Helping Writers #DraftNewSkills With Rough Writing Prompts

Announcing the Winners of our Scholarship Contest with Skillshare

“The first draft of anything is shit.”

Hemingway’s famous quote is the motto we’ve kept in our hearts here at 96 Problems as we’ve built the world’s worst text editor in Rough Draft, and the world’s best rough draft feedback platform at www.OnlyRoughDrafts.com. Nothing starts out perfect, and we sought to create a writing tool and community that helps us keep that maxim in mind.

We recently partnered with Skillshare to spread this shitty rough writing gospel to writers around the world. We were lucky to find that some of their best writing teachers shared the same appreciation for rough writing as we did. Kari Sayers, Chris Mitchell, and Jennifer Armstrong provided amazing rough writing prompts that we asked our community of writers to respond to and win a month-long Skillshare scholarship!

And respond you did! We received 14 creative and thoughtful responses to these writing prompts, below:

Now comes the toughest part: choosing the most creative ones! Each of these were chosen either randomly or after review from our team. And while each of the submissions are worth a read themselves, after much deliberation, the following(drumroll please) win the scholarship:

Kelly: Kelly’s uplifting response to Kari’s prompt encompassed the essence of ancient biblical times, revolving around a miracle prophet who has the power to heal and create miracles, leaving those around him in awe. Check it out here!

Buffy: On the opposite end of the spectrum, Buffy’s response to Jennifer’s prompt had us torn between good and evil in this short style poem. “In blooded rivers the rouge devil slithers” had us smiling with curiosity. Bonus points for the illustration! Check it out here!

Stephen: Responding to Chris’s prompt, Stephen discusses the advancements a pair of vampires have made in regards to luring humans to their doom. We now know how hard life can be as a creature of the night. Check it out on Only Rough Drafts!

We want to congratulate everyone who took the time to respond for the creativity they poured into drafting up their stories. In particular, the visual shots of your drafts were awesome and showed how much effort writers put in to submissions! Reading your thoughts was, and is, the most enjoyable part of building Rough Draft.

A big thank you is owed to Skillshare and those who helped us in getting the word out. Please stay tuned for future scholarships like this!

Until next time, keep drafting!

Check out Rough Draft and get your idea out to our community of rough drafters at www.OnlyRoughDrafts.com!