The Lots Of Words Writing Contest [LOWWC] [WINNERS ANNOUNCED]

Good evening,

So it's mid February and I think it's high time for a writing contest that is short and sweet, but also long and verbose.

The Lots Of Words Writing Contest is very simple. Write a story, fictional or personal experience are both acceptable.

The idea is to make use of descriptive wording and analogy. As much as possible without detracting from the overall quality of the story. This is a bit of a technical contest.

Contest runs February 14th through March 4th ending at midnight.

All Terms & Conditions apply.

Entries must include [LOWWC]

Enter as many entries as you like, within the short story forum.

There is no upper or lower word count limit, although the premise expects length.

There will be 3 winners chose based solely on the amount of flags the member receives.

As always, winners will receive 5 applause's each, writers status and be included in the Showcase of Winners.

Now get to writing .



WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Congradulations to our winners and a big thank you to everybody who participated, your winners are as follows.

1st Place
sugarcookie1
Circumstances

2nd Place
SLAYER69
Once Upon a Time....

3rd Place
LizardSlicks
Ruddy Toddler Crossing

Congrats, and a special mention to our 3rd place winner as he has also won the official title of Writer.

~Tenth

Of course, after a long drought, my first entry.

Enjoy.

reply to post by tothetenthpower


We're back....



Even Chuck approves...

Oh wait. Writing. Yeah, just let me... get...

Valentine's Day.

There we go. Good to be back.

My incredibly short story, inspired by the Russian meteor impact.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Chelyabinsk

I know It's short and for that I apologize, but I believe where it fails in length, it stays true to the theme of the contest.

Thank you, Tenth for an interesting and (for me) cathartic venue for expression. I haven't done one of these in a while.

Return of the semi-bionic woman

I had to resist the urge to use the worst metaphor I've ever heard, from Throw Mamma from the Train: "His guts oozed nice like a malted melted..."

reply to post by tothetenthpower


Yeah baby, back with another.



The Analogy Curse

A writing contest - excellent!

I am forever amazed at the diverse topics this forum enters.

As a relatively new member, I may just give this idea a go.

An off topic question for those in the know..

On the left hand side of my profile catagories "WATS Index" -
What does this acronym stand..?

Originally posted by HumAnnunaki


On the left hand side of my profile catagories "WATS Index" -
What does this acronym stand..?

Way Above Top Secret

Linky

reply to post by tothetenthpower


mY LAP TOPS GONE CRAZY IN THE KEYBOARD THESE DAYS....FORGIVE THE POOR EDITING IVE HAD ENOUGH......
HERES THE STORY

Call me crazy, but ive never been able to settle down anywhere for long.....All my thIRty fiVe yeARS, IVE BEEN A WANDERING SOUL....
BORN TO INTINERANT FARMERS IN A SHACK BY SOME ORCHARD, I WAS FIRST CARRIED THEN WALKED TO THE FIELDS, WITH MY PARENTS TILL
SCHOOL INTERVENED, AND I HAD TO ATTEND.
mY TEACHERS WERE ADAMANT ABOUT WHAT BRAINS GOD GAVE ME, I EMERGED A LITTLE SMARTER, BUT NO WISER FROM THEIR CLUTCHES SOME YEARS LATER.
nOW, AFTER A SHORT SWEET CHILD HOOD, AND ONE WORLD WAR,INTO WHICH I WAS THROWN AT GRADUATION,AND SPENT THE DURATION OF JUMPING OUT OF PERFECTLY GOOD,
AND SOMETIMES NOT SO PERFECTLY GOOD AIRPLANES,AS THE TDES OF THE WAR DICTATED.
HAVING TAKEN ON A LOAD OF VARIOUS SCRAP METALS,CALIBER 20 mm,ON MY LAST SORTIE I WAS RIPE FOR A CHANGE OF OCCUPATION, AND FOR SOME QUIRK OF FATE,
ENDED UP HERE IN MILITARY iNTELLIGENCE.....
SINCE THEN IVE BEEN SCURRYING DOWN THE DARK ALLEYWAYS OF COUNTER ESPIONAGE FOR tHE RCAF.....
AS tHEY WONT LET YOU FLY WITH ONLY ONE EYE AND THREE FINGERS SHOT OFF YOUR RIGHT HAND....Dont misunderstand, I AM NOT BITTER,
IT COULD HAVE BEEN ME IN THAT SMOKING AIRCRAFT THAT ENDED UP TUMBLING OUT OF THE BRIGHT BLUE HEAVENS THAT DAY....
FORTUNATELY MY FAITHFULL sPITFIRES MERLIN WAS THE ONLY THING LEFT ON THE PLANE THAT HADNT A BULLET HOLE IN IT....
IT WAS LIKE LISTENEING TO ANGEL MUSIC AS THE 12 CYLINDERS PULLED ME HOME ACROSS THE CHANNEL......
AFTER THEY PULLED ME OUT And patched me up, i ENDED UP IN A SCOTTISH CASTLE, a recuperation wing far from the action i had come to crave.
i got rather bored in SCOTLAND, and IT WAS THE SMALL MATTER OF A DONNYBROOK IN THE LOCAL PUB WHICH I HAD PARTICIPATED IN,
THAT CONVINCED THE HEAD CROAKER I WAS AGAIN FIT FOR DUTY, HOWEVER NOT FLYING...TO NO AVAIL I PLEADED, BUT THE LOSS OF MY SIGHT ON ONE SIDE WAS IRREVERSIBLE....
tHERE WAS NO AMOUNT OF ARGUMENT THAT WOULD SWAY THE POWERS THAT BE....SO I NEEDED SOMETHING TO KEEP ME BUSY, AFTER ALL THERE WAS A WAR ON......
my application to air intelligence branch was accepted after some pressure from my uncle the honourable member for The Bloor st Riding of Toronto.
Training was brief and to the point....Three months of ways to kill silently, code breaking and daily physical regimen that would wear on a commando.
tHERE ISNT MUCH ABOUT THE TRAINNG YOU CANNOT IMAGINE, BUT THE PRIMARY RULE WE LEARNED TO FOLLOW, THAT WAS DRUMMED INTO US WAS....
.AND YOU JUST HAVE TO BE WILLING TO PLAY DIRTY, TO CATCH SPIES.....
sO I FOUND MYSELF STANDING IN THE SHADOWS ON A MISTY DARK EVENING,MORE THAN A DECADE LATER, THE WAR NOW A MEMORY, AND OVER A DECADE ON "THE JOB" AS WE CALLED IT.
aNYONE SEEING MY BEDRAGGLED FRAME WOULD THINK THAT I WAS FOR ALL THE WORLD A DERELICT LOITERING OUT OF THE DRIZZLE IN A SHADOWY NICHE OF A DARKENED PAWN
THE COMMING OF ANOTHER DAY AFTER THE LONG DREARY NIGHT WAS PAST.
aCROSS THE COBBLED BACKSTREET, A SLIGHT AND HUNCHED FIGURE, TURNED THE CORNER, AND DARTED FURTIVELY INTO THE DOORWAY I HAD BEEN WATCHING SO INTENTLY.
qUICKLY NOW WITH HURRIED STEPS I CROSSED THE DESERTED COBBLES AND SLIPPED LIGHTLY UP TO THE NOW CLOSED DOORWAY....
I SENSED THE PRECEEDING WRAITHLIKE BODY LINGERING BEFORE A ROW OF MAIL BOXES SET IN THE WALL OF THE DIMLY LIT HALL.....
oNE SWIFT STEP AND THE BUTT OF MY 45 HIT HIM SQUARELY BEHIND THE EAR, AND I REACHED INTO THE NOW OPENED BOX AS HE CRUMPLED.....
oNE QUIET PUNCH TO THE CARTOID, AND THIS AGENT WOULD NEVER BOTHER US AGAIN.....
EXITING TO THE STREET, AND CASUALLY WALKING AWAY, I SMILED A SATISFIED SMILE AND HELD THE CONTENTS OF THE MAILBOX IN MY HAND....
.......THE PAPER IN MY HAND WAS HARDLY LEGIBLE AS I STEPPED UNDER THE GLARE OF A NEON OPEN SIGN, AND
READ THE JUMBLE OF SCRIPT THAT SWAM INTO VIEW ON THE PINKISH PAPER LANDSCAPE....

"MUST MEET YOU AT POINT SEVEN, TONIGHT....USUAL PRECAUTIONS..."

GLANCING SLYLY AROUND UNDER THE RIM OF MY HAT, I DETERMINED NOBODY HAD NOTICED MY RETRIEVAL FROM THE NOW "DEAD DROP," AND STRODE RAPIDLY OFF THROUGH THE MIST.......
IF I WAS TO MAKE IT TO POINT SEVEN, AT THE APROPRIATE TIME ID BETTER MOVE .....

THE RIVER MUD SQUISHED AND SUCKED AT MY WADERS AND THE LOOMING STRUCTURE OF THE EAST RIVER BRIDGE HUNCHED ITS BULWARK OF IRON AND CONCRETE HIGH ABOVE ME....
iT WAS BLACK AS THE INSIDE OF A COW HERE, AND A MISSTEP MAY SEND ONE SLIDING WILLY NILLY INTO THE FRIDGED WATERS......
THE BANK WAS SLIPPERY WITH THE DAYS RAIN.
MY EYES CAUGHT THE FORM OF ANOTHER HUMAN IN THE SHADOWS, AND THE LONG FISHING POLE BECAME VISIBLE IN HIS HANDS AS I APPROACHED....
ANY LUCK? I ASKED, AS I SET DOWN MY FISH CREEL, AND CAST EXPERTLY OUT INTO THE DARK,BLACK WATERS......

"FISHING, MY FRIEND, IS A MUCH DIFFERENT PROPOSITION THAN CATCHING"... HE GRUNTED......."AND SO FAR IVE HAD THE FORMER ALL TO MYSELF"......

"ITS ALL IN THE PRESENTATION." I REPLIED, AND TO THAT HE EXTENDED HIS FREE HAND, BARTON S THE NAME HE INTONED....
JUST cALL ME ALFIE I SAID CROSSING MY RIGHT HAND OVER THE ROD TO SHAKE...
"THERES A SMALLISH FISH IN MY CREEL THERE." HE SMILED," HAVE A LOOK, IS IT A PERCH?"
OPENING THE WOVEN CONTAINER AT HIS FEET, I SPIED A GLASSY EYED PERCH NESTLED NEXT TO A PLASTIC BAGGIE CONTAINING A VIDEO FILM CONTAINER....
sTRAIGHTENING BACK UP, I POCKETED THE BAGGIE, AND SAID "YES I BELIEVE YOUVE CAUGHT A JUVENILE PERCH MY FRIEND"....
I WAS RATHER HOPING THAT A tENCH OR TWO MAY BE BITING TONIGHT.....PERHAPS NOT....
HE GRUNTED ONLY OCE AS IF IN ANSWER TO MY OBSERVATION.....THE SLIGHT PHUTT OF THE SILENCED FORTY-FIVE CAL ALMOST INAUDIBLE THROUGH THE FOGGY MIST.....
THE ONLY SHARP NOISE BEING THE CLACK OF THE ACTION AS IT CYCLED ANOTHER DUM DUM INTO THE CHAMBER....
I CAUGHT HIM AS HE CRUMPLED, AND GIVING THE BODY A SLIGHT SHOVE,IT SLIPPED DOWN THE SLIMY BANK AND DISSAPEARED INTO THE MURKY GLOOM,
THE GREASY BLACK WATERS ROILING OVER HIM WITH HARDLY A RIPPLE......
I FISHED FOR ANOTHER HALF HOUR, BEFORE CALLING IT IN. THE OTHER PARTY MUST SURELY HAVE BEEN DELAYED OR WARNED OFF, AND WOULD HAVE TO MAKE A NEW CONTACT TO
MEET THE RECENTLY DECEASED...I HAD THE PACKAGE AT ANY RATE, AND TIME WAS OF THE ESSENCE. BIDDING A SILENT REQUIEM ,and ...
SLIPSLIDING BACK UP THE BANK I MADE MY WAY TO MY CAR.....

In a half hour I was ensconced in my study. with a drink and the tape running on the TV screen in frOnt of me......
The black and white figues, were grainy but recognizable, and their jerky smiles and warm greetings obvious
as the group assembled on the plantaion house porch,STEPPING OUT THE OAKEN DOORWAY IN ONES AND TWOS.....
And last but not least to apear as he stepped outside was the faMILIAR FACE A MUCH AGED aDOLF hITLER.........................
tHERE THEY ALL WERE....BORMAN, KAMMLER,SKORZENY WITH THE UNMISTAKEABLE SCAR ACROSS HIS STONY KILLERS FACE....
AND MANY MORE...A DOZEN OR MAYBE EVEN TWENTY OF THE HIGHEST OF THE GERMAN WHERMACHT oBERCOMAND....
ALL STANDING OR SEATED AROUND THE HUGE LUXURIOUS PATIO PORCH THAT WAS DWARFED BY THE SIZE OF THE MANOR HOUSE IT FRONTED.....
THE CAMERA PANNED TO THE tWO AUTOMOBILES WHICH WERE PARKED ON THE WHITE GRAVEL DRIVE, THEIR REAR TAILIGHTS, AND BODY SHAPES HIGHLY RECOGNIZABLE....
oNE WAS A LICOLN TOWN CAR, THE OTHER BMW LIMOSINE.Both vehicles looked to be 1956 models..................

reply to post by stirling


You will need to start a new thread in short stories if you want to enter, the stories don't actually go in the competition thread....

Just a small hint. I get the madness is the style of the writing, but it is very hard to read as is.

Give it some formatting and post it up.

reply to post by 74Templar


Actually, tenth and I have been discussing a collaborative Anthology of stories, where each member submits a story in one thread, and for the month, it becomes the Monthly Anthology. There should be twelve per year, one per month.

There was a hiccup in whether collaborative meant everyone working on the same story, or collaborative meant everyone submitting their own stories to build an Anthology. We are still working on details.

It does appear the project will start in the Collaborative Writing Forum. Post restricted, to see how it floats. I originally argued that it should be open to all members, but upon further thought, having all members with Writer status contributing one or more Short Stories in a thread in the Collaborative Forum, perhaps simply titled, the March 2013 ATS Anthology, would be sufficient. They want us to contribute to the popularity.

Gotta love the staff here. They'll take an idea, and work to make it happen. Nothing will be decided until the end of this contest, March 4th, but we may have an Anthology thread by then, and I honestly think it would be awesome to have a single thread that compiles the individual entries per month. To keep it in the CWF, where only Writers have access, well that was a no brainer.

I went to bat because I miss writing on the competitive level. The mods know my thoughts, however annoying, but the proof is in the pudding: You make a contest, [LOWWC], and people enter. There's interest. A lot of the contributors to this month's contest have writing status, and would be sure to join in on a monthly "official" anthology. There's other members out there with writing status, but won't commit to a lengthy collaborative project with a single theme. As an Anthology per month, heck ya, people will join in. Slayer69 for example, (random name) is an awesome writer, and his entry or entries into a monthly Anthology, yep will be a good read. I know beezzer (another random name) would pitch in. You are a given.

What I'm talking about is not just another contest, but a permanent collection of writing from the best writers on ATS, themed each month to a topic, in a single thread, and labeled as an Anthology.

Pitch ideas. I'm running on rough concepts.

reply to post by Druid42


It certainly has the potential to work in theory, as a collective works each month.

My take is it would need a theme each month to work cohesively. If you take most anthologies, they have a running theme through them, even though they are separate stories. Something to consider is a Mod or even member picks the theme, whether it be sci-fi, fantasy, humour, horror, etc, and all involved do a short story based on that theme that flows with the anthology. Kind of like a 'tales of the .....' and fill in the blank accordingly.

One thing I would like to see now that the debate forum has judges up and running reasonably smoothly is actual judging of the competitions, even if it is just for honourable mentions and the like. I've never been a huge fan of the most flags takes the prize system, but do understand completely though why it was introuduced. There are surely enough members willing to read through entries and select a few for a notable mention. I know I read all the stories in each competition, and I'm sure the regular story posters would do also.

Eventually what would be good is if this idea could flow into the SS forum, as you know I've always been a big advocate of the idea allowing members without Writer status a chance, kind of a 'new bloods' contest. I know its just a little word, but to be honest I was proud as hell the day I went from 'Member' to 'Writer' as it showed accomplishment, and it was something I worked hard for. The themes are definetely good, because without direction you sometimes get stagnant as a writer, and to be challenged brings out the best work in my opinion.

I would be happy to assist Tenth and Masqua with any themes or ideas and of course judging, as I'm sure many of the contributors in the Debate, Research and CWS forums would also be. We're getting quite the group of committed members here, which is good to see.

That's my 2c anyways.

reply to post by beezzer


Thanx beezer you 'wascally wabbit'

be safe~be LOVE~be as Water my freind!

reply to post by 74Templar

it would need a theme each month to work cohesively

True, and,

a Mod or even member picks the theme

the conceptual idea was the winner of the Anthology Contest gets to pick the next month's theme.

Eventually what would be good is if this idea could flow into the SS forum

Staff would like a trial run to see if the concept has enough participation, before releasing it into the "wild".

The are still details to be worked out.

If such an event occurs, it's nice to know that you'll be there to lend your support.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

The God Stone (Part I)

My second entry

Just a question in regards to the story 'writitng contest'..?

Who gets the copyrights to the posted stories?

Am I to understand that this is to be a contest predicated upon verbosity???

I almost feel like I have some sort of genetic advantage if the answer is "Yes, because it is no secret, at all, that it is my nature to take a ten word question and, without even meaning to, turn it into a four paragraph diatribe of loosely connected information and thoughts. It's a function of the way my mind works; Spider webs of interconnected thoughts that create a domino effect of relations and correlations whenever specific nodes on the web are touched upon. I think I must inherit it from my paternal grandfather - as neither of my parents had any communication skills at all. Then again, I could also be a mutant - this is a theory that has been tabled, by those who have known me, on more than one occasion.

In closing, I merely wish to reiterate my initial query - Is this a contest predicated upon verbosity???

Oh... and See... told ya

reply to post by HumAnnunaki


The writer keeps copyright, and ATS owns the content. Tricky, huh? Most publishers won't accept previously published content, so if you are planning on publishing, best not to post here.

Besides, these contests are fun exercises in creative writing. They are meant to be short and sweet.

As pertaining to the contests' proposed purpose and projected pointing in this specified style of writing competition, my first ATS short story entry.






Ruddy Toddler Crossing





It's a kaleidoscope, shake it around and give it a look.

I love writing stories, here is my first [LOWWC] entry.

The Old Man is Snoring