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Read the prompt, put on your writer’s hat, and tell us a story that passes the Bechdel Test, for the Muse of the Month, September 2018.
In 2017, we had a very successful Muse of the Month series that culminated in an ebook that you can buy here (titled When Women Speak Up!) with the top 19 stories of the year, which are examples of the raw, untapped talent that we have among us.
In 2018, we come back with a new Muse of the Month series, that focuses on stories that pass the Bechdel Test. (Yes, we know this test is mostly for movies, but duh, we’re appropriating it for stories, too!) Effectively,
Every month, we will give you an unusual prompt, a slightly open ended one, so that you can set your imagination wild – but within certain rules.
Step 1. Read our prompt, and put on your thinking hat. “Hmm…what can I write on this?”
Step 2. Write your own story. (But of course!)
Step 3. Send your work to us. Please email it to [email protected] with ‘Muse of the month – September 2018’ in the subject line, and your story as a word/txt attachment. Do include the name we should use if we publish it, and a brief introduction of yourself (2-3 lines) in the mail.
Please note: Given the number of entries received, we won’t be able to respond to each one, but every single entry is being read through very carefully and is much appreciated.
Please send in your stories by Monday, 17th September 2018, 3 p.m. IST. The 5 best stories will be published on Women’s Web between the 24th and 28th of September 2018, one on each day.
~The material should be previously unpublished elsewhere. (Copyright stays with you and you’re free to subsequently publish it elsewhere).
~The story should pass the Bechdel test. (Please read details of Bechdel test above.)
~Keep it between 250 and 2000 words. Please keep this in mind; in past editions, we have had to disqualify some good entries purely due to word count issues.
~Please avoid typing the story as inline text. Send it as an attachment only.
~The editors may change the title of the story if they think it works better.
~The winners cannot publish their story in whole anywhere else. They are, of course, free to publish an excerpt with a link back to the story on Women’s Web.
The 5 best entries will each win an Amazon voucher worth Rs 250. Plus, the winner automatically qualifies to compete to be one of the top few winners at the end of 2018!
Do not forget to send in your entries by Monday, 17th September 2018, 3 p.m. IST
Header image source: pixabay
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He said that he needed sometime to himself. I waited for him as any other woman would have done, and I gave him his space, I didn't want to be the clingy one.
Trigger Warning: This deals with mental trauma and depression, and may be triggering for survivors.
I am someone who believes in honesty and trust, I trust people easily and I think most of the times this habit of mine turns into bane.
This is a story of how a matrimonial website service turned into a nightmare for me, already traumatized by the two relationships I’ve had. It’s a story for every woman who lives her life on the principles of honesty and trust.
And when she enters the bedroom, she sees her husband's towel lying on the bed, his underwear thrown about in their bathroom. She rolls her eyes, sighs and picks it up to put in the laundry bag.
Vasudha, age 28 – is an excellent dancer, writer, podcaster and a mandala artist. She is talented young woman, a go getter and wouldn’t bat an eyelid if she had to try anything new. She would go head on with it. Everyone knew Vasudha as this cheerful and pretty young lady.
Except when marriage changed everything she knew. Since she was always outdoors, whether for office or for travelling for her dance shows, Vasudha didn’t know how to cook well.
Going by her in-laws definition of cooking – she had to know how to cook any dishes they mentioned. Till then Vasudha didn’t know that learning to cook was similar to getting an educational qualification. As soon as she entered the household after her engagement, nobody was interested what she excelled at, everybody wanted to know – what dishes she knew how to cook.