January-February 2010 Short Fiction Contest

**Fung Koo** · December 11th, 2009, 12:20 PM

Ladies and Gents,

Welcome to the Short Fiction Contest.

In an effort to expand the opportunity to write competitively in a longer format, we are going to try out a friendly bimonthly Short Fiction Contest. I've added an extra two weeks by posting the contest early to allow time to think and write over the holiday season, and to give us a bit of extra time so that when this first contest ends, we can determine if there was too-much or not-enough time.

So, without further ado...

Your Theme:

You stare at your keyboard waiting for the voice of inspiration, and from the depths of your mind the voice arises, but with a question:

"The path to glory lays branched before you, and you must chose one branch or the other before you go on: Ninjas or Pirates?"

Your Mission:

Write an original work of Short Fiction, min. 1,500 words max. 5,000 words, in the Fantasy Genre with your particular, personal spin on the theme.

You are free to construct your entry however you like, however you interpret the theme, so long as it is within the restrictions outlined above.

How to Enter:

Write your story and edit it down to a final, submission-ready copy. You may make use of the Writing forum to workshop/critique your story prior to entering should you choose. Once your story is submitted, no changes are allowed. (Minor fixes for typos/spelling/punctuation will be politely tolerated.)
Post your finished story to the Stories Section or the Stories Sub-Forum. Please be sure to abide by the posting rules in the Stories Sub-Forum, should you choose to post your story there.
Post the URL to your story in this thread. Once you have posted the link to your story, you are deemed to have officially entered the competition. Failure to abide by the rules regarding changes will disqualify you and your story from the competition. You may enter next time, though

Your Timeline:

You have until the end of Sunday, February 14th, 2010, to submit your finished story.

Voting rules and feedback guidelines will be posted on Monday, February 15th, 2010.

Voting will take place from Monday, February 15th, 2010 until Sunday, February 28th, 2010. (As this is the first contest, the voting period may be extended if it proves too short)

What You Win:

The winner earns the privilege of hosting the next contest.

Let the games begin!

--------------------

Entries (as of 02-FEB-'010):

Jack and Jill Went Up the Hill by Dan Bieger [Hereford Eye]
http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25149

The Body by Ben Hobson [Benh]
http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25295

Sail and Shadow by Richard Dickson [DailyRich]
http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25571

The Newly Sighted by Rich Matrunick [Sterling13]
http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25666

**tmso** · December 11th, 2009, 12:59 PM

Okay...I have a question...I don't know if I'll have time to participate, but wanted to be clear on this...

In regards to the theme, is it just ninjas or pirates (which ever we choose), or does the story have to contain some sort of choice within it, or both? And (I'm sorry, I'm dense) what's the whole inspiration thing in front of the computer thing? Is that part of the theme?

**DailyRich** · December 11th, 2009, 01:06 PM

Judging by the wording and the carefully underlined "or", I'd say we have to come down on one side or the other.

**Tristis** · December 11th, 2009, 01:10 PM

I was hoping it was an either/or -- I, in fact, jumped up and down in my seat a couple of times shouting my choice -- but I'm prepared to debate this question within the fiction, should it be required.

**Fung Koo** · December 11th, 2009, 01:18 PM

Sorry, TMSO -- I'm not going to answer you except by repeating:

Write an original work of Short Fiction... with your particular, personal spin on the theme.

Whatever the theme leads you to is what you should do.

Oh -- I have no problem with people discussing the theme, if you need/want to have a talk about it to come to a decision on how you want to tackle this (if you do).

EDIT: Oh, sorry, there was more there. The theme itself is the part in quotation marks. The staring at your keyboard part was just me creating a little scene on a person about to write. You can include it if you want to, though, in the spirit of maintaining you "particular, personal spin."

The rules are there are no rules.

**tmso** · December 11th, 2009, 01:18 PM

Originally Posted by DailyRich

Judging by the wording and the carefully underlined "or", I'd say we have to come down on one side or the other.

That's not what I meant, I meant...oh nevermind.

**tmso** · December 11th, 2009, 01:21 PM

Originally Posted by Tristis

...but I'm prepared to debate this question within the fiction...

Yes, that's what I meant. Were we to write a fictional story in which the choice between ninjas or pirates were presented.

But no need to answer, as you already have.

**Fung Koo** · December 11th, 2009, 01:27 PM

Originally Posted by tmso

Yes, that's what I meant. Were we to write a fictional story in which the choice between ninjas or pirates were presented.

You can do this, yes. Or, you could start your story based on one or the other.

If it helps, the way I came to this theme is that I went walking past a co-worker the other day and he stopped me and asked "If you had to choose, would you be a ninja or a pirate?"

This, of course, set my mind to spinning. What a fascinating question!

So, I've made it the theme. Whether it's your character making a choice, or you making the choice and then telling a story about one, the other, or both, or whether or not you even call them ninjas or pirates... Doesn't matter. I'm just curious to see what people choose, and how they choose to approach the options.

**Fung Koo** · December 11th, 2009, 01:32 PM

Could a Mod/Staff please sticky the thread?

**DailyRich** · December 11th, 2009, 02:26 PM

And with this clarification, the wheels begin to turn...

**suibom** · December 11th, 2009, 02:56 PM

Hmm.. ok, so we have a Choose Your Own Adventure where we have to turn to page X to choose pirates or page Y to choose ninjas. Somewhere in there is a turning wheel attached to a modern staff made of sticky thread, and a tmso hoping to find more concrete. Apparently it all takes place on Fantasy Island. Excellent!

In other news, we have some inspiration :P
http://www.spike.com/full-episode/pi...s-knight/31860
http://www.spike.com/full-episode/sp...vs-ninja/31578

Fun times indeed.
(Note/disclaimer: Please be aware that those links are to Spike TV, and can be a bit brutal on the violence level, depending on your sensibilities.)

Peace,
- Sui

**tmso** · December 11th, 2009, 03:18 PM

I can't say I'm a fan of Spike TV (never heard of it, but based on the website, probably not my thing), but those videos are AWESOME!!!! Argh Matey, domo arigato gozaimasu.

**Hereford Eye** · December 11th, 2009, 05:26 PM

According to the Ninja Rulle Book, the choice is made by your parents who send you off to a demented mentor who spends the rest of your childhood tormenting you with pyhiscally impossible tasks and inscrutable homilies on the virtues of bees, samurai warriors, and the pillow world. How does one go about choosing to be a child with ambitious parents?

**suibom** · December 11th, 2009, 06:51 PM

Hahah.. man, that reminds me of a site I haven't looked at for about a decade:
http://www.realultimatepower.net/index4.htm

My apologies to the pirate fans, I don't have a correlating Site of Awesomenessicity for you.