24 Word Story Competition: Winner Revealed!

Recently, I shared an exciting opportunity for writers to flex their creativity with our '24 Word Story Competition', where people had to submit a story of no more than – you guessed it – 24 words!

I received over fifty entries, and it's been tricky to pick the one that stands out the most amongst the crowd. However, I am excited to announce Sue Birch as the winner of the 24 Word Story Competition 2025!

Here's Sue's entry:

"Along the rooftops, a parliament in black, watching the scattering of the food. They waited. One gull dared. Then chaos bloomed."

In just 21 words, Sue has captured a striking image of birds waiting anxiously to dive in for the grub. I particularly loved Sue's variation of longer sentences, contrasting with the short and snappier ones – this really helps to build tension with such a tight word count. The use of the verb 'bloomed' is also excellent: I feel we're all too familiar with that moment when the gulls strike for our leftovers – especially if you live by the seaside. Thank you for submitting, Sue!

Some honourable mentions:

Here are some entries I felt deserved spotlighting – all of which use the short word count to their advantage and capture some beautiful and startling imagery.

"The tip of his quill tinkled against the glass of the ink well, and in that moment, Ismail knew what needed to be done."

–– Abigail Wall

"Cracked earth. Smoking air. Water sloshing through cuts in the land, blood flowing to its flamy womb. Life appearing like stars twinkling at night."

–– Matilde

"'I’ll try this one next,' decides dementia sufferer Elsie, retrieving the book that she has just finished from her bookshelf, and begins to read."

–– Verne Farrugia

Congratulations to Sue Birch for winning the competition, and to those listed above. All of your entries are superb! Thank you to all those who submitted. If you're interested in submitting to more competitions in the near future, please do subscribe to our mailing list if you haven't done so already!