Surreal

This month think about how the mind stretches reality in the dreamworld: What surprises await, what fears emerge, and what secrets surface? 

Explore the edges where dreams end and something else begins. Draft your story such that it begins from a dream and materialises in the reality. How does the dream affect the reality?

• Craft a story between 450-500 words. Check this link to get down to the nitty-gritty of writing flash fiction
• Login to your profile on our website and draft your story.
• From the drop down under Prompts choose “#QuinTale-68″.
• Attach a cover image for your story in LANDSCAPE with the dimensions: 1200px X 675px. Please use pixabay.com, pexels.com or unsplash.com to source lovely covers in jpg or png. In case your story has a cover of poor quality, is watermarked, or is a graphic image, it will delay the publishing process.
• Allow your story to be admin approved within 24-48 hours.

Rules:

1. The submitted story must be between 450-500 words (each). Entries lower than or exceeding the word limit will stand disqualified for the event. (Penmancy Tip: Use https://wordcounter.io/ to check your word count.)
2. There is no limit to the number of entries you may submit- though only the first story received shall qualify for the event. The remaining story/ies shall be treated as a guest story/ies.
3. Previously published or plagiarised works will not be considered for contention. The writer of such content stands to be disqualified for the next Penmancy event.
4. Stories found to have been shared on another platform or blog before the declaration of results stands disqualified from the event.
   In case a story is received after the submission deadline, it shall be considered as a guest entry and shall not qualify for the event.
5. NO corrections/ reviews of story/ies shall be entertained, but you may submit your edited stories after the event has concluded.

Winning criteria:

1.The winner will be chosen on the basis of the judges’ scores (out of 10)-

• plot/story/creativity (15 points)
• language/grammar (10 points)
• narrative voice & content (9 points)
• emotional impact, (8 points)
• use of prompt/theme (8 points)

2. The entries adjudged by a panel of judges and event organisers shall be binding. Judges’ scores to be deemed final and may not be contested. No scores will be shared with the participants.

3. All writers are required to read and comment on 5 stories other than their own and encourage their fellow writers with valuable and constructive inputs. Comments like “nice”, “good work”, “brilliant piece”, etc. do not provide the necessary critique and are not helpful for anyone.

4. Only stories that garnered an average score/rating of 7.5 and above shall be eligible for winning.

Event timelines:

• The last date of submission is November 23, 2024.
• Three winners shall be announced on December 2, 2024, at 8 PM.

P.s.-The event does not have any book giveaway associated to it.