Several months ago, a thread in Open Discussions sparked an idea: a monthly writing challenge. And I, as if my mind had been taken over by evil aliens/demons/warlocks/government agents (pick your favorite according to personal taste), took it upon myself to administer over it.

Since then we have enjoyed the added exuberance of dozens of newbies who may be unfamiliar with the Rewrite Challenge. This post is an invitation to participate—both as WRITERS and READERS!

The rules go something like this:

1. READERS: All are invited to request Challenge submissions for their personal reading enjoyment. Comments and critiques of the stories are welcome but NOT REQUIRED!
*MAKE your request by emailing the writer directly.
*DO NOT post your request to read on this thread.
*DO NOT post comments of any kind on this thread.
*QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS may be posted in Open Discussion on the thread entitled "5th Rewrite Discussion Zone".

2. WRITERS: Re-Write a tale from Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The following is a link to read and/or download a copy of the original story.

http://www.canterburytales.org/canterbury_tales.html

The challenge is to rewrite this story in one, or a combination of, the following four ways:
*Twist the story to suit your own creative bent.
*Write the story in the style of another well-known author.
*Combine the tale with another tale of your choosing.
*Write a "What if…?" version—a prequel, sequel, or other, of the original tale.

[ATTENTION!!] There's a special catch this month. BBC America is holding a writing contest based on Chaucer's tales. Check out this link for details:

http://www.bbcamerica.com/britain/get_writing/get_writing_submission.jsp

3. Submit the first 13 lines of your final draft (at least 'final' as of the deadline) to this thread.
*PLEASE post pre-deadline requests for 'Process' critiques (critiques intended to help you prepare for the deadline) on your own thread.
*DO NOT post comments or questions on this thread.
*QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS may be posted in Open Discussions, on the thread entitled "(WHATEVER THE CURRENT NUMBER) Rewrite Discussion Zone", or by contacting Dakota directly by email.
*THE CHALLENGE is ever-evolving. Let me know how we can do it better.

4. Word limit: [PAY ATTENTION--THE LENGTH ALLOWED IS VERY SPECIFIC] 1900-2000 words.

5. Deadline: Midnight EST, January 31st, 2005.

6. Please, for SPAM's sake, include the word "Hatrack" in the subject line of all correspondences.

Working title is "Master of Roads".

***

Leani placed another sacrificial cake on the altar. Her knees hurt from kneeling on the cave floor, but her supplication to Fire's Matron did not cease. Sore knees were a small price to pay for the destruction of her brother's promise.

Her focus was interrupted by her servant, Naeal, a girl who proved once more that she was incapable of either reverence or discipline.

"Fire's Matron will not hear you, mistress."

Leani knew this, knew her prayer to retain her maidenhood would likely go unanswered. Fire's Matron valued marriage above all else. It was, after all, the measure of a woman's creation, even if that woman would rather die than let her newly vowed husband touch her.