85% of Aralia Students Place in Top Writing Competitions
1. What is the New York Times Tiny Memoir: 100-Word Personal Narrative Contest?
Inspired by a series called Tiny Love Stories from the NYT column Modern Love, the NYT Tiny Memoir competition is very famous and has received over 51,000 entries in just two years.
The contest challenges students to write a true, meaningful personal story in 100 words or fewer. Students can write about any meaningful moment or experience from their own lives, using their unique voice and storytelling style.
2. When is the contest?
- Contest opens: September 16, 2026
- Submission deadline: October 28, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time
- Winners announced: Expected by early February 2027
3. Contest Eligibility
Students ages 13 to 19 who are currently in middle school or high school are eligible to participate in this contest. The competition is open to students from around the world, provided they meet the age and eligibility requirements. Each student may submit only one entry and must have permission from a parent or guardian to participate.
4. Contest Rules
The NYT Tiny Memoir: 100-Word Personal Narrative Contest challenges students to tell a true, meaningful story from their own lives in 100 words or fewer, excluding the title. There are no required topics, themes, or genres, giving students the freedom to write about a wide range of personal experiences. However, the strongest submissions focus on a specific, meaningful moment or event rather than a broad life story. Students should use their unique voice to tell a story that matters to them and leaves readers with a larger meaning or message.
Entries must be original, individual work. Students may submit only one entry per year, and the piece must not have been published elsewhere before submission. Collaboration is not allowed, and submissions should be appropriate for a broad audience, meaning students should avoid profanity or other inappropriate content.
Students must also complete their Tiny Memoir from start to finish in a Google Doc and share the document with the contest organizers, providing Editor access so they can review the document’s version history (new for 2026). In addition to the 100-word narrative, students must submit information about their writing process, including how and why they developed their story and the decisions they made while writing. This process information will be considered as part of the overall submission and judging process.
85% of Aralia Students Place in Top Writing Competitions
5. How to Write a Tiny Memoir
Read to Get Inspired:
First, get started with reading these entries from Tiny Memoir 2022 Winners and Tiny Memoir 2023 Winners:
- “Nap Time With a Kindergartner Who Doesn’t Know English — Grace Huang, 16, West High School, Madison, Wis.”
- “Anglophone — Jerry Xiong, 16, Prince of Wales Secondary School, Vancouver, British Columbia”
- “The Sidewalk — Nicole, 15, Alisal High School, Salinas, Calif.”
- “Food for the Soul— Emily Pedroza, 15, Lynbrook High School, San Jose, Calif.”
Note how many pieces use humor. They might have an unexpected plot twist in the last sentence. All describe an extremely specific moment, almost as if the authors used 100 words to describe 1 minute of their life. Notice how each sentence moves onto another part of the story, and no two sentences describe the same part of the story. There simply isn’t enough space in the word limit to give too much detail. Most importantly, each author describes their emotions vibrantly. Their writing clearly shows why the narrated moment evoked a strong emotional reaction.
After reading winning student entries, read the latest published pieces from Tiny Love Stories, the NYT column series that inspired this contest. Tiny Love Stories are reader-submitted love stories written in less than 100 words in the Modern Love column. Reminder: the student Tiny Memoir contest doesn’t have to be a love story!
Write to Perfect Your Words
After you’ve done your share of reading 100-word stories, hone your writing skills with practice. Use prompts to practice. The following sample prompts are from 525 prompts for narrative and personal writing by competition host NYT The Learning Network:
- When has starting overworked for you?
- How do you handle boredom?
- What is your Sunday routine?
- Do you talk to yourself?
- How well do your parents deal with sibling conflicts?
- Has forgiving someone ever made you feel better?
- What does your accent say about who you are?
- Do you need a homework therapist?
Don’t worry about answering a prompt perfectly. Try out as many prompts as possible to get your hand used to writing in this genre. To practice writing a story with a short word limit, try setting a time limit for how long you can write about each prompt. This strategy may help you eliminate unnecessary details, allowing you to focus on the key elements most crucial to advancing the plot and the underlying moral of the story.
Check out Rehearsal Space, an open student forum for you to practice writing 100-word stories and add your drafts. This article features question prompts to stimulate your thinking and a comments section filled with helpful resources. Check out the comments section to read your peer’s ideas and leave a draft of up to 1,500 characters (around 250 words).
Brainstorm memories for your 100-word narrative with this NYT-made PDF worksheet. These 25 prompts help you rapid-fire recall “moments that matter.” Try to think of a new memory for each one! Throughout the worksheet, you’ll find a special memory that keeps coming back in vivid remembrance—tap into that! What about that memory makes it so special to you that it’s always on your mind?
More resources are available on the NYT guide to teach narrative writing.
6. Why Should I Enter in the NYT Tiny Memoir Competition?
Gain Recognition From The New York Times
Writing for The New York Times offers students the opportunity to have their work recognized by one of the world’s most prestigious and internationally acclaimed news organizations. Winning entries are published on The Learning Network, a highly regarded section of The New York Times focusing on student topics.
With the contest historically recognizing less than 0.7% of submissions, being selected as a winner is a significant achievement.
Practice Concise Writing
The NYT Tiny Memoir Contest is also an excellent opportunity for students to develop one of the most valuable writing skills: concise communication. With only 100 words to tell a complete and meaningful story, students must carefully consider every idea, detail, and sentence they include.
Unlike simply cutting unnecessary adjectives or filler words, writing concisely for this contest requires students to be selective at a deeper level. They must identify the most important moments, choose details that have the greatest impact, and communicate a larger meaning without unnecessary explanation. This challenge encourages students to focus on quality over quantity and develop a stronger understanding of how effective writing can say more with less.
Masterclass writes a helpful guide on concise writing based on ideas. If you’re looking for a challenge, check out this college-level, thesis-based academic writing guide on concise writing by UNC Chapel Hill. George Mason University’s guide uses examples to plainly illustrate the difference in efficiency between a wordy vs. a concise sentence.
Develop Stronger Writing Skills
The 100-word limit pushes students to think carefully about storytelling, structure, word choice, and revision. Students must create a clear narrative with a beginning, middle, and end while still making their story meaningful and engaging for readers.
Learning how to express ideas efficiently is a valuable skill that extends beyond creative writing. Whether students are writing essays, research papers, college applications, or professional communications, the ability to communicate clearly and effectively can make their writing stronger. The Tiny Memoir Contest provides a unique challenge for students to practice these skills while developing their individual voice as writers.
7. Prepare with Aralia Education
Aralia’s NYT Tiny Memoir Contest Preparation Class helps students strengthen their storytelling and concise writing skills while receiving guidance from experienced instructors. Students will learn how to identify meaningful personal experiences, develop a clear narrative arc, and refine their writing independently for the competition.
Ready to take on the challenge? Explore Aralia’s competition preparation class and start preparing for the NYT Tiny Memoir Contest today.
Writing Competition – Fall
This class is offered in the fall every year. Students from 13 to 18 years old wanting to learn how to shape their written English into effective and publishable creative pieces will find this particular Writing Competition course very exciting. The class will be shown a range of tools to learn the nuances of controlled, purposeful writing, including: figurative language, effective structuring and specific forms that they will apply to their own pieces.
