auraasohn
i have a question. i believe it was said that we're not allowed to make any edits until the long list is announced. does that include stuff like author's notes and announcements, or just the overall story content?
OpenNovellaContest
LadyDarkness1977
Thank you for this opportunity. I have never made it this far in such a heated contest full of amazing writers. Writing is my escape from the mundane and thank you for allowing me to share my demons with you.
chai-ya
Congrats, friend!! So many great entries this year that I’ve seen while scrolling so all these qualifiers are definitely deserved!
auraasohn
this is my first time entering a contest, i never thought that i would make it this far! thank you for believing in me, and thanks to all the judges for such an opportunity!
Yuraa91
It's a true honor to pass the 3 rounds with my two stories, writing was my longtime dream and I just started in Jan 2026 I hope I can grow more in it thank you so much for believing in my stories ♥️
JayDEvers
To my fellow round three qualifiers, I congratulate you for creating amazing tales and showing everyone that you bring a lot to the table.
To those who didn't, I hope you plan to go further with your stories and turn them into pending novels for a chance to win the Watty Awards or Amby Awards. Maybe one of you can win big.
Now it's on to the longlist round, and I hope that some of us go further into the shortlist or even make it to the top 5. And to the one who hopes to win the grand prize...I believe that you will show up and show out!
Good luck to the ones who hope to make it to the longlist and shortlist. And may the passion of storytelling be with you!
pubudiChamathka
@JayDEvers congrats to you! I really love how you post messages to this, the words you use are so heartwarming! ❤️✨ I'm rooting for you for the longlist and shortlist, and yes, the winners as well!
Lazy_lanu
Fellow writers, I don't post stuff like this but this time—I couldn't stop myself.
In round one, 1725 stories qualified and in round two, 1200 stories qualified but in round three, only 672 stories qualified. This means 1053 stories didn't make it.
Some of you dropped out from the contest, maybe. Perhaps, some of you did everything by the rules and still didn't make it.
I will say this mates, you shouldn't let this ONE contest discourage you or your passion for writing.
The reading community is vast, there's probably lakhs or crores of readers out there in the world and the judges of this contest might be only hundreds or thousands within the community. You shouldn't feel discouraged just because a few thousands of readers from such a large community didn't like your stories (which is not wrong). Different people like different stories and that is absolutely normal. Stories that didn't qualify or win or weren't picked by ambassadors will be enjoyed or loved by other readers.
I believe writers shouldn't attach their writing ability/worth to how many contests/competitions they win or how many books they sell but rather, should focus on even one reader that enjoyed their story and found it memorable—that's what matters. Over the years we hopefully will write, there's a high chance that the one reader might become tens and hundreds then lakhs and then, even a crore.
Consistency is key to success, as we continue to write—we will outgrow our flaws and whatever stuff that's unintentionally stopping us from reaching reader's hearts.
We will keep going and keep our passions alive—let's promise to ourselves. Sending virtual hugs to whoever that needs it, you're absolutely not alone ♡
Lazy_lanu
@QuinceArchFortes Thank you, I wondered about this a lot since I heard about writing contests
QuinceArchFortes
@Lazy_lanu In case you can't click the link, it is the 'Behind the Scenes' chapter in the ONC 2026 book.
QuinceArchFortes
@Lazy_lanu It's a fair question! The ONC team actually posted a pretty helpful guide to how the contest is run. You can read it here: https://www.wattpad.com/story/406004197?utm_source=android&utm_medium=link&utm_content=share_reading&wp_page=reading&wp_uname=QuinceArchFortes
JulitaDG
My first contest
My first book in English
AND I´M A ROUND 3 QUALIFIER
I HOPE YOU ALL LIKE MY BOOK!!! *insert happy emoticons I can´t put because I´m on PC*
OpenNovellaContest
Hello, Writers!
Great stories don’t just appear overnight. They grow slowly, carefully, and with a fair bit of patience. The same goes for the ONC, and we truly appreciate the time and dedication you’ve shown throughout the process.
Here are the Round 3 Qualifiers > https://www.wattpad.com/1630394545-open-novella-contest-2026-round-3-qualifiers
We’re still in the process of judging the Long List, so thank you for bearing with us. An update on the next steps will follow soon.
Tankytoon
@TeeShirtRex Agree with you 100 percent here. They typically go straight to Long List from what I've heard of previous years. And it is also written in the Schedule and Behind the Scenes explicitly. It is a contest after all. I am tempering my expectations and was even surprised they announced Round 3. This is just like teams or sports that have quarter finals and semi finals, not all of us can go to the finals. Also, I'm still writing whatever the outcome of the contest is. I think it should not discourage people how we place because it could be just not our year, or a different set of judges don't find our writing to meet their standards. A lot of popular books on the platform don't win contests. And a lot of books that win contest may not have a lot of reads. There's the select few who can have both million views on their books AND be contest winners. It's a matter of perspective. Not saying contests are useless or biased. But yes, there's also a certain subjectivity that would be hard to be avoid. But I believe these ambassadors are trying their best. Pouring over hundreds of books in their own time without getting paid. That's dedication. I'm already grateful for the opportunity just to be part of it. I spent more time reading ONC entries than writing my own, and because of this I discovered a lot of great authors that I wouldn't have discovered if it were not for this contest.
TeeShirtRex
@Random_Inspiration I can see why you'd have seen that. I think the confusion came from the fact that for round 3 they only say they're scoring for the long list and short list. In the description they don't mention round 3 qualifiers like in rounds 1 and 2, from what I see. I think round 3 qualifiers isn't typical , and is a new thing for them, because there were so many stories. But, they do mention the scoring rubric in the description from round 1 on. There is always going to be a scoring rubric, otherwise how can you judge stories of different genres, with different plots, fairly? There has to be an objective set of standards to follow. And, respectfully, it's a competition, so there will be people who don't make it all the way. Honestly, I think showing that those who qualified for round 3 when they didn't have to is a nice gesture. They could have kept with what they typically do, and not shown that list, went straight to the long list, and exclude those in the qualifiers who didn't make the long list.
Random_Inspiration
@OpenNovellaContest I didn't realise there was a scoring mark. I read everything before the competition, and my impression was, if you had the words, and you did the prompt, you qualified.
ShaunAllan
@chai-ya fingers crossed! Good luck to you.
chai-ya
@ShaunAllan Of course! The long list announcement shouldn’t be too long as the schedule chapter shows it was meant to publish yesterday. There are so many entries to go through so they’re running late but it should be up not too long from now hopefully!