[Shinrei]

Hey Malarion, I don't see your submission yet.


GET ON IT!

[Use Of Weapons]

I think I might try my hand at some comedy.

STOP LAUGHING! Oh wait, that's counter-productive...

[General King]

When the deadline?

[Shinrei]

July something. Look at the OP

[General King]

Sorry Shin read past it.

[Bauchelain the Evil]

I'm in. Already have a few ideas rolling in the back of my head.

[General King]

I think I have an idea for a story, was thinking of a old one I did that needed rewriting but I had a new story come to mind.

[Fist Gamet]

That time already, huh? Well, they say the third time is the charm. I am going to have step it up a few notches this time, me thinks, but I have to get this problem of the hallucinations under control first, I mean, ha ha, get this, I actually thought I saw a post by...Malarion! I mean, woooo, what the hell was I drinking?

Anyway, time for the title to find it's way to the rightful (writeful) owner.

[WhiskeyJackDaniels]

How do most people do this contest? Do they take larger works and extract parts that would work in a short story format, or do they invent self-contained stories that can be wrapped up in 7500 words?

[Dolmen 2.0]

2000 words, CHECK! Only 5000 words of short story goodnes to go...oi .
My story has bn rather unique in that i havent really pushed myself to produce these pages. They just came along naturaly, a rare thing for me. Rather proud of myself. I might actualy submit this time!

[Yellow]

WhiskeyJackDaniels, on 12 February 2010 - 04:21 AM, said:

How do most people do this contest? Do they take larger works and extract parts that would work in a short story format, or do they invent self-contained stories that can be wrapped up in 7500 words?

All of the winners/places were self-contained (though I know at least one of them was set in a world that the writer had already written in before)

Doesn't mean you can't do the other thing, though.

[Use Of Weapons]

And a maximum word-count doesn't mean you have to write that much. Most of my shorts come in at well under 4000.

I notice, for example, that the rules don't state a _minimum_. How about entering a cinquenta to up the number of entries? (A cinquenta is a story that is exactly 50 words long.)

Or you could enter a 6-word story, like the Hemingway story: 'For sale: baby shoes, never worn.'

[Yellow]

Yeah, but seriously, six-word stories aren't going to cut it

Even flash fiction (taking the definition as less than 1k words) doesn't have the available space to do the same things you can do with a short story. I'm not saying that short stories are inherently better than flash fiction, but they enable different things. There's generally only space for one idea in a flash, and the word-count tends to mean you need to nail every sentence dead-on.

There's room to breathe in a short story, and I suspect that a flash (or a cinquenta) isn't going to win out in this competition. After all, we're all Erikson fans, right? We all like long fiction

This post has been edited by Yellow: 12 February 2010 - 05:27 PM

[Fist Gamet]

The shorts I entered in the first and second comps were basically background tales for characters in my books. I look to kill two birds with one stone, fleshing out the history of various characters whilst also having a go a short story writing using characters I already know in a world I have already created. I would imagine I will do the same for this comp and I have a few ideas just whirling around in my head. They are just out of reach atm, and need a little more focus to bring them to life.
There are a few simple enough rules to writing a good short and I ignored them all last time around In hindsight I was far too ambitious with too many characters and it didn't quite work as I had hoped. Whereas if you read the two previous winning entries you will notice they used very few characters and, in Yellow's case in particular, only one setting. This is what works with short stories, though there is nothing at all wrong with trying to push the boundaries and try something different.

[Sixty]

I haven't written a single word in at least 2 months, but I'll try to find the time/effort to enter again this year.

This post has been edited by Sixty: 12 February 2010 - 11:52 PM

[Shinrei]

In short:

There is no minimum. You can write a 2 page piece and if it is the best of everything, its the best of everything.

It doesn't have to be fantasy. My entry, if I actually get it done this time, will not be fantasy.

Please read the previous contest threads! You can see the sorts of writing that was done, and who the top finalists were.

[Vesper]

Provided I can tear myself away from what I am writing for my book, I will be submitting something for this competition.

Actually, I may even just submit some story from one of my characters' backgrounds so as to help flesh them out further.

When is the deadline for this, again?

[Dolmen 2.0]

Do the judges judge by set criteria? i.e.

Character development
writting style
clarity
accessibility
story line etc?

Or do they just judge by an overall reflection of likes and dislikes?

@Vesper: Deadline is in the first post. July 11th, 2010
Plenty of time to get your work in motion

This post has been edited by Dolmen: 13 February 2010 - 11:24 AM

[Vesper]

Dolmen, on 13 February 2010 - 11:20 AM, said:

@Vesper: Deadline is in the first post. July 11th, 2010
Plenty of time to get your work in motion

Damn it. I'll probably be one of the last submissions, ha ha. I tend to procrastinate. I'll seriously probably leave this until July 1st to start and turn out something after staying up for 36 hours straight.

Thanks, Dolmen. (non-sarcasm)

[Fist Gamet]

Sixty, on 12 February 2010 - 11:52 PM, said:

I haven't written a single word in at least 2 months, but I'll try to find the time/effort to enter again this year.

This disappoints me, mate, don't let your barren spell drag on too long...