reedsymarketplace
Assemble a team of professionals
reedsystudio
The writing app for authors
reedsylearning
Writing courses, events and memberships
reedsydiscovery
Get your book reviewed
reedsyprompts
Weekly writing prompts and contests
Writing courses, events and conferences
Upcoming events
The Long Haul: How to Build a Writing Career That Lasts
September 21, 2026
Better Villains, Stronger Stories
September 28, 2026
Live Query Letter Editing
October 05, 2026
Write Stunning Sentences
October 26, 2026
Learn how to succeed as a writer from the best in the business.
Every writer needs a Studio
Check out our writing app for authors!
Menu
More apps built by Reedsy
Author on Reedsy Prompts since Jun, 2022
Weekly Contest #297
The first bullet cracked past my ear like a snapped branch. Then came the rest, a hail of them, chewing into trees and mud around me. I threw myself down, breath caught in my throat, chest tight with that sudden, electric terror that you don’t think about. You just react to it. My rifle slammed into the dirt with me. My cheek stung where gravel bit into it.“Left flank! They’re fucking moving up!” Pasha’s voice came from somewhere through the chaos, maybe ten meters behind me, muffled by the roar of gunfire and the ringing in my ears. Or mayb...
Weekly Contest #296
I had always believed my son was good. Henry was a good kid. I knew it in my heart. Not perfect. No, of course not. No child is.Sure there had been fights in school, broken windows, a stolen wallet in eighth grade. But boys made mistakes. Boys learned. I raised him to be kind, to be strong, to do the right thing. I believed in him.I believed in him once. I really did.But with the detective sitting across from me, with her eyes like polished stone.Doubt crept in. Does that make me a terrible father? Am I a bad dad for doubting my own?“We have...
Weekly Contest #293
“Timothy, sit down and shut up. Don’t make me tell you again.”“But Dad, I want to see how far I can jump.”“Sit. Down.”“But daaad—”“Not here. Not now. Don’t do this to me, Tim.”The father exhales sharply, pressing two fingers to his temple. Three hours. That’s all he’s asking for. Three quiet, uneventful hours from Perth to Adelaide. No screaming kids, no feet kicking his chair, no running up and down the aisles. More specifically, could the one causing havoc please not be his own?Timothy crosses his arms, sulking. Flying is boring. Why could...
Weekly Contest #291
Hahaha!A childish giggle broke the silence.The hunter stiffened.Cloaked in darkness, hidden beneath a towering pine, he had waited motionless for hours, his breath slow, his rifle steady. A trophy buck in his sight.But now, he wasn’t alone.“Where are you, Daddy? Hahaha!” The voice was soft, playful, floating through the trees.The hunter’s grip tightened. He peered through his scope, scanning the darkness as his prize fled. A few minutes passed. The forest was still. Nothing moved. Nothing made a sound, but then the voice.“Hahaha! I see you, ...
Weekly Contest #290
They couldn’t stop looking at the sky that night. Ribbons of green and purple, pulsing above the city skyline.“Auroras here?” Anna whispered, eyes wide.Steven pulled her close, his hands resting low on her waist. “Never thought we’d see this here, of all places.”The lights were dazzling, and it wasn’t just them who took notice. On all the balconies of their apartment complex, couples and families stood, heads tilted back, faces painted in the flashing colors. A shared silence, awed, uncertain.Kuala Lumpur was normally lively with the sound o...
Shortlisted for Contest #290 ⭐️
Humans love their scripts.Get born. Go to school. Work. Pay bills. Die. Maybe squeeze in a holiday if you’re lucky. And if something shows up that doesn’t fit the narrative—something like, say, a talking platypus—you shove it in a box labeled ‘Crazy’ and move on.It takes most people years, decades even, to change their way of thinking. Catastrophes, miracles, life-shattering events. For me, it was a gray Thursday afternoon at the park. And the words:“The beak isn’t even the weirdest part of me.”I’d been happily enduring my burnt, lukewarm co...
Shortlisted for Contest #289 ⭐️
[PRIVATE CHAT – 2:13 AM]Alex: Jay, something’s wrong. I checked my records, my ID, my photos, everything before two years ago is missing.Jay: Alex… stop.Alex: I’m serious. I don’t remember my childhood. I don’t remember where I was before we met.Jay: That’s just your mind playing tricks on you. It happens.Alex: It’s like I only started existing two years ago.Jay: …That’s not possible.Alex: Right? But then I searched my name.Jay: And?Alex: There was an obituary. Same name. Same age. Died two years ago.Jay: That’s just a coincidence.Alex: I fo...
Weekly Contest #286
Do you ever wonder what will be left of you when you’re gone?The thought may creep in when you’re alone — on quiet nights, in the spaces between conversations, in the hush of an empty room. It’s not just the fear of dying, no. It’s something quieter, something colder. The fear that one day, your name will be nothing more than burnt paper, ash forever lost to time. That the world will move on without you, as if you were never here at all. Your grandchildren may remember you as frail, and their children will acknowledge that you existed. But a...
Weekly Contest #284
Eight years. Eight long, exhilarating, lonely years. Amazing in some ways, terrible in others. I can’t believe it has been that long since I set foot in my own country. My own city. My own home.So much has changed—the trees taller, roads replaced, and new multi-storey houses lining the street where I grew up. The city skyline has grown, and the riverfront is unrecognisable. And now, we have to pay to see a doctor? Since when was that a thing?Bloody hell, speak of a little brother Yank obsession. It strikes again! I used to laugh with Europea...
Weekly Contest #282
My Dearest Daughter,I am sorry that you feel this way. Truly, I am. It pains me to think that you believe I have abandoned you or that we have wronged you. Please understand, this decision was never meant to hurt you. Your father and I only want what’s best for you. We thought it would provide you with a future, with stability, even if it seems hard to see that right now.I know it must feel overwhelming, and perhaps you feel alone, but this is just part of growing up. You must learn that life is not always what we wish it to be, and sometime...
Weekly Contest #280
“Why are we still here?”“Because we can’t leave. Not yet.”“Who says we can’t? We don’t even know what we’re waiting for.”“You don’t get it, do you? This isn’t about waiting. It’s about figuring things out.”“Figuring what out? We’ve been over this a hundred times. There’s nothing left to figure out!”“You’re wrong. There’s always something left. A piece of the puzzle we’re missing.”“Puzzles are for people with time. We don’t have time.”“Hey guys, what you doing?”“Don’t you dare say that. We have all the time we need.”“Then why do I feel like t...
Weekly Contest #278
The fluorescent lights buzzed faintly overhead, casting an unflattering pallor across the austere chamber. Callan Hargrave stood alone at the centre of the circular room, his reflection distorted in the glossy black floor beneath his bare feet. The air was heavy with the sterile scent of disinfectant.Rows of masked faces loomed in the shadows above him, their identities concealed behind smooth, featureless visors. They were the judges, the accusers, the audience—indistinguishable and united in their anonymity. Behind them, high on the wall, ...
Weekly Contest #263
The black-and-white footage flickered, casting a ghostly light over the dimly lit shack. Resistance fighters huddled around the makeshift television desk, their faces etched with weariness and resolve. The grainy images of the dense Bornean jungles and the devastation wrought by the Malaysian military filled the screen.“In the dense rainforests of Northern Borneo, conflict is brewing. Discontent with the new Malaysian government’s religious policies has sparked violent uprisings in the region of Sabah. What began as a few isolated prote...
Weekly Contest #248
I can still feel the weight of my daughter's frail body in my arms as I trudged through the dark, rain-soaked streets of New Orleans. Her sickness had defied every remedy, every doctor's prescription, every whispered prayer. My little girl, once full of laughter and mischief, had become a ghost of herself, pale and weak, her eyes haunted by pain.I had scoured every inch of this city for a cure, from the sterile clinics of uptown to the dingy bars of the French Quarter where rumours and shadows judged every footstep. It was in those shadowed ...
Weekly Contest #247
As the deep space exploration drone, "Odyssey," approached Proxima Centauri, tension filled the control room. Engineers and scientists gathered around screens displaying the drone's telemetry and images from deep space. Months before the launch, the space agency had assembled a team of experts from various fields to work on the Odyssey project. Engineers, scientists, linguists, and even psychologists were brought together to ensure the mission's success. The team spent countless hours in simulations, testing every possible scenario and fine-...
Oops, you need an account for that!
Log in with your social account:
Or enter your email:
9 likes
