1) All extra judges must be named AND CONFIRMED (by posting in the thread and providing an email address, either to everyone or to the contest organizer and the forum mod) by the contest due date, preferably within a week of the contest being posted.
2) If any judge is unresponsive for two weeks after end of contest, they are booted and another judge is to be found (Ideally by Craven, though I somehow expect I'll have a hand on it because I'm just that meddlesome).
3) If any judge is responsive (is posting and responding to us) but still fails to actually judge for four weeks, he/she will be likewise replaced regardless of whatever lame excuse. And the excuses are ALWAYS lame, because...
4) IF A JUDGE IS UNWILLING AND UNABLE TO FULFILL HIS OR HER DUTIES, HE OR SHE SHOULD NOT BE A JUDGE. If you don't want to do it, we don't want you to pretend to try. Just make it known ahead of time, don't drag it all out.
5) If a judge is unresponsive or just slow, it is our right, nay, our RESPONSIBILITY as contestants to harass them as much as is possible and entertaining.
Now, to business...
I've decided on a prompt that might be a bit divisive, because I am restricting the high fantasy people a bit. As a handicap, I've provided an example of an incorporation of this genre into a fantasy setting (a Magic setting, no less).
However, this is easily my favorite genre; indeed, my short story Taint for this last SSC is a prime example of the kind of world I'm looking for.
Your task is to write a story set in either a dystopia or anti-utopia. Wikipedia fortunately defines the difference:
Some academic circles distinguish between anti-utopia and dystopia. As in George Orwell's1984 and Aldous Huxley'sBrave New World, a dystopia does not pretend to be good, while an anti-utopia appears to be utopian or was intended to be so, but a fatal flaw or other factor has destroyed or twisted the intended utopian world or concept.
Beyond those two, I can think of a few more worlds that fall under either of these frameworks. For those of you who want to write a High Fantasy story, well, it might be a bit tricky, but, for example, in the Kamigawa storyline, one might consider Eiganjo under Konda a dystopia. Beyond that, the possibilities are endless - there are numerous examples of dystopian or anti-utopian systems in literature - think 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World, V for Vendetta, etc. etc.
Now for the rest:
1) The contest will end at 6:00 MST on 5 September. Why 6:00? Because it's a reasonable time for me to look at these things on the computer and it still gives you people to the east ample time to get in under the deadline. As for those of you to the west, well, tough luck. Don't procrastinate.
2) Your story should, as before, be around 1000-8000 words. A story over 8000 words will be penalized; the same is true of a story under 1000 words, although I'd be surprised to see one of those.
3) Your story should be spell-checked and written clearly so that the judges can do their thing. You don't want to submit a work that is indistinguishable as gibberish or English. Ideally, don't exclusively rely on MS Word to spell-check your work- lets all remember how Scav lost to Vestdan by half a point due to not spellchecking.
4) Your entries should be submited in a new thread and prefixed accordingly:
[Short Story Contest VIII] Your Story Title
or
[SSCVIII] Your Story Title
or even
SSC8: Your Story Title
5) DO NOT plagiarize, copy, or infringe on copyrights. We've had seven lawsuit-free contests now, and it'd be nice to keep things that way.
6) Please do not use previously written stories, or excerpts from works you have already written. Your entries should be original, and written within the guidelines set forth by the Short Story Contest rules. (Which you're reading right now)
7) Limit one entry per person. Nope, it hasn’t changed yet, and probably won’t until we have a 1000 word limit mini-contest. Hmmm…
Judging Points.
The following points of each short story will be judged, and will be given a point total. In the end, the story with the most points will win the contest.
The structure has not been modified for this contest.
0-5 Adherence to Prompt: Does your story follow the set criteria? Did you explain something so that it was new and interesting? Did it contribute to the story? Was it integrated well into the plot and style? Did it stick out like a sore cliché?
0-5 Spelling and Grammar: How good your grammar is, and how wel yoor story iz spellt. These are not hard points to get, so don't take them for granted. Some minor errors are probably fine, but lots of errors or some really major ones will certainly cost you. Proofreading can save you two or three easy points.
0-10 Characterization: How well are your characters (all of them) developed? Are they believable? Do they come alive to the readers, or are they just flat archetypes?
0-10 Plot and Structure: Does everything flow well? Is the story coherent? Does it pass the “so-what” test? Is anything interesting happening with the structure?
0-10 Style: How effective your words are. How well you use symbolism, imagery, voice, and all those other mystical writing concepts.
0-10 Creativity: There really are a massive number of ways with which this prompt could be taken. Make good use of them.
Judges.
Right now, it’s just me. While guest judges are nice, I’m more concerned with getting *entries* this time around. I am eagerly accepting volunteers for judges.
1. Xyre
2.
3.
And then there were Prizes:
First Place:
Trophy beside Signature, Front Page Recognition, and Genre/Subject Choice for the next SSC!
Second Place:
Front Page Honorable Mention
Third Place:
Front Page Honorable Mention
If you have any questions, post them here, PM me, burn them in gasoline outside my house (maybe not the last one...)
Ya know what I always thought would make a great anti-utopia? Earth in the Star Trek universe. Think about it--while all the adventurous elite galavant around in starfleet, what are the people on Earth doing? They've abolished money, with replicators there's no need to grow crops or manufacture basically anything, so there can't be any economy worth noticing. Just what do the 99% of Earth citizens who can't get into Starfleet Academy DO, huh? Waste away in their home holodecks? (Which, I'm sure, are never used for porn at all, no who would think of it?) Other than construction and engineering jobs, of which there couldn't possibly be enough to go around, what is there to occupy the time of an Earth citizen? Seems to me that their lives would be a prolonged torture of empty decadence, watching whatever forms of popular entertainment exist and yearning for something, ANYTHING to break up the monotony.
I just thought I would drop in and say a few words.
The first being that I haven't not been watching the contests.
Second being that I haven't joined because the prompts haven't appealed to me all that much, and I've had other things in my life I've been doing. I could've joined, but I didn't want to submit sub-par writing that didn't come from the soul.
Third being I would love to judge, but can't. The first reason being I'd take forever to get even a small contest done, the second being I don't know that much writing to give a critique worthy of being valued. I like to give opinions on what I know. (Not to sound contradictory, I know how to tell a good tale [I think], but if this contest has shown me anything the judges keep telling me I should take writing classes. You don't want someone judging that [I]needs[/I] to be taking classes.)
As always I'm glad to know this is still here and alive. Even though judges are hard to find.
It's taken me a while, but even with my strange tastes and all that I think I could judge, should a third be ... unfound.
I'd probably get more out of writing a story myself, though, and I wouldn't be able to if I judged, so this is a last resort, people.
Also: intriguing prompt ... I might have something that fits it, but I dunno if i can make it not sound stupid in 1~9k words. We'll see, I've been expanding it out a bit.
Also: We'll see what VestDan brings to the table ... will it be a surprise? Who knows?!?
...
I really hope I can read Crime+Punishment on top of Les Miserables before this starts, but I doubt it.
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my mouth is full of winsome lies -
and eyes are full of death besides
but luckily the soul is wise -
it sees beyond my blindness and
forced failure makes a better guise,
so as i come again alive,
it feels like life's a decent plan
I'm not sure if I'll play this time. If something strikes me, then of course, but I'm REALLY closing in on finishing my epic (less than 20 chapters left, projected!) I've been on this project for 5 years, so getting this draft finished is a pretty big deal for me. But, we'll see.
I've been far too lazy to write anything for myself lately (read: since the last contest I entered... months ago), so I should join this!
EDIT: I suppose it's worth pointing to the distinction between "should" and "am going to." Weeeell, I certainly love dystopians, that's for sure. I'll really try to make time for this. I've been sort of kind of thinking about a dystopian story, anywho.
This looks like an interesting prompt, and I've already started a rough draft. I read the Wikipedia article on dystopias, and I think I have a pretty thorough understanding of what they consist of. However, I do want to clarify one thing. Our setting has to be a dystopia, but the story itself does not have to be a "dystopian fiction" as described in the Wikipedia article (with a specific type of protagonist, plot centering around revolution, etc.), correct? In other words, the prompt is a setting restriction, not a plot restriction, right?
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This looks like an interesting prompt, and I've already started a rough draft. I read the Wikipedia article on dystopias, and I think I have a pretty thorough understanding of what they consist of. However, I do want to clarify one thing. Our setting has to be a dystopia, but the story itself does not have to be a "dystopian fiction" as described in the Wikipedia article (with a specific type of protagonist, plot centering around revolution, etc.), correct? In other words, the prompt is a setting restriction, not a plot restriction, right?
Hmm. I think I will join this contest. Of course, I need to actually think of plot, characters, how to fit the prompt just right, and all of those fun things. Shouldn't be too hard to come up with ideas. It is the writing itself that could prove a problem. I am so out of practice...
On another note, would anyone mind if I invited anyone else to try their hand at the contest? I figure the more writers, the better the competition between those participating.
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A rose by any other name still has the same thorns.
Hmm. I think I will join this contest. Of course, I need to actually think of plot, characters, how to fit the prompt just right, and all of those fun things. Shouldn't be too hard to come up with ideas. It is the writing itself that could prove a problem. I am so out of practice...
On another note, would anyone mind if I invited anyone else to try their hand at the contest? I figure the more writers, the better the competition between those participating.
I'd rather the SSC be a 1-person contest myself, so that I can win and everyone else will lose by comparison! [evil laughter would be added here, but yr. corres. forgot exactly what timbre the 'ha' makes.]
[also: I am cackling at the fact that my current book-ish idea is set in one of those dystopia thingies.]
my mouth is full of winsome lies -
and eyes are full of death besides
but luckily the soul is wise -
it sees beyond my blindness and
forced failure makes a better guise,
so as i come again alive,
it feels like life's a decent plan
If anyone wants to come up with a different topic, I'd be fine with that.
EDIT: Actually, I hardly come into this forum at all anymore. If anyone wants to take over this (such as the second-place winner from the last contest), I'd be fine with that.
Well, this round went over like a sack of wet noodles. I even have an idea this time, but I'm SO CLOSE to done with my epic that I couldn't imagine working on anything else. :-/. Assuming a torrent of submissions doesn't come in within the next day or so, how should we proceed?
Well, I was going to shoot something in between now and the 7th. Hopefully. Dunno if I'll finish, it's 4500 words right now and the rest is on lined paper, but I edit when I type into computer.
Assuming more things don't come in ... I guess one of two things could happen:
1. Add a second contest to this first [two sets of judging criteria, etc.]
2. Have a really short judging period [heh. Big change, eh?] and move on
3. Ignore this contest [though then everyone who wrote stories specifically for this contest would be sad, but I dunno ... how many are there ... two? Mine was just a random idea that happens to fall under the umbrella, so I don't think it counts.]
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my mouth is full of winsome lies -
and eyes are full of death besides
but luckily the soul is wise -
it sees beyond my blindness and
forced failure makes a better guise,
so as i come again alive,
it feels like life's a decent plan
I have a story that's about 10,000 words (I know I'll get penalized for it), but I wanted to polish it up a bit. I didn't realize the deadline was so close, and I've been really busy with the new semester (I've had two major tests, and the semester's barely started). I might just submit it anyway, I'll do another read-through tonight and (maybe) post it.
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Well, it looks like the due date has already passed... and two contestants isn't really much of a contest, is it?
Oh...
Quote from enemywithin"s sig »
Currently Reading:
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
The Elric Saga by Michael Moorcock
The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
Eh...thought the due date was the seventh, not the fifth. My mistake, I should have re-read the first post. I wouldn't have been able to get anything in tonight anyway, though, too much to do. Would you want to extend the deadline by a week or so, Xyre? I think we did that with a previous contest, and it brought in a few more contestants. I'd be able to submit something in that time (even if I'm not completely satisfied with my entry, I'll post it regardless), and Sam111111, would you be able to finish in that time as well? That would make four at least, anyway. It's up to you, Xyre, whether you want to extend the deadline though, I'm just throwing it out there since it seems better than the current situation.
@VestDan: Heh, yeah you're right, although I've got to change my sig. I finished the Canterbury Tales, and I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed them. I was initially intimidated by the poetic verse, but it wasn't an issue once I got used to it. And the Oxford edition includes very detailed notes. There was an interesting mix of comedy (I especially enjoyed the Miller's Tale), romance, religion, parables, and some which I can't quite classify. There were also some intricate themes woven throughout the entire story which I might investigate further at some point, maybe for a term paper.
Instead of Ivanhoe (which I do intend to get back to at some point) I picked up a book titled Le Morte D' Arthur, which is the collection of stories centered around King Arthur, in chronological order from the beginning (King Uther Pendragon's war with the Duke of Tintagil over Igraine). I've also been somewhat forced to drop the Elric Saga for the textbooks of my two Psychology classes. Boccaccio, too, will have to wait. The textbooks are interesting, at least. Oddly enough, there was a section of our reading and accompanying test for Abnormal Psych about the Middle Ages. I think that's the only part of the test that I did well on :-/.
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hah, the Decameron has some great parts in it, particularly the parts that put it on the Church's list of banned works.
If you liked the Canterbury Tales, but would like to see the poetic verse and middle english replaced by hard science fiction, I highly recommend Dan Simmons' Hyperion.
You reading Mallory's Morte d'Arthur, or some later version? I find The Once and Future King to be more interesting/accessible, personally.
...As for the contest... I'd love to play again, but I'm seriously 99% done with my story. Sam111111, you can attest to that. (BTW, how'm I doing?)
Whoa, I thought the deadline was the fifth, too. That's ... half the reason why I didn't finish.
A week would give me two off days from work, and I could definitely finish it then. Well ... probably definitely. Which reminds me, I have to write a chapter today. At least. Heh. Got 7.5 pages of hard-to-read, consolidated scrawl to transcribe yet.
And then when I'm done, it's on to part two, the somewhat-connected ... exploration of the world surrounding the events that take place in part one. I think I have a book. I keep saying that. I'm excited. Usually my ideas are ... very short.
*edit*
GOD. I just transcribed three chapters, but really, it just means that I'll have to rewrite three chapters. I think as I went on, my storytelling got worse. And shorter. This probably means that it will be harder to meet deadline [and word count restrictions]; and that if I don't finish, my story will be long AND poorly-written, my favorite pet peeves when together [they're fine if apart, I read the long stories and ignore the bad ones].
I'm at 5700 words now. Probably 700 of that is end-of-chapter notes which don't mean anything, and Chapter headings. I have ~6 chapters to go to write up, and then will probably add ~1500 words in edits [of earlier chapters: my first through fifth in particular are all about 150~200 words long, probably will combine them. Gaaaaah, I can write long chapters about as well as I write long stories. At least today I found a little thread to tie into the second book, which nobody knows about and I've just barely started [if you could call it that].]. But anyways ... for the deadline ...
... It'll be close.
Also: VestDan, you're doing good IMHO. Heh. Though I think you're laying it on a bit thick, that's probably what happens when you release something by chapters, and the reading audience waits to get one, and then it's ... slow.
*edit*
So, finished the first write-up. It's 6600 words. Will become longer. I hope I can make it mildly presentable in time ...
my mouth is full of winsome lies -
and eyes are full of death besides
but luckily the soul is wise -
it sees beyond my blindness and
forced failure makes a better guise,
so as i come again alive,
it feels like life's a decent plan
Waiting for Xyre to post my amazingly unfinished super-epic-starter. Though he did say he doesn't come in here anymore. Maybe we should PM him ...
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my mouth is full of winsome lies -
and eyes are full of death besides
but luckily the soul is wise -
it sees beyond my blindness and
forced failure makes a better guise,
so as i come again alive,
it feels like life's a decent plan
I'm willing to grade what people have produced, although from the looks of things there won't be many. If enough people want, someone else could just take over instead, because I'm not really in here anymore and my prompt seems to be too difficult.
Well, I posted mine. It's almost 10,500 words, so I know it will be penalized. I don't know whether we have enough entries to call it a contest, but I figured I'd post my entry at least, and whatever happens, happens.
@VestDan: Yeah, it was Mallory's version. I did look up The Once and Future King on Wikipedia, and it does look like a more enjoyable read. I think I've heard of Dan Simmons, I'll take a look at that next time I'm in a bookstore. Right now, though, I felt an overwhelming compulsion to re-read George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire for the fourth time. That reminds me, I've got to check Martin's website for any update on A Dance with Dragons. I'm really looking forward to that book, I've missed Daenerys ^_^. I'll go on another literature kick when I finish ASoIaF (again).
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2) If any judge is unresponsive for two weeks after end of contest, they are booted and another judge is to be found (Ideally by Craven, though I somehow expect I'll have a hand on it because I'm just that meddlesome).
3) If any judge is responsive (is posting and responding to us) but still fails to actually judge for four weeks, he/she will be likewise replaced regardless of whatever lame excuse. And the excuses are ALWAYS lame, because...
4) IF A JUDGE IS UNWILLING AND UNABLE TO FULFILL HIS OR HER DUTIES, HE OR SHE SHOULD NOT BE A JUDGE. If you don't want to do it, we don't want you to pretend to try. Just make it known ahead of time, don't drag it all out.
5) If a judge is unresponsive or just slow, it is our right, nay, our RESPONSIBILITY as contestants to harass them as much as is possible and entertaining.
I've decided on a prompt that might be a bit divisive, because I am restricting the high fantasy people a bit. As a handicap, I've provided an example of an incorporation of this genre into a fantasy setting (a Magic setting, no less).
However, this is easily my favorite genre; indeed, my short story Taint for this last SSC is a prime example of the kind of world I'm looking for.
Your task is to write a story set in either a dystopia or anti-utopia. Wikipedia fortunately defines the difference:
Beyond those two, I can think of a few more worlds that fall under either of these frameworks. For those of you who want to write a High Fantasy story, well, it might be a bit tricky, but, for example, in the Kamigawa storyline, one might consider Eiganjo under Konda a dystopia. Beyond that, the possibilities are endless - there are numerous examples of dystopian or anti-utopian systems in literature - think 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World, V for Vendetta, etc. etc.
Now for the rest:
1) The contest will end at 6:00 MST on 5 September. Why 6:00? Because it's a reasonable time for me to look at these things on the computer and it still gives you people to the east ample time to get in under the deadline. As for those of you to the west, well, tough luck. Don't procrastinate.
2) Your story should, as before, be around 1000-8000 words. A story over 8000 words will be penalized; the same is true of a story under 1000 words, although I'd be surprised to see one of those.
3) Your story should be spell-checked and written clearly so that the judges can do their thing. You don't want to submit a work that is indistinguishable as gibberish or English. Ideally, don't exclusively rely on MS Word to spell-check your work- lets all remember how Scav lost to Vestdan by half a point due to not spellchecking.
4) Your entries should be submited in a new thread and prefixed accordingly:
[Short Story Contest VIII] Your Story Title
or
[SSCVIII] Your Story Title
or even
SSC8: Your Story Title
5) DO NOT plagiarize, copy, or infringe on copyrights. We've had seven lawsuit-free contests now, and it'd be nice to keep things that way.
6) Please do not use previously written stories, or excerpts from works you have already written. Your entries should be original, and written within the guidelines set forth by the Short Story Contest rules. (Which you're reading right now)
7) Limit one entry per person. Nope, it hasn’t changed yet, and probably won’t until we have a 1000 word limit mini-contest. Hmmm…
Judging Points.
The following points of each short story will be judged, and will be given a point total. In the end, the story with the most points will win the contest.
The structure has not been modified for this contest.
0-5 Adherence to Prompt: Does your story follow the set criteria? Did you explain something so that it was new and interesting? Did it contribute to the story? Was it integrated well into the plot and style? Did it stick out like a sore cliché?
0-5 Spelling and Grammar: How good your grammar is, and how wel yoor story iz spellt. These are not hard points to get, so don't take them for granted. Some minor errors are probably fine, but lots of errors or some really major ones will certainly cost you. Proofreading can save you two or three easy points.
0-10 Characterization: How well are your characters (all of them) developed? Are they believable? Do they come alive to the readers, or are they just flat archetypes?
0-10 Plot and Structure: Does everything flow well? Is the story coherent? Does it pass the “so-what” test? Is anything interesting happening with the structure?
0-10 Style: How effective your words are. How well you use symbolism, imagery, voice, and all those other mystical writing concepts.
0-10 Creativity: There really are a massive number of ways with which this prompt could be taken. Make good use of them.
Judges.
Right now, it’s just me. While guest judges are nice, I’m more concerned with getting *entries* this time around. I am eagerly accepting volunteers for judges.
1. Xyre
2.
3.
And then there were Prizes:
First Place:
Trophy beside Signature, Front Page Recognition, and Genre/Subject Choice for the next SSC!
Second Place:
Front Page Honorable Mention
Third Place:
Front Page Honorable Mention
If you have any questions, post them here, PM me, burn them in gasoline outside my house (maybe not the last one...)
Good luck, comrade.
Experiments Series: #5 (Courtly Intrigue Mafia) | #4 (Drunken Tracker) | #3 (Big Red Button) - coming soon | #2 (Pope Mafia) | #1 (Iso's Inflammable Mafia)
Mini Games: MTGS Mafia Redux II (Invitational, Evil Mirror Universe) | Unreal City
Old Games (bad): The Greenwood Affair | Blood Moon Mafia
Experiments Series: #5 (Courtly Intrigue Mafia) | #4 (Drunken Tracker) | #3 (Big Red Button) - coming soon | #2 (Pope Mafia) | #1 (Iso's Inflammable Mafia)
Mini Games: MTGS Mafia Redux II (Invitational, Evil Mirror Universe) | Unreal City
Old Games (bad): The Greenwood Affair | Blood Moon Mafia
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Winner of SSC 1 & ">3 & 6
The first being that I haven't not been watching the contests.
Second being that I haven't joined because the prompts haven't appealed to me all that much, and I've had other things in my life I've been doing. I could've joined, but I didn't want to submit sub-par writing that didn't come from the soul.
Third being I would love to judge, but can't. The first reason being I'd take forever to get even a small contest done, the second being I don't know that much writing to give a critique worthy of being valued. I like to give opinions on what I know. (Not to sound contradictory, I know how to tell a good tale [I think], but if this contest has shown me anything the judges keep telling me I should take writing classes. You don't want someone judging that [I]needs[/I] to be taking classes.)
As always I'm glad to know this is still here and alive. Even though judges are hard to find.
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I'd probably get more out of writing a story myself, though, and I wouldn't be able to if I judged, so this is a last resort, people.
Also: intriguing prompt ... I might have something that fits it, but I dunno if i can make it not sound stupid in 1~9k words. We'll see, I've been expanding it out a bit.
Also: We'll see what VestDan brings to the table ... will it be a surprise? Who knows?!?
...
I really hope I can read Crime+Punishment on top of Les Miserables before this starts, but I doubt it.
and eyes are full of death besides
but luckily the soul is wise -
it sees beyond my blindness and
forced failure makes a better guise,
so as i come again alive,
it feels like life's a decent plan
Trades
Articles
Winner of SSC 1 & ">3 & 6
EDIT: I suppose it's worth pointing to the distinction between "should" and "am going to." Weeeell, I certainly love dystopians, that's for sure. I'll really try to make time for this. I've been sort of kind of thinking about a dystopian story, anywho.
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My NovelJoy author profile: http://www.noveljoy.com/userInfo?wid=189
I write mainly horror/scifi/fantasy type short stories. Please read and feel free to send me feedback.
Yes.
Experiments Series: #5 (Courtly Intrigue Mafia) | #4 (Drunken Tracker) | #3 (Big Red Button) - coming soon | #2 (Pope Mafia) | #1 (Iso's Inflammable Mafia)
Mini Games: MTGS Mafia Redux II (Invitational, Evil Mirror Universe) | Unreal City
Old Games (bad): The Greenwood Affair | Blood Moon Mafia
On another note, would anyone mind if I invited anyone else to try their hand at the contest? I figure the more writers, the better the competition between those participating.
I'd rather the SSC be a 1-person contest myself, so that I can win and everyone else will lose by comparison! [evil laughter would be added here, but yr. corres. forgot exactly what timbre the 'ha' makes.]
[also: I am cackling at the fact that my current book-ish idea is set in one of those dystopia thingies.]
and eyes are full of death besides
but luckily the soul is wise -
it sees beyond my blindness and
forced failure makes a better guise,
so as i come again alive,
it feels like life's a decent plan
Simply put, its very difficult and not very fun picking out the flaws of society and putting them into story form.
If anyone wants to come up with a different topic, I'd be fine with that.
EDIT: Actually, I hardly come into this forum at all anymore. If anyone wants to take over this (such as the second-place winner from the last contest), I'd be fine with that.
Experiments Series: #5 (Courtly Intrigue Mafia) | #4 (Drunken Tracker) | #3 (Big Red Button) - coming soon | #2 (Pope Mafia) | #1 (Iso's Inflammable Mafia)
Mini Games: MTGS Mafia Redux II (Invitational, Evil Mirror Universe) | Unreal City
Old Games (bad): The Greenwood Affair | Blood Moon Mafia
Not that I'm chiming in or anything, but I thought I'd mention it anyway
Visit: Cabalwannabe's Art page right here on MTGS!
Cabalwannabe's Cards!
Control Lover Generation 1 if you see this in someones sig copy it and take the generation number plus 1 to show your generation!
Cabalwannabe's Stories
So'for of the Vedalken
Vansen, Dreamer of Dreams
Clone of Joan
Aeriedle's Mission
Trades
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Winner of SSC 1 & ">3 & 6
Assuming more things don't come in ... I guess one of two things could happen:
1. Add a second contest to this first [two sets of judging criteria, etc.]
2. Have a really short judging period [heh. Big change, eh?] and move on
3. Ignore this contest [though then everyone who wrote stories specifically for this contest would be sad, but I dunno ... how many are there ... two? Mine was just a random idea that happens to fall under the umbrella, so I don't think it counts.]
and eyes are full of death besides
but luckily the soul is wise -
it sees beyond my blindness and
forced failure makes a better guise,
so as i come again alive,
it feels like life's a decent plan
In Modern:
:symu::symw::symr: Holy Rollers (Geist Tempo)
My NovelJoy author profile: http://www.noveljoy.com/userInfo?wid=189
I write mainly horror/scifi/fantasy type short stories. Please read and feel free to send me feedback.
Oh...
Elric seems in odd company there... haha.
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Winner of SSC 1 & ">3 & 6
@VestDan: Heh, yeah you're right, although I've got to change my sig. I finished the Canterbury Tales, and I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed them. I was initially intimidated by the poetic verse, but it wasn't an issue once I got used to it. And the Oxford edition includes very detailed notes. There was an interesting mix of comedy (I especially enjoyed the Miller's Tale), romance, religion, parables, and some which I can't quite classify. There were also some intricate themes woven throughout the entire story which I might investigate further at some point, maybe for a term paper.
Instead of Ivanhoe (which I do intend to get back to at some point) I picked up a book titled Le Morte D' Arthur, which is the collection of stories centered around King Arthur, in chronological order from the beginning (King Uther Pendragon's war with the Duke of Tintagil over Igraine). I've also been somewhat forced to drop the Elric Saga for the textbooks of my two Psychology classes. Boccaccio, too, will have to wait. The textbooks are interesting, at least. Oddly enough, there was a section of our reading and accompanying test for Abnormal Psych about the Middle Ages. I think that's the only part of the test that I did well on :-/.
In Modern:
:symu::symw::symr: Holy Rollers (Geist Tempo)
My NovelJoy author profile: http://www.noveljoy.com/userInfo?wid=189
I write mainly horror/scifi/fantasy type short stories. Please read and feel free to send me feedback.
If you liked the Canterbury Tales, but would like to see the poetic verse and middle english replaced by hard science fiction, I highly recommend Dan Simmons' Hyperion.
You reading Mallory's Morte d'Arthur, or some later version? I find The Once and Future King to be more interesting/accessible, personally.
...As for the contest... I'd love to play again, but I'm seriously 99% done with my story. Sam111111, you can attest to that. (BTW, how'm I doing?)
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Winner of SSC 1 & ">3 & 6
A week would give me two off days from work, and I could definitely finish it then. Well ... probably definitely. Which reminds me, I have to write a chapter today. At least. Heh. Got 7.5 pages of hard-to-read, consolidated scrawl to transcribe yet.
And then when I'm done, it's on to part two, the somewhat-connected ... exploration of the world surrounding the events that take place in part one. I think I have a book. I keep saying that. I'm excited. Usually my ideas are ... very short.
*edit*
GOD. I just transcribed three chapters, but really, it just means that I'll have to rewrite three chapters. I think as I went on, my storytelling got worse. And shorter. This probably means that it will be harder to meet deadline [and word count restrictions]; and that if I don't finish, my story will be long AND poorly-written, my favorite pet peeves when together [they're fine if apart, I read the long stories and ignore the bad ones].
I'm at 5700 words now. Probably 700 of that is end-of-chapter notes which don't mean anything, and Chapter headings. I have ~6 chapters to go to write up, and then will probably add ~1500 words in edits [of earlier chapters: my first through fifth in particular are all about 150~200 words long, probably will combine them. Gaaaaah, I can write long chapters about as well as I write long stories. At least today I found a little thread to tie into the second book, which nobody knows about and I've just barely started [if you could call it that].]. But anyways ... for the deadline ...
... It'll be close.
Also: VestDan, you're doing good IMHO. Heh. Though I think you're laying it on a bit thick, that's probably what happens when you release something by chapters, and the reading audience waits to get one, and then it's ... slow.
*edit*
So, finished the first write-up. It's 6600 words. Will become longer. I hope I can make it mildly presentable in time ...
and eyes are full of death besides
but luckily the soul is wise -
it sees beyond my blindness and
forced failure makes a better guise,
so as i come again alive,
it feels like life's a decent plan
and eyes are full of death besides
but luckily the soul is wise -
it sees beyond my blindness and
forced failure makes a better guise,
so as i come again alive,
it feels like life's a decent plan
Experiments Series: #5 (Courtly Intrigue Mafia) | #4 (Drunken Tracker) | #3 (Big Red Button) - coming soon | #2 (Pope Mafia) | #1 (Iso's Inflammable Mafia)
Mini Games: MTGS Mafia Redux II (Invitational, Evil Mirror Universe) | Unreal City
Old Games (bad): The Greenwood Affair | Blood Moon Mafia
@VestDan: Yeah, it was Mallory's version. I did look up The Once and Future King on Wikipedia, and it does look like a more enjoyable read. I think I've heard of Dan Simmons, I'll take a look at that next time I'm in a bookstore. Right now, though, I felt an overwhelming compulsion to re-read George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire for the fourth time. That reminds me, I've got to check Martin's website for any update on A Dance with Dragons. I'm really looking forward to that book, I've missed Daenerys ^_^. I'll go on another literature kick when I finish ASoIaF (again).
In Modern:
:symu::symw::symr: Holy Rollers (Geist Tempo)
My NovelJoy author profile: http://www.noveljoy.com/userInfo?wid=189
I write mainly horror/scifi/fantasy type short stories. Please read and feel free to send me feedback.