March-April 2012 Short Story Competition

[MLSawyer]

"Snikerty Snikerty ha ha..." don't ask me why but these words have been stuck in my head since thinking of a short story... so I guess I'll just have to write it

[AZimmer23]

Dear fellow readers/writers. I am going to apologize in advance for the length of my story. It may be close to 9000 words and I know that can be daunting when there are so many other selections to read. Just a heads up!

[AZimmer23]

What's wrong with Harry Potter?

I have an idea but I hesitate. (Okay, I'm embarrassed that I entered last month and never voted.) Anyway, I'll play with the idea and see if I can do something with it. And then set aside a few days in April.

B5

There is absolutely nothing wrong with Harry Potter. Love those books. It's just that my sister is a proclaimed devout Christian but only when it's convenient. Me writing about magic and whatnot marks me a heretic, but Ms. Rowling is off the hook.

Oh, and don't feel bad about not voting, we all get busy. Way more important that you keep writing, voting be darned.

[tennesseemcvay]

First draft of the galactic pimp story finished and so is the first round of editing. Sent it to a friend who is the biggest sci-fi nerd I know to make sure there weren't any major works I left unmolested but he is doing exams right now. Should be posted by the end of this week. Coming in around 4k words and its my first real shot a comedy so I would say don't laugh but that's kind of the point isn't it.

[MLSawyer]

Snikerty has his story, now I just have to fix it all, edit, make sure the story makes sense... would be typing it up now if it weren't for trying to keep up with all my social media... but it will be up soon

[tennesseemcvay]

First submission. Eagerly awaiting any feedback good or bad. Just want someone to read it!

Disclaimer - although it is censored with "****" reader discretion is advised. There are some adult situations and foul language in the story so if this is something that would upset you then I advise not reading it. For those of you it does not bother, you should be able to fill in the blanks and I apologize if they detract from the story.


http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showt...d=1#post678182

[MLSawyer]

The Coin

I think I'm done... I could probably do more, but don't want to turn it into a saga so at 5,700 I'm in.

[AZimmer23]

don't want to turn it into a saga so at 5,700 I'm in.

Well, mine's twice that. Sorry. I know that's a big chunk of reading, but I just couldn't rein it in. I'll have it up in a few after I've stepped away and come back for the final edit. Who knows, maybe it'll be a lot shorter (I promise I won't let it be any longer).

[zachariah]

Never mind the length - feel the quality.

[MLSawyer]

AZimmer23 - don't worry, for me short is a challenge. I went to write a short story in highschool and after 60 pages of writting, realised it wasn't finished. 14 years and 112k words later it ended up being my first novel ... to tell a story, a good story in in short order is a skill that I'm still trying to wrap my head around.

[AZimmer23]

I generally have a hard time writing short as well, but it seems to be getting easier. My flash entry this month was the first I've ever attempted and it was extremely difficult to leave it as bare-boned as it is, but at 1000 wds or less, what can you do. My story for the Short competition is 10,900 wds. I could write more, but I don't see how I could write less and the story still stand on its own. We'll see I guess. Will post it in a couple of days after one more dry read-through.

[MrBF1V3]

Flash stories are really a good exercise. Part of it is picking some subject that will be the right "size", then learning to edit with a razor blade. With practice it gets somewhat easier, and the editing skills you develop are worthwhile.

I know a good site for stories of a hundred words or less. (Those are really hard.) It doesn't pay but they let you advertise.

B5

[AZimmer23]

Dear B5 (if your name isn't LSH inspired, let me know where it comes from, plz)

Where is this 100wds or less site? Sounds like a serious challenge.

[AZimmer23]

Okay, I can't look at this thing anymore. The first half of the first section is kind of hard to read because there's no spacing between paragraphs for some reason (there are on the original document) and when I try to edit it, I get an error message. It clears up pretty quickly, though. Sorry.

Here it is, in its 11,000 wd glory: Lashing the Lenders.

It's a working title, I came up with it when the idea first spawned, but doesn't really fit anymore. Suggestions are welcome.

[MrBF1V3]

Dear B5 (if your name isn't LSH inspired, let me know where it comes from, plz)

Where is this 100wds or less site? Sounds like a serious challenge.

It's at http://www.gwthomas.org/flashshotindex.htm---but evidently they've decided to discontinue it.--bummer.

If that's spam feel free to remove, I can pm the address. But it is a pretty good market, even if they don't pay. I've appeared in it three times, and proudly list it in my resume.

LSH? I don't believe so... (?) I could give you the runaround, but it started as a mnemonic device for what used to be my phone number.