Community Service Writing
We Believe In The Power Of The Pen!
We Believe In The Power Of The Pen!
We believe a more harmonious and supportive society begins with literacy. We believe that a successful life begins with and is enhanced by the written word. We believe that not everyone is able or inclined to pick up trash by the side of the road or give blood in order to contribute to the well-being of their community. We knew there had to be an alternative. We believe that alternative is the Power of The Pen!
Twice a year, we send out a call for submissions on a particular topic or theme. Writers donate their work, which we publish in an anthology, and proceeds from book sales are donated to charity.
Twice a year, we send out a call for submissions on a particular topic or theme. Writers donate their work, which we publish in an anthology, and proceeds from book sales are donated to charity.
Current Call For Submissions:
Story Pyre: An Omnibus of Genres
Edited by Connor Matthews
Submission Deadline: July 31, annually
Expected Release Date: October 31 annually
Charity for 2019's Edition: Doctors Without Borders
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Genres & Prompts:
- Adventure fiction: stories in which characters are involved in dangerous and/or exhilarating exploits.
- Your main character is the leader of a random group of apocalypse survivors who must now forage for food.
- Allegory: a story using symbolism to express truths about the human condition.
- Your character wakes up covered with strange tattoos and can't remember how he/she got them.
- Bildungsroman: a story detailing the emotional and moral growth of a character.
- Two adopted twin sisters embark on a journey to find their birth father, only to find that he's been close to them all along.
- Black comedy: a story in which the humor derives from the misfortunes and/or reproachable behavior of characters.
- Your main character discovers a long-lost sibling who is down on their luck.
- Comedy: a story with elements and situations intended to amuse.
- "What's that smell?"
- Comedy-drama: a story with both humorous and serious elements.
- Your character is talked into going to their romantic interest's mother's dance recital, and their romantic interest doesn't show up.
- Comedy of errors (farce): a story involving energetic action revolving around humorous predicaments and coincidences.
- "I'll need to speak to at least three of your ex-significant others to check your references before I'll go on a date with you."
- Comedy of manners: a story that mocks class pretensions and/or prejudices.
- Two writers discover they've written the exact same text, word for word, 1,000 miles apart from each other.
- Crime fiction: stories based on the commission and/or investigation of wrongdoing.
- Write about a scenario where a character does something terrible and gets away with it completely.
- Detective fiction: stories in which the protagonist investigates a crime.
- The young girl was maybe five or six, but there was something about her that chilled me to the bone.
- Epic: originally a long poem celebrating the exploits of a factual or fictitious hero, but now applied to prose works on the same theme as well.
- A secondary character stumbles upon a talking blade, and they begin behaving suspiciously.
- Epistolary fiction: stories constructed as a series of letters exchanged between characters.
- A group of high school friends cross paths ten years after graduation to catch up, only to learn that one in their midst has developed special, superhuman powers.
- Fantasy fiction: stories involving imaginary beings in the real world or in an alternate reality and assuming suspension of disbelief about magic and/or supernatural powers.
- The woman swung her scythe with the steady clockwork motion of a pendulum.
- Fictional autobiography: a story purporting to be a first-person account of someone’s life.
- Write a story about a father and son reuniting for the first time in twenty years. Why did they go so long without talking? What finally brought them together?
- Fictional biography: a story structured to resemble a factual life story.
- He flicked the stub of his cigarette onto the pile of ________ and walked away without a second look.
- Gothic fiction: stories often taking place in an isolated setting and involving strange and/or perilous happenings.
- When he looked around, he froze. He'd been here before. This was the same place where he kept getting stuck in his dreams. Would he be able to find his way out in waking life?
- Horror fiction: stories incorporating supernatural and/or inexplicable elements and intended to arouse fear and dread.
- Your protagonist awoke from a nightmare to find an object from his/her dream laying on the pillow.
- Melodrama: a story that emphasizes action over characterization and features exaggeratedly dramatic plot elements.
- A character in your story becomes aware that they are in a story.
- Mystery fiction: stories that detail the solution of a crime or other wrongdoing.
- Your character has always thought of their parents in a certain way, but lately, they're doing something unusual that charges your character's opinion of them.
- Pastiche: a story that imitates one or more established works, or consists of episodes of such works.
- A child draws scenes that end up happening exactly as he/she draws them. His/her parents try to understand what is happening. (You must include the title and author of the work you are imitating).
- Picaresque: an episodically structured story featuring a rogue or an antihero as the protagonist.
- "I have been many things: a pawn, a dancer, a master of the blade; but none of these in the way you might think, and none of them for less than a moment."
- Parody: a story mocking the pretensions or weaknesses of a particular author, style, or genre.
- Your main character has a change of heart and partners up with your antagonist, joining their evil organization and proving a much more capable evil overlord than your antagonist could ever hope to be.
- Romance: a love story.
- Your main character is contemplating suicide until a stranger stops him/her.
- Romantic comedy: a lighthearted story detailing a romance and its complications.
- He counted his register drawer again. How could he be short $2,500?
- Romp: a boisterously comical tale.
- "Again, try again. Concentrate now, it will not come easily."
- Satire: a story that pokes fun at human shortcomings such as arrogance, greed, and vanity.
- An escaped convict leaves behind evidence of his innocence for the search party to find.
- Science fiction: stories focusing on how science and technology affect individuals and civilizations.
- Your main character wakes up in the trunk of a car, their head throbbing.
- Screwball comedy: a fast-paced story involving improbable situations and antics from which the humor derives.
- Your main character has just come face-to-face with their worst enemy, and they are monologuing.
- Swashbuckler: an adventure story in which the hero accomplishes great feats to aid a noble cause.
- Two giant fingers reach down and pluck your main character away from what they were just doing, and unceremoniously deposits them on a pirate ship.
- Thriller: a dramatic story punctuated with action, adventure, and suspense.
- Your characters are trapped in a structure that constantly shifts and changes. How do they find their way out?
- Tragedy: a story with a catastrophic and/or unfortunate outcome.
- Your main character's boat is sinking in the middle of the ocean and he/she only has one hour to make a raft from parts of the vessel.
- Tragic comedy: a story with both humorous and heartbreaking aspects.
- She glared at the thick bracelet on her bicep. Why did her parents make such a big deal about never taking it off? It was heavy and not even stylish. She found the clasp and fiddled with it for a moment. Surely her parents were exaggerating about all the awful things that would happen to her if she ever took it off.
- Travelogue: a story with a plot centering on a significant amount of travel.
- Your main character finds himself/herself in the video game they were playing.
To Submit To The Current
Community Service Anthology:
Click HERE to send your piece as an attachment to our inquiry form.
ONLY ONE STORY FILE MAY BE SUBMITTED PER FORM.
Community Service Anthology:
Click HERE to send your piece as an attachment to our inquiry form.
ONLY ONE STORY FILE MAY BE SUBMITTED PER FORM.