A Youth Short Story Contest Open Every Month, Anywhere
Quick answer: A youth short story contest that runs monthly rather than annually: Writory admits writers aged 13 and over from any country, in any language, for $8 a story. Judging is blind against a published five-part rubric, so age and nationality never reach the reader. Every entrant receives a certificate and a score out of 100 on 30 November 2026.
Writers aged 13 and over enter one story of 100 to 3,000 words for $8, in any language, by 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. Every entrant receives a certificate and all five rubric marks out of 100 on 30 November 2026, and keeps every right to the story.
Eligibility, and how a young writer enters from anywhere
Age 13 and over is the only rule. There is no upper limit and no separate youth pool; a 16-year-old in Lagos, a 19-year-old in Toronto and a 40-year-old in Pune are read together, blind, against the same five headings. That is a harder room than a youth-only contest and a more useful one, because the score that comes back is the same instrument everyone receives. Stories are read in the language they were written in, so you enter in the language you think in.
Entering takes minutes at /submit-story. One original story of 100 to 3,000 words, any genre, before 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. Entry is $8 by card, in US dollars; if you are under 18 and do not hold a card, a parent or guardian pays while you are logged in, and the entry stays in your name. Results, certificates and scores arrive on 30 November 2026. Winners take $100 and enter the next round free.
What the certificate means for university applications, honestly
Every entrant's certificate carries their name and the contest month and records that they entered a judged international short story contest. It does not record a win. Winners are named on a dated public results page, and that page is what makes a placement checkable by an admissions office. So the honest use is this: an entry certificate supports a claim that you write and submit work; a placement supports a claim that the work was judged among the best that month.
Admissions readers are not moved by certificates as objects. They are moved by evidence of sustained effort and reflection. Three monthly entries with scores that moved from 64 to 71 to 80, and two sentences about what you changed between drafts, is a better paragraph than any single line about a contest. Use the five-part score for that paragraph; the certificate simply confirms the dates.
The score out of 100, and how to read it at seventeen
Five marks arrive together: Storytelling & Structure out of 25, Character & Emotional Impact out of 25, Language & Craft out of 20, Originality & Voice out of 20, Impact & Resonance out of 10. Read them as a map. A story scoring 21 on character and 10 on language was felt but not yet controlled; the reverse is a polished story nobody wanted anything from. Nobody else's marks are published, so there is no leaderboard to measure yourself against, only your own numbers over time.
A single score is one panel's reading against one rubric on one day. It is not a measure of your future. What it is, and what almost nothing else offers a young writer, is a reading from someone who does not know you, does not know your age, and owes you nothing. That is worth more than praise, and it costs $8.
Craft notes for young writers entering an open field
Start inside a scene; the reader does not need to be introduced to anyone before something happens. Give one character one want that fits in a sentence, since structure and character together carry half the marks. Write in the language and register you actually use, because Language & Craft rewards precision over display, and because a story translated for the contest usually loses the voice that Originality & Voice is paying 20 marks to find.
Two more. Choose the small true subject over the large invented one; originality is scored as angle, not as scale, and the afternoon you actually remember beats the war you have only read about. And stop before 3,000 words unless the story needs them, because nothing in the rubric rewards length and a 100-word story is a complete entry. The free Story Craft course at /academy/story-craft and the prompts at /short-story-prompts are built for exactly this.
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 there a youth category, or do I compete with adults?
You compete with everyone, blind. There is no youth category and no age on the manuscript. A young writer's story is scored against the same five published headings as an adult's, and the certificate does not label your age either.
Which countries can enter?
Any. The contest is run from India, entry is priced in US dollars at $8, and stories are read in the language they were written in, all in one pool. The only requirements are age 13 and over and an original story of 100 to 3,000 words.
How do I convert the deadline to my time zone?
Entries close at 11:59 PM Indian Standard Time, which is UTC+5:30. That is 6:29 PM in London during GMT, 1:29 PM in New York during standard time, 10:29 AM in Los Angeles, and 5:29 AM the next morning in Sydney during daylight saving. The first round closes on 25 November 2026 at 11:59 PM IST.
Can I put this on a university or scholarship application?
Yes, described accurately. Entering is a fact; placing is a separate, checkable fact on the dated results page. Admissions readers respond to sustained work, so a series of entries with a score that moved, and a line about what you changed, does more than the word certificate alone.
I am under 18 and do not have a card. How do I pay?
A parent or guardian pays the $8 at /submit-story while you are logged in. The entry, score and certificate stay in your name, and nothing about the payer appears anywhere. If you win the $100 prize, it can be paid to a parent's or guardian's account without any extra paperwork.
Who owns the story after I enter?
You do, entirely and permanently. Entries are not published, winners are named by name and title only, and non-winners' scores stay private. You can send the same story to a magazine, a school anthology or another contest whenever you like, without asking.
When does the next round close?
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.
More story contest pages
- A Writing Contest College Students Can Enter Every Month
- Writing Contests for Middle School Students: What Is Open at 13
- A Story Writing Competition for Kids: What a Parent Should Know First
- Writing Contests for Women: Where Blind Judging Does the Work
- A Writing Competition Open to Pakistan, in Urdu, English or Any Language
- A Writing Competition Open to Everyone in the UAE, in Any Language
- A Writing Competition Malaysians Can Enter, in Malay, English or Any Language
- Writing Competitions Kenyans Can Enter Every Month, in English or Kiswahili
- A Young Adult Writing Contest That Reads YA as a Genre, Not an Age
- A Literary Fiction Contest Where Quiet Still Has to Move
- Short Story Competition Rules, in Full and in Plain Words
- Short Story Competition Word Limit: 100 to 3,000 Words, and How to Use Them
- All short story contest pages
- Winning Stories
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.