The 250-word Microfiction Challenge 2024
The 250-word Microfiction Challenge is an international creative writing competition, now in its 6th year, that challenges participants to create very short stories based on genre, action, and word assignments in 48 hours. The event is organized by NYC Midnight Movie Making Madness, an organization founded in 2002 with the mission to discover and promote a new wave of talented storytellers. Through inspiring and challenging writing competitions, NYC Midnight aims to provide the prizes and exposure necessary for writers to take their next big step towards writing professionally.
NYC Midnight
The 6th Annual 250-word Microfiction Challenge is a competition that challenges writers around the world to create very short stories no longer than 250 words based on genre, action, and word assignments in 48 hours. In the 1st Round, beginning at 11:59 pm (New York time) on Friday, November 8th, writers are placed randomly in groups and are assigned a genre, action and word assignment.
Writers have 48 hours to craft an original 250-word story in their assigned genre, with the assigned action taking place, and incorporating the assigned word. The judges choose a top 10 in each group to advance to the 2nd Round where writers receive new assignments and again have 48 hours to craft original stories.
Judges select the top 5 writers in each group from the 2nd Round to advance to the Final Round of the competition where writers will receive their final assignment of the competition. Feedback from the judges is provided for every submission, and there are thousands in cash and prizes for the winners. Sound like fun? Join the competition … and get ready for November 8th!
NYC Midnight
This competition involves multiple rounds. Please read the competition’s website carefully for details of how the compeition works and what the dates for each round are. Also note that any times given are New York time (Eastern Time Zone). Please make sure you account for the time difference if you enter.
Registration for the competition closes on 7 November 2024. Note that there is a reduced early bird fee of US$31 for entries received by 3 October. After that the fee is US$37. A discount is available for sharing the competition on social media – check the competition’s website for more details.
If you don't fancy this competition, have a look at some other competitions.
Good luck! Let us know how you get on?
Warnings and disclaimers
Make sure you enter the right competition for you.
- The details given are, to the best of our knowledge, correct at the time of publication. We accept no responsibility for the accuracy of the information.
- Always check the details of competitions closely. Make sure you and your entry match any stipulated criteria.
- Watch out for fees and prize amounts. Avoid competitions with fees that don't offer a cash prize.
- Check the closing date. Try to enter earlier rather than later to give the judges time to read and appreciate your entry.
- Some competitions may refuse entries that have been entered in other competitions. They may ask you to withdraw that entry from those other competitions.
- Some competitions may refuse entries that have already been published, including publication online.
- Some publishers may refuse to publish writing that has already been published, even in competition results.
- Inclusion here is not an endorsement.
More advice on entering writing competitions can be found here: