The Open Novella Contest is back for 2026! Join fellow storytellers and plant the seed of a tale that will blossom into a 20,000+ word novella within 12 weeks! Your epic quest begins February 1st, 2026, so mark your calendars with this date!

ONC 2026. Prompt 19. "When you accidentally spill coffee on someone, the moment that should have been ruining your day becomes the beginning of surprising and life-changing friendship, in our case, romance." She remembers every time they've met. He remembers none of them. She is immortal, as long as she does not interfere. He is human, and without knowing it, he is changing everything. One meeting altered their destinies forever. She has spent lifetimes turning back time to save him, losing pieces of her immortality each time she fails, becoming more human with every loss. Every version of his story ends the same way. Him dead. This is her last chance. To save him, she may have to attempt the one thing she has never tried before: let him go. Because loving him might be the very thing that kills him.

Two rivals. One legendary blade. A bond that will save them or destroy everything. Kael Ashford has spent eighteen years preparing to be chosen; Kira Carver never thought the blade would pick someone like her. But when the Obsidian Blade chooses them both, they're forced into a partnership neither of them wanted. Their emotions bleed through whether they like it or not, every feeling, every fear, and every truth they're desperate to keep buried. And they only have twelve weeks to figure out how to work together before a catastrophic Fracture tears their world apart. Fire and Ice don't mix. But they're about to find out what happens when they try.

An ordinary woman is torn from her failing modern life when a thief botches an escaping spell, dropping her into the middle of a fight in a world that was never meant to be hers. The Marrowbound clan mistakes her for their long-lost Holy Lord of the Temple of Shadows, but clearing this misunderstanding would result in a tragic death. All she wants to do is to survive long enough in this world to find a way to return home. But as time goes by, strange things happen, leaving her questioning if this is a case of mistaken identity or if she is really their long-lost Holy Lord. Was she pulled into this world by chance, or was she always meant to return?

A world at war. Spies fighting in the shadows. Niko Sapphire, a dedicated young agent of the Quorum, must unravel the sinister plots of a notorious alchemist and his alliance with the Siren kingdom of Lokesha before his homeland is ravaged by a new breed of creature, born of chaos and hellbent on tainting the ocean tides with blood for eternity. *** Doctor Kief Thondial is the deadliest man in the world, or so Niko Sapphire has been told. After surviving a mission that brought him into the heart of the demented alchemists' laboratory of twisted experimentations - a mission that left his best friend dead - Thondial is the last man Niko wants to see. However, fate brings them back together on the tropical island kingdom of Lokesha, ruled by a power-hungry Siren Queen who wishes to use Thondial's expertise to extend her rule for eternity, even at the expense of her own people. Forced to ally himself with the opposition, the enigmatic and beautiful mermaid spy, Skilla Striker of the Tidewielders, Niko must thwart Thondial's plan before the war for dominion over their world shifts in evil's favour. Hunted by the sadistic assassin known as The Unhappy Man and pitted against nature on an island desperate to drown him, Niko will need the full alliance of his wit, charm, and rogueish instincts to defeat Thondial once and for all, but will his lust for revenge risk everything? *** Entered into the 2026 Open Novella Contest Prompt #32 - Two assassins from rival organizations are sent on the same secret mission, only to realize the assignment hides a much bigger truth.

Aunt Mabel is dead, found lying amongst her daisies in her garden. Two eyes anxiously watch over her. The police arrive, but questions soon crop up. Is it actually Aunt Mabel? And who or what did it? A wild animal? A person? A baby dragon? Something strange is afoot in the Auntie's garden and it's up to Officer Holt Martinez, Estelle, and her cousin Julia, to figure it all out before it's too late. Little does she know that an unplanned trip to the Dragon's Lair Bookshop will upend everything she thought she knew about life, this world, and those beyond. * Respectfully submitted to Wattpad's Open Novella Contest 2026, under prompt #3, with subtle influences from prompt #41.

Althea has always considered herself unlucky in love. What she never realized was that love had been circling her for years, just slightly out of step. On her thirtieth birthday, the four-man band who shaped her youth arrive late (as always). One confession breaks the careful silence they've kept for years, forcing the past into the present and cracking open a decade of almosts. They chose friendship because it was safer. They stayed professional because it was necessary. And sometimes life got in the way. Ms. Miss is a character-driven contemporary music drama about timing, restraint, and the complicated history behind a band that grew up together - and what it costs to keep choosing the safer path until, finally, someone decides not to. {Entered in the 2026 Open Novella Contest} {Round 1 Qualifier} {Round 2 Qualifier}

The metal in the beast was made to crush Na'vi resistance. The healer from the clouds will not be broken. "Text written by Aurelia Na'Vi. Concept imagery generated using Google Gemini." "This story is a work of fan fiction based on the Avatar universe created by James Cameron. The world of Pandora, the Na'vi, and associated concepts are trademarks of Lightstorm Entertainment and 20th Century Studios. No copyright infringement is intended. My additions and telling of the story, including additions of new characters and storylines are creative brainstorms meant to bring enjoyment to myself the writer, and any readers." This story was inspired by the avatar trilogy and the #onc2026 contest. I used these prompts: Main prompt- 29 78,34, 24 were additional prompts used My word counts for the contest can be found at approximately these spots: Chapter 1, end of chapter- 2,000 words Chapter 4, end of chapter- 8,000 words

There's murder on the streets of Cresenth. Darcy is planning to add to it before skipping town. Still on the hunt for The Radiant Hand, she and Kasi have their first real clue within reach. Everything goes wrong when Darcy's biggest lead is killed by Farren and Cahir, a pair of assassins on their own not so divine mission. Enemies inevitably become unlikely allies when a kidnapping grinds everyone's plans to a stop. Without the cooperation of both sides, The Radiant Hand's discord will run unchecked across the continent.

AMBASSADORS' PICK FOR ROUND ONE, ONC 2026 ⭐ Before France burned and crowns fell, it once starved to live. Before he was a king, he was a boy who once feared the silence. Before she was a revolutionary, she was a girl who once believed in love. Years before his marriage to Marie Antoinette, before alliances forged him into the King the world will remember, Louis was only a quiet prince who found comfort in the laughter of a printer's daughter from the Third Estate. Camille was never meant to stand beside a monarch. She never asked to love a prince. She asked for bread. For justice. For a France that did not bleed its poorest dry. But when a prophecy, whispered in the still halls of Versailles, follows Louis into manhood, "He will love two women. One will save his life. The other will destroy it." The trouble is, love does not wear a name. As France trembles beneath famine, debt, and rising fury, the prince becomes king. The king becomes a symbol. And the girl he once loved becomes something far more dangerous than memory. Revolution has many faces. Sometimes, it looks like the woman you once promised forever. Kings have honour. Soldiers are brave. Poets have hearts. And all Camille has left... is rage. As history sharpens its blade and the guillotine waits for its final applause, Louis must decide which love was his salvation, and which was his ruin. Because in a country built on hierarchy and hunger, loving the wrong person does not merely break a heart. It breaks a crown.