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About This Author
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Tales Shown, Not Told Discussion Forum
 
Don't tell us your tales. Show them to us.
This forum is for contestants and those interested in the contest to post questions and comments. To enter the contest, use the entry from at the bottom of the "Tales Shown, Not Told Contest"  page.
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 Each round of the contest will have three prompts.
Contestants will pick one of the three and write a short story that uses that prompt.
The story should be not more than 3000 words.
To enter, please use the form at the bottom of the " Tales Shown, Not Told Contest" page.
There are a few more technical rules below, but that's the basics.  ▼
Choose ONE of the prompts for your story. This round's prompts are:
Genre Prompt: Mystery/Detective. There's a crime, and someone needs to solve it.
Words Prompt: Write a story using the words brouhaha, bamboozle, and ineffable.
Character prompt: The protagonist exhibits at least some obsessive-compulsive behaviors .
Choose ONE of these prompts for your story. You're free to explore these prompts in whatever way you wish, but the prompt must be part of the story.
Suggestions.
For genre prompts, stay within the bounds of the genre. For the words prompt, use the words in a natural way, for example in narrative, description, thoughts, or in dialogue. It will help the judges if you boldface the words so that judges can find them. Grammatical variations of the basic word are permitted, for example "glimmering" uses the word "glimmer." For the character prompt, consider showing the reader how the prompt relates to the protagonist's character arc, i.e., their goals, obstacles, or stakes.
Mixing genres would be awesome! A science fiction story that's also a mystery, for example, or a romance that involves a detetective. Be creative.
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The contest is currently CLOSED.
We expect to return in JANUARY 2026 for a new round.
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