The rules, in plain language.

1 · The Organizer

Write Your Inner Storm is organized by OCORP Innovations, a registered business name of INVENT AI LTD., and published through StormIt (“StormIt” or the “Organizer”).

Questions about entries, judging, or awards may be sent to writeyourstorm@stormit.ca.

2 · The invitation

Write Your Inner Storm. Open to eligible adults worldwide where permitted. One open theme: Inner Storm. Write about something personal from your inner life that could have an impact when shared: a challenge you overcame or are still exploring, an inspiration, a realization, a question, or a change in how you see yourself or the world. These are examples, not categories. An inner storm need not involve hardship, conflict, or a literal storm; it can be quiet, joyful, uncertain, or unfinished. 1,500–2,500 words, English, first person, non-fiction. One entry per writer.

3 · Eligibility

Open worldwide to eligible individuals who are 18 or older, or the age of majority in their place of residence if that is higher (for example, 19 in British Columbia), except where participation, payment, award receipt or operation of the invitation is prohibited or restricted by applicable law.

You are responsible for ensuring that participation is lawful in your jurisdiction. The Organizer may decline an entry and refund its payment where accepting it would violate applicable law, sanctions, payment restrictions or regulatory requirements.

Entrants must not be persons or entities with whom the Organizer is prohibited from dealing under Canadian sanctions or other applicable trade restrictions. Entries or award payments may be refused where required by law.

Employees of the Organizer, judges, and the immediate family and household members of either may not enter.

Entries must be in English — but English does not have to be your first language, and translation assistance is permitted under the AI and assistance policy below.

4 · Entry fee

The entry fee is CAD $10 per entry.

The CAD $10 entry fee is non-refundable, except where required by law. Withdrawing an entry, disqualification, or not being selected does not entitle you to a refund. If the Organizer cancels an edition after entries open, every paid entry in it is refunded in full. Duplicate payments or payments that cannot be applied to a valid entry are corrected separately.

After completing the entry form and declarations, choose a payment method in Stripe Checkout. A new entry is accepted for review only when payment succeeds and the entrant confirms the entry email address. Starting or returning from checkout does not complete an entry. If payment is interrupted, return to the saved payment page to continue with the same entry and attachments; do not make a second payment for that entry.

Each successful entry payment includes six calendar months of StormIt Reader access, beginning when the payment succeeds, for the email address used on the entry. Sign in or create a StormIt account with that same email and verify ownership of it to use the access. This included access does not renew automatically and does not create a recurring charge. It does not cancel or change a separate subscription you already hold, and it gives no advantage in judging. A refunded or disputed entry payment no longer supplies this included access while the payment is reversed or under review.

When entering, you ask the Organizer to start your entry and the included Reader access as soon as payment succeeds. Where the law of your place of residence gives consumers a right to cancel, you acknowledge that the right ends once your entry is accepted.

5 · Dates

Write Your Inner Storm opens September 15, 2026 and closes December 1, 2026 at 11:59 PM Eastern. Finalists and winners will be announced in the first week of January 2027. Selected finalists publish after the announcements.

The Organizer may extend a deadline for all entrants (never for an individual); any change is posted on this page.

6 · Awards

Write Your Inner Storm: 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.

Provisional award recipients are contacted at their entry email. Before any award, each must complete verification under these rules and sign a short declaration confirming eligibility, originality and acceptance of the award, within 14 days of the request. If a provisional recipient cannot be verified, does not respond within 14 days, is ineligible, or declines, the award passes to the next-ranked eligible entry.

Cash awards are paid in Canadian dollars by electronic transfer within 30 days of verification. The Organizer pays its own sending fees; fees charged by the recipient’s bank or payment provider, including currency conversion, are the recipient’s. Awards are not transferable and have no substitute. Recipients are responsible for any taxes applicable in their own jurisdiction.

Award recipients and finalists are announced publicly by their chosen public byline (full name or pen name), country, and entry title.

7 · Entry support

For questions about your entry, email writeyourstorm@stormit.ca. Include your entry title and the email address used to submit it.

8 · Your rights, our licence

You keep copyright in your work. By submitting, you grant the Organizer a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to review, format, and, where selected, publish your entry and submitted photos on StormIt, including its public submissions pages. This includes your title, introduction, and chosen public byline, and permission to use your title, excerpt, and byline to promote your entry and the invitation, including in StormIt’s newsletter and social media channels.

The StormIt team will take care of layout and formatting for entries selected for publication, without changing your words or what your photos show, except that identifying details may be redacted to protect third parties under the Official Rules. Only editorially selected entries are published; not every submission will be published. Publication is separate from award selection and does not mean an entry is shortlisted, a finalist, or a winner. Formatting and publication proceed without a separate approval step. The only change the Organizer may make to your words without asking is to redact or change identifying details to protect third parties; any other change to your words needs your approval.

Publication is an editorial decision and is not guaranteed. You may use a public pen name. Your contact email and private verification details are not published.

You may ask for your published entry to be removed from StormIt at any time by emailing writeyourstorm@stormit.ca; it is removed within 30 days. Copies already sent in newsletters or shared by others cannot be recalled. Removal does not change a judging decision or an award already made.

Your entry may have been published elsewhere before, and you may publish it elsewhere later, provided you hold the rights needed to grant this licence.

9 · Authorship, AI, and originality

Entries must be your own true, lived experience and your own authorship. 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. Wholly AI-generated narratives, fabricated experiences, and plagiarism are disqualifying.

Shortlisted entries are screened for plagiarism and authorship concerns with human review. Where a concern is found, the entrant is notified at their entry email and given an opportunity to respond before any decision.

Photos are optional. You must own any photo you submit or have permission from everyone identifiable in it. Photos of identifiable third parties without permission, and photos including minors' faces, are removed rather than published.

By entering, you confirm that your entry is your original work, is substantially truthful to the best of your knowledge, does not knowingly contain false or defamatory statements about identifiable people, and does not unlawfully infringe another person’s copyright, privacy, confidentiality, publicity or other rights. You agree to indemnify the Organizer against third-party claims that arise because this confirmation was untrue.

Take care when writing about other people. Consider changing names or identifying details, and do not include another person’s home address, private contact information, financial information, medical records, confidential records or other sensitive personal information unless you have a lawful and compelling reason to do so. The Organizer may redact or change identifying details to protect third parties, or decline to publish an entry, without changing your meaning.

10 · Privacy and verification

Every new entry requires successful payment and email confirmation before it reaches review. Confirm the single-use link sent to the address you gave; each link works for 48 hours. An expired link does not erase a paid entry: use the saved payment page to request a fresh link to the original entry email. Entry data (name, email, country, and entry details) is used to manage entries, process the entry payment, provide the included Reader access, and manage award selection, verification, results, and publication on StormIt. It is never sold and never used for unrelated marketing. StormIt's privacy policy (stormit.ca/privacy) applies.

Personal stories often include sensitive information about the writer, such as health, beliefs, or relationships. Any such information you choose to include about yourself is processed, to judge and publish your entry, on the basis of the explicit consent you give when entering.

No ID is collected at entry. Shortlisted entrants may be asked to verify identity by email; verification data is retained only until results are final, then deleted. Entry records for this season are deleted by June 1, 2028 (12 months after the season’s final results), except published pieces and their contractual records.

Submitting includes permission to publish your entry on StormIt. An entry may appear on the public submissions pages after payment, email confirmation, and editorial and safety review. We do not publish spam, doxxing, or unlawful content. Contact writeyourstorm@stormit.ca with any privacy or publication concern.

11 · Disqualification, cancellation, liability, disputes

The Organizer may disqualify entries that violate these rules, are unlawful, hateful, or harassing, or that were submitted by automated means — with notice to the entry email and, where practical, a chance to respond.

The Organizer will award the published prizes and will not cancel an edition because of the number of entries received. If the entry and review process cannot run fairly because of force majeure or technical failure, the Organizer may extend or reschedule the edition, or cancel it; a cancellation is announced here and every paid entry in the cancelled edition is refunded in full.

To the extent permitted by law, the Organizer is not responsible for entries or payments that are lost, late, incomplete, or not received because of technical failures outside its reasonable control, and its total liability to an entrant in connection with the invitation is limited to the entry fee that entrant paid. Nothing in these rules limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

These rules are governed by the laws of British Columbia, Canada. Disputes are resolved first by good-faith discussion with the Organizer; entering does not waive any right you cannot waive under your local law.

12 · Accessibility

If any part of entering is inaccessible to you — the form, the file formats, the process — email writeyourstorm@stormit.ca and we will find a way that works.

13 · Judging and selection

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 criteria and weights are: 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.

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.