She Saw Three Shadows: The Shocking Twist That Haunted the WritersWeekly.com Winter 2026 Short Story Contest Winners
COMMON THEMES SUBMITTED
Here are our notes about common themes that emerged with this topic:
- We were shocked by how many stories mentioned, referenced, or hinted at Goldilocks and the Three Bears!
- Many other fairy tales were referenced in stories as well. Writers should always come up with their own characters. 🙂
- There were several time-travel/stuck in a loop-type stories.
- There were several dystopian, end of the world, wars, barren lands, etc. stories.
- There were lots of romance stories where the woman fell in love with the muscular man who saved her (lots of sexy lumberjacks!).
- On the flip-side, many of the “men” were murderers, rapists, etc.
- Several stories referenced the Civil War and slavery.
- Numerous stories were about women training for the Olympics.
- We also received several stories where the hurt character was part of a dog sledding team.
As with all contests, some common themes come back again and again, no matter what the topic is.
