Henry Vogel fulfills a lifelong quest, and we embark upon a fundraising plan. • Join the discussion...
Daniel Eness ponders the value of wandering around in a crowded room. • Join the discussion...
Daniel Eness also "crosses over." Can he get anyone to stand by him? • Join the discussion...
Tyler Tork wins the You Should Have Seen challenge, and in doing so effectively takes himself out of the competition for two weeks. (Two in a row... now's your chance, people!) • Join the discussion...
All this and more, as M escapes Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor's Porch Day unscathed, and the inmates discuss the view from their respective places in the asylum.
Getting Off the Label
As of the deadline for our current challenge, we have received the following entries (listed in their order of appearance within Files > Friday Challenge 2011 08 12):
- “Fazed” by miko
- “The Mean Streets of Apache Junction” by Sean
(This one is not in the drop... click the link!)
An enthusiastic “Huzzah” to all who have entered! The judges are now considering your submissions. A winner will be declared by the evening of Sunday, 7 August 2011.
Two Out of Three (a.k.a. "Don't Advance the Plot")
And now it is time for this week's Friday Challenge, courtesy of Tyler Tork:
Each scene of a story can contribute in up to three major ways: advance the plot, establish setting, or reveal character. A friend of mine suggested a guideline that to keep the story moving along merrily, each scene should do at least double duty -- accomplish two or more of those three.
Your task for this week's challenge, is to reveal information about character and setting with a short scene -- 750 words or less -- set in the character's home or someplace else they spend a lot of time. Don't advance the plot, but do hit the other two points. If the character is present, he or she should be doing some routine thing -- but in a way that tells us something important about them. Show, don't tell; let the reader draw conclusions about the setting and character based on their observations.
And if you can make it entertaining also, so much the better.
Anyone can enter, except for Tyler Tork. You may enter as many times as you wish, but each entry must be independent of the others. Your entry must be no longer than 750 words, and you are not allowed to build on anyone else's setup.
Everyone is asked to vote, and to say a few words about what they liked, and why. Or to say a few words about what they disliked, as the case may be; by submitting an entry, you implicitly agree to accept criticism, because there will probably be some handed out, and no one is immune. When voting, please rank a work as either “0” (not so good), “1” (not as bad), “2” (could have been better) or “3” (pretty good stuff!). If you give either a “0” or “3” vote, feel free to argue in support of your reasoning.
Don't like the negativity? Feel free to think of the levels as “0” (Not bad for a first attempt), “1” (Right on!), “2” (Holy cow, I wanna buy this now...) or “3” (Sweet mother of God, how did you write something this awesome?!!). The point is to clearly differentiate, and rank according to your own preference.
For the purposes of this challenge Tyler Tork will be serving as Ye Olde High Marker, Voluntarily Walking th' Plank.
As of now, we are playing by the loosely enforced and slightly modified rules of The Friday Challenge. All entries are due by 6 AM Eastern time on the morning of Friday, 19 August 2011. A winner will be declared by the evening of Sunday, 21 August 2011.
Oh, there is one more thing... but it is the most important! Have fun. Always have fun.
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