Write India Season 3 - Short Story Contest March 2020

Write India is a collaborative writing initiative by Times Internet, which will have a set of 10 celebrity authors writing the passage of short stories. These passages will be later opened to public for completion. Every month we will select one winner from the entries received with the help of the 'Celebrity Author of the Month'.

 This Campaign is valid for users who are Indian citizens and are competent to to enter into a valid and binding contract under law, and are aged 18 years and above. However, Participants below eighteen years of age may participate in the Campaign with parental or guardian guidance and approval.

Every story has Write India rules, which will be valid throughout the contest and Author Rules, given by the celebrity author of the month. The rules are stated below the Passage from the Author of the Month.

You can upload your entryhere or also email it to writeindia@timesinternet.in
everyone is welcome to participate for all authors. Every entry for each author will be considered on merit.
Stick to a minimum of 1500 words and a maximum of 3000 words. The word limit does not include the words of the prompt.
The content should be written exclusively for Write India and should not be shared or published anywhere else before or after the submission. Such an entry will be disqualified and the participant may be subjected to legal actions.
Each month Top 10 winners will be declared.
The Write India editorial team will select the top stories according to our strict criteria and share them with the author of the month. The celebrity author of the month will then help select the Top 10 entries and declare the Three Top Winners.
The contest closes on 30th of every month.

Author of the Month (March 2020): Jeet Thayil
The firestorm killed the lights and knocked the ship deep into space. Somehow, the instruments were still alive, but there was no crew to read them. Far below a red crescent shone, the edge of the burning planet silhouetted by the curve of a wing. It would be a lonely trip. She gazed through the porthole at the wavering stars.

RULES BY THE AUTHOR
1. Set in 2030, the story is about a climactic day in the life of our endangered planet.
2. The opening paragraph could be the end of the story if you work backwards.
Or it may be the beginning.
3. Some questions to consider: What happened to the crew? Are there stowaways aboard the ship that the captain doesn’t know about? What catastrophe has occurred on Earth?
4. You are allowed to mix genres.

WRITE INDIA RULES
1. Read carefully the passage provided by the author. You can use it anywhere in your story.
2. DO NOT tamper with the author passage. Entries with 'split' passage or with any kind of change in the passage will be disqualified.
3. Each author has provided some rules. If your story does not abide by the rules, it shall be considered disqualified.
4. Stick to a minimum of 1500 words and a maximum of 3000 words.
5. The story must be written in English. Be careful with your editing, grammar and punctuation.Though we are primarily looking for good storytellers, language skill will strengthen your case in case of a tie.
6. Please submit your story before or on the last day of the contest for it to be considered. Only entries submitted till midnight of every 30th will be considered.
7. If you send more than one entry, please remember we will be considering only the last one sent.
8. DO NOT upload or email scanned or JPEG files of your story. Such entries will be disqualified..