Opennovellacontest Histoires

Whether you're a seasoned storyteller or a first-time writer, our ONC Writing Tips are here to guide you on your journey. Prepare for the ONC with expert advice and inspiration - your legendary story starts here!

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 a grandmother is declared the Chosen One, she abandons her rocking chair to challenge the Dark Lord who plots to destroy the world. -- Formerly a single mother, now a devoted grandma, Granny Thayer has never left her hometown before, let alone slayed a demon. But she'd better learn fast; she's just been selected as the Chosen One, the only hero who can defeat the nefarious Dark Lord of Devnia and avert a zombie apocalypse. Accompanied by a devastatingly handsome prince, a failed bard, and a werewolf with a dangerous secret, Granny Thayer embarks on a quest full of intrigue and love triangles to save her grandson. This is a collaboration for ONC 2022/2023, written by SophieKestrel and Spelunkadunk. Prompt: "It's always what/who you least expected that blows your mind away."

Ever since Death got trapped in the mortal realm three years ago, nonstop famines, wars, and plagues have ravaged Earth. Shiori, a budding scientist with a love of snakes and a loathing for small talk, doesn't really care. She can deal with the constant pandemics, bombs, and spider/iguana/fruit fly/crocodile plagues, so long as it doesn't involve socializing with strangers -- the thing she hates most in the world. Too bad her new roommate is hot, suave, and super chatty. Even worse, he seems to have decided Shiori is the only one with the power to send Death back to the underworld -- and he'll stop at nothing to make it happen! **First place in The Punk Rock Awards 2022, Paranormal*** **Grand Winner of The Punk Rock Awards 2022**

Whether it's your first time or your seventh time, writing a novella in 12 weeks isn't easy. As a 2021 ONC Winner and two-time Honorable Mention (2023/2024), I totally understand. After years of participation and reflection, I have lots of advice to share on how I wrote a winning novella and look forward to writing every year. Inside this guide, you can find everything from insider tips to craft chats to contest commentary. So grab a cup, get your notebook, and settle in: it's time to start writing! Copyright © 2022 Elle Chaika

Three women. Three tangled lives orbiting Mars aboard the Phobos Transit Space Station. Val loses her station operation engineer job under false pretenses, Exo-biologist Cassy is blackballed for doing the right thing, and ex-marine Kate suffers a broken heart. Fortunately, Mavis, the owner of the Starlight Tavern and rescuer of lost souls, is there to help, recruiting the women into her Quilters Guild. But when hostile forces invade the station, the stakes become far greater, and the Guild finds themselves embroiled in a multi-world conspiracy. And they are not about to just stand by and let it happen. Redemption comes stitch by stitch. *** Open Novella Contest Round Two Ambassador Pick *** *** Open Novella Contest Winner - Third Place ***

The empire of Aquila has taken over half of the isle of Prydain, and the young siren Veriel finds himself born in the pool of the conqueror's newly-constructed villa. After the other sirens die, leaving him alone and voiceless, Veri's sole comfort comes from the dream of a human girl who sings to him. Then one day, Veriel surfaces to see that his dream, the sunshine of his heart, is real, standing within his reach. And she's engaged to another. But he's tired living as a prisoner, and he can't let this rare bit of warmth escape without fighting for it. Veriel may not have a voice or song, but that won't stop him from trying to win her heart.

As per tradition, a journal for this ONC.

When Elliot and his kid sister go hiking together, he's expecting typical problems like blisters and rain. He's not expecting the deluge of fantastical problems that await him on the second day of his hike. And he's not happy about it.

When international superstar, Laila, decides to ignore all warnings and fly to her next gig in a storm, she finds herself lost on a mysterious tropical island with no hope of rescue. With only her uncompromising pilot for company, both women must learn the secrets of the island in order to escape back to the modern world. Preferably without killing each other. As the mystery deepens, however, the two find common ground and learn that certain others may be trying to stop their escape. But why? A gag romance mystery for ONC, using Prompt 47: "A famous singer and their pilot crash land on a tropical island. With no-one else around, survival isn't their only challenge."

Arturo Banderas is a cadejo on the run. Framed for crimes he didn't commit, he has to escape his home for the human world, but in order to hide, he'll need to learn their culture, not just their physical form. Doctora Lidia Gutierrez wants to be the first person to understand the culture of the mysterious cadejos. No one has ever found them in the daylight, and those who survived their encounters at night weren't sober enough to explain anything. At least, none who were willing to talk to Lidia. When Arturo discovers Lidia's research he proposes a trade. If she'll teach him how to blend in, he'll tell her everything he knows about the cadejos. And it works just fine until a monster in the forest pushes them closer together. Working together is the only choice they have, but every moment spent together makes it harder to imagine a time when they'll be forced apart. And they will be, unless there's a way to stop the past from catching up with them. ~ * ~ * ~ This is one of the novellas I'm writing for ONC 2023. You can find the rest on my profile! For this story, I've selected prompt #52. "There is someone you dream about every night, but you never imagine meeting them in real life."

Every year since the second Open Novella I've kept a writing journal and this is the one for this year.

Four strangers are trapped in an elevator and forced to reveal details about their most malicious deeds within the hour to prevent a fall to their death. But as secrets are exposed, tension escalates, leading to a reality no one is prepared for. ***** Tasha Pierce receives an anonymous invitation she believes is from her ex-boyfriend hoping to see her in the high-rise building where he resides. But upon ascending in the elevator with three strangers, one of them hits the emergency stop and demands they share details of their most malicious deed within the hour to prevent falling several stories to their death. As secrets are revealed and the hour closes in, who the people are and why they are trapped in a precarious elevator together soon becomes the least of her worries. ***** ONC Prompt 56: You are on a typical awkward elevator ride with a group of other people, and suddenly someone says, "So, I bet you are wondering why I've gathered you here," before hitting the emergency button. ***** | ONC 2023 Round 1 Ambassadors Pick | Copyright©2023 by L.L. Sanders

Violet's life is chaos. When she's not dealing with the chaos at home, she's dealing with the chaos of being bullied at Gotham Academy. More importantly, she wants to disappear so nobody - particularly her crush Dick Grayson - wouldn't notice her. When she is finally able to, she finds her life turned completely upside down. Disclaimer - I don't own The Incredibles, Teen Titans or Young Justice. This story is written for Open Novella 2020. The prompt I choose was number ten, or "the new kid is bullied relentlessly until they discover they actually have a quite unique and unexpected talent". Story is also a spin off of my Beyond the Night fanfic series.

[TOP 4 in the Open Novella Contest 2018] "In blood born, in blood it ends." Do you believe in the freedom of choice or in proclaimed destiny? He had terrorized the lands. He had murdered and killed. He had walked the earth for centuries. Now he is back to fulfill his part of the legend. The legend of he who died once and lived twice. The legend of he who will only be stopped by one person: The last remaining member of the Amawaka lineage. A young girl tossed like a leaf in the winds of fate. A fantastic, action filled story about fate, heritage and twisted love, inspired by classical and Victorian literature. #4 in the #opennovellacontest

Lucia Jennings never believed in reincarnation; until she choked on spicy noodles and woke up as Lin Xi, the tragic heiress from the drama "Whispers of the Heiress". The problem? She hated the show and never finished it. Armed with her corporate experience and an unhealthy number of short drama binge sessions, Lin Xi refuses to follow the script. Everything is going perfectly-until the supposed "real heiress," Bai Lian, waltzes in with a paternity test, claiming Lin Xi's life as her own. Lin Xi worked too hard to let some imposter take everything away. If Bai Lian wants a fight, then she just walked into the wrong drama. ~ Brace yourselves; it's a fast ride. ~~~~~~~ This short story is based on Prompt #48 of the ONC 2025. 48: A fake paternity test threatens to tear apart the family you've built, as an imposter seeks to claim your rightful place as heir. ~~~~ Cover by maskedinthelight (myself)

Running from an arranged marriage, Elaria wants nothing more than a life of her choosing. On the night of her escape she finds she's not the only one making a run for it. -- The two countries of Coastalis and Mossvale have an agreement since their founding to arrange marriage and keep the friendship held for ten thousand years intact. However, when Elaria is faced with this head on, she realizes her life has been lead into complacency, and she's had enough. Ready to finally live her life on her own terms, Elaria ties her sheets into a rope and scales down the wall of her own palace to escape. But she's not the only one. Erik, who has his own struggles, is desperate to return to Mossvale to reunite with the love he left behind. Together they forge an unlikely pairing as they traverse both love and fate. However, fate has much more in store than either of them expect. -- An ONC Novella Prompt #88 Your father is forcing you to marry someone you have never met. The night before your wedding, you tie your sheets together and make your escape through the window. Halfway down you make eye contact with someone doing the exact same thing a few windows over.

⭐Featured on OpenNovellaContest 2021 Round 1 Ambassador Picks|| Bea, Ali, and Sez travel far across the Pacific ocean with their parents to live with their sick Lolo who owns a mango farm in the Philippine province. The siblings--foreign to the new land, language, and customs--find it difficult to adapt to their new home. One dewy morning while following a trail of ants in Lolo's small mango shed, the younger child Sez discovers a peculiar insect and catches it, but to his surprise, the insect screams. A tiny human girl scream. But the fairy was hurt and cannot walk nor fly. With the help of her new friends, the children decide to help the fairy find her way back home before she misses her coronation and her fairy family realizes she's missing or else something bad will happen to Lolo's mango farm. ONC prompt #7 Children's Fiction

Every time she lights a match, she escapes into a new world. *** Alicia Robertson is a high school student who is constantly treated like an outcast. Bullied at school and neglected by her parents, her only solace is in her matchbox. One lit matchstick and she is transported to a world of her choosing. Things start to change when the mysterious new boy starts to take interest in her. It's all fun and games until she opens a dimension that was meant to stay shut... FOREVER!!! ********** Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are purely the products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. ********** This book is entered into the Open Novella Contest (ONC) 2020 Under the Fantasy and Science Fiction Prompt #26 ********** Other relevant prompts are: Fantasy and Science Fiction Prompt #24 Horror and Paranormal Prompt #49 Mystery/Thriller and Action Prompt #54 ********** Release will span through February to April

Tristram Wald likes to spend his days daydreaming about all of the magical things that he wishes would transpire in his lowly, humble and mundane existence. As an orphan, he was taken in by his Uncle Giacomo and forced to endure hardship and cruelty, and is eventually put to work in his Uncle's celebrated shoemakers shop. But now Tristram Wald is eighteen years and he has big ideas of his own Tristram wants his own success and fortune. A chance encounter with the beautiful Princess Oriana Aureum cements the idea of escape from his humble beginnings in Tristram's mind. Desperate for riches, so that he will be eligible to marry the princess, Tristram allows himself to be coerced by a mysterious Goblin named Grimalkin who claims he can weave straw into gold. But Tristram will soon find out that putting his trust in a renowned trickster can have sinister consequences. The Gold Weaver of Goblin Wood is a dark fairy-tale, horror.