WCT - The Writing Competition Thread [September Round]

[G_D]

Ok, I'm going to extend the deadline until October 5. Three entries is not enough to vote on, and there's no point letting them go to waste.

[Imagist]

Ok, I'm going to extend the deadline until October 5. Three entries is not enough to vote on, and there's no point letting them go to waste.

You realize we were probably going to get like 2-3 more entries tomorrow, right? (Mine included.)

[HalcyonSpirit]

You realize we were probably going to get like 2-3 more entries tomorrow, right? (Mine included.)

Hey, I'm not complaining. I've been running some ideas through my head, but all these exams have been destroying my will to write (as if I had the time, HA!). An extra week might just be enough for me to get something out there.

[Imagist]

Hey, I'm not complaining. I've been running some ideas through my head, but all these exams have been destroying my will to write (as if I had the time, HA!). An extra week might just be enough for me to get something out there.

With an extended deadline, I for one am more likely to procastinate more than I have been and wind up forgetting about finishing my story in time.

[Manic Cinq]

Ooh, an extension. Maybe I'll finish my entry tomorrow. Hey would it still count as a short story if it's pure dialogue (like a story in the form of a chatlog)?

[JH Sounds]

With an extended deadline, I for one am more likely to procastinate more than I have been and wind up forgetting about finishing my story in time.

I think I'll just pretend it's not extended so the story'll be done. Then I'll give it a thorough looking-over before submitting.

[JH Sounds]

My submission:


Reaching Out

Matt and Ed chewed absentmindedly on their bagels as they ogled the girlie magazine. It was only midmorning for the two traffic officers; an eye-opening brought on by high-class erotica would work much faster than coffee. One particular photograph, beautifully shot, featured an unfathomably gorgeous female sunning nude at some paradisiacal shore. She seemed too perfect to be real. The caption beneath her read C.C. Dimitra and dated—

“This is about a couple of years old,” Matt reasoned. “I heard she got hitched with some actor.” He skimmed through the interview adjacent to the photo, but let out a sigh of disappointment. “Well anyway, he and she live somewhere in this city. She loves cats, you know, and cooking. Maybe I can visit her and—”

Ed’s laughter cut sharply though Matt’s speech. “You really love this girl, don’t you?” He closed the magazine and moved it away from the dashboard between them. “She’s hot, yeah, but she’s probably ugly. You know… inside. Plus you said she’s married, so what’s the point?”

“It’s a marriage of convenience! Dimitra wants to break out of modeling and become an actress. The husband’s probably got connections in the business. There’s no real love there.”

Ed pinched the bridge of his own nose in frustration. “You’re a traffic cop, Matt. Be serious for a minute. So it’s convenience. She is not gonna leave that for you, no matter how much you read up on articles and journals and find out what her favorite color is. You’re reaching out too far, man.”

A searing whirr of rubber against asphalt ripped though the street nearby. A monstrous shout and a deathly scream soon followed it. Matt drew out his speed-reader seconds before seeing the motorbike collide with a parked pickup truck. The bike riders flew off of their vehicle and skidded viciously over the road. For a moment, all that could be seen was a mass of pale flesh. The glinting light from behind almost made it seem attractive. The abandoned bike dashed by itself and stopped after grazing the curb.

Matt set down the digital display that had read off the disastrous speed. The two officers deftly climbed out of the patrol car and, after observing the results of the vehicular accident, one replied, “How can people be so dumb?” Ed, the tallest of the officers, quickly walked over to the bodies and jotted the license plate of the bike. It was when he attempted to inscribe the number of the red pickup that he realized it had no identification. “This is straight off the lot, Matt!” the policeman realized. The plate holders glinted in their blankness.

Matt, the shorter of the two, leaned toward the truck window to check for a driver, but found only a photo of what appeared to be a very happy and delighted couple. The other walked to the back of the pickup to discover the absence of a plate there as well. Matt straightened, suddenly thinking back to the image of that lovely woman from the magazine. After a few seconds, he cried, “Hang on!” The photo of the couple and of the woman coalesced in his mind. “That’s Dimitra!”

“What?” uttered Ed. “Stop clowning around.” The immense heat of the day made him feel as if a vulture would swoop over them both. Thick blotches the shape and color of a chessboard formed in his eyes. He would have to shake them away physically to retain the image of the mangled victims. A glimpse of Dimitra disrobing vanished as quickly as it came. Squinting, he looked to the side of the truck, which stood quite unharmed from the collision. Near it laid a helmeted female, her arms outstretched to the other bike rider, who was sprawled several yards away.

Matt had never seen such a grotesque sight in all his life. His eyes twitched quickly to and away from the foul mess, not wanting to look at it for more than he had to. Ed couldn’t help but notice his actions and immediately drew closer to him. He knew from the gruesome angle that the woman’s neck had completely snapped. Kneeling downward, Matt lifted open the helmet visor of the female. Her eyes still held that slight look of embarrassment associated with wearing such things. The texture of her cheek felt unpredictably soap-like and dry, flaky. The officer suddenly drew back his hand and attempted to calm his own sharp breathing. He felt as though he had just dropped into a lost, dark episode of CHiPs.

Dimitra. Dead.

An onlooker discreetly snapped a shot with her digital camera from across the street. The brand she used was an expensive one, Matt saw. The lens might as well have been the cold barrel of a gun. A harbor of disgust filled him at her actions. Dimitra would never allow the image of her body to be captured in such a twisted way. But the tourist took as many she wanted, as if it were the site of a Halloween sculpture. Perhaps the bodies should be erected beside large pumpkins?

The officer looked toward the vast cityscape, that blinding pile of numbers and cars. Why was there such a fascination with them here? After all is said and done, they just take the public from place to place, to their vomit-inducing fast food and dirty toilets. Just a few miles eastward existed nothing but barren sand. If he were high enough off the ground, he would spit on it all. While Matt stood immersed in grief, Ed could sense that vulture swooping in again…

Vague shadows of a timeline formed in Matt’s head. He could briefly see C.C. pushed against a brick wall by a looming figure. A list of “C” names flooded into his head before deciding on Cellie. The blank page that was the scenario rapidly filled with a logical interpretation of the events leading to the crash. He saw Cellie had left a pressure-sealed pot of gumbo for her husband, not expecting him to be home early.

“Happy anniversary,” said the husband, with something resembling sinister singsong. After reaching into his vest, he retrieved a photograph revealing a shining red pickup truck sitting proudly in its factory-perfect state. “It’s a pickup,” he said, as if she could not understand the concept. “We’ll use it to go up to the hills, find a place to camp.” It wasn’t a question.

Something inside Cellie wanted to lash out at him, to scream, I don’t want to be with you! I don't love you, and I never will! It was hopeless, she knew. “I can’t,” she tried. “There’s a shoot I have to be in, I’d be back too late—”

“Obviously you don’t understand the finer points of our arrangement.” The husband placed the photo beside the steel pot. “We are going tomorrow.” With unerring precision, he twisted the lid, which emitted a tiny squeal of depressurization. A machine-like shake of the container caused the contents to flow into a plate. He stepped away and headed toward the dinner table, leaving Cellie exhausted from fear.

At last, downstairs lusted. She left the bottom step of the grand house, a monument encircled by endless shrubbery. She could finally visit her lover, perhaps for the last time. The cyclist had a pair of eyes with droopy lids that aroused and inspired her. He had such delicate hands for someone who tuned up rusty engines all day. Cellie would gladly sit astride his motorbike, gripping his waist tightly before they sped off.

[Barnsalot]

Tomorrow..

[JH Sounds]

Tomorrow..

o shi

[G_D]

Ooh, an extension. Maybe I'll finish my entry tomorrow. Hey would it still count as a short story if it's pure dialogue (like a story in the form of a chatlog)?

yes.

and so much for the extension...I've got nothing =/

[Imagist]

What I have isn't much, so I'm going to be striving right up to the deadline to refine it perfectly.

[HalcyonSpirit]

and so much for the extension...I've got nothing =/

*continues to tap furiously on the keyboard*

Must... finish... before... deadline!

[Imagist]

Not much more I can do.

Frozen

“What do you mean you don’t know what the problem is?”

“I’m sorry, sir. Everything looks fine from our end.”

“Well”—it’s nipping cold out here and you’re not helping because I don’t get reception in that hole of a room and that’s why I’m trying to set up this backward primeval landline in the first place seeing as how you claim to offer free service with this all-exclusive package deal I’m paying way too much for—“what could be the problem?”

“It could be any number of things, really. Frozen or shorted wires are out because you claim to have received telemarketing calls. The simplest explanation would be if your phone wasn’t compatible, sir.”

Not compatible. “Thanks anyway.” I’ll show you just how compatible my foot is with your—

Peter clapped the phone shut and stuffed his hands into the pocket of his sweatshirt. The exhale came long and drawn, a stream of pale smoke as if from some ancient car on the last mile of its life. It was only then he realized how rooted his legs felt on the snow-coated concrete. He was mildly surprised to find no jagged and menacing formation of inch-thick ice had developed during his half-hour on hold.

The previous week had recalled one night several months prior. A fire drill, rotating through every dorm, was announced to occur “shortly after 7:45 P.M.” An hour of dawdling, no one daring to be absent from an opportunity for candy points, and finally the alarms—weak and dreadful things that couldn’t portend to wake even the lightest sleepers when hidden behind their soundly muting room doors. A fire drill, of all things!

It was out and back in; everyone fell prey. Maybe the heat of a real blaze would have helped them, but no. Not yet winter and still a cold front no weatherman had predicted stalked its way in. The whole process became truly counterintuitive, with the boys who meant to evacuate returning to grab coats, jackets, blankets. The last one of them slipped out fifteen minutes later.

Now winter was three months gone, the unseasonal weather was just as bleak and Peter was wearing the very same sweatshirt, which he paid $20 for at some long-forgotten concert. At the time, sure, it was the singular experience of his life, but before a month he moved on. The garb was only the only remnant.

Remnants. That was essentially all he had: experience and moving on. Claiming the club frisbee championship and moving on. Dark horse victory as valedictorian and moving on. Only now, where had he moved?

Expansive winters catching the witless unawares. Frozen wires and fire drills. He turned and ambled back inside.

[HalcyonSpirit]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

... Damnit... Not enough time in a day... :cry:

[Imagist]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

... Damnit... Not enough time in a day... :cry:

Just finish it as quick as possible. I'm sure if it's posted by morning, it'll be fine.

There's still 16 minutes to midnight here, anyway.

[Jam Stunna]

Hm, if I'd known the deadline had been extended, I might have submitted my latest story. But then again, it's entirely too long, so probably not.

[Imagist]

Just in case anyone wasn't aware, we are currently in the voting stage. If you have submitted to this competition or any past competition and would like to vote, the last day to do so is October 20th.

[G_D]

Thanks Imagery. I also realized just now that I forgot to update the first post. I don't have time tonight, but there are four entries:

"Barber Shop" by Barnsalot
"Deviance" by darklink42
"Frozen" by Imagery
"Reaching Out" by just64helpin

[Barnsalot]

I'm going to get around to voting in the next few days- As soon as I can. I'm a little busy right now...

Edit: voted.

[HalcyonSpirit]

I'll probably vote this weekend. Too many tests tomorrow to do it now.

[JH Sounds]

...there are four entries:

"Barber Shop" by Barnsalot
"Deviance" by darklink42
"Frozen" by Imagery
"Reaching Out" by just64helpin

I just noticed that the entries and authors are simultaneously in alphabetical order.

8O

[Imagist]

Uhhh... wow. Good observation? Maybe?

[G_D]

If anyone is still planning on voting, there's only four days left. Remember, this is open, so you don't have to have a submission this round to vote. If you have submitted to *any* writing competition in the past (on OCR), you are eligible to vote.

[JH Sounds]

Tomorrow...

[JH Sounds]

Tomorrow...

More like yesterday.

[Barnsalot]

Is there any way we could get those results, G_D?
Not trying to be a cramp, just reminding.

[JH Sounds]

Is there any way we could get those results, G_D?
Not trying to be a cramp, just reminding.

Yeah, I've been waiting for the results so I could post my personal reviews of the entries.

[G_D]

First, I apologize for the long delay with everything, and my absence for the last couple weeks. I have been ridiculously busy, and have not had time to even come to OCR lately.

Second, I only received 3 votes. If you want, I can give you the tally now, or I can wait a couple more days to see if anyone else votes.

What do you guys want?

[Barnsalot]

Do you think anyone else will vote? If there are other people out there who are willing to vote, then let them vote I say. But there was a pretty long voting stage already. If no one's contacted to vote, then there's a pretty slim chance that somebody's just going to prance onto this thread in the next couple days and cast a vote.

[The Pezman]

I can submit something. I wrote it for Creative Writing class (I'm a CW minor) and it'll get workshopped next week. It's 10 pages long, double-spaced. Should I just post it?

[JH Sounds]

I can submit something. I wrote it for Creative Writing class (I'm a CW minor) and it'll get workshopped next week. It's 10 pages long, double-spaced. Should I just post it?

...or you could post it at The Writer's Thread, linked in the first post.

[Imagist]

Probably time to call the competition, especially considering the next one starts this week if we're continuing the bimonthly run.

On that note, I have a proposition: I know the next competition should be poetry, and we just did freeform, but considering November is NaNoWriMo, would anyone else be interested in having another freeform competition? That way people who still want to write poetry can, but others who are committed to NaNoWriMo don't have to split their time and can submit a section or chapter or something from their novel instead.

For the uninformed: NaNoWriMo = National Novel Writing Month, look it up if you so desire.

[HalcyonSpirit]

If no one's contacted to vote, then there's a pretty slim chance that somebody's just going to prance onto this thread in the next couple days and cast a vote.

*prances onto the thread and votes* :-P

Finally got enough time away from my damned Aerospace work to read the entries... Now it's back to work for me.

[JH Sounds]

I WANNA KNOW ALREADY

[Imagist]

Also, we should be running a competition right about now... G_D, if you're too swamped, I'd be willing to take over this time around.

[G_D]

RESULTS ARE IN!



Runners-Up: Barnsalot & darklink42
1st Place: Imagery


Votes were cast as follows:

Barnsalot: 4
darklink42: 4
Imagery: 8
just64helpin: 2



- - - - - - - - - -


I want to apologize for the long delay, and the radio silence. It was rude of me to make you wait as long as you did, and with no communication. Having 20 credit hours this term has swamped me much more than I expected, and I honestly haven't even been online much in the last few weeks.

As I can foresee no slowing down of my life in the next year or so, I will not be hosting any more competitions. It is simply too time-consuming for me to maintain. I don't know if anyone is willing to take over for me full-time, or if you will just share the responsibility, but I trust that the writing competitions won't end as long as there is still a community here.

Again, I apologize for the poor handling of this last comp, and I wish you all the best in the future. Also, I will try to get some sig badges for you next week.

[Barnsalot]

Nice work, Imagery!

[JH Sounds]

Everyone placed but me? That's that shit right thurr.






Seriously though, congrats. :wink:

[Doulifée]

I post that here, it's faster. The badge as requested by G_D

1st Place:
http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/996/imagerynv6.png


Runner-up:
http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/778/darklinkjx1.png
http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/8371/barnsalotfi6.png

[Doulifée]

and a last one for just64. after all he deserves one too; :nicework:

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/3658/just64fu3.png

[Imagist]

Sweet. Thanks Douli.

[Barnsalot]

Thank you Doulifée. :D
Nice idea with that last badge, by the way.

[Imagist]

After talking to G_D, I have agreed to take over the writing competitions for the time being. Unless there are any objections, I'm thinking that the next competition should be freeform, to allow (as I mentioned before) for people who want to write poetry, people who want to submit portions of novels from NaNoWriMo, and people who want to submit whatever the crap they can manage to churn out while cramming for finals.

If someone wants to argue for another type of competition, feel free; either way, the next competition will begin Saturday.

[HalcyonSpirit]

No objections here. At least as far as what competition it should be. Whether I can participate is another matter entirely. As long as I don't get too much work over Thanksgiving break, I should have a chance to do something. However, the more likely outcome is me getting swamped with homework and being unable to do anything besides that (as is the case right now). Only time will tell.

[Imagist]

A few minutes late with this, but... whatever.

OCR Writing Competition - November (Freeform) Round

Welcome to November! This month's competition is freeform and will be run according to the freeform guidelines in the first post. The dates for the competition are as follows:

Submission Stage: 12:00a PST 10 November, 2007 - 11:59p PST 30 November, 2007
Voting Stage: 12:00a PST 1 December, 2007 - 11:59p PST 13 December, 2007
Judging Stage: 12:00a PST 14 December, 2007 - 11:59p PST 16 December, 2007

Submissions should be posted directly to this thread. Once the voting stage begins, votes may be sent to me via PM. Following the voting stage, the results will be delivered as soon as possible, no later than the end of the judging stage.

Also note that those who are participating in National Novel Writing Month should feel free to submit a portion of their novel (within the word limit of the freeform competition, of course) if they so desire. For this reason, any progress made since the beginning of November should be considered valid for submission.

Finally, I'm in the process of trying to get an advertisement banner made, so anyone who wants to can help spread the word by linking to the competition thread in their signatures. I know November (especially post-Thanksgiving) is crunch time for a lot of people, but anything goes under freeform, so let's try to have as much participation as possible to increase the competition factor!

EDIT: Here is the ad banner, hyperlinked to this post (quote my post and copy if you'd like to use it as-is):

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/2320/adnovembervd2.png (http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?p=341471#post341471)

[JH Sounds]

Since I've accomplished my short-term goal of creating a original work (something I hadn't done in about a year) I'll probably do something random this time. Maybe a Wikipedia-style entry?

[Imagist]

After talking with Doulifee, it's become apparent that with the change of hands the easiest course of action in keeping the thread up to date in the first few posts is for me to start a new thread. As such, the competition will be continuing in the new thread, and the past competitions will remain archived here for reference, with a lock to avoid potential confusion between the two threads.

Also, I invite everyone to plug the competition as much as possible. We can always use more participation!