What is Whimsy?

A monthly microfiction contest for stories that find the light in unexpected places. Even when it doesn't belong.

That means stories where the weird and wonderful are treated as completely ordinary, where something funny and something felt can exist in the same sentence. It doesn't matter if you write crime, horror, romance, sci-fi, or fantasy—only that you carry the sort of midsummer brightness that makes it hard to stay in bed in the morning.

In the words of DadRespondsToHeartfeltMessage65: "👍"
All writers welcome.
300
words
7
days to write
5
whims to choose from
1
unique Object prompt

So what are you actually looking for?

Whimsy isn't a genre. It's a vibe. If the stories below call to you, you're probably already writing it. You just didn't know it had a home.

Warm & Wondrous
  • The Princess Bride
  • Stardust
  • Howl's Moving Castle
  • Up
  • The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
  • House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
  • Shakespeare in Love
Absurd & Witty
  • Terry Pratchett (Discworld)
  • P.G. Wodehouse (Jeeves & Wooster
  • The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
  • Pushing Daisies
  • Jasper Fforde (Thursday Next, The Big Over Easy)
Sharp & Inventive
  • Everything Everywhere All At Once
  • Harry Potter (especially the early books)
  • Neil Gaiman (Good Omens, Coraline, The Graveyard Book)
  • Knives Out
  • The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
  • Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Strange & Offbeat
  • Pan's Labyrinth
  • Edward Scissorhands
  • Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Moonrise Kingdom, Fantastic Mr Fox)
  • Amélie
  • The Shape of Water
  • What We Do in the Shadows
Timothy Hayes
About the Founder

Whimsy is the creation of Timothy Hayes

A writer who tripped on a stray shoelace into writing contests back in 2020 during "the event", which we shall call The Great Untying.

A good million contests later (because that's how we measure time around here, right?), he's had stories come out on top, fall short, and missed more deadlines than he'd care to admit.

One of the ironies of writing contests is that lighthearted stories can have a hard time being taken seriously. Whimsy exists to change that, and to create a dedicated space for all those weird and wonderful stories to shine in their own right.

Because every writer who has ever chosen the door marked "Definitely Just a Perfectly Normal Door" deserves a place to call home.
Join Whimsy →