I didn’t get into the final rounds, but I made the most points to date in the five Writing Battle competitions I’ve participated in since Fall 2022, earning an Honorable Mention, so it’s worth mentioning! And sharing.

Each contestant participates as a judge in the Duals by reading ten fellow participants’ stories, two at a time. You must pick one of the two, which moves both along to the next dual, and they either drop out or earn points along the way. Your story undergoes the same peer judging by ten participants, hopefully earning points in its genre. There are four genres and you only compete against your own.

Once the dual rounds are complete, the stories are divided into houses, ranked from 1 to 10 (10 being the top score), and moved to the final 64, then 32, and so on until professional writers select the finalists. There is a nice cash prize.

You can see above that my genre was Inanimate Romance. I love the imaginative prompts in these contests… and romance! Color me inspired!

You can find my past WB stories on my Short Stories page where they have been fleshed out a bit more, or the raw stories as submitted in my WB profile. Here is Adrift No More.

Come to me, my undulating emerald darlings. I am here, secure against this rocky cliff, waiting… Wanting.

You are no longer anchored to life. Let the turbulent sea drape you across my bent knees—my rambling elbows—my strong shoulders. Entangle your sensuous arms around my neck—your long, soft legs around my trunk. Fill my reaching fingers with your flowing strands.

Sense my strength and determination yet know I cannot endure if only one of you finds your way to me. I must have all who are lost.

Never will I refuse access, my darlings. I will hold you close and protect you in this ending between rising tides. There can be no satisfaction until I am quenched by thousands of your salty tears and doused in the collective pungency of your dying hours.

I am wood, once a mighty cypress rooted to the earth. Torn loose by an angry storm on a bitter day. Made to topple into the sea and set adrift through the ever-changing tides. Stripped of my external glory, pounded, battered, and finally… hewn into your loving shelter. My purpose is to cherish each of you wrenched so cruelly from your vast flowing bed by yet another craven tempest.

We will show these gods of the sea that even as they diminish us with their savagery, they cannot deprive us of our profound connection, our collective joining, our chosen finale.

Yes! That’s it. Hurry now. Embrace me, my lovely darlings. High tide is near.

D. L. Lewellyn

I think this one will stay intact.

The night the contest started, I returned home late after a long drive from my hometown where I spent a week with my dad who was recovering from a procedure. I never expected to have the energy or brainpower to write. When I saw the cards I was dealt (above), I pulled up a blank document and began. I finished an hour later. Then, of course, I polished it up multiple times until submission 40 hours after that.

Adrift No More earned six of the ten points.

The gist of my feedback was that the story read more like poetry or mythological lore. Some thought it too prosy, the words too complicated, and advised a simpler vocabulary. It was called eerie twice, once in a good way and once in a stalkerish kind of way. Hey, I was trying to get that Hoarder prompt in. I guess it worked.

A favorite commenter excerpt was, “WOW—what a poetic, sensual portrayal of seaweed finding driftwood. Your vivid, tactile description gave me chills!” Another, “When you open with this: Come to me, my undulating emerald darlings, I knew at the very least it was going to read beautifully. And hooboy did you not disappoint. This is a love song for the ages. It gives me old Greek god vibes, maybe even The Odyssey.”

Let me know what you think about the passionate call to dying seaweed from a lonely piece of battered wood who craves connection and love.

If you would like to go behind the scenes of this amazing contest platform and meet the creators, I’ve interviewed Max and Teona Bjork twice on my Spotlight.

Comments welcome! Give my stories a read and feel free to sign up for my newsletter where I make sure to offer you entertaining content and a free story to download.