Mini Short Story Contest - Fragile Earth Winner Announced

Sorry to have kept some of you writers waiting so long but good things do come to those who wait. We'll be having a mini short story contest starting today 9/14/05 and ending on 9/28/05, giving you exactly 2 weeks to get your entries in. A second contest is scheduled for October, which shall be more extensive and a bit on the spooky side (hint).

Now on to the contest at hand:

The topic or category that your story entry should be based on is:
Fragile Earth:Discussion of climate change, pollution, and environment issues.

Your entry should be no more than 500 words. (Entries over 500 word count will not be judged) Anyone can enter. You do not need to have Writer Status to post a story in the short stories forum found HERE

All entries must be your own original work. PLAGIARISM will be NOT be tolerated. You can write a new story or enter one you've already posted in the Short Stories Forum. However previous winning stories are not eligible for this contest. If you'd like to enter a story already posted, just u2 me and I will add the appropriate prefix and top the existing thread for you.

To designate your story as an entry prefix the story title with (MSFE)

Prizes will be awarded as follows:

First Place - 3,000 points
Second Place - 2,000 points
Third Place - 1,000 points

Writer status will also be given to any member who enters the contest.

So remember Fragile Earth, keep it short and prefix with (MSFE)
No other special rules or requests, you're free to get creative within those boundaries.

Good Luck and Good Writing










[edit on 9-30-2005 by worldwatcher]

Can we enter a poem? or does our entry have to take the form of prose?

Pleeease

Poetry style??? hmmm why not

Awesome! I'll get right on that.

What's the bet that there will be a rush of entries on the 27/9 as people become unwilling to submit their entries until the last moment, the better to scope one another out?

Kudos to those brave souls who have already submitted entries which, by the way, were excellent.

Fragile Earth is a tough one, worldwatcher. So many ideas seem obvious, but sound too formulaic when actually put to paper. I shall have to wrack my brain for this one.

500 words????? Why don't you just tie our hands behind our backs and make us type with our nose?

(Takes a deep breath)

OK, I can do this, I can. I think I can, I think I can...choo..chooooooo chugga chugga chugga chug.....woooowooooooo.....

Guess i'd better quit playing around and start thinking of something to write.

Good luck to all who enter.

Love and light,

Wupy

gee wupy, how easy do you expect me to make this?

Yes, yes, I know. If its not a challenge then whats the point? still, i'd advise everyone to read the guidelines fully before you submit your story or even start on it.

It took me about 15 minutes to write my first story. The story was beautiful, the concept grand, the delivery superb.....and then I read the guidelines again. This part got me:

"Fragile Earth: Discussion of climate change, pollution, and environment issues."

And here I had written a story called, "Tears of the mother."

Looks like i'm back to square one. (sigh)

By the way WW, you didn't mention if there was a limit on how many stories a writer could submit. With a 500 word limit I could put out quite a few.

Love and light to each of you,

Wupy

[edit on 15-9-2005 by mrwupy]

Do I ever limit creativity???

well yeah I do...but that was haikus so it doesn't count.

Writers may submit as many as they wish.

I'm considering writing something myself...but I don't believe in global warming. I'm just trying to come up with an idea.

I guess what I'm saying is...can it have something to do with a natural disaster? I'm thinking our especially "busy" hurricane season.

[edit on 9/15/2005 by Amethyst]

I'll make it easy, anything that you think is "earth related"
here's a few random ideas to get those minds active.

natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanoes, tidal waves, chemtrails, weather modification, pollution, oil spills, ice age, global warming, acid rain, wildlife, bird flu, mad cow, plus all the other stuff that hasn't been thought of yet

great entries so far... but I want MORE!!!!

I'm gonna sit this one out, for now anyway. I'm currently afflicted with a head cold and while that may not limit me to my bed it certainly shuts down the imaginative part of my brain. If I get better and this is still going I might write something for it. Good luck to Jeremiah and Wupy, and the rest of my competition.

Originally posted by Voidmaster
I'm gonna sit this one out, for now anyway. I'm currently afflicted with a head cold and while that may not limit me to my bed it certainly shuts down the imaginative part of my brain. If I get better and this is still going I might write something for it. Good luck to Jeremiah and Wupy, and the rest of my competition.

Voidmaster...if you could just expand on your illness a little bit and blame it on smog or something, you could still enter it as a story...

j/k...eat lots of garlic, get some rest and I hope your recovery is speedy enough to try before the contest ends.

Originally posted by worldwatcher
great entries so far... but I want MORE!!!!

Oops, sorry. I was learning how to podcast and wasn't even thinking of a story at the moment. I did write a thread called The idiots guide to podcasting but it really doesn't have much to do with fragile Earth.

I'll have a few more entries in before the deadline, just give me a bit of time

Love and light,

Wupy

I definately have a few ideas, just don't know if i can shorten them into 500 words. Don't worry, I will try.

First of all congrats to everyone who submitted - You've all done such a good job with the challenge - It isn't an easy topic and 500 words no less!

Worldwatcher, before I submit, I just want to make sure I fit the guidelines. How much 'fragile earth' element should be addressed in our stories? 11 percent? 33.3? 90? Smatterings of environmental key words here and there? Causation? Immediacy or aftermath?

I'd like to submit at least one piece, but depending on your answer, I might just have to wait until next challenge.

I've found you can attain

Originally posted by nikelbee
I'd like to submit at least one piece,

You can submit more than one? If so, I'm going to try to think of another one....

Originally posted by Voidmaster
I'm gonna sit this one out, for now anyway. I'm currently afflicted with a head cold and while that may not limit me to my bed it certainly shuts down the imaginative part of my brain.

Awe come on Void, its a measley 500 words. I hate to see the gifted among us take a dive over a silly head cold. This is what I think you should do. Go buy some whiskey, a lemon and peppermint. Make yourself a few hot toddies and then sit down to write. after a couple of drinks you should be typing 90 words a minute. It will all be gibberish but thats ok, your getting it out there and on paper.

Now remember the golden rule of writing, "write drunk, edit sober."

The next morning you can go thru what you wrote the night before and probably come up with a masterpiece.

Awe well, I hope you get to feeling better soon my friend and i do hope you make it into the competition.

Love and light,

Wupy