a certificate and a score out of 100.
What is open right now
Writory's Short Story Contest status: Entries Open. The current round closes on 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, with results and certificates on 30 November 2026. It takes one original story of 100 to 3,000 words, any genre, any language, from anyone aged 13 or over in any country, entered online at /submit-story for $8; $14 covers two stories and $25 covers five. This page reads its dates from the same source as the entry form, so if it says open, the form is taking entries.
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. There is no gap between rounds, so open now is nearly always true here; what changes is how many days remain, and that is the number to check before you start a new draft rather than polish a finished one.
How much time you have, in your own timezone
The deadline is set in Indian Standard Time because the contest is run from India. IST is UTC plus five and a half hours and never shifts for daylight saving, so 11:59 PM IST is a fixed instant: early evening in London and Lagos, early afternoon in New York and Toronto, mid-morning in Los Angeles, and the early hours of the next day in Manila and Sydney. If it is the evening of deadline day in California, the round has already closed. Convert once and write down your local time; results reach everyone on 30 November 2026.
Entering in the last 48 hours
Paste the story into the form rather than relying on a file conversion at the last minute; the form's live counter shows the word count and will not proceed with anything under 100 or over 3,000 words, which catches the commonest late mistake. Read it once aloud for the sentence that stalls. Check the title is on the story and your name is not in the text, since judging is blind. Pay, keep the confirmation, and stop; a story submitted at 11:50 PM IST is judged exactly like one sent a week earlier.
Every entry is scored against the published rubric, Storytelling & Structure 25, Character & Emotional Impact 25, Language & Craft 20, Originality & Voice 20, Impact & Resonance 10, and every entrant receives all five marks and a certificate on 30 November 2026. The winner takes $100 and free entry to the next round. You keep all rights, and a story entered here can sit with a magazine at the same time.
Other competitions open now, and how to check
Writory is not the only contest with a window open at any given moment, and this page will not pretend to list them all. The reliable check for any competition is the same: find the deadline with a timezone on the organiser's own page, not on an aggregator; confirm past winners exist on dated pages; read the rights clause. The Commonwealth Short Story Prize, Furious Fiction and On The Premises are fee-free and legitimate, and each publishes its own current window.
What Writory offers that an open window elsewhere may not is the answer. Most competitions reply to a shortlist; this one replies to everyone with a score. It is not free, not annual and not a route to print publication, and free entry is earned by winning a round or by entering three in a row. If the round is open and the story is done, the form is at /submit-story.
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 the contest really open right now?
The status line on this page, currently Entries Open, is read from the same source that opens and closes the entry form, so the two cannot disagree. The current round closes on 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, and because the next round opens the moment results go out, there is no closed season.
Who can enter?
Anyone aged 13 or over, from any country, with an original story of 100 to 3,000 words in any genre and any language. There is no residency rule and no separate category by nationality. Entry is online, judging is blind, and every entry sits in one pool.
What does it cost to enter today?
$8 for one story, $14 for two, $25 for five. There is no open free entry; free entry is earned by winning a round, which makes the next entry free, or by entering three rounds running, which earns the Seasoned Quill badge and a free entry with it.
What do I get if I do not win?
A certificate with your name and the contest round, and your score out of 100 as five separate rubric marks, delivered on 30 November 2026. Your score is private; only winners are published. The certificate records a blind-judged, scored result, which is why it can be checked against the dated results page.
What if I miss the deadline by a few minutes?
The story goes into the next round, which is already open. Nothing is lost except the wait: it will be judged against the next field, scored the same way, and return the same certificate. If you are close to 11:59 PM IST, submit what you have; the form does not accept late entries into a closed round.
Can I enter more than one story in the same round?
Yes. $14 covers two stories and $25 covers five, each entered separately and judged on its own. Every story returns its own five-part score and its own certificate, so entering two is two readings, not one reading of a pair.
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.