Fiction
Ends on
A Chautauquq short story, self-contained novel excerpt, or short short demonstrates a sound storytelling instinct, using suspense in the best sense of creating a compulsion in the reader to continue reading—because of deep interest in the characters and their actions, unsettled issues of action or theme, or in some cases sheer delight at the language itself. A superior story will exhibit the writer’s attention to language—both in nuance and detail—and reveal a masterful control of syntax.
Fiction should be a maximum of 25 double-spaced, single-sided pages in 12-point font, no extra spaces between paragraphs and all pages numbered—or about 7,000 words.