I toyed with the idea of foregoing the Tiny Stories Contest for this year’s challenge, but having gotten two entries already for a contest I hadn’t yet announced I have decided to include it again as part of this year’s R.I.P. challenge. And in thinking about it, it seems a shame to part with a tradition started by and inspired by Lisa Snellings, one of the major influences in this blog’s creation.
So, pluck a raven’s feather, grab a bottle of blood…er, ink…and summon up the ghost of your favorite deceased author and get to writing!
Before we start, a reminder of the Tiny Stories rules:
1. Your Tiny Story must be exactly 100 words long, no more, no less.
2. You may only use a word one time in the story.
3. Contractions, for example don’t and words joined together by a hypen, only count as one word.
4. You may use different forms of the same word, but (this time) you may not use a word and use its plural. For example, if you use the word haunt you cannot use haunts.
5. Your story must have a title and the title is the one place that you may use words that you used in the body of the 100 word story. The title words do not count as part of your 100 words.
6. Your Tiny Story must be in the vein of the R.I.P. III Challenge. That is, it may be in the scary, spooky, eerie, gothic, mysterious, atmospheric, etc. vein. It can be serious, funny, horrific, etc., but it must fit, at least loosely, into the spirit of this challenge.
It is very easy to repeat words. It is also surprisingly easy to go a bit over or a bit under the hundred words. I suggest, either before you write your story or after you are done, that you number a piece of paper 1 to 100 and write a single word of your story on each line. After that I suggest going down the list with each word in the story to check for repeat usage.
The deadline for Tiny Story entries is Friday, October 17th at 11:59 p.m. CST. Stories will be judged that weekend and the winner will be announced Monday, October 20th.
You may enter as many Tiny Stories as you like, but before the deadline I will ask you to choose one as your representative for the contest. I’ll post the others as well, but will indicate which one you chose for your entry.
I will read stories for word count and repeat usage and will email them back to you with corrections if I find repeated words or incorrect word counts. However, the longer you delay your entry the less time you give me to review your story and get it back to your for corrections. So don’t delay!!!
As there is every year, there will be a prize pack: The R.I.P. III Tiny Stories Prize Pack. I will put this together over the course of the next few days and will get a picture posted for further inspiration for you. Rest assured, there will be a Poppet as part of this prize pack!!! 🙂
I may also have a Tiny Story of my own to share at that point. After all, I cannot ask you to do something I am not willing to do myself, can I? Feel free to check out the recently posted results of last year’s Tiny Story contest located here if you want further inspiration.
Email all contest entries to cvincent68 (at) comcast (dot) net.
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Haiku? Bless you!
While we are announcing a writing contest, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to point you to another writing contest that ends at noon EST on Monday, September 22nd. The prize is a $20 Amazon (or equivalent) gift certificate.
Fyrefly is hosting a Review? Haiku! contest. All you need do is submit a book review in Haiku format:
Proper haiku format is five syllables, seven syllables, five syllables.
For example, a Haiku Review of my most recent read, Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy would be:
Eleven stories
Famed authors weave tales of woe
How they creeped me out
The greatest thing about this contest is that the winner will be chosen at random, so you can be as creative as you want but even if you feel you lack the creativity to haiku better than your fellow man it does not matter. Haiku away!!! It actually is quite fun!!!
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And, as promised the other day, an autographed hardback copy of Alexandra Sokoloff’s book, The Harrowing, was up for grabs. And the winner is:
Congratulations Amanda, send me an email with your address and I’ll get this, and a few more R.I.P. III goodies sent your way!
Look for more autographed copies of The Harrowing and The Price to be a part of future R.I.P. III giveaways!
I look forward to the results of anyone who chooses to participate in the Tiny Stories contest, and don’t forget to follow the link to Fyrefly’s blog to enter the Haiku contest!
I LOVE this challenge, but I swear I have no creative juices flowing right now….but I shall find them! I can’t pass up the tiny stories contest. Hmmm…off to brainstorm!
I hope I will be able to make it 🙂
Excellent! Been looking forward to this contest being announced, so I could have go at it! 😀
Oooh, I think I am going to enter the tiny stories contest again. Who is judging this year?
Oh man, these tiny stories are so challenging to write…yeah, but they’re so fun…oh, but they take so much time…time well spent, I’d say…but it can be so frustrating…and rewarding…
Not sure who is going to win this battle yet. But I’m glad you’re hosting this again, because I sure do love to read everyone’s stories!
Grrrrrrrrrr!
This contest drives me nuts! I had already set my mind not to enter this one this year.. but you HAD to have a poppet in the package eh?.. *sigh*.. my brain has been mush for some time now, so.. we’ll see.
on the other hand I do have some photo’s if you do the scary photo contest too!.. actually, I’ll use them even if you don’t!! lol
The pressure’s on…I’ve started a couple of stories, but this is really hard!
…I LOVE the photo – very inspirational!
Hmmmm???I wonder if I have it in me. Will not know untill I try.
So, yes count me in, I love your Tiny Story Header
Here’s mine:
CHRISTINE
Dark wings taking flight
Into seamless air of night
Escaping our chaos, this perilous plight
Casting away mortality, shaking off fright
Touching, kissing, then you bite
Passionate adoration, stealing sight
Soulless arias soar like feathered black kites
Up beyond clouds past dizzying heights
We. Are. Done.
Find your own salvation, I’m no white knight
Stand on solid ground, prepare the fight
Knowing here within me resides enough might.
What’s ahead? Glowing light.
How distant? Far, but not quite
Rediscover original persona, feels a bit tight
Growing from inside, soon it will fit. All is right.
I thrive.
My future awaits….
5elementknitter: Great entry! Thanks!
Madeleine: You can do it! 🙂 Thanks, I thought it appropriate to include this Lucien figure (from Sandman) with his very own Tiny Stories in the banner.
Ken: I look forward to seeing what that mind of yours can create!!!
Deslily: I don’t mean to stress you out! You could not participate of course…but I know you will! 😉
Debi: You should talk your hubby into participating as well, and Annie. Make it a family affair!
Ella: I am not sure. I will certainly be a part of the judging process and I’ll garner some other help as well.
Bart: Great, glad you are going to do it!
Chris: They will come!
Ok. I wasn’t going to do it. But I’ll give it a try!!
Daphne: Yay!!! I’m excited.
Carl:
Ppplllllsssstttt !
Yippee!! I won! That’s funny too because when you first posted the short stories idea a little while back I’ve been toying with one. My husband says I should finish and submit it but the non-repeating words thing is tough! But I like a challenge 🙂 I’ll send you my address, thanks!
*on my knees asking forgivness*
Geez, I am sorry I forgot to congradulate Amanda! ARGH! .. I need a Margarita lol..
Congrats Amanda!! Enjoy your book!
Deslily: I’ll take one too!!! 🙂
Amanda: You should certainly do it. It is tough to do the non-repeating thing. For me it has worked if I concentrate more on the story I want to tell and then replaced repeated words later on.
This is a great challenge! It is a tough one though, I am not sure if I can actually do it, but I am going to have fun trying and I cannot wait to see what others come up with.
Is the contest still on? The no-repeating-words is killing me.
I’m in, I sent it to your listed email. I really worked for this one! Great fun!