Announcing Free Writing Challenge: Micro of the Month

Send us your fiction or nonfiction up to 300 words only!

Hello fellow strange pilgrims,

While reading for our Gabo period is underway, we’ve been cooking up another fun new way to get all our creative spirits surcharged.

Starting this April, for the first three days of every month, we’ll open for a free, themed writing challenge. One winner — who we feel has written the Micro of the Month — will be selected and published on the last Sunday of the month alongside an editor’s note and a contributor’s note. The winner will receive $30.

We want to explore what makes a piece of writing stand out when the room is small. What happens when you strip a story or a fragment or a moment down to 300 words or fewer? What survives? What can’t help but be there?

The rules are simple: the piece must be 300 words or under, it must respond to the month’s theme (however loosely, however strangely), and it must be submitted within the 3-day window. We’ll reply to everyone within 2-3 weeks (before we announce and publish the winner, of course).

April’s theme: The Fool!

We’ll announce each month’s theme when the window opens — or just before — so you’re not planning weeks in advance. We don’t want you to overthink this! Just let the writing flow.

We’re going to open a day early today, just for you! Submit your micro here.

Can’t wait to see what you make.

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Yours,

Shannan & Karan