Saturday 24 March 2012

Writing Contest: The Type Of Person Who...

Dana was the type of girl who needed no one. Or so she thought. Until he came.
He was perfect. Godlike. He made her feel whole. Important. Perfect. She never knew love could be such a wonderful thing.
But…it was an illusion. A mistake. She cursed herself. Men could not be trusted. Had she not learned her lesson from her father?
Too late. As she stood forlornly, her knuckles white from gripping the bars, facing the many faces that glared at her, with contempt and judgment, she wished fervently she could turn the clock backwards.
"Dana Smith, you’re accused of murdering Jonathan Walker. Do you plead guilty?"
***
Sorry that I've been so quiet for a while...*sigh* but those academic readings in uni  are kiiling me!!! I hope I can find back my steps soon, but for now, here's a little contest entry for you to enjoy...Feel free to criticise it, that's what it's here for! ;P

Thursday 8 March 2012

Second Campaigner Challenge!!!

Marry to Kill
She was so beautiful. Her soft curls artistically piled up, decorated with white lilies. Her veil cast her face into a white hue, cascading down her elegant neck.
She smiled. Looking ahead, she stared deep into my eyes, demure but expectant. Desire burned in her eyes. A shiver of longing and bliss ran down my spine as I watched her glide down the aisle.
Finally, she is mine.
Her gloved hand reached for mine, and I held her hand, firm, and swore to myself never to let go.
***
The ceremony was over. I went to fetch the car, for my bride. No, my wife.
As I start the ignition, I heard a soft click, and suddenly, a blinding light flared up. My vision went white.
All around me was in flames. All I could think was the pain. My skin seared with agony. Vaguely, I smelled burning flash.
Slowly, darkness engulfed me, and the last thing on my mind was my wife.
***
Burn. Let him burn.
He was such a hypocrite.
Finally, I had my revenge. Sweet revenge.
Too bad I had to wear this wedding dress to watch the show.
But it’s worth it.
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Here are the rules:
Do one or more of the following:
  1. Write a pitch/logline for a book based on the prompts (less than 100 words)
  2. Write a short story/flash fiction piece of less than 200 words based on the prompts
  3. Write a poem with a twist using the prompts as inspiration (in less than 200 words)
  4. Write a story/poem in five sentences, each sentence based on one of the prompts
  5. Write a poem/flash fiction piece (in less than 200 words) about the water pear *without* using the words “pear”, “spoon”, or “droplet”.
For added difficulty/challenge:
  • Complete at least three of the above activities and tie them all together with a common theme (feel free to either state the theme in your post or leave us to guess what it might be)
  • Write in a genre that is not your own
  • Ask Challenge entrants to critique your writing. After the Challenge closes, you may wish to re-post your revised piece(s), and I’ll include a Linky List at the bottom of this post for those wishing more feedback on their revisions (note: revised entries will not be judged, so please label clearly your original post and your revisions. Please do not offer critique unless someone asks for it, as per the usual blogging conventions. If you do ask for critique, make sure you ask for it clearly so people know you want it, and please be prepared to receive feedback that may not be 100% glowing. If you are a critiquer, please be tactful and courteous, and remember to provide positives as well as negatives.)

Judging criteria

Judging will be based on:
  • How creatively the prompts are used (possible 5 points awarded)
  • How well the entries are written (possible 5 points awarded)
  • How engaging/entertaining/unique the entries are (possible 5 points awarded)
  • If the entrant completes more than one of the activities in their post, how well their pieces are tied together by a common theme and how strongly their theme shines through in their writing OR If the entrant only completes one of the activities in their post, how strongly their theme shines through in their writing (possible 5 points awarded)
  • Whether the judge wants to read more (possible 3 points awarded)
  • Creativeness/uniqueness of the entry’s title (possible 2 points awarded)
Challenge details

Once you’ve posted your Challenge post on your blog, pop back here and link directly to it in the Linky List below. Please make sure you include the direct URL link to your post, not just the link to your blog! Otherwise we won't be able to find your entry.

I've also set up the Linky List so you can "Like" entries, so make sure you come back here and vote for the People's Choice Awards!!! Like voting will remain open for the week after the Challenge ends, so you can take your time reading some/all of the entries and voting. As the like voting is not a popularity contest, it is only intended that people taking part in the actual Challenge should vote. So please don't go out and get your family/friends/other bloggers to vote for you. If you only have time to read/vote for a few entries, consider randomly selecting entries or starting at the end rather than at the beginning, so that the people at the end have their entries read and voted on as well.

Entries in the First Campaigner Challenge will close on Friday, March 9th (at 11.59pm EDT), so make sure you get your post in the Linky List before then. As usual, while everyone is very welcome to take part in this Challenge, only Campaigners will be eligible for prizes.

Thank you so much to all the Campaigners who have volunteered to judge one or more of the Challenges. I'm amazed by your generosity—you all rock!!! In terms of judging, Mark Koopmans will be in touch about that very soon. I'd love you all to take a moment to pop over and follow Mark, to say thanks for all his hard work in co-ordinating the judging.
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Special thanks to Rach, the judges, the sponsors for making this happen!!! This entry probably did not fit the requirements, and I'm expecting to be disqualified, but oh well, I posted this to have some fun. I didn't really used all the prompts, and adhere only to one rule, but I wanted this to be fun, and give readers something other to read, so think of this as an entertainment! Rather than a competing entry!
Hope you guys like this! Cheers!

p/s. please feel free to critique this piece! And enjoy it, along the way, of course! It is exactly 200 words (is that still abiding to the rule?!), and NOT written in my own genre! And "like" my entry too, if you like! Pssst...I'm entry 77...

Saturday 3 March 2012

A small consolation...

...from an email, that goes like this:

"Thank you so much for participating in the 100-word free write contest on Go Teen Writers! The next contest will begin on March 12th, so make sure you check it out.

Below is your entry and the feedback from the judge:

Fear clawed inside me, and I felt nauseous. My head was spinning, and I wanted desperately to run, but I forced myself to stay. For a delusional moment, I almost convinced myself to flee, and I caught my eyes darting around frantically, searching for escape.
But there was none. Guards stood watchful at exits. I would have been caught immediately, and killed on spot.
The group of slaves ahead of me grew thinner. Terror bit at the back of my throat, threatening to overwhelm me.
And time moved faster. I was next.
Inside, the lion roared. And everything went black.
 
I’m curious about that line of “the lion roared.” Intriguing. I think things fading to black can make for a tough story opening (since you need your characters conscious to advance the story) and I think you could make the descriptions of the character’s feelings more concise. But a very nice job starting with action and putting your character in a tough spot!

-- 
Stephanie Morrill

Author of The Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt series. "
 
I felt a faint sense of thrill rolling through my heightened senses, tasting the brief sweetness of hope.

100 Free Write Contest: Results!!!

My heart beat away wildly. It thumped hard, against my chest, unforgiving. Pain seared through my chest, jarring my ribs.
I tasted the anticipation, the longing, bursting on my tongue, like the sharp slosh from a carbonated soda. The force of it steal my breath away, almost all of it, leaving me wheezing.
Then my heart stopped beating for a moment, and it felt like someone had his hand around my heart, squeezing hard. I couldn't breathe.
And then...
And I felt...

Julie Kagawa Giveaway!

Julie Kagawa is giving away an ARC signed copy of The Immortal Rules, internationally, as long as you comment on her blog before the 15th of March. More details, please check out this link.

As usual, I've joined! (I seems to have joined a lot of things these days! lol. ;P) Happy commenting...

Before I end this post, here's a cool pic of the book!