WRITING SOCIETY
THE WHALEIAM SHAKESPEARE
WRITING SOCIETY
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The Whaleiam Shakespeare Writing Society (WSWS) Competition is a six-round creative writing tournament that any student in 7th-12th grade can participate in!
For each round, students choose from the official prompts and create an original piece of writing. Their work is then formally submitted to a judge blindly for review.
At the end of each round, one middle school student and one high school student will be awarded the coveted Whale of a Tail trophy and their very own unique notebook to encourage them to keep writing.
🎓 ENGLISH CLASS PERKS
Students enrolled in English 7–11/12 will receive:
⭐ 15 extra credit points upon submitting a competition entry.
🐋 Two Homework Passes if their entry wins the Whale of a Tail Award!
📝 HOW TO COMPETE
1. CHOOSE A PROMPT
Select at least one of the bi-monthly prompts from the official Prompt List found below and use it as the basis for your short story or poem.
ANY prompt is up for grabs! If you are feeling extra creative, you’re welcome to combine multiple prompts into one piece.
2. WRITE YOUR MASTERPIECE
Write an original short story and/or poem based on your chosen prompt. No AI allowed.
3. TYPE & PRINT
Once your masterpiece is complete, type and print your creative work.
4. SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY
Place your printed short story or poem into the WSWS Submission Folder, located next to the game table in Study Hall at PHC.
That’s it! You’ve officially entered the competition. 🐋🏆
💡 HAVE A GREAT PROMPT IDEA?
Students can suggest prompts they’d love to see added to the official Prompt List!
Simply write your idea in the Prompt Suggestion Notebook, located next to the game table in Study Hall at PHC.
Who knows? Your prompt might inspire the next winning Whale of a Tail! 🐋
📚 FIND EVERYTHING YOU NEED IN STUDY HALL
The following can all be found next to the game table in PHC Study Hall:
📜 Official Prompt List
📋 Competition Rules
📓 Prompt Suggestion Notebook
📁 WSWS Submission Folder
The Prompts for Round 1 are the following:
1. Student Prompt (a prompt suggested by one of the students)
Write a poem or a short story that expands on a nursery rhyme.
2. Throwback Prompt (a prompt featured on a previous round of the competition)
Write a poem or a short story about two characters who make an unexpected discovery in a flower garden.
3. Write a poem or a short story that includes the phrase: “This is why we can’t have anything nice.”
4. Write a poem or a short story that includes two people swapping places.
5. Write a poem or a short story about a mysterious traveler whose bag can carry anything and everything.
6. What if the Roman Empire never fell?
7. Write a short story or a poem based on:
The Moon Doesn’t Mind by Lord Huron [2021]
The sky doesn’t care what my poor heart wants / And the desert can’t hear my cries
The moon doesn’t mind that I’m left all alone / And she’s gone, gone
8. Write a short story or a poem based on the artpiece:
New Year’s Day in Babylon by Peter Jackson [1922 – 2003] – Picture Below
