⏳ Weekly Writing Contest | November 9: Lights, Camera, Action!
This week's guest judge is Jordan McGarry, Head of Talent Development and Production at Film London. Submit your entry by Friday, November 14th at 12pm ET/5pm GMT.
Welcome to the Weekly Writers’ Hour Contest!
This week’s challenge invites you to write something that feels cinematic.
📝 PROMPT
Write a short piece that could become the genesis for a feature film.
It might be a scene that sets the tone or a character sketch that demands to be on screen. Your task: make us believe this belongs on film. Poem, essay, or story—any form works, as long as it feels like the beginning of something we want to watch unfold. Each short piece should ideally work as a standalone story as well as the intro to something bigger.
Unpublished pieces of 500 words or less in any genre are eligible.
Submissions are due by Friday, November 14th, at 5pm GMT / 12pm ET.
Keep reading for more information on prizes and FAQs – plus an introduction to this week’s guest judge, Head of Talent Development and Production at Film London, Jordan McGarry.
Happy writing!
The Writers’ Hour Magazine Team
Meet Our Guest Judge: Jordan McGarry
Jordan McGarry is Film London’s Head of Talent Development and Production, heading the team that discovers and develops London’s emerging filmmakers.
Previously, Jordan headed Vimeo’s curation department, programming Staff Picks and developing Vimeo Originals before the platform moved away from such things. Jordan has also worked as a journalist, in festival programming, video commissioning and as an executive producer at Partizan London.
You can find Film London on Substack: https://substack.com/@filmlondon
A Note from Jordan
The best stories start with a strong character (even if they’re physically frail); whoever you’re writing, we need to read them as clear, complex, three-dimensional people. What are their problems, what do they want?
Real life is very challenging for many people right now. People go to the cinema to be entertained, to feel community and to get away from their day-to-day. Take us on an adventure, thrill us, frighten us, make us laugh.
Filmmakers can’t shoot anything before they’ve raised finance for their feature. You only have to raise your hands to your keyboard. You can afford any beautiful beach scene, helicopter shot, volcano, and exploding monster you can dream up. Cinema is visual, go to town.
Don’t be frightened of dropping us straight into the action. Don’t spoon-feed us backstory unnecessarily; we’ll do the work to catch up if the character and their situation is compelling enough.
You don’t have to leave us all hanging on a cliff. A story with a beginning, middle and end can still leave us wanting more.
Unforgettable characters make us feel things. What are you going to make us feel?
How to Submit:
Submissions should be made through our online submission platform, Submittable, and formatted as a Word Doc.
For more details, please read the full Contest Guidelines.
The winning entries will receive:
First Prize:
$65 USD (£50 GBP)
Publication in Writers’ Hour Magazine
3-months of London Writers’ Salon Silver Membership (£79 value)
*NEW* Scrivener Writing Software (£55 value)
*NEW* 3-Month Chill Subs Better Membership (£25 value)
Commemorative Writers’ Hour trophy mug
Second Prize:
Publication in Writers’ Hour Magazine
1-month of London Writers’ Salon Silver Membership (£29 value)
Third Prize:
Publication in Writers’ Hour Magazine
FAQs:
What genres can I write in?
All genres - fiction, nonfiction, poetry, etc - are welcome.Is there a word limit?
Your piece must be 500 words or less. Pieces that exceed this will not be considered. There is no minimum word limit.Do I need to submit in a specific format?
Please follow the instructions outlined in the Contest Guidelines.When is the deadline to submit?
Submissions are due by Friday, November 14th at 5pm GMT / 12pm ET / 9am PT. Submissions received outside this window will not be considered.When will the winner be announced?
The winner will be contacted via Submittable, and the winning entries will be published in Writers’ Hour Magazine by Saturday, December 6th.Can I submit a piece I’ve already published?
Only previously unpublished pieces are eligible for this contest. (Published means anything that has already been made publicly available in print or online.)Can I use AI tools (like ChatGPT) to help write my contest submission?
No. We do not accept any AI-assisted writing for contest entries. All submissions must be the author’s original work and human-generated. Use of AI will disqualify you from this and any future contests.
Congratulations to the winners of A Day in the Life!
We are thrilled to share the contest results for the week of October 12. Writers were invited to write a day. Special thanks once again to our guest judge, Mason Currey.
First Place: Fine Lines by Erica Ottenberg
Second Place: The scaffolding rises by Katie Mattera
Third Place: No hands! by Marina Walker
Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to everyone who participated. It’s a pleasure to share these pieces with you, and we can’t wait to see what you create in the next contest!
PS: ✍️ Write with us daily at Writers’ Hour
Come work on your submission at Writers’ Hour—our daily silent writing sprints—where writers around the world gather together to write. It’s the perfect environment to focus, share space with other writers, and make progress on your contest entry.
🔒 Paid Subscriber Perk: Editorial Feedback Lottery
This week, three paid subscribers will be chosen at random to receive personalized feedback from our editorial team on their contest submission.
How to enter the feedback lottery:
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