Misunderstood Writing Challenge

Open Date: 1/30/2025

Close Date: 3/7/2025

Welcome to the first prompt for our Spring 2025 edition!

Effective communication and our ability to collaborate in complex ways are some of the main traits that set humans apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. However, even small slip-ups, like a message being misunderstood, misremembered, or forgotten, can have a significant impact. For example, in 1989, The Berlin Wall in Germany fell largely because of a lack of clear communication, ultimately reuniting Germany into one country after decades of being divided into West Germany and East Germany.

Fiction:
- Write a short story or poem about a situation where miscommunication significantly derails a plan or a relationship.
  - **Food for thought: Are the characters able to salvage the situation or does the miscommunication change things permanently? Was the miscommunication intentional or was it an accident? Is lack of communication skills a trait of the character(s) or is this instance an out-of-character moment for them? Is one character to blame or did multiple characters/factors cause the issue? Does anyone need to be held accountable and if so, WILL they be held accountable?**
Non-fiction:
- Write a short narrative essay or poem about a situation that was significantly impacted by miscommunication. The situation could have happened to you or someone you know (or a real person you are inspired by). You can frame the story from your own perspective or from someone else’s perspective.
  - **Food for thought: What was the situation like before the miscommunication occurred? Was the miscommunication ongoing or was it an uncommon occurrence? How did things turn out? Did things turn out better or worse than they originally were? Did the situation return to normal or were things forever changed? Is one person to blame or did multiple people/factors contribute? Are there any physical remnants of the impact the miscommunication had?**

Guidelines:

The file should be in .doc, .docx, or .pdf format
The content should be double-spaced in 12 pt. Calibri, Arial, or Times New Roman font.
You may submit multiple entries.
You may have simultaneous submissions for your works with other publications/contests. However, if your work is accepted elsewhere, please let us know immediately so we can withdraw it from consideration.
Prose
- Fiction or nonfiction are both accepted as long as the work follows other guidelines and one of the prompts. (if prompts are applicable).
- Word count should be a minimum of 700 words and a maximum of 2,000.
- Two separate pieces of prose can be submitted on the same file if both pieces are under 1,000 words in length. You may also submit one prose piece under 1,000 words with up to two poems on one file.
Poetry
- Poems can be in any form or style as long as the work follows other guidelines and one of the prompts. (if prompts are applicable).
- No more than 5 poems can be submitted on one file.
- Each poem should be titled and should start on a new page. If multiple poems are submitted, we should be able to easily discern one poem from the next.