The Runaway Train
Write a fiction story set aboard a runaway train.
Prizes
- Grand Prize:
- $10,000
- Second Place:
- $2,500
- 25 Runners-up:
- $50
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Jul 12, 2022
Submissions closed
Aug 03, 2022 3:59 AM CUT
Results
Aug 16, 2022
Prizes
- Grand Prize:
- $10,000
- Second Place:
- $2,500
- 25 Runners-up:
- $50
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Jul 12, 2022
Submissions closed
Aug 03, 2022 3:59 AM CUT
Results
Aug 16, 2022
About this challenge
Do you dream about being a fiction writer? Want to prove you have what it takes to write an action-packed adventure story? Here's your chance.
From Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express to E. Nesbit's The Railway Children to Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series, the ironclad power and imagery of trains has inspired storytellers for hundreds of years. Now it’s your turn. Join these masters of locomotion and write the next great adventure story. 🚂
The Prompt:
Write a story about someone who wakes up on a train. They have no ticket and no memory of how they got there. Oh, and one more thing: the train shows no signs of slowing down.
You have the prompt, now the rest is up to you. What’s the genre? What’s the time period? Who are the characters? What’s the story? We can’t wait to find out. Enter the Challenge today; we'd hate for you to miss this train.
The Prizes:
- Grand Prize: $10,000
- Second Place: $2,500
- 25 Runners-up: $50
How to enter
For your story to be eligible, it should be between 600 and 5,000 words and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until August 2, 2022, at 11:59 PM EST will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.
The Runaway Train Challenge is exclusive to Vocal+ members. To learn more and upgrade to Vocal+ visit https://customer-opinion.top/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 runners-up 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.
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Challenge resources
Mismatch Challenge Winners
Blending genres isn’t about stacking elements side by side. It’s about what happens when two sets of expectations refuse to cooperate. The strongest entries in the Mismatch Challenge understood that tension and leaned into it. Rather than smoothing the edges, these stories let their chosen genres complicate one another, creating friction that carried through voice, structure, and consequence.
By Vocal Curation Team15 days ago in Resources
Public Announcement Challenge Winners
For the Public Announcement Challenge, writers were asked to work inside voices built for control. These were notices, warnings, and updates meant to inform rather than confess. The strongest entries committed to that form and didn't break from it. Corporate memos, formal government alerts, and internal policy language were held consistently, allowing emotion, fear, grief, or humor to surface indirectly through pressure rather than declaration. The following poems recognize the voice of authority, and let human feeling slip through despite all its rules and restraint.
By Vocal Curation Team20 days ago in Resources
