Write Track Competition The Writer's Workout Gold Star Program Gold Star

The Basics

Writers are invited to participate in up to three monthly challenges per rotation. Each challenge includes a different key concept—usually covered by our free Back to Basics courses—and writers have one month to craft and submit their entry. All entries receive feedback in the following month, plus personalized tips to support the redraft process.

These three challenges culminate in our biannual Redraft Challenge, where we invite writers to submit one redrafted entry from any of the three prior challenges in that rotation. Writers must have submitted to at least one of the prior challenges to be eligible for the Redraft Challenge. All entries will receive additional feedback and we will announce our Judges’ Choice: the single submission that has most clearly engaged with the redraft process as a whole.

Then, much like redrafting, we start the whole process all over again with a new rotation!

WE ARE LIMITED TO 15 SUBMISSIONS PER CHALLENGE.

General Rules

• All entries must be in English and original works of fiction.
• One entry per person per challenge.
• The competition runs on UTC time, beginning and ending at midnight.
• Keep identifiable details of your entry private until the end of the competition rotation (six months).
• The judges' decisions are final.
• The judges will contact everyone who includes the full Title Information listed below.
• The judges will only accept up to 15 pieces for each of the first three challenges.
• Feedback will be available in your feedback folder in the month following your submission.
• New WW Writers: folder links will be delivered to new entrants when the challenge closes.
• Existing WW Writers: a new doc will be added to your existing folder when the challenge closes.
• The Redraft Challenge is only open to writers who submitted to any of the first three challenges. Find the private submission link in your feedback doc.
• Challenge winners will be honored with their bio and judges' favorite snippet on our blog. The Redraft Challenge winning entry will be published as received.

The following are not accepted:

• Simultaneous submissions
• Previously published works
• AI-generated content
• Fanfiction, erotica, religious, or political content
• Pieces longer than the word count limit
• Pieces submitted outside the competition month or after the limit is exceeded
• Pieces submitted in .pdf or by email
• Pieces without the full, correct Title Information (below) will be rejected unread.

Submissions

Keep formatting professional. You can find recommended settings on the submissions page.

Entries must include this Title Information in this order at the top of the document body, aligned left:
Name or Pseudonym, email
Entry Title
Write Track Challenge [#]
Word Count

You'll be asked to add your bio when you submit.
Accepted file types: .doc, .docx, .odt