Atlanta’s tiniest, wildest, most creative writing contest for imaginative humans in grades 4–12!

The Tiny Stories™
Winter Writing Challenge

Scroll To See How It Works

Brought to you by A Novel Idea, a creative writing community serving young writers since 2011.

One notecard.
One Tiny Spark.
One small burst of imagination that could land you in a real published anthology.

Join kids across Atlanta in discovering how Tiny Stories can unleash HUGE creativity.

Submit Your Tiny Story
Get the Full Details

Hi. It’s time for
Tiny Stories

“What is this?”

Write Tiny. Think Big.

The Tiny Stories™ Winter Writing Challenge is a city-wide micro-writing contest for students in grades 4–12. Using a notecard, a timer, and one Tiny Spark, writers will create short, surprising pieces of writing, then submit their favorite for prizes and publication.

Open to all Atlanta-area students.

Any school. Any district. Homeschoolers included.
All writing levels welcome.

Your imagination is the only requirement.

How It Works
(in 5 tiny steps)

  • An old, rusty key with a round bow and a bit worn out on a white background.

    Step 1

    Download Your Tiny Sparks
    You’ll get 50 Sparks — strange, beautiful, funny, surprising prompts designed to get ideas flowing instantly.

  • Pink ceramic piggy bank with black eyes and a snout, on a white background.

    Step 2

    Write a Tiny Story
    Set a tiny timer (30 seconds to 4 minutes).
    Write on a notecard.
    Don’t stop.
    Leave the last line unfinished.
    Repeat 5–15 times.

  • Close-up of a hand holding a red pushpin to mark a location on a detailed city map with additional red pushpins placed on the map.

    Step 3

    Pick Your Favorite
    Edit if you want. Tighten it up. Make it yours.

  • Blue number 4 on a yellow road sign against a clear blue sky.

    Step 4

    Submit!
    Tell us which Tiny Spark you used, how long your timer was, and what you discovered while writing.

  • A white house number 5 attached to a rough, textured brown stone or concrete surface.

    Step 5

    Celebrate
    Winners get published and will be honored at a real book launch event!

Start Your Entry
Two women sitting at a wooden table outdoors, reading and writing in notebooks, with a drink placed on the table.
Group of young people working on a project with colorful sticky notes on a table
A person's arm with a wristwatch showing the time, resting on an open notebook with handwritten notes. There is a laptop keyboard in the background.
A person sitting on a bed with notebooks and papers on their lap, writing with a pen. Only part of their body is visible, with focus on their lap and hand.
A deck of playing cards closed and stacked, with blue sticky notes and a black and red remote control in the background.
A man with brown hair wearing a brown jacket stands with his back to the camera, looking at a blue wall covered in yellow sticky notes and black handwritten notes, organizing ideas related to societal issues.

Tiny Stories™ are tiny, fast bursts of creativity.
They’re written quickly — before your inner critic has time to jump in — using a timer, a notecard, and a Tiny Spark.

A Tiny Story can be:

  • a poem

  • micro-fiction

  • strung together

  • a monologue

  • a song

  • a scene

  • or something that doesn’t fit any genre

All forms welcome.
The only rule?

Keep it tiny.

Tiny Stories work because they:

  • lower pressure

  • unlock imagination quickly

  • help writers discover ideas they didn’t know they had

  • make writing joyful instead of stressful

  • build confidence in even the most reluctant writers

  • use the same neuroscience that ties kids to phones — for good!

This method is required for all submissions.
You’ll write many tiny drafts, then choose your favorite to revise and submit.

Tiny Stories Method
(aka: the rules!)

  • Tiny space = tiny story = tiny pressure.

  • 30 seconds · 1 minute · 2 minutes · 3 minutes · 4 minutes
    But not longer.

  • We’ll give you 50 to choose from. Even better? Have someone choose from the list for you (so you don’t accidentally peek!)

  • No planning. No thinking. Just write. And do not stop until you hear your timer!

  • I know we just said that, But it’s worth repeating. Keep those creative vibes going!

  • Tiny stories are built to be finished later. Keeping the last line unfinished gives your brain something to do immediately when you come back to write again later.

  • Write at least 5–15 Tiny Stories before choosing one (or more) to polish and submit.

  • You can combine Tiny Stories together! You can shape your favorite one. You can turn it into a poem, or a little song, or a single, lovely sentence.

    Just make sure you started with the method, and that you keep the result tiny (less than 200 words).

Prizes!

Celebrate your creativity with real-world rewards.

Winners will:

  • Be published in a for-real book, the Tiny Stories™ Winter Anthology that real people can buy online and in bookstores across the country. Yes. It’s real.

  • Receive an award at our our Book Launch Party. Think: glitz-and-glam, red-carpet-meets-bookshop vibes!

  • Be featured on ANI Creative’s website and social channels

  • Get a special Tiny Stories™ prize pack (stickers, notebook, pen, spark cards)

  • Get a copy of the Tiny Stories™: Winter Anthology

  • Be entered into a drawing for a week of summer Writing Camp!

Plus:
Special Awards for:

  • Category Winners

  • Best Tiny Story from each grade

  • Most Surprising Tiny Story

  • Innovator Award

  • A drawing for one Free Week of Summer Writing Camp !!!

Who Can Enter?

Grades: 4–12
Location: Open to all Atlanta-area students
(public, private, charter, and homeschool)
Experience: None required
Cost: Free
Deadline: February 14 (Valentine’s Day!)

Submissions take just a few minutes.
The hard part is choosing your favorite Tiny Story!

Submit Your Tiny Story

Some Examples of Tiny Stories

These were all written using the Tiny Stories Method

  • A handwritten note on a small piece of paper with a pinkish background. The note is titled 'Car Window' and describes a broken car window with glass in the seat and an alligator that looked into the author's eyes with curiosity, pondering how to escape.

    30 Seconds --- Car Window

    The car window was broken. There was glass in the seat. And an alligator. 

    The alligator looked into my eyes with curiosity. I'm not sure if it knew where it was, or how to escape . . . 

  • Handwritten notebook page with notes about a person’s experience of using a cool cloth on her skin after work, with a tip about not too hot hot water, and a mention of her husband.

    4 Minutes --- Potato Chip Crumbs

    Jill slid into bed, exhausted from a long day of work AND raising kids AND cleaning the house. For the last few hours she just wanted the feel of the soft cool sheets on her skin. It felt heavenly until she spread her hand across the bed sheets. She felt little daggers of sharp pain on the supple sheets. Her husband’s side of the bed was covered in land mines of — . Jill sighed with frustration. Did Jacob eat in bed again? This was her one refuge.

  • A handwritten note on blue lined paper on a wooden surface. The note describes weather conditions as foggy and cold, mentions a window being clear, and references the outdoors and shadows.

    30 Seconds --- Car Window

    Car Window

    Is foggy and cold
    Your face is clear
    and driving
    away.
    shrinking,
    ‍ ‍ and then,
    ‍ ‍. gone.
    ‍ ‍ ,

  • Handwritten note on a blue index card titled 'Disco Ball,' describing a person's love for disco balls and their shiny, glittering appearance, especially when reflecting light.

    2 Minutes --- Disco Ball

    He loved the way the lights glinted off the disco ball, especially when they sparkled and glinted right into his eyes. He loved the way the lights glinted off the disco ball, especially when they sparkled + glinted directly into his eyes. It was the closest thing he got these days to sunlight. He loved the nightclubs: the raucous bodies sweaty for now, delirious later. But he missed daylight.
    It had been 13 years.

  • A handwritten note on green lined paper titled 'Word Tree Top' describing a mountain with a rusted gate, dirt road, large metal gate, mud, black molding, and a jump out. The note appears to be written in black ink.

    2 Minutes --- Treetop

    Treetop Mountain has a rusty gate across the dirt road entrance. The only way up the road is to lift the big metal gate out of a rut carved by rainwater, move the cinder block holding it in place, and then jump out of the way as it shifts wide, careful not to let it . . .

Timeline

Contest Opens: Now!
Submission Deadline: February 14
Winners Announced: Mid-March
Book Launch Party: First Week of April, 2026

Everything happens this winter/spring:

just in time to spark creativity during winter break!

Submit Your Tiny Story

FAQs

  • Yep! It will have a real ISBN and can be purchased online and in bookstores nationwide. BOOM

  • Under 200 words works great — but there’s no strict word count. Just keep it small.

  • Nope! This writing challenge is completely free!

  • Yes! As long as it originated with the Tiny Stories method. But remember: growth first, pruning later.

  • Absolutely.

  • YES.

  • Sure you can! And encourage your friends to enter their Tiny Stories, too! We don’t know how many we will publish yet, so share the creativity with your community!

  • Your final submission should be typed (so we can be sure we’re reading it correctly!), but drafts can, and should be, handwritten if at all possible

  • Yes! And it actually makes TIny Stories more fun. Believe us, they’re used to speed runs in their games. This is a critical part of the dopamine (happy brain vibes) factor!

Ready to write a Tiny Story?

A whole micro-universe is waiting on your tiny notecard

Get the Sparks Pack
Submit Your TIny Story

About us:
Tiny Stories, A Novel Idea,
and Kristen

A woman wearing a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses holds a small, fluffy alpaca plush toy near her face at an outdoor café under umbrellas.

Hi. I’m Kristen House. Good to meet you!

Tiny Stories™ is a fast, joyful writing method created to help kids write without pressure. With a notecard, a timer, and a spark, writers discover surprising ideas they never would’ve planned — tiny, messy bursts of creativity that unlock real confidence. It’s grounded in brain science, but delightfully rooted in the real world.

A Novel Idea (ANI) is a creative writing community serving young writers since 2011. We’ve partnered with universities like Belmont University, cultural centers like Cheekwood, and dozens of schools across the South. Our programs help kids become actual authors through hands-on writing, real printed books, and joyful celebrations of their work. ANI is brand-new to Atlanta, and we’re thrilled to bring this creative magic to a new city of storytellers.

Kristen House — founder of ANI and creator of Tiny Stories™ — is a writer, educator, former tech executive, and mom of four kids (ages 10–18) who she’s constantly encouraging to spend more time writing and less time staring at screens. She’s a lifelong champion of kids’ creativity, and she believes writing should feel like discovery, play, and delight.

Learn more about our creative writing programs at A Novel Idea.

Learn More about ANI Creative