Kersley Fitzgerald shows how a submission can stand out from the rest in our STUPEFYING STORIES slushpile. • Join the discussion...
Guy Stewart finally gets a Lexus. • Join the discussion...
Allan Davis puts a serious dent in his daily word count, just by talking about how he's going to maintain a daily word count. • Join the discussion...
Bruce Bethke says we've gone mainstream. • Join the discussion...
Arisia wins our Zero (point?) challenge, by maintaining a tightly focused, consistent POV! • Join the discussion...
All this and more, as xdpaul enjoys a happy “National Mole Day”, and the inmates discuss the view from their respective places in the asylum.
The Third Annual (whaaaaaat??!) Halloween Story Challenge
As of this morning, we have received the following entries for our current challenge:
- “Our Favorite Holiday” by Larian
- “Legal Recourse” by Tyler Tork
- “A Holiday for Howard” by miko
- “Reunion” by Vidad
- “The Road to Odinmorden” by Jack Calverley
An enthusiastic “Huzzah” to all who have entered! The judges are considering your submissions, and a winner will be declared by the evening of Sunday, 30 October 2011.
CTRL+ALT+DELDELDEL...∞
And now it is time for this week's Friday Challenge, courtesy of Arisia:
What if you woke up tomorrow and found that an important part of your life had never existed? You could remember it, but no one else could. What would you do? (Or, what would your main character do?)
For example, what if you remember that yesterday you were a jeweler with your own jewelry design business, but today there's no such thing as jewels or jewelry. No diamonds, no gold bracelets, not even wedding rings. Would you try to introduce the concept of jewelry into your world—try to convince people that digging up a chunk of rock and hanging it on a string around their neck is really cool? Or would you adjust and go with what does exist—get into the booming business of designing modesty gourds? Or maybe you would give lectures on how everyone had been brainwashed. That choice might get you put into a psych ward. If they still exist.
Anyone can enter, except for Arisia. You may enter as many times as you wish, but each entry must be independent of the others, and you may not build on anyone else's work.
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, Arisia 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, 4 November 2011. A winner will be declared by the evening of Sunday, 6 November 2011.
Oh, there is one more thing... but it is the most important! Have fun. Always have fun.
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