A Story Writing Competition for 2026, Open to Every Country
Quick answer: Story writing competition 2026: Writory's is open to anyone aged 13 or over in any country, for stories of 100 to 3,000 words in any genre or language. Entry is $8, judging is blind against a published rubric, deadline 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST, and every entrant receives a certificate and a score out of 100.
Enter an original story of 100 to 3,000 words for $8 before 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST; every entrant, from any country, receives a certificate and a score out of 100.
One field, every country
The competition has one field. A story from Lagos, Lahore or Leeds goes into the same pool as one from Ohio, is read blind with the writer's name removed, and is scored against the same rubric. There is no regional quota and no separate international category, because there is nothing to separate: the contest is run from India and open to the world equally. Stories may be in any language and are read in their own language, not through a translation.
The record for that claim sits in the poetry contest, which has run monthly on the same basis for over a year. Its winners are named on dated pages at /past-winners and have come from India, the United States, Ireland, Kenya and Slovenia, and entrants have come from more than 50 countries. The story contest opened on 1 September 2026; its first winners will be published on /winning-stories on 30 November 2026, and there is no story winner to point to before then.
The 2026 schedule
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 long first round is deliberate: a debut judged on a full field rather than a first-month trickle, so the first published scores mean what later ones will. Every story entered in the first round is judged together, whichever month it arrived.
Deadlines are in Indian Standard Time because that is where the contest is run. IST is UTC plus five and a half hours, with no daylight saving, so 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST is a fixed instant everywhere: early evening in London, early afternoon on the American East Coast, mid-morning on the West Coast, and the small hours of the following morning in Manila and Sydney. Results and certificates go out on 30 November 2026. A writer in the Americas has the afternoon of deadline day, not the night.
How a story is scored
Five marks make the hundred: Storytelling & Structure 25, Character & Emotional Impact 25, Language & Craft 20, Originality & Voice 20, Impact & Resonance 10. Half the score sits in structure and character, which is where most first entries lose points: scenes that follow each other without causing each other, and a protagonist who wants nothing in particular. Language is a fifth, not the whole; a beautifully written story with no spine does not win.
Every entrant receives all five marks and a certificate on results day, not a single total and not a form letter. The winner takes $100 and free entry to the next round; writers keep all rights to their work. The full rubric with notes on what the judges read for is at /short-story-judging-criteria, and the free six-lesson Story Craft course at /academy/story-craft works through the same five headings.
Who should enter in 2026, and who should not
Enter if you want a monthly deadline, a blind reading, and a number that moves when the work improves. Entry is $8 for one story, $14 for two, $25 for five; free entry is earned by winning a round or by entering three in a row, which brings the Seasoned Quill badge. Do not enter a novella, a chapter, or a story you need to keep unpublished for another prize whose rules count a contest win posted online as publication. This competition is a monthly practice with a scorecard, not an annual prize, and it does not pretend to be one.
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 this an India-only competition?
No. Writory is run from India, which is why the deadline is set in Indian Standard Time, but the competition is open to anyone aged 13 or over in any country, and every entry is judged in one pool with names removed. A separate page exists for writers in India; this one is for everyone.
What does entry cost for a writer outside India?
$8 for one story, $14 for two, $25 for five, paid in US dollars. 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.
What do I get back if I do not place?
A certificate with your name and the contest round, and your score out of 100 as five separate rubric marks, on 30 November 2026. Nothing about your result is published; only winners appear on the results page. The certificate records a blind-judged, scored result that a school or employer can check against the dated results page.
How is the prize paid to a winner outside India?
The top prize is $100, paid in US dollars to the winner wherever they live; no country is excluded from payment. The poetry contest has already paid winners in the United States, Ireland, Kenya and Slovenia as well as India, so the route is proven. Certificates and scores are delivered digitally.
Do I need to write in English?
No. Any language is accepted, and the story is read in the language it was written in, then judged against the same rubric as every other entry in the same pool. Blind judging means the judge sees the prose and nothing about where or by whom it was written.
Can I enter more than one story in 2026?
Yes, in the same round or across rounds. $14 covers two stories and $25 covers five within a round, and there is no limit on how many rounds you enter in the year. Each story is judged on its own and returns its own certificate and five-part score.
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.