Hello Writers!

While the Ancient Libraries are a flurry determining the top 5 stories, we wanted to engage with you and get your input on the ONC.

Your input can help us improve, since, in addition to inspiring great stories, one of our main objectives is enjoyment. We also want to hear your thoughts on some ideas for the 2026 ONC.

Feel free to answer as many of these questions as you wish, any input will be appreciated as long as it's constructive. We are open to ideas and suggestions, but we cannot guarantee that all will be implemented, as we must adhere to platform guidelines and consider what is possible and realistic for the Ambassadors behind this contest.

Q: What did you enjoy most about the 2025 ONC?

Q: Was there anything unclear that we can try to clarify for the 2026 ONC?

Q: If you could add anything to the 2026 ONC, what would it be?

Q: If there is anything you could remove from the 2026 ONC, what would it be?

New idea for 2026: We want to hear your thoughts on community-submitted prompts. Each year, we bring you 100+ prompts to inspire your ONC novellas. However, we want to know if we should include a portion of prompts from you. This means that 30% of the prompts will be selected from prompts submitted by the community ahead of time and then revealed on the 1st of February, along with the rest. No one will have access to the prompts ahead of time, and no one will know which prompts will be selected. We will also retain the right to edit some, if needed, to make them more suitable for the ONC.

Let us know if you would like to see prompts curated from the ONC community in 2026.

Bonus Question: Each year, we bring you a themed ONC. This is just to put a fun little twist on the presentation, even though it doesn't dictate the type/genre/tropes of the stories we hope to see. This year, we lived in a dystopian world filled with ancient, magical libraries and Page Masters, but what theme would you like to see in 2026? 

Thank you for your time on this ♥