Welcome To Our Third Annual Writing Contest

Why do we host a writing contest every year for women? We want you to know about this path of self-development and growth, called the Heroine’s Journey. We want you to see that you are definitely on this path and recognize that you are a Heroine! As strong advocates of using the Heroine’s Journey path as a model of personal evolution, which we call Your Epic Journey of Transformation, we support it as a tool for building confidence, self-esteem and ultimately, positively affecting our world, one Heroine at a time.

The Benefits To Telling Your Story

What better way for you to realize these things than to ask you to tell a story using the Journey milestones. This contest asks you to take a story from your life, from a time when you overcame your internal and external obstacles and prevailed – and to tell that personal story within this ancient story framework - the Heroine’s Journey.

Doing this will raise your awareness. The Heroine’s Journey is essentially a journey of identity. You won’t be able to see yourself as ordinary anymore once you’ve seen how your life story matches the milestones of the Heroine’s Journey!

Let's Get Started

Please submit an entry. Here’s how to do it and the information that you’ll want to know:

Step 1: Sign up for the contest. (link below)

Step 2: Review the criteria (see below) to be sure you know what the requirements are and then start writing! 

Step 3: Submit your entry to [email protected] by midnight on November 1, 2025.

Step 4: The winners will be revealed on December 10th!

Requirements

Eligibility

The Heroine’s Writing Contest is open to women, whether published or not, regardless of experience.  Previously published stories in other contests, books, magazines, etc. are not accepted. Submissions are welcome if they are original to the contest entrant and meet the following guidelines. (One submission per contest entry.)

 Format

Entries will be identified by the author’s name, which should appear in the upper right hand corner of each page.

•  All multi-page entries must be titled and paginated.
•  All entries must have one-inch margins and page numbers.
•  Your story must be double-spaced.
•  Poems are accepted and may be spaced and arranged according to the poet’s intent.
•  All entries must be submitted in Microsoft Word file (.doc or .docx) or a .PDF file (.pdf). When format is an integral part of the work’s aesthetic effect, a scanned image converted to a PDF document is acceptable.

*** Most importantly, the Heroine’s Writing Contest entries must be written using the common structural elements of the heroine’s/ hero’s journey which are found universally in myths, fairy tales, stories and movies.  Joseph Campbell brought the term “hero’s journey” into popular use.  He used it to represent either men or women.  My work is about empowering women to accept that they are true heroines on a transformational journey. I use the term “heroine’s journey”. The contest entries will be your personal stories written within the general structure of the Hero/Heroine's Journey framework.

Click here to read more about this framework. 

Contestants will email their stories with double line spacing, within a maximum of (3) pages (750 words).  All entries must be original works.  All stories have to be about the author submitting, not about someone else.

How will the contest be judged:

Our four judges will read your work according to the following – criteria are weighted, accordingly (judges announced soon):

•  The story effectively relates to the theme of the contest (it should touch on at least three Heroine’s Journey milestones): 40%
•  Character development is clear: 30% (the goal of the journey is to transform the heroine)
•  Creativity: 30%

 Stipulations: 

•  All entrants retain the copyright to their submissions; however, we would like to share your stories with our online community. We ask contest participants to grant weHeroines the right to reproduce any submission on its website or blog.

Prizes:

• We will select a first, second, third place, as well as an honorable mention.
• First place will receive a cash prize of $500
• Second place will receive a cash prize of $300
• Third place will receive a cash prize of $200
• The Honorable Mention will receive a cash prize of $100