Calling all writers, poets, artists, photographers!
It’s finally fall, and that means we’ve got a lot to look forward to: Halloween, pumpkin spice, crunchy leaves, scary movies, cider, layers, sweaters; it’s a time of change, traditions, cycles, and all the sensations of the season. In the spirit of the season, we want to hear from you and light that creative spark with themed challenges. These challenges all revolve around some of our favorite things about fall. Feel free to take some creative liberties and play with the prompts however they best suit your work.
1. Fallen Leaves
Fall is a season of change. The weather cools and mellows, we set the clocks back. The leaves turn red and brown and yellow and spiral to the ground to be raked into piles or crunched underfoot. When the leaves fall, what does that mean to you? What emotions does it evoke, what images does it conjure? Write about what the cycles of fall represent to you.
2. Costumes and Disguises
This challenge is pretty simple: in the spirit of Halloween, the only requirement is that your piece (short story, poem, painting, photograph) must be about a costume or a disguise as it’s subject matter. Get creative! Get experimental!
3. Senses of the Season
Fall is a sensory season. Write about the sights, sounds, smells, and general sensations of fall that you can’t get (or don’t usually find) any other time of the year. What do they mean to you? Where do they transport you? Exercise your control of details and diction to build a piece that soaks the reader in all things fall.
4. Ghost Stories
There’s no better time than fall-time to tell ghost stories around a campfire. Put your spin on the genre and write one of your own, playing off or muddling with the conventions of those occult oral narratives. There’s no word limit, but the shorter the sweeter (if you’re going to be sharing it around a fire!).
5. Scary Movie Redux
Rewrite the ending of your favorite scary movie. How would you want it to end if you were behind the camera? Like the ending too much to mess with perfection? How about writing the story into a new genre? Stretch your creative limits to put your own spin on art you already love.
6. Sweet Tooth
Halloween is just as much about the sweets as it is the scares. Create a piece centered around your favorite Halloween candy—you know the one, the one that you absolutely had to grab out of those please-take-one bowls your grouchy neighbor left on the doorstep. The piece can be about anything else as long as that candy is somewhere at the center.
Have fun and happy fall! We can’t wait to see what pieces you all make.