Theme - "Dust"
Word Limit: 2100
Submission Deadline: Friday, May 22nd by 11:59 PM Pacific.
Voting begins Saturday, May 23rd, and goes until Monday, May 25th at 11:59 PM Pacific.
Grace Periods: Each of the above deadlines will be followed by a 6-hour grace period. Submissions made after the end of the grace period will be ineligible, and votes cast after the end of the grace period will not be counted. Remember that these are grace periods, not extensions of the deadline--you should still submit your work or cast your vote by the deadline set above.
Optional Secondary Objective: Specificity in Nouns
Sometimes when we're writing a story in a rush, the details blur. Blurriness weakens the emotional pull of a story; thins the veneer of reality. Do an edit pass of your story where you replace vague, generic nouns with specific ones. Is that a tree your heroine leans up against, or an oak? Is that a bird singing in the distance, or a sparrow? Is that a car that pulls up to pick them up hitchhiking, or a jalopy? This is also an opportunity to cut down on superfluous adjectives in favor of more specific nouns that convey the same information. (Though "remove adjectives" is not the main objective here.)
Also note that sometimes generic nouns are appropriate! If you're writing in tight third, and your main character doesn't know a chihuahua from a shar pei from a french bulldog, then "small dog" will be the better choice--and in this case, if the breed matters to the story, you'll need to find another means of conveying it. You also don't want to lard down your prose with unnecessary, obscure nouns just for the sake of it. We want to strike the right balance here.
Submission Guidelines:
- One entry per poster.
- All submissions must be written during the time of the challenge.
- Using the topic as the title of your piece is discouraged.
- Keep to the word count!
Voting Guidelines:
- Three votes per voter. Please denote in your voting your 1st (3 pts), 2nd (2 pts), and 3rd (1 pt) place votes.
- Please read all submissions before voting.
- You must vote in order to be eligible to win the challenge.
- When voting ends, the winner gets a collective pat on the back, and starts the new challenge.
NeoGAF Creative Writing Challenge FAQ
Previous Challenge Threads and Themes
Word Limit: 2100
Submission Deadline: Friday, May 22nd by 11:59 PM Pacific.
Voting begins Saturday, May 23rd, and goes until Monday, May 25th at 11:59 PM Pacific.
Grace Periods: Each of the above deadlines will be followed by a 6-hour grace period. Submissions made after the end of the grace period will be ineligible, and votes cast after the end of the grace period will not be counted. Remember that these are grace periods, not extensions of the deadline--you should still submit your work or cast your vote by the deadline set above.
Optional Secondary Objective: Specificity in Nouns
Sometimes when we're writing a story in a rush, the details blur. Blurriness weakens the emotional pull of a story; thins the veneer of reality. Do an edit pass of your story where you replace vague, generic nouns with specific ones. Is that a tree your heroine leans up against, or an oak? Is that a bird singing in the distance, or a sparrow? Is that a car that pulls up to pick them up hitchhiking, or a jalopy? This is also an opportunity to cut down on superfluous adjectives in favor of more specific nouns that convey the same information. (Though "remove adjectives" is not the main objective here.)
Also note that sometimes generic nouns are appropriate! If you're writing in tight third, and your main character doesn't know a chihuahua from a shar pei from a french bulldog, then "small dog" will be the better choice--and in this case, if the breed matters to the story, you'll need to find another means of conveying it. You also don't want to lard down your prose with unnecessary, obscure nouns just for the sake of it. We want to strike the right balance here.
Submission Guidelines:
- One entry per poster.
- All submissions must be written during the time of the challenge.
- Using the topic as the title of your piece is discouraged.
- Keep to the word count!
Voting Guidelines:
- Three votes per voter. Please denote in your voting your 1st (3 pts), 2nd (2 pts), and 3rd (1 pt) place votes.
- Please read all submissions before voting.
- You must vote in order to be eligible to win the challenge.
- When voting ends, the winner gets a collective pat on the back, and starts the new challenge.
NeoGAF Creative Writing Challenge FAQ
Previous Challenge Threads and Themes
