Welcome to the first My Writer’s Cramp Writing Challenge!
Since I’ve started this blog I’ve met some great people and some great writers and I thought it might be fun to do a little writing challenge to share the works of my friends, introduce all of us to some new people and give us all a little something more to read (like we don’t all have more than enough right?).
The challenge will be broken into two categories: Short Fiction and Flash Fiction.
For purposes of this writing challenge Short Fiction we be defined as being between 1000 and 7500 words; Flash Fiction will be no more than 1000 words.
So what is the challenge? The challenge will be incorporating three of nine elements listed below. The more important to the story you make the elements the better, but if you simply mention them in passing that’s okay too. Its important to note that its not about using the word specifically but the concept. An example would be if the element was “sword” and you never mention the word, but your story involves a pirate who uses a saber when he boards a merchant ship, that would be a successful use of the element.
So here are the elements:
| Swashbuckling | Mismanaged | Psychopathic |
| Rocketry | Bedevilled | Agape |
| Parricide | Jive | Rakish |
Thank you to Creativity Tools Random Word Generator by Watch Out 4 Snakes for the random selection of elements.
Who can participate? Anyone really. If you feel like flexing your creativity muscle then give a try and see how you do. All genre’s of fiction are open to participation, but please let me know what rating your entry will be and that your site is so that readers may know what they are in for.
What other requirements are there? Well you need to have a blog or website that you can post your story on so that I may post a link to your entry. If you don’t have one yet then hop on over to WordPress or Blogger and start your free blog page so you have some place to put it. The challenge officially starts March 1, 2011 and ends on March 31, 2011. All entries must be submitted and posted during the month of March, 2011. Voting will be closed on April 7th and winners will be announced on April 9th.
How will the winners be determined? Once the entries have been submitted and linked they will be added to a poll. Simply put whomever has the best numbers at 9PM EST on April 9th will win. In the event of a tie in either category I will be the sole judge in determining which submission wins. I will be participating in the challenge, but I will not be eligible to win and will not be included in the poll.
So what do you get for participating and/or winning? Well participation opens you up to meeting new writers and readers and may just drive a little extra traffic to your website. That alone would be worth participation. At the very least the winners will have their blog linked from my blog stating that he or she is the winner and an award banner with your name on it will be given to you for posting on your site. There will be some additional prizes that have yet to be determined and I will announce them as they are added to the packages. If there are enough participants then I may manage prizes for second and third place as well.
Related Articles
- Writing: Creativity And Flash Fiction (pittsburghflashfictiongazette.com)
- Flash Fiction Will Release Your Creativity (pittsburghflashfictiongazette.com)
- The World According To Flash Fiction (pittsburghflashfictiongazette.com)
- March Writer’s Challenge! (ericswett.wordpress.com)
Sonia M.
I like the idea! Now…to come up with an story idea.
Eric Swett
Excellent! I look forward to seeing what you come up with!
qorvus
Ooh, an interesting idea. Do you get extra bonus points for using all nine? 🙂
Eric Swett
I don’t know about extra bonus points but you’ll certainly get a little extra mention I think and impress the hell out of me. 🙂
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Paula Tohline Calhoun
I saw mention of your challenge in one of Emlyn’s tweets, and decided to check out your site. Sounds like fun! I have a couple of ideas – possible to enter two different ones?
Eric Swett
I’m all in favor with two entries as long as they both meet the criteria.
Thank you for coming by and I can’t wait to read your entries!
jennifer
Oh my, those words are not much for erotica, you really want to make me write don’t you.. Shit. I better really get to thinking..
Eric Swett
Well that’s what makes it a challenge right? I’m sure you’ll do great.
Jespren
Does it have to be a stand alone piece, or can it be a prologue or scene from a longer piece? Short stories and I do not get along, heck, 7500 words is nothing! That’s like, 15 pages, maybe. I’ve got character write ups longer than that. So, yeah, will a prologue or scene be acceptable? I can do a decent prologue in about 3000 words.
Eric Swett
I’m perfectly okay with a prologue or a scene from a larger piece as long as it meets the requirements. The point is to get something written and shared with everyone for judging purposes.
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Laurel L. Russwurm
This sounds like a lot of fun. I’ve masses of stuff to do to get my debut novel published this month but I hope I can shoehorn in some time to give this a whirl. I particularly like the idea of writing some Psychopathic Swashbuckling Jive…
Eric Swett
We’ll I would love to have you as a participant and your three word choices would definitely make for an interesting story.
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B.C. Young
I like this, and may just try the challenge. I just started doing a weekly flash fiction story on my site, so this will help me with establishing that groove.
Eric Swett
Awesome! I look forward to reading your entry!
B.C. Young
Just realized I don’t see details on how we submit our entry. How do we do it?
Eric Swett
You can post a link here ir you can email me at eric.swett@yahoo.com.
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ralfast
I decided to jump in. A great way to attract readers, hook them (if my story is any good) and go from there.
Eric Swett
Awesome! I look forward to reading your entry!
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My entry is up on my blog.
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MARANTHA JENELLE
Here is my entry for your challenge.
marantha jenelle
http://1wordywoman.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/bedeviled/
Eric Swett
Awesome! Thanks for participating Marantha! I can’t wait to give it a read!
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