March 2023 Year of the Rabbit Bamboo Shoots Writing Contest Prompts

Three very important things to keep in mind.  First, these prompts can act as springboards for you.  Use them to go somewhere or feel free to ignore them completely and write whatever you want to write.

Second, I forgot already, so just remember 1 and 3.

Third, any piece you post for the monthly contest could be selected by the editors for publication in a future issue of the Bamboo Ridge journal.  That’s almost as good as winning 10 Bamboo Bucks if you’re into getting your stuff published.

Okay, let’s go minimum 100 words to maximum 500 words.  Because Misty’s exercise was such a great hit last month, this month let’s do a little riff on it.  Instead of posting your piece both from top to bottom and bottom to top, this time let’s post our story, poem, dialogue, or what have you, from bottom to top only.

So you write your piece the way you normally would — whatever that may be — and then you only post it backwards, from the last line to the first line.  Catch?  100 to 500 words only posted backwards.  Hah!  This could be very cool : ) Good exercise.

Here are the prompts to ignore if you want to do that:

Easter
The Easter Bunny
Easter baskets
Hiding eggs
Long legs
Long arm of the law
Doing time
Fighting crime
City grime
Mimes
Make-up
Making up
Disguise
Wigs
Gigs
Giggling
Juggling
Balls
Calls
Malls
Bears
Beers
Cheers
Toast
Coast
Roast
Sunday dinners
Everyone’s a winner

Okay, folks, get to those writing implements and start jamming on your pieces.  100 to 500 words, and only post it from last line to first line.  We’ll call it ‘Misty’s Backwards Writing Month.’

And don’t forget, any piece you post for the monthly contest — and yes, that means even a backwards piece — might be chosen by the editors for future publication in the Bamboo Ridge journal.

By participating in the Bamboo Shoots community, you agree to the following rules:

1. We reserve the right to remove content that promotes hate or gratuitous violence. Be respectful and courteous to others.
2. All contest challenge entries must be submitted by the designated
3. Enter as many times as you like using a trigger/prompt (this page).
4. Contest Challenge entries can be prose (including short stories, nonfiction essays, or whatever you write), poetry, or plays -- or any type of hybrid writing you dream up.
5. Every entry must have a title -- unless you choose to enter a haiku, in which case you can simply enter the word haiku in the title section.
6. All content/entries should be original work. You retain ownership of your entries; however, we may ask to use them elsewhere on the site or on social media to help promote Bamboo Ridge and/or the Bamboo Shoots online writing community.
7. Winners will be announced with all possible speed after the end of each month. Winners receive 10 Bamboo Bucks credit to spend in the BRP online bookstore. Bamboo Bucks have no monetary value outside of the online store.
8. Entries may also be selected for publication in the regular Bamboo Ridge Journal. If your piece is chosen, the editors will contact you via the email address on file.
9. Please note that you need not enter the contest challenge in order to post on Bamboo Shoots. You may post other writing if you choose. We welcome that here:  Click this link to go to Shoot da Breeze.