⏳ Weekly Writing Contest | October 13: Portrait of a Room
Submit your entry by Friday October 18, 5pm BST / 12pm ET / 9am PT
Welcome to the Weekly Writers' Hour Contest!
This week’s challenge invites you to explore the details and atmosphere of a space and render them vividly on the page.
Prompt: Portrait of a Room
Choose a room that holds meaning for you—a space from your past or present, real or imagined—and write a vivid portrait of that room.
A room is more than just four walls; it’s a container for memory, emotion, and identity.
We can’t wait to read about your rooms. Invite us in.
Unpublished pieces of 500 words or less in any genre are eligible for this contest.
Submissions are due by Friday, October 18th at 5pm BST / 12pm ET / 9am PT.
Keep reading below for more information on prizes and FAQs – plus an introduction to this week’s guest judge, Penny Wincer.
Happy writing!
The Writers’ Hour Magazine Team
Meet Our Guest Judge: Penny Wincer
is an author, freelance writer and non-fiction book coach based in London. She is the author of Home Matters: How Our Homes Shape Us, And We Shape Them and Tender: The imperfect Art of Caring. Penny hosts the podcast Not Too Busy To Write and writes on Substack at .
A Note from Penny:
Whether you are writing from life, or writing fiction, walking through spaces in your mind can be really helpful when writing about interior spaces.
Walk around the room, whether real or imagined, in your mind and see how you (or your character) might move around that space. Having a space come alive on the page is not about describing every detail, but describing specific details.
Choose details that connect us emotionally to the space, the things that will evoke the feelings you want the reader to feel about being in this space.
Think about the light, where is it coming from?
Think about the textures and colours.
Can you hear anything?
Do specific objects stand out?
Is it a space that is new to you (or your character) or is it familiar?
What can the space tell us, the reader, about you, your character or the person that usually occupies it?
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:
$100 USD (about £75 GBP)
Publication in Writers’ Hour Magazine
3-month complimentary London Writers’ Salon Silver Membership
Commemorative Writers’ Hour trophy mug
Second Prize:
A special mention in Writers’ Hour Magazine
1-month complimentary London Writers’ Salon Silver Membership
Third Prize:
A special mention 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, October 18 at 5pm BST / 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 entry will be published in Writers’ Hour Magazine by Saturday, November 2nd.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.)Is there a fee to submit?
No, there is no fee to submit. However you must be subscribed to Writers’ Hour Magazine in order for your submission to be considered.
Congratulations to winners of Prompt 100 Words!
We are thrilled to share the results of the contest for the week of September 22. Writers were tasked with crafting a compelling piece in exactly 100 words.
First Place: Grandmother's Funeral by
Second Place: The Forgotten Funambulist by
Third Place: chainsaw by
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
Come work on your submission at Writers' Hour—our daily silent writing sprints—where writers from around the world come together to work on their projects. It’s the perfect environment to focus, share space with other writers, and make progress on your contest entry.