Most writing contests give you a writing prompt or at least a couple of words to work your idea around, which is why I decided to host a slightly different contest.
A constrained writing contest
Instead of being given an idea or a writing prompt, you are allowed to choose the topic completely by yourself. But, varying from week to week, you will face different challenges that limit your writing.
You will be required to omit certain words, use a specific word in every second sentence, use a given sentence unchanged, write a story with a certain amount of words... or a combination of all.
In short, instead of telling you what to write about, you are told how to write.
Winners of constrained writing contest #17
This week we had a guest judge joining us, a person with experience with grading essays. Experience with showing no mercy. Give it up for @metzli!
Without further ado, here’s what she had to say about this week’s entries, and of course the winners of the Constrained Writing Contest #17:
Thank you for letting me be the judge this week. It was so much fun. I was a little nervous at the beginning because I only saw one entry and I thought, aaaaaaah! I broke @Svashta’s contest. It turns out I didn’t break the contest, but I did get to read lots of awesome stories.
- 1st place : 1.202 SBD + 0.306 STEEM : @simgirl with the entry “Misuse of knowledge”
Judge’s note: The story was entertaining, interesting, sad (yet oddly happy for the victim), and strongly woven with lessons and learning throughout. The biggest lesson being: Don’t try to do more than you are capable of, you’ll end up completely useless and a load on others.
- 2nd place : 0.721 SBD + 0.184 STEEM : @zen-art with the entry “A story about a boy who liked to read”
Judge’s note: It was a sweet love story, just in time for Valentine’s Day. The main character learned to say: “I do” and I re-learned that love can be simple and wordless (though there were lots of words - in the books). Perhaps that’s why I loved this story so much, Im a sucker for books, and reading… and son’s finding love.
- 3rd place : 0.481 SBD + 0.122 STEEM : @raiserxn with the entry “Learning The Hardest Things in Life”
Judge’s note: Third place was a little more difficult to choose, because there were so many awesome stories. I went with @raisorxn who went with a theme of learning to get along with others (at work) and reminded us that its more about how you can get along with people that we work with, than it is about knowing your job skills in and out. Job skills can be learned, but getting along with others (although can be learned too) is something that is expected right off the bat.
Honorable mentions in alphabetical order:
- @foragingquietude with the entry “Walking away".
- @iikanji with the entry "Old man Peters".
- @latino.romano with the entry "Shoemaker to your shoe".
- @niallon11 with the entry "Just a moment".
- @thelastsage with the entry titled “Learning is life”.
- @tibra with the longest entry we've ever had with this contest: “Pivotal”, that also has a pending continuation on the way.
- @somebuttstuff with the entry “James' Trip”.
- @spalatino with the entry “Journes” which takes place in an entirely new fictional world that @spalatino decided to continue working on. Check out their blog for the ongoing Saga!
Judge’s overall note: Please know that I read all the stories, some twice, some three times. I tried to leave comments on all the stories too.
@svashta’s note: I might be giving away a little too much now, and giving you an easy ticket to winning future contests judged by me, but I’m a sucker for stories that have a powerful and meaningful message. Something that sticks with you even long after you’re finished reading the story. Partly why I picked last week’s constraint with the existential question, and exactly the reason I enjoyed this week’s constraint so very much. Immersive stories with relatable characters have a way of portraying knowledge and life lessons in a completely different manner than your mundane everyday life.
Oh and, while you’re at it, please check out all the entries, they're all well worth your time! :D
With that out of the way, onto constrained writing contest #18!
Rules:
This week we have another guest judge joining us. Give it up for one of the first participants of the Constrained Writing Contest @eriesunkite!
This week she's flipping the contest upside down. Whereas you had to expose your characters to new situations in the last few weeks, @eriesunkite is all about the everyday mundane chores.... With a twist, of course.
Here are the rules she has come up with for this week;
- write a story about a deity doing something mundane and preferably struggling with it. In other words: write a story about the daily struggles of deities in the modern world.
What they do is completely up to you, just keep in mind that it has to be something many people do or at least can do. So no car racing or roof repairing for example. Driving around Walmart in one of those silly carts is okay though. Alright fine, you caught me. That last sentence was me, @svashta.
- Please pick minor, less known gods who don't already have a lot of stories about them. So no Zeus, Raa, Thor and the like.
- The story must be at least 250 words long and in English
@eriesunkite suggests you write your story in a Word document or another application/extension that automatically checks your spelling/grammar. I hear "Grammarly" does an okay job at that, but since I never used it myself, take this advice with a grain of salt.
And as for the usual mumbo jumbo, here's the rest of the rules just about every contest has:
- Upvote this post
- Post a link to your entry in the comments below
- Include tag #constrainedwriting among your other tags
- Should you wish to help raise awareness of the contest, please consider resteeming this post (it is by no means compulsory)
Prizes
- 1st place: 45% of post's payout
- 2nd place: 27% of post's payout
- 3rd place 18 % of post's payout
- Judge takes 5 % for his/her efforts
- I will take 5 % for hosting, writing and editing the contest
*Note: In case I receive any donations for the contest, the payout percentages apply to the donation itself as well.
Judges
This week the judge of the Constrained Writing Contest is @eriesunkite, and she is responsible for picking the winners on her own discretion, but her and I both promise she will try and be as objective as possible.
What's that I hear? You wish to be a judge too? Well look no further!
To apply for a judge and make up your own rules, simply send @svashta a hearty hello on steemit.chat.
*Disclaimer: I will only allow fellow writers as judges to keep the competition high quality.
Deadline
- Entries are accepted until this post's payout
- Your entry post must be newer than this post
At this point I would like to note I will be absent until the 20th of February, perhaps even the 21st. This unfortunately means I might not be able to read your entries and comment on your stories until I return. When I do, however, I promise to read through all the entries prior to consulting with @erisunkite and announcing the winners! :D
Good luck!
