Dream Date
Create a short fiction story about a first date, involving a glass of Merlot.
Prizes
- Grand prize:
- $5,000 + $100 Gift Card
- Second place:
- $2,500 + $100 Gift Card
- Third place:
- $500 + $100 Gift Card
Gift Cards can be used to purchase Bright Cellars wines, but not required.
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Mar 17, 2021
Submissions closed
Apr 21, 2021 4:59 AM CUT
Results
May 04, 2021
Prizes
- Grand prize:
- $5,000 + $100 Gift Card
- Second place:
- $2,500 + $100 Gift Card
- Third place:
- $500 + $100 Gift Card
Gift Cards can be used to purchase Bright Cellars wines, but not required.
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Mar 17, 2021
Submissions closed
Apr 21, 2021 4:59 AM CUT
Results
May 04, 2021
About this challenge
Planning the perfect date night can be challenging! Between dating apps and lockdown, our options are pretty limited—so you'll have to use your imagination. For this Challenge, we'd like you to create a fiction story about a first date. Whether it involves a romantic candlelit dinner, a stage five clinger who won’t stop calling, or a mysterious blind date planned by your friends, the details are entirely up to you—the only requirement is that at some point in your first date narrative you mention a glass of Merlot. Luckily for you, we've partnered with Bright Cellars for this Challenge so you can browse their incredible wine selection for some inspiration, find the Merlot that really fits your taste, and get started!
If you'd like to treat yourself to some personalized wine, use this link for 50% off of your first 6-bottle box of Bright Cellars!🍷
Judges
Miranda York, founder of At the Table, a creative platform focused on British food culture, and author of The Food Almanac.
Alison Wintheiser, from the Bright Cellars team.
How to enter
For your story to be eligible, it must be between 600 and 2,000 words and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until April 20, 2021, at 11:59 PM EST will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.
The Dream Date Challenge is exclusive to Vocal+ members. To learn more and upgrade to Vocal+ visit https://todaysurvey.today/vocal-plus%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E.%3C/p%3E%3Cp class="css-1923z11-Text">To be eligible to win the grand prize, second place, or third place prizes, you must be over the age of 13 and residing in a country where Stripe is available at the time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need to have a Stripe account created and connected in order to receive the prizes. For this reason, entrants located outside of any of these countries will not be eligible to win.
Open challenges
Challenges you can enter now for a chance to win.
Craft Over Catharsis
Write a story that prioritizes structure, technique, or form over emotional release.
$200 Grand Prize4 days leftInstructions for a Feeling
Write a poem that gives instructions for how to experience, create, or avoid a feeling.
$200 Grand Prize9 days leftRituals of Affection
Write a story about a recurring ritual tied to love, romance, or connection. Something about it is unusual, unsettling, or unexplained.
$200 Grand Prize11 days leftThe Unnecessary Line
Write a poem that includes one line that does not strictly belong and let the tension it creates remain unresolved.
$200 Grand Prize18 days leftA System That Isn’t Working
Write about a system, whether social, economic, cultural, technological, or otherwise, that feels broken or misaligned.
$200 Grand Prize25 days leftEveryone Is Acting Normally
Write a story in which something is clearly wrong but all characters behave as if everything is normal.
$200 Grand Prize32 days leftThe Haiku of Now
Write a haiku that captures a small, precise moment from the present without reflection or commentary.
$200 Grand Prize37 days leftWhat the Myth Gets Wrong
Write a story set in a world where a well-known myth exists that focuses on a detail the myth simplifies, ignores, or distorts.
$200 Grand Prize39 days leftSomething Is Beginning, I Think
Write a story that opens at the edge of a beginning that feels uncertain, partial, or reluctant and avoid resolution.
$200 Grand Prize46 days leftSay It Plainly
Write a poem that states its central concern directly without metaphor, indirection, or symbolic substitution.
$200 Grand Prize53 days leftThe Rule Everyone Knows
Write a story centered on an unspoken rule that everyone in the story understands and follows, allowing the rule to emerge through behavior.
$200 Grand Prize58 days left
Challenge resources
Instructions Included Challenge Winners
For the Instructions Included challenge, we asked writers to tell a story through instructions and to trust the form to carry what could not be said outright. Across the top entries, that trust paid off in many different ways.
By Vocal Curation Team4 days ago in Resources
The Ritual of Winter Challenge Winners
Welcome to the Winners Announcement for The Ritual of Winter challenge. This prompt focused on winter rituals and the meaning that settles into them over time. The top pieces stay grounded in ordinary acts and repeated routines, letting winter shape the work through pace, attention, and restraint.
By Vocal Curation Team24 days ago in Resources
