The Final Round of the 100-word Microfiction Challenge 2026 is underway! The final assignment of the competition is Open (genre), applauding (action), and below (word). Best of luck to the 144 finalists over the next 24 hours!

The 2nd Round results for the 100-word Microfiction Challenge 2026 are up at nycmidnight.co/4alWiea! Congratulations to the top eight in each group for advancing to the Final Round, which kicks off this Friday, June 26th. Best of luck to them, and thanks to all who participated!

The Final Round of the Screenwriting Challenge 2026 is underway! The final assignment of the competition is Open (genre), an alibi (subject), and a third wheel (character). Best of luck to the 30 finalists with their 5-page screenplays over the next 24 hours!

The 2nd Round results for the Screenwriting Challenge 2026 are up at nycmidnight.co/43sERos! Congratulations to the top three in each group for advancing to the Final Round, which kicks off this Friday, June 12th. Best of luck to them, and thanks to all who participated!

We're happy to introduce the Two-Story Writing Challenge, a new competition that will challenge writers worldwide to create two short stories based on genre, action, & word assignments in 72 hours. It all kicks off on July 30th. Learn more & register at www.nycmidnight.com/two-story. Happy writing!

The 3rd Round of the Short Story Challenge 2026 is underway! View the list of 3rd Round writers, prompt assignments, and a countdown until the deadline at www.nycmidnight.com/shortstory/2.... Best of luck to the participating writers over the next 48 hours!

Did this over the weekend. It was a great example of the magic of the prompt system - at first, I had no idea how I was going to use the prompts I got, but I just relaxed, let my mind wander, and ended up with a story I never would have written otherwise. I'm quite proud of it. Fingers crossed!

The 2nd Round results for the Short Story Challenge 2026 are up at nycmidnight.co/4ugr5jB! Congratulations to the top 5 in each group for advancing to the 3rd Round, which kicks off this Friday, June 5th. Best of luck to them, and thanks to all who participated!

The 1st Round of the 500-word Fiction Challenge 2026 is underway! View the list of participating writers, genre/action/object assignments, and a countdown until the submission deadline at nycmidnight.co/4uCDfEv. Best of luck to the 3,400+ writers participating worldwide over the next 48 hours!

The 4th annual 500-word Fiction Challenge kicks off at 11:59 PM (NY time) tonight, May 29th, and registration is still open! Participants will have 48 hours to write a story no longer than 500 words based on a genre, action, and object assignment. Learn more at nycmidnight.com/500. Happy writing!

My story that won @nycmidnight.bsky.social is here! I'm so proud of this story. Thank you to the team at NYC Midnight and to Yevgenia Nayberg for this incredible illustration for my story. I am so emotional right now. ❤️ Click below to read Roo Sprayers! 🦘

We're proud to present the winning story from last year's 500-word Fiction Challenge! Read "Roo Sprayers" by @chloepaige.bsky.social (Australia), at nycmidnight.co/roo-sprayers. Original Illustration by Yevgenia Nayberg. Enjoy, and get ready for this year's 500-word Fiction Challenge on May 29th!

In anticipation of this year's 500-word Challenge starting May 29th, we'll be publishing the top two stories from last year. Today, we're happy to publish "Simmering" by Autumn Bettinger at nycmidnight.co/simmering, which placed 2nd overall in 2025. Original illustration by Yevgenia Nayberg. Enjoy!

The winners of the 250-word Microfiction Challenge 2025 have been announced at nycmidnight.co/4tRLmvM! Congratulations to Maria Rosasco (Cambridge, MA, USA) for winning the competition with her final round story, “Outcomes Vary,” and thanks to everyone who participated!

The 2nd Round of the 100-word Microfiction Challenge 2026 is underway! View the list of 2nd Round writers, prompt assignments, and a countdown until the deadline at nycmidnight.co/4tBn1du. Best of luck to the participating writers over the next 24 hours!

The 1st Round results for the 100-word Microfiction Challenge 2026 are up at nycmidnight.co/42CCTkS! Congratulations to the top 15 in each group for advancing to the 2nd Round, which kicks off this Friday, May 15th. Best of luck to them, and thanks to all who participated!

The 4th annual 500-word Fiction Challenge begins on May 29th and will challenge writers worldwide to create short stories no longer than 500 words in 48 hours. Learn more, register, and read previous winning stories at www.nycmidnight.com/500. Happy writing!

Found my flow today (finally!), and it felt GOOD. I hit a wall with only 1 scene left to write in my 1st draft. So, it's a walk & dinner & then back at it. I don't need that last scene to be good. I just need it done, so I can spend tomorrow fixing and polishing. #FlashFictionChallenge2026

The Flash Fiction Challenge 2026 is officially underway! View the 1st Round genre/location/object assignments, a countdown to the deadline, and the story upload link at nycmidnight.co/4w47q8L. Best of luck to the 2,700+ writers participating worldwide over the next 48 hours!

I’m ecstatic to share that I placed first in the inaugural year of NYC Midnight’s Scary Story Challenge! Having a 2nd win of a major writing contest is a milestone like nothing else I’ve experienced. I’m humbled, honored, and grateful for this opportunity to showcase my love of #horror storytelling.

The 18th annual Flash Fiction Challenge kicks off at 11:59 PM (NY time) tonight, May 1st, and registration is still open! Participants will have 48 hours to write a 1,000-word story based on a genre, location, and object assignment. Learn more and register at www.nycmidnight.com/ffc. Happy writing!

We're proud to present the winning story from last year's Flash Fiction Challenge! Read "The Last Bloom Visitor Center" by five-time NYCM winner, Leila Murton Poole (UK), at nycmidnight.co/last-bloom. Original Illustration by Yevgenia Nayberg. Enjoy, and get ready for this year's challenge on May 1!

The early entry deadline for the 500-word Fiction Challenge is today! The 4th annual competition kicks off on May 29th and will challenge writers worldwide to create short stories based on genre, action, and object assignments in 48 hours. Learn more & register at www.nycmidnight.com/500. Good luck!

The winners of the inaugural Scary Story Challenge have been announced at nycmidnight.co/4cI6y0w! Congratulations to D.R. Forge (New York, NY, USA) for winning the competition with their final round story, "Backseat Astronaut," and thanks to everyone who participated!

The 18th annual Flash Fiction Challenge begins on May 1st and will challenge writers worldwide to create short stories no longer than 1,000 words in 48 hours. Learn more, register, and read previous winning stories at www.nycmidnight.com/ffc. Happy writing!

The 2nd Round of the Screenwriting Challenge 2026 is underway! View the list of 2nd Round writers, prompt assignments, and a countdown until the deadline at www.nycmidnight.com/screenwritin.... Best of luck to the participating writers over the next three days!

In anticipation of the Flash Fiction Challenge kicking off on May 1st, we're happy to publish the story that placed 2nd overall in last year's competition. Check out "They Still Bring Your Flowers" by Natalie Minaker at nycmidnight.co/486oe4J. Original Illustration by Yevgenia Nayberg. Enjoy!

The 1st Round results for the Screenwriting Challenge 2026 are up at nycmidnight.co/41w0sLN! Congratulations to the top 5 in each group for advancing to the 2nd Round, which kicks off this Thursday, April 16th. Best of luck to them, and thanks to all who participated!

Congrats to longtime illustrator for NYCM, Yevgenia Nayberg, on the publication of her new graphic novel, Chernobyl, Life, and Other Disasters. It arrives just in time for the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl explosion and is available wherever books are sold. Learn more at her Instagram @znayberg.

New interview with Charlie Weisman, director of the NYC Midnight competitions. I've been writing in these contests for 10 years (yikes) and it's still one of my favorite things. If you're a contest participant, or if you're contest curious, check it out! @nycmidnight.bsky.social

The 2nd Round of the Short Story Challenge 2026 is underway! View the list of 2nd Round writers, prompt assignments, and a countdown until the deadline at www.nycmidnight.com/shortstory/2.... Best of luck to the participating writers over the next three days!

In anticipation of the Flash Fiction Challenge 2026 kicking off May 1, we'll be publishing the top three stories from last year. Today, we're proud to publish the 3rd-place story, ./Human Legacy by @mmschreier.bsky.social at nycmidnight.co/3QaALxG. Original illustration by Yevgenia Nayberg. Enjoy!

The 1st Round results for the Short Story Challenge 2026 are up at nycmidnight.co/4cdouzU! Congratulations to the top 5 in each group for advancing to the 2nd Round, which kicks off this Thursday, April 9th. Best of luck to them, and thanks to all who participated!

END THE WAR ON IRAN NOW.

The 500-word Fiction Challenge 2026 kicks off on May 29th, and registration is open! The 4th annual competition will challenge writers worldwide to create 500-word short stories in 48 hours. Learn more, register, and read previous winning stories at www.nycmidnight.com/500. Good luck, writers!

i’m in the final round. please send ginger beer and orange snacks (carrots excluded). #MicrofictionChallenge250 📚✍️

The Final Round of the 250-word Microfiction Challenge 2025 is underway! The final assignment of the competition is Open (genre), Repairing (action), and fast (word). Best of luck to the 100 finalists with their stories over the next 48 hours!

The 2nd Round results for the 250-word Microfiction Challenge 2025 are up at bit.ly/4d6xjh6! Congratulations to the top five in each group for advancing to the Final Round, which kicks off this Friday, March 27th. Best of luck to them, and thanks to all who participated!

The 100-word Microfiction Challenge 2026 is officially underway! View the 1st Round genre/action/word assignments, a countdown to the deadline, and the story upload link at nycmidnight.co/4t0k4mN. Best of luck to the 3,800+ writers participating worldwide over the next 24 hours!

The 7th annual 100-word Microfiction Challenge kicks off at 11:59 PM (NY time) tonight, March 20, and registration is still open! Participants will have 24 hours to write a tiny story based on a genre, action, and word assignment. Learn more and register at www.nycmidnight.com/100. Good luck!

@nycmidnight.bsky.social's 100-word Microfiction Challenge kicks off March 20th! We're happy to be back as sponsors for 2026. Still time to learn more and register for a chance to compete for cash and focused writing tools like @writer.ia.net and @notebook.ia.net: ia.net/topics/nyc-m...

Check out a guest post from back-to-back winner of the 100-word Microfiction Challenge, Christy Hartman, on her five strategies to craft tiny stories that resonate universally. Enjoy, and get ready for the 2026 challenge kicking off on Friday, March 20th! www.nycmidnight.com/blog/anatomy...

We're proud to present the winning story from last year's 100-word Microfiction Challenge! Read "Impossible Choice" by back-back winner, Christy Hartman, at nycmidnight.co/impossible-c.... Original Illustration by Yevgenia Nayberg. Enjoy, and get ready for this year's 100-word challenge on March 20!

The 18th annual Flash Fiction Challenge kicks off May 1st, and registration is now open! Writers are challenged to create 1,000-word short stories in 48 hours. Learn more, register, & read previous winning stories at www.nycmidnight.com/ffc. Good luck, writers!

The Final Round of the Scary Story Challenge 2025 is underway! The final assignment of the competition is A WRONG TURN (scare), SIFTING (action), and AN EXHAUSTED PERSON (character). Best of luck to the 115 finalists with their 400-word scary stories over the next 48 hours!

The 2nd Round results for the Scary Story Challenge 2025 are up at nycmidnight.co/4baMTXu! Congratulations to the top five in each group for advancing to the Final Round, which kicks off this Friday, February 27th. Best of luck to them, and thanks to all who participated!

Had the best time with @nycmidnight.bsky.social. This is my absolute favorite thing! Thanks for all the reads and fresh eyes from @nickwaswriting.com, @michaelbuonocore.bsky.social, @matthewnicholson.bsky.social, @theuptownfive.bsky.social and @eric-writes.bsky.social. Here's to another round! 🤞

The Screenwriting Challenge 2026 is officially underway! View the 1st Round genre/subject/character assignments, a countdown to the deadline, and the screenplay upload link at nycmidnight.co/4aOl5Id. Best of luck to the 1,300+ writers participating worldwide over the next eight days!

We're happy to announce that Write Brothers will be providing the top 10 winners of the Screenwriting Challenge 2026 with their Movie Magic® Screenwriter™ software! Learn more at nycmidnight.com/scc-prizes, and get ready for the challenge kicking off in less than seven hours!