Fiction Marathon
History and stories from the writing competition
Many readers know I curate the fiction publication Tantalizing Tales, along with my friend Posy Churchgate. I am also an editor on Paul Mansfield magazine, Redemption. But I do have another partner in crime — Marie A. Rebelle and a website we run together called Blogable. Here we share all manner of writing and blogging advice.
However, Blogable also hosts Marie’s yearly writing competition — the Fiction Marathon. I help with the administration, but the history belongs to Marie.
History of the Competition
The marathon started off as a Dutch erotic fiction writing competition. Marie developed it into a more mainstream writing challenge between 2018 and 2020. It became an extremely popular place for smut writers to flex their writing muscles. However, due to unexpected circumstances, it was terminated halfway through 2020. Read about the Smut Marathon here.
That competition remains close to my heart. I entered the marathon as a new fiction writer in 2018, and made it through to the final. It not only lit the fiction fire within me, but in 2020 I returned as a jury member and Marie and I became firm friends.
When I asked Marie to join me in creating a website where we could freely share our writing and blogging knowledge, she jumped on board and in 2021 the site hosted the first Blogable Fiction Marathon competition.
Marathon Rules
The main differences are now the marathon welcomes any genre and lasts for six, not ten rounds.
Each round, the writers are sent an assignment with word count. The stories are all anonymous, and the writers must not discuss which one is theirs. They receive points from a panel of judges and an open public vote. This ultimately decides who moves forward to the next round.
Find the marathon rules here…
Marathon Writers 2021
Last year’s competition went swimmingly and ended with Marsha Adams claiming victory and Kinky Katie as runner-up. My colleague from Tantalizing Tales — Mrs k — also made it to the final. A handful of their stories from the marathon have been published on Medium.
You can find them here…
In this post, I want to share a few of my favourites with you.
If you are up for a challenge, then take a look at the kind of thing that is expected from the writers.
Here is the 2021 winning story by Marsha
Katie’s tale that earned her the runner-up spot
Two tales from earlier rounds in the competition — the 1st by Mrs. K & then the 2nd by Susie Mace
- Do you want to flex your fiction writing muscles?
- Are you the kind of person who likes the challenge of a marathon rather than a sprint?
- Are you looking to be part of a community of writers?
Then why not enter the Fiction Marathon 2022. Entries are now open…
If you’re wondering if it is right for you, perhaps Marsha can help make up your mind:
We welcome new or experienced writers.
How about it? Emma Manzi — Jacques Gerard — Tamila McDonald — Monika Hall — Smillew Rahcuef — Christopher Robin — Marcello Spektor — Michael Williams — Ava fox301 — Raine Lore — RGomez — Laura Knapke — Kristen Haveman — J. Sharland Day — Alex Irvine
And YOU too…
More from May on Writers Lift