Discussing the Writing Challenges -- November and December 2010

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Mouse said:
All I can think of is Elton John.
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Shouldn't this statement be in the Shout Your Frustrations to the World thread? ;):)



Good topic, Karn. (We like topics that can be treated in different ways; if nothing else, it makes the reading at voting time more interesting.)
 
Ohmigod, a newbie's posted with an excellent starter: there ought to be a rule against that kind of thing... How the heck are we supposed to follow it, when Elton John is still going round and round - thanks a lot for that!:rolleyes::)
 
And a good entry already -- from a complete newbie, at that. (Hello there, Bella Donna!**)The fame of our Challenge is obviously growing ever wider!


** I'd initially offered the translation so it was "Hello there, Beautiful Lady" but that sounded so... er... salesman-in-a-soukish, I thought it had better remain in the original...
 
I'm with Boneman - a newbie posting an excellent first story in the challenge is just too distressing! (Congrats and welcome Bella Donna - you've set the bar for this month very high :D)

The pressure - and now the song, which has been going through my head since I first saw it mentioned (thank you Mouse!! ;)) - is getting to me.

May have to go play in the snow and see what inspiration strikes . . . .

BTW - great theme Karn. It's going to be another excellent month
 
I don't see what the song "Rocket Man" has to do with sacrifice. :D



[Okay, truth is Rocket Man is the only Elton John song I can remember. Now if you want to talk about George Strait, Garth Brooks, Reba McIntyre, etc. I can be quite helpful.:)]
 
Aww, thanks, guys. I love writing and taking part in challenges. I'd like to be able to set my own, if that's allowed. Or one of you could do it for me, and I'll take part. The idea is to write short fanfiction or original fiction stories of under 5000 words. What do you think?

Those of us with a bit of time on our hands could easily take part in the other ones here -- they don't have to clash or anything.

Edit: is fanfiction allowed here? I haven't seen anything about it, one way or the other.
 
It's great to have a new enthusiastic face here, Bella, but I'm not so sure that particular idea is one which we can run with.

First of all, we're not very keen on fanfiction, not least because of potential copyright problems. Secondly, 5,000 words is actually a very hefty piece of fiction -- and I frankly don't think you'd get anyone joining in. I think 500 words is about the limit. Even then, you're not likely to get many stories -- Chris set up an alternative nursery rhyme thread some time back, which was fun, but petered out. I'll try and find it and llink to it. If you're feeling all frolicsome with time on your hands, let's see what you can do there!


EDIT: here it is http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/528301-worserey-time-son-of-worldbuilders.html
 
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Fair dues, though most people I've seen who get involved with fanfiction mostly get away with it as long as they don't try to make money from it. I will, of course, respect your wishes in that regard. It's not everybody's cup of tea.

As for longer stories, I get your point. Still, if anyone is up for it, I'd love to take part in contests where longer stories of 1,000 words or more are welcome. I'll take a look at the other threads you mentioned. :)
 
Well, you can set your own 75 word challenge... just the small matter of winning the competition first... (says the inaugural winner, who has been going down hill ever since...)

I'm terribly dim, but what exactly is fan fiction?:eek:
 
Fan Fiction is where you take the characters and settings of an established fandom, e.g. LOTR, and make up stories about them. You might, for example, imagine a background for the Balrog of Moria and give him a backstory to make him more interesting. That kind of thing. I rather like it when it's done well, but I've seen it done really badly, too.

I'll be happy to set a 75 word challenge, but I'd love to have a crack at writing a longer story where I can do some character building, set scenes and open it up a bit. The beauty of contests is that you get to compare yourself with other writers and see what they're able to do.
 
Hey, hey, hey. You lot can't be blaming me for Elton John!


That's Karn's fault. ;)
 
Mouse said:
Hey, hey, hey. You lot can't be blaming me for Elton John!
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Thanks to your baleful influence (;)), we'll be getting topics such as Funeral for a Fiend or Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Ward, which will force us SF writers to churn out 80-word Fantasy entries.

(We could have Hey, Hey We're the Monkeys, I suppose.)



*cough*
 
Belladonna is deadly nightshade, isn't it? (So called because renaissance ladies used to put drops of the juice in their eyes, which paralysed the iris, and made the pupils look huge. As one of the effects of sexual interest is dilation of the pupil, this gave a subtle cue to their male acquaintances {as well as blurring their vision to the point that said acquaintances were mere vague shadows, an advantage with most males}. It is obvious that interested=beautiful in male calculation.)

So, where was I (I have been known to deviate from the strait and narrow occasionally)? Oh yes, the worsery thread didn't exactly peter out – though I had prepared versions for both the pumpkin eater and the pepper picking pickler – it was just that it was only me doing them, which was a bit sad.

Welcome in; but don't expect to follow all the strange convolutions this thread has gone through in its short but eventful history. And no, the site won't accept five thousand words in one post. (How do I know? Loquacious, ain't I?) Besides, can you imagine reading through forty-two times five thousand words and making a judgement afterwards? That's a novel trilogy in itself, and since most people put off preparing for the vote until the last minute…

[quote='er 'onour]Hang on, wasn't he responsible for Budgies in the Wind...?[/quote]
Only if you're singing in French, and even then it's closer to moving (bouger)

Drifts off for monthly SFF pizza, humming 'Mona Lisas and mad hatters'…
 
Erm, I meant 5,000 as an upper limit, with 1 - 3,000 being the norm. If I was running such a contest, I'd expect people to post the fics in their blogs or whatever, and post links to them as entries.

I'll have to have a go at the Worsery thread. I'll see what I can come up with.

Edit: I've been going through the entries for last month. Karn's made me cackle and the others are brilliant. Great stuff!
 
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