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Future Writing Challenge
Flex your writing skills!
Running through March 30, the Future Writing Challenge provides an opportunity to share your knowledge, perspective, and rumination about the future with your friends, family, and community.
There is one prompt for this challenge but three ways to win. All winners will receive an exclusive Future badge, bragging rights, a gift to the Forem shop, and more!
Read on for the details.
Key Dates
- Contest start: February 26, 2025
- Submissions due: March 30, 2025
- Winners announced: April 10, 2025
Badge Rewards
Challenge Prompt
Write a letter to friends and family on what to expect with how technology is changing things.
You are welcome to be as broad or specific as you wish as long as your topic is within the scope of what technology touches. We encourage you not to focus on software development specifically, but instead leverage your technical expertise to focus on areas that will impact the friends and family you are writing to.
How to submit
In order to participate, you will need to publish a post using the submission template below.
Judging Criteria:
- Style and Presentation
- Clarity
- Originality
Prize Categories
Explain Like I'm Five
Awarded to a submission that conveys their message in simple, fun language that even a five-year-old could understand.
Ripple Effects
Awarded to a submission that thoughtfully explores how technology is reshaping social norms, relationships, and cultural institutions.
Future Writing Challenge FAQ
Participation
Can I submit to multiple prompts?
Yes, you are welcome to submit to multiple prompts.
Can one submission qualify for multiple prompts?
Yes, if your submission offers a solution to multiple prompts, it can qualify for multiple prompts.
Can I submit to a prompt more than once?
Yes, you can submit multiple submissions per prompt but you’ll need to publish a separate post for each submission.
- In the event that you may win two or more prompts, and your submission is very close with another participant, we will favor the other participant.
- In the event that you do win two or more prompts, you will only receive one winner badge.
Can I work on a team?
No, you cannot work on teams for this challenge.
How old do I have to be to participate?
Participants need to be 18+ in order to participate.
If I live in X, am I eligible to participate?
For eligibility rules, see our official challenge rules.
Submission
Do submissions have to be in English?
Non-english submissions are eligible for a completion badge but not eligible for prizes due to the current limitations of our judges. We will not be judging on mastery of the English language, so please don’t let this deter you from submitting if you are not a native English speaker! We hope to evolve this in the future to be more accommodating.
What happens if my submission is considered plagiarized or invalid?
Anything deemed to be plagiarism will not be eligible for prizes. Incidental plagiarism may simply result in your disqualification from the challenge (regardless of the number of other valid submissions you have published). Egregious plagiarism will result in your suspension from DEV entirely. Any non-generic, non-trivial usage of prior work, including open source code must be credited in your submission.
Can I use AI?
Use of AI is allowed as long as all other rules are followed. We want to give you a chance to show off your skills in realistic scenarios. If you use AI tools to help you achieve your submission, all the power to you.
Judging and Prizing
Can there be ties?
In the event of a tie in scoring between judges, the judges will select the entry that received the highest number of positive reactions on their post to determine the winner.
How will I know if I won?
Winners will be announced in a Future post on the winner announcement date noted in our key dates section.
When will I receive my Future badge?
Both participation and winner badges will be awarded, in most cases, the same day as the winner announcement.
When will I receive my prizes? The Future Team will contact you via the email associated with your DEV profile within, at most, 10 business days of the announcement date to share the details of claiming your prizes.
Future Writing Challenge Rules
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open only to 18+. Contest entry period ends March 30, 2025 at 11:59 PM PDT. Contest is void where prohibited or restricted by law or regulation. All entires must be submitted during the content period. For Official Rules, see Future Writing Challenge Contest Rules and General Contest Official Rules.
