• You can write anywhere from 2–15 sentences.
• You can write in between or after what’s already been written.
• Your writing must make sense in the context of the story and generally adhere to the provided theme.
• You have one day to complete your contribution—you likely won’t have a second chance, so make sure to do it the first time.
• You may get a second chance to write depending on the number of people who signed up. We’ll let you know by email or text message if this opportunity arises.
• We reserve the right to publish all or part of your work. We’ll list you as one of the contributing writers and let you know if we publish. We also reserve the right to minimally edit your work before publication.
• You can’t make major changes to others’ work, including reversing previously written plot lines to better fit your ideas. You can make suggestions for grammar, spelling, or clarity, which will be accepted at our discretion. We strive to maintain the integrity of what previous writers have written.
• If you’re the last person, make sure you wrap up the story! Likewise, don’t end the story early if you're not the last person.
• Expect stories to be imperfect but lovely.

Guidelines for Profanity & Sensitive Topics in Prosetrains

• Profanity (use of swear words) or mentions of sex, drugs, alcohol, violence, etc. in Prosetrains is permitted. Even though our writer base and audience is primarily teens, we choose not to limit creative expression just so certain segments of the audience will not be offended. These expletives and topics are a real part of life and deserve to be discussed. The Prose Train should be a safe space for high school writers to explore these ideas.
• There is, however, certainly a limit and there are certainly exceptions to this policy. If we feel like a writer has gone too far or written something that is morally unacceptable, our team will discuss and inform the writer.
• Stories that contain potentially triggering topics will be marked at the start.

Also check out How It Works and theFAQs page for more information.