Sylvia Plath peeled back language to reveal raw emotion. Her writing was vivid, personal, and often unsettling — like staring too long into a mirror. This contest invites you to create a piece that explores the inner world with intensity and precision.

 

We're not looking for polished confessions — we’re looking for honest ones.

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Write something that feels like a diary entry cracked open and transformed into art. This isn’t about melodrama — it’s about meaning. Let your words move through anger, clarity, grief, and resilience — whatever’s real, whatever you’re ready to face.

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• Anchor abstract emotion in concrete images. Don’t just say “I felt alone.” Say: “I sat at the bottom of an emptied-out bathtub and whispered to the faucet.”

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• Let language shift with emotion. If your narrator spirals, let the sentences do the same. If clarity comes, let the tone sharpen.

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• Use objects as emotional anchors. A kitchen drawer. A cracked mirror. A cold spoon. The simplest things can carry the heaviest meaning.

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• Write with discomfort. If it feels a little too vulnerable, a little too exposed — you’re probably on the right track.

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• Structure your piece like a wave. Start in the quiet. Build tension. Break. Recede.

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• Let the ending feel earned. Whether you offer release, resolve, or rupture — make the last line ring true. It doesn’t have to be hopeful, but it should be honest.