posted
So NYCMidnight.com is holding a contest for writers to craft Twitter-sized stories of 140 characters or less, which must include a supplied word.
So all of the entrants were split into 20 groups, with a different word for each group, and we all wrote (my word was "heaven").
So the first round now has been judged, and the best 15 stories of each group have been chosen, and now everyone gets to vote on their favorites out of each group.
And of the 15 chosen in my group, 2 of them are mine.
And now it's time for the voting. I'd appreciate it if you voted for mine (although there are some excellent competitors there). You can even vote for both of mine, if you've a mind to.
Go to the first round page and click on Group 1. Mine are the top two stories in the list. Vote!
Voting goes on till next Monday night. The writers of the 5 top stories of each group will go on to the finals, and I'd sure like to be there. I hear it's nice. Thanks!
(And check out some of the other entries, in all the groups. It's impressive what you can get across in 140 characters.)
[ August 26, 2009, 12:01 PM: Message edited by: Chris Bridges ]
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posted
As long as you voted, that's the important thing.
On of my coworkers - the one who told me about the contest, in fact -- also has two stories up. I voted for her, assuring her that once we're head to head all bets are off.
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posted
Chris said, “Vote.” She voted. And voted. And voted. Then wondered what happened to that hour she was supposed to enter on her time sheet.
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posted
Thanks, everyone. If you haven't voted, today's the last day. Tell your friends! Tell your enemies! Spam your loved ones!
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
Finals are tonight, at 7pm EST. The 100 remaining writers get the same word and 5 hours to write up to 3 stories using it, in 140 characters or under.
I'm going to ignore the fact that I woke up with a fever and a sort throat. Or maybe I can use it! Writers are supposed to suffer!
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posted
And the word was "tear." Wrote 6 stories, dumped one, and finally chose three to submit. I'll post 'em here tomorrow, after the deadline.
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posted
Congrats! Did they specify if this it was the noun "tear" (rolling down a cheek) or the noun/verb combo "tear" (rip)? Or did they leave that interpretation up to the authors? That would make it an interesting challenge...
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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posted
Chris, I'm so glad you are participating in this contest and sharing with us. It's a treat to watch and be a part of it with you.
Posts: 14017 | Registered: May 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Chris Bridges: So NYCMidnight.com is holding a contest for writers to craft Twitter-sized stories of 140 characters or less, which must include a supplied word.
So all of the entrants were split into 20 groups, with a different word for each group, and we all wrote (my word was "heaven").
So the first round now has been judged, and the best 15 stories of each group have been chosen, and now everyone gets to vote on their favorites out of each group.
And of the 15 chosen in my group, 2 of them are mine.
And now it's time for the voting. I'd appreciate it if you voted for mine (although there are some excellent competitors there). You can even vote for both of mine, if you've a mind to.
Go to the first round page and click on Group 1. Mine are the top two stories in the list. Vote!
Voting goes on till next Monday night. The writers of the 5 top stories of each group will go on to the finals, and I'd sure like to be there. I hear it's nice. Thanks!
(And check out some of the other entries, in all the groups. It's impressive what you can get across in 140 characters.)
This is way more than 140 characters, disqualifiedPosts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
Woo! One of my stories made the top 25! Now I'm eligible to win the judges' award (that's entirely up to them) and/or the popular vote, which is entirely up to you.
If you're so inclined, please head to http://www.nycmidnight.com/2009/tweet/tweet.htm to see the 25 chosen, and vote for me if you think it's worth it (you can vote for as many stories there as you'd like). I'd appreciate it.
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posted
I thought most of the other ones were better than the truck one. The coupon one and the sewing one were both definately better.
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Apart from Chris's, I really liked the divorce one (but how horrible!) and the robot end of humanity one.
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posted
It's kinda strange that they picked the word "Tear" as that can mean one of two completely different things. I guess the extra latitude is useful, but I would have liked them to stick to one word.
Voted for you Chris because I really liked it.
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Of course, if I make the top 10 I'll get entered into their next Creative Writing contest, so I'll be shamelessly begging for votes again. Just saying, in case you want to take that into consideration Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
Voted, for Chris' and the Robot one. A lot of the others actually seemed really bad to me :/ I'm kinda surprised they were in the finals. They didn't even hold a candle to Chris' sky diving story.
And Chris - blast you, that story packs a surprising punch for 140 words...
Posts: 3295 | Registered: Jun 2004
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posted
If I could vote (can't click the boxes; I'll try again from home tonight), I would totally vote for Chris' parachuting story. Beginning, middle, end; essential for any story. And so poignant it brought a tear to my eye.
The only others I thought were close were the two by Katherine Boboris (the robot one and "tear his heart out").
Posts: 2926 | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
I'm less discriminating, apparently... I voted for eight of them. (Chris's included, of course.) The only one of the 25 I totally didn't get was "If it weren’t for the tear, I wouldn’t be here." But maybe I'm just missing something there...
Posts: 884 | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Shmuel: I'm less discriminating, apparently... I voted for eight of them. (Chris's included, of course.) The only one of the 25 I totally didn't get was "If it weren’t for the tear, I wouldn’t be here." But maybe I'm just missing something there...
... not [teer] but [tare]. As in torn.
Posts: 433 | Registered: Feb 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Shmuel: I'm less discriminating, apparently... I voted for eight of them. (Chris's included, of course.) The only one of the 25 I totally didn't get was "If it weren’t for the tear, I wouldn’t be here." But maybe I'm just missing something there...
... not [teer] but [tare]. As in torn.
...sorry, I'm still confused. Posts: 884 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
It has to do with failure of contraception: if the contraceptive device hadn't torn (i.e., failed), the person wouldn't have been conceived, couldn't have been born, wouldn't be here.
[The ambiguity of this mini-story is intentional, I think. It's meant to provoke a moment of puzzlement and active engagement with the story by trying to make sense of it. But it's the sort of thing that is designed to make sense on the second thought.]
---
Edited to add: I don't know what your personal preferences are as to details here, but that should suffice to get the gist of the story. Some people prefer (or take identity/pride in, even) not knowing the details of contraception, and for some ages such details are not appropriate, so I'll leave it at that.
If you want a more detailed answer, I expect you'd best ask explicitly, as I get the sense that is not where you really want to go.
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I won the audience award, and I thank everybody who voted!
Didn't win 1st place in the judges' award, but I did place in the top 10 so I'm entered into their next writing contest, where I'll have a little more room Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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quote:About at the instruction to "tear up your CANDY wrappers and BURY them!" I began to suspect that this was a pretty sub-par ninja academy.
Chris, I would have voted for yours anyway. I really thought it was the best. The judge's pick was just time travel cliche #14 in condensed form.
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posted
I found the judge's pick to be pretty lame actually. I actually had ranked it in my mind as one of the lowest- groan worthy in fact.
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