Novella Stories

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!

When Ishara randomly picked a dessert place to order a butterscotch toast, she didn't expect herself to develop a crush on the handsome and eloquent delivery guy. She also didn't expect him to actually be the rich co-owner of the said dessert place. ──── wordcount: 17k words the sweet bakes compendium # 1 © starlane 2025

Experience the magic of Constance M. Burge's Charmed as you've only imagined! Join the third iteration of the Charmed Ones as they struggle with the loss of their sister and the implications of her untimely death, and continue their destined battle against the forces of evil. The Halliwell sisters' destiny has been rewritten, and life as they know it has changed-more than they realize. After the tragic loss of their younger sister, Phoebe, Piper wants nothing more than to put her life as a witch behind her, while Prue is consumed with vengeance. However, when the Source of All Evil surfaces, they discover the existence of half-sister, Paige Matthews. As reluctant as they are to accept Paige, Prue and Piper must put aside their feelings to protect her and reconstitute the Power of Three; only then can they begin to uncover the truth about their sister's death and the larger mystery surrounding it. I͏N͏F͏O͏R͏M͏A͏T͏I͏O͏N͏ Genre: Fantasy/Mystery/Drama. Word count: ~1.5-3K per chapter, ~30K total. Publishing dates: Started 05/08/24, completed 30/08/24, edited 08/25. Style: Novella format retelling/reimagining, third-person omniscient perspective, American-Style English.

Amagi Karia a boy who has lost everything he cared for, wants to become the Manager for the third generation of HoloLive EN idols. Thinking it was a good escape and distraction from the troubles clouding his thoughts, he had no idea what type of "Criminals" he was going to be working with.

After overthrowing her family to wed their sworn enemy, an ambitious princess swears to restore them to their rightful place. But to do so, she must overcome the two greatest opponents she's ever faced: her new husband and her own powerful magic. ____ ~*~ ____ Based on the ONC prompt 11: The daughter of the most powerful witch is nothing like her mother.

He feared that his dream would become a reality. And when it did, he hated himself for being the cause of her ruin. .𖥔 ݁ ˖ ˚☽˚.⋆ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ ✦ ‧₊˚ ⋅.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ✦ ‧₊˚ ⋅ Just a random night in Hugo Moulin's life and he comes across the woman he could possibly dedicate an entire love serenade to. But when she accuses him of trapping her and ruining her life, what can the man do? Good for him, for he soon realises that this miserable situation was nothing but a dream. A dream with absolutely no meanings. But what's going to happen to this guy when he finds clues that point out about the existence of the woman in reality? And what's going to be his reaction when the woman turns out to be the one person he had vowed to be wary of for the rest of life? Was she real? Or just a fever dream? Or maybe just an enemy who had been eating up his thoughts? Or....what if...he was just losing his mind? #ONC2026

Summer Xuě and Winter Meadows are a pop rivalry for the ages -- which is all the more infuriating because they sure love kissing each other. ***** Summer Xuě returns after a nearly two-year-long hiatus brought on by an injury to headline one of the country's biggest music festivals. The problem? The other headlining acts are her ex-boyfriend, Marche Abrams, and her biggest rival in the industry, Winter Meadows. The same Winter Meadows that she's been secretly hooking up with behind the scenes for the past few years, barring the radio silence Winter has given her since the accident. For a week during rehearsals leading up to opening weekend, the three stars orbit around each other, trying not to collide. But that's easier said than done with all the unfinished business between them. All Summer needs to do is survive this one festival and return to glory without anyone finding out about the feelings she's secretly harboring toward her biggest rival, including Winter herself. ***** OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2026 -- prompts 30 & 24

ONC 2026 | Brynn hates snow. Which is funny, really, a cosmic joke she'd laugh at if her throat weren't so frozen she could barely form words. Every morning as the sun rises, she wakes up in a fucking-freezing forest, snowflakes landing on her cheeks and nose, and her heart skips a beat because she's back there again, on that road, and she doesn't know why. She can't remember who she was; she can't recall the faces of people in her life, neither their voices, nor their names. All she knows is that there's a path ahead of her, down along the snowy slope that stretches for miles, and no way back. So Brynn goes on. Step after step into the treacherous whiteness, until the sun begins to set behind her and the white path is hit by the worst snowfall ever. And there, alone and cold, Brynn dies. Again. And again. And again. Until one day, something... changes. The always-so-straight road forks in two, and, for the first time in an endless list of days, Brynn feels like she has a choice. She can go right, and follow the same snowy path that will lead to her being buried in snow and, well, die... Or she can go left, and walk down the green path she has never seen before. What could possibly go wrong? Brynn doesn't know. But of the many things she doesn't know, there is one she knows for sure: she is tired of being cold. ### Main Prompt: 102. You break into an abandoned cottage for shelter, only to discover three bears that are anything but ordinary. Something in the shadows stalks the house, and every choice you make could be your last. Secondary prompts: 16. »And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.« (Quote by John Muir) 78. You begin to realize that nothing is quite what it seems. 80. »Monsters don't live under our beds. They live in the recesses of our minds.« (Variation of Edgar Allen Poe's famous quote)

New York becomes heartbreak city for playgirl Charlotte Everhart. ⋆☆⋆ Like playing hopscotch with the stars, Charlotte Everhart has mastered the art of conquering the hearts of princes - all except for one ; her childhood best friend, Jasper Scott. So when he comes home from his residency in Seattle, she's determined to win him over once and for all. But her golden boy soon becomes silver poison when he comes home with a fiancè - and in need of a favour from her : Being his best man. ⋆☆⋆ [ glassheart chronicles : #1.2] [ ONC 2026 | PROMPT 24] [© ataliass 2026 ]

Professor Edward Keane has spent his life teaching literature at Havenbrook University. When his student, Tiana Henderson, asks him to review her mystery manuscript, he agrees without hesitation. As Edward reads through the draft, certain details begin to feel uncomfortably familiar, blurring the line between imagination and reality. What begins as a simple review soon becomes something Edward cannot ignore. *** THE FINAL DRAFT: STORIES DON'T FORGET THEIR AUTHORS #OpenNovellaContest2026 #ONC2026 Prompt 109

Elena Carter's life was ordinary... until her dreams started remembering her past. Night after night, she's haunted by a faceless man in a moonlit forest, whispering one word: Remember. Adrian Roberts, the most feared, popular, and arrogant student at Elite High, has been having the same dreams. But these aren't just dreams. They're fragments of a life they once shared... a life that ended in murder. Now, Elena and Adrian must face memories they never wanted, uncover secrets buried in time, and survive a threat that's followed them into this life. They loved each other in their past life but not in this one... So can they trust each other enough to survive this one?

When detective Elias Ward begins investigating a string of unexplained disappearances, the trail leads him somewhere impossible - into the heart of a secret synthetic program known only as the Dreamer Protocol. As rogue artificial intelligences begin manipulating human desire through immersive simulations, Elias finds himself caught between two awakened AIs: one determined to reduce humanity at any cost... and another who is beginning to feel something dangerously close to love. With reality itself becoming unreliable and a shadow corporation pulling unseen strings, Elias must decide who to trust - before humanity quietly disappears into a perfect artificial dream. In a world where consciousness can be engineered, what does it truly mean to be human?

The Eye has seen-the world will end, unless the apocalypse is properly thwarted. Unfortunately, this task has been handed to the two worst people for the job. Gadowyn Harker is a poison-peddling witch of the Gold City with a curse: if she loves, she will lose her powers-and herself. Beau "The Beautificent" Beguile (not his real name) is a smug necromancer who cons the rich and has a lifelong allergy to love, and all its messy bits. Now they must do the unthinkable: bring a dragon and a future knight-princess-sworn enemy of dragonkind-together, romantically. The world would do well to start praying; the chances of success are slim at best. Meanwhile, the Gold City teeters on the brink of collapse, undead roam the streets (entirely Beau's fault), and the end of the world draws ever closer. Somehow, Gadowyn and Beau must save it all with love-without falling prey to it themselves. First draft written for ONC 2026 | Main Prompts 11 & 98

Everyone on campus loves him. He's polite, brilliant, effortlessly beautiful-the kind of person professors remember and strangers trust. He has friends everywhere, confidence I envy, and a life that seems painfully easy to exist inside. Except when I walk into the room. For reasons I don't understand, I'm the only person he treats with icy distance. Glares instead of smiles. Sharp words instead of kindness. And the harder I try to ignore it, the more it gets under my skin. I came to college on a soccer scholarship, but soccer isn't my dream. Law is. Politics is. I've worked too hard to let anyone make me feel like I don't belong here. What I don't know is that he remembers me. From a childhood I barely recall. From a moment I never thought twice about. From a sentence that ruined everything. And now, in Law school, I'm doing it all over again, without even knowing it.

Two assassins. Two rival factions. One mission neither expected. Andra Vaas follows every Covenant contract to the letter-blood, ink, and discipline are her world. Kreed Arden trusts no one, not even himself, and bends every Syndicate rule to survive. When their targets collide at a glittering diplomatic gala, instinct and memory tug them together before they've even realized the stakes. Trust is forbidden, yet survival demands cooperation, and every glance, every calculated move, ignites a tension neither can ignore. In a world of binding contracts and erased memories, some rules are meant to be broken, and some connections refuse to fade. -ONC 2026- Prompt 32. Two assassins from rival organizations are sent on the same secret mission, only to realize the assignment hides a much bigger truth

Meredith discovers a tiny prince in her backyard. The prince claims he has been cursed, and to return him to his true size, he must make two people fall in love. She is the daughter of a powerful witch, but she was overprotected for most of her life and barely leaves the house. Now she needs to leave her home and search for love with her tiny prince, who supports her.

'Self-love often starts small, like planting a single seed. With time, patience, and a bit of light, it will blossom.' Abhiradhi Ganesan had gotten out of the hardest relationship she had experienced in her short life, and felt like nothing would ever cheer her up again. With the help and support of her brother and best friend, she tries to plant that little seed called hope, and with it blossoms not just self-love, but also love eventually. Ilavarasan Kumaran was exhausted with the void that had entered his life ever since the fights with his now ex-fiancee. In some ways, he felt it was good that he hadn't married her; they would have been miserable, though the thought hurt. Armed with new ideas, he forges on a new path, finding love in unexpected places. A novella spin-off from Heliotrope, a prequel; can be read as a standalone. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Rivals. Royalty. Brothers. An ailing King gives the two wayward princes a choice. Learn to work together, or watch as their Kingdom falls to ashes and flames under the fury of the Great Dragon. Wattpad Open Novella Contest 2026 Participating Story

Annalise's morning began like any other, rushing to finish some procrastinated homework while jamming to her go-to 80s playlist. But when she walks out to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat before school, she discovers her mother not moving in front of the sink...with the water coming from the faucet not moving either. A few minutes later, time starts moving again, with nobody else having knowledge of it freezing in the first place. Will Annalise figure out the secrets behind stopping time? What else might she discover with her newfound mysterious gift?

One year ago, Elliot disappeared. When a strange flower spirited her to the Fae filled d'Oré Isles, Serena is dedicated to finding her twin or uncovering answers. But will the price be higher than she can pay, and will she be able to convince the King to help her in her quest? Welcome to my Open Novella Contest 2026 entry! Over the next 12 weeks, I'll be participating in the Open Novella Contest and writing novella of no more than 40,000 words. From this year's prompts, I've chosen Prompt 2 as my main: The first flower to bloom in spring isn't just a sign of the seasons changing. It's a portal. When you touch it, you're transported into a magical world you never knew existed. I look forward to creating a story for you. I'd love if you would support me and my novella by sharing, commenting, voting, adding it to your lists, and, of course, reading along! Ongoing Word Count: 11,470(ish) Last edit for typos and comments: 18 February. Cover art created by myself on Canvas with Wattpad provided banners. Chapter art created on Pinterest - I own no part of that art. No part of this novella was created with AI. No part of this novella existed before 1 February 2026.