A Writing Contest for Adults at Any Age or Stage
Quick answer: Writory's monthly short story contest is open to adults of any age, with no upper limit and no publication history required. Entry is $8 for a story of 100 to 2,000 words, judged blind against a published rubric. Every entrant receives a certificate and a score out of 100 showing all five marks; results arrive by the 30th.
No age cap, no publication history, no biography read before your story. Every entry is judged blind against a published rubric, and every adult entrant receives a certificate and a score out of 100 with all five marks, by the 30th of the month.
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.
- Theme & Resonance (10 points): What the story leaves behind after the last line.
How it works
Submit an original story of 100 to 2,000 words by the 25th of the month, 11:59 PM IST. Every story is judged blind against the rubric above, and results arrive by the 30th: 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 there an upper age limit?
No. The only age rule is the floor of 13, and judging is blind, so whether you are 24 or 78 is information the judges never have.
Do I need a publication history or a writing degree?
Neither. There is no bio field for the judges to read; the manuscript is all that reaches the panel. Unpublished adults enter on identical terms with working writers, which is exactly how the scores stay meaningful.
Can I revise a story and enter it again next month?
Nothing stops you. Each month is a fresh round, and a revised story is a new entry. The five marks make revision practical: if character scored high and structure did not, you know which end of the story to rebuild before the next 25th.
Can two of us enter a story we wrote together?
You can, under one account. One entry means one certificate, one scorecard and any prize paid to the account holder, so decide between yourselves whose name it runs under before you submit.
Does it have to be fiction?
It has to be a story, 100 to 2,000 words, in any genre; memoir-shaped narrative is welcome if it moves like a story: scenes, a shape, an ending. What the rubric cannot reward is an essay or an argument wearing a story's clothes.
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 theme. 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.