The story stays yours
You keep copyright. Pen names are welcome. We handle layout without changing your words or what your photos show, except that identifying details may be redacted to protect third parties under the Official Rules.
Enter the Storm
An invitation to share · First Edition
Write Your Inner Storm.
A story only you can tell.
An inner challenge, a spark of inspiration, a question you carry, or a moment that changed how you see yourself. Write it down. Stories selected for publication receive formatting and editorial work before appearing on the wall, where someone else can find them.
Open now · closes December 1, 2026
Where your storm lands · The public wall
A place for selected stories. A wall for shared experiences.
Stories selected through editorial review appear here after formatting, with reactions and comments underneath. Not every submission is published. You can read the wall before you share your own storm.
SampleThree Generations, One Shop
My father kept a drawing I had forgotten making. Looking at it, I recognized a part of myself I had almost stopped listening to.
SampleSix Hours of Power
Homework happened in the six hours we had, not the six hours we needed.
Sample storms are written by the StormIt editorial desk to show the shape of a strong entry. The narrators are composites, not real entrants. The wall currently displays sample stories only.
The theme · Inner Storm
What’s within you could move someone else.
Write from your inner life: an experience, feeling, question, discovery, or belief that matters to you. Bring the reader close to what you felt, what you noticed, and why you want to share it.
Your story can be joyful, unsettled, surprising, or still unfolding. What feels deeply personal may help someone else feel understood, find inspiration, or see something differently.
First-person non-fiction, grounded in your own lived experience. 1,500–2,500 words. One entry per writer.
Read the rulesWhat happens to your story
Read first. Recognised second.
Recognition
Five cash awards of CAD $200 each (CAD $1,000 in total) go to the five highest-ranked eligible entries. These awards are available to eligible entrants worldwide, with no regional allocation. All five awards will be given, provided at least five eligible entries are received.
Cash award recipients also receive publication on StormIt with editorial support.
Up to 10 finalists (including the five cash award recipients) receive publication on StormIt, editorial support, and a digital finalist certificate. Finalist recognition carries no additional cash award.
The schedule
Opened September 15, 2026. Entries close December 1, 2026, at 11:59 PM Eastern.
Finalists and winners announced: First week of January 2027.
How the writing is judged
Finalists and cash award recipients are selected entirely on the basis of skill using the published judging criteria. No element of chance is used. Reader Scores, reactions, comments, reading time, shares, popularity and submission order are shown for community interest only and never affect judging.
A panel of at least three judges with editorial or writing experience, appointed by the Organizer, evaluates eligible entries independently using the published criteria. Each criterion is scored out of 100 and multiplied by its published weight; the mean of the judges’ weighted totals determines an entry’s overall score and ranking. Judges must disclose material conflicts of interest and must not evaluate an affected entry; the Organizer appoints a replacement so each entry receives the same number of independent evaluations.
The number of entries is not known in advance. Each eligible entry is evaluated against the same published criteria. The panel’s decisions on ranking are final, subject to eligibility verification under these rules.
- Authenticity and strength of lived experience
- 30%
- Insight and reflection
- 25%
- Narrative effectiveness
- 20%
- Potential to connect with or help readers
- 15%
- Clarity, structure and craft
- 10%
If overall scores are tied, the higher mean score on the first-listed criterion ranks first, then the second-listed criterion. If still tied, the panel conducts an additional comparative review using the published criteria. A tie is never resolved by chance.
AI tools may help you organize your own ideas, translate your own writing, or check spelling and grammar. The experience, reflection, and essential authorship must remain yours. Read the official rules
Keep in touch
Keep this invitation close.
Updates arrive through The Letter, alongside handpicked writing and occasional reading lists. Unsubscribe at any time.
Hosted by StormIt, published by OCORP Innovations. For questions about entering or accessible entry alternatives, write to writeyourstorm@stormit.ca.