See your short story published in Project Calm Magazine in partnership with Ad Hoc Fiction

We’ve linked up with Ad Hoc Fiction, a popular weekly micro fiction contest, to give you a chance to be published.

This special contest is open for submissions on Wednesday 21 February. Go to adhocfiction.com and write your (up to) 150-word fictional story on the user-friendly page – it has the functions of a mini word processor and will also count your words for you.

The only stipulation is that your fiction will need to contain the word ‘spring’. Submit your story by midnight, 27 February.

Writing tips

You don’t have to use the seasonal meaning of ‘spring’, you might instead choose to write a story about spring as a source of a river or spring as a coil of wire, or a leap into action. There are many different meanings of the word.

Make sure your micro fiction is not just a vignette but a little story, includes interesting details and has a good beginning, middle and end.

Finally, try and find a title that adds something to the piece and helps it stand out from the crowd.

Read more related features about creativity:

• Make a papercut flower burst design
• Get creative with this beautiful watercolour botanical project
• Try mindful embroidery with this free winter solstice template

How the winners are chosen

Long listed stories will be published in the Ad Hoc Fiction ebook on their website on Wednesday 28 February. Winners are decided by public vote.

There’s a button next to each story and you can vote for several stories, including your own, but not one more than once. The ebook will save your place if you want to read a few, vote and come back later.

Names of the authors of the three winning stories will be announced on the website on Wednesday 7 March and the stories will be published in the April edition of Project Calm.

Find creative writing inspiration

You can read the three micro fictions from the Ad Hoc Fiction/Project Calm collaboration in issue 2 of Project Calm published in November, 2016. The three writers published came from the United Kingdom, The United States and Australia and they wrote stories inspired by and including the word ‘calm’. Go to Zinio and Apple Newsstand to download your copy of issue 2.

Read Ad Hoc’s terms and conditions at adhocfiction.com/policies/#tnc

Photos by Hannah Olinger and Toa Heftiba on Unsplash