Today is the day Charis, Anika, and I finally announce the winners of our Symphony of Words writing contest!

First of all, I’m sorry that this announcement has been so delayed! Some unexpected, unplanned for life stuff/busyness came up for me and one of the other judges, and the judging process ended up taking a lot longer than we planned for. We are sorry for the delay, and we so appreciate your patience. <3

Also, thank you so much to everyone who entered! There were so many amazing stories and styles sent in, and it was wonderful to step into your imaginations. Thank you for sharing your creativity and heart with us! <3 <3 <3

Now, without further adieu! The winners! Just click on the story title read the story and a note from each author about their inspiration!

Here are our honorable mentions:

Merie S. with her story The Nightingale Girl inspired by For King and Country’s God Only Knows.

Alexis C. with her story When I Belonged With You inspired by The Lumineers’ Ho Hey.

Kaitlyn K. with her story Porch Swing Hugs inspired by The SteelDrivers’ Where Rainbows Never Die.

Ash R. with her story Peony inspired by Taylor Swift’s Clean.

Now onto our prize-winning top three!

In third place: Abigayle C. with her story Remembrance inspired by I See Fire by Ed Sheeran.

To me, the author went a very unexpected route as far as setting and subject, and it was super refreshing! Not only is the writing tight, but the subject matter is handled with maturity and taste without wandering into undue morbidity or romanticism.

In second place: Emily H. with her story Stelle Tremanti inspired by Red by Taylor Swift.

I think what I loved most about this story was the feeling of being seamlessly taken into another period of time. With its winsome description and nostalgia-evoking writing style, I felt like I was just on the other side of a camera lens watching the story unfold in quick flashes. *dreamy eyes forever*

In first place: Bekah B. with her story Let Me Fall inspired by I Need U by BTS.

This is a very close story, told in such a way that you don’t just see the main character but you also experience her thoughts and emotions with her (which is a huge mark of good storytelling on its own). Unfortunately, I can’t say much more because I don’t want to give away spoilers, but I will say that while it dives into some heavy subject matter (all dealt with well within this contest’s guidelines, but I just want to give sensitive readers a heads up), it’s a story you don’t want to miss.

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Abigayle, Emily, and Bekah: you can expect an email within a week regarding the final details of your prizes! Congratulations!!

Of course, thank you, Anika and Charis, for dreaming up this contest and letting me participate in it as a judge alongside you.

Thank you again to everyone who entered!! I was, personally, blown away by the depth and breadth of the type of stories we got, and I’m so glad you all participated. <3

With love,

Rosalie

p.s. – very sad news: WordPress crashed, and Anika’s blog has vanished entirely. *screaming ensues* If you want to keep up with her, be sure to follow her on Instagram.