The First Ever Fox-y-redEva Story Challenge

Coming soon …

The first ever “Fox-y-redEva Story Challenge”.

Here’s what I propose.

The one and only ravishing redhead redEva will post a single picture in this thread.

Authors will “sign up” to write a story based on the picture, by answering this thread with a “count me in” message – (Please, save the story for your entry.)

There are only 3 rules:

1. The story MUST be based on the picture.
2. The story MUST have as its title: “The Picture: <<your title goes here>>”
3. ALL entries MUST be submitted to Jinn no later than October 31, 2003.

I will ask three others to join me as “judges” – we will each review the entries, and post our reviews.

The prize: well, I guess it’s the everlasting admiration of your peers …

Whaddya think, everyone? Are you up to the challenge?

The idea stems from an exercise I had to do way back in the seventh decade of the last century ... while working toward a University degree I took a creative writing course, just for fun. Easy credit, right? LOL. Anyway, one of the exercises was just this: the entire class was given a picture and a deadline. We had to write a story based on that picture. It was a challenging and fascinating experience, which contributed to my pursuing a career as a word prostitute, uh, commercial writer.

So sharpen up your keyboards, boys and girls, this could be fun!

OK You have me hooked.

I'm game.
;)

I presume that since Fox is hosting this event the format will be the short, short story - approximately 250-500 words (one page of text).

I will try to participate.

I guess I can try my hand at a short story :)

It is exciting to see such an enthusiastic response!

redEva shall grace us with her selection soon ... I have no idea what picture she will select - she and I have discussed the challenge, and she sent me a couple of her ideas, of which I think she will be posting just one ...

e e norcod writes:

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I presume that since Fox is hosting this event the format will be the short, short story - approximately 250-500 words (one page of text).

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To clarify: I set no rules other than

1. The story MUST be based on the picture.
2. The story MUST have as its title: “The Picture: <<your title goes here>>”
3. ALL entries MUST be submitted to www.bdsmlibrary.com no later than October 31, 2003.

The length, content, etc., is up to the writer. One page or a hundred pages, that's up to you.

I'm providing the concept, redEva is providing the picture, you provide the words.

By the way, I am participating as one of the reviewers, not as a writer.

and. so here it is Sire Fox, Honorable audience, Ladies and Gentleman, boy and girls, Dominants and submissive….. it is romantic, it is cruel.... it is not new – but it is my choice!

Ta-da:

... for better or worse ;)

This should be fun!

AND OUR FIRST ENTTRY HAS BEEN RECEIVED ALREADY!

COME ON BOYS AND GIRLS, GET THOSE FINGERS A-FLYING OVER THE KEYBOARDS!

:)

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Originally posted by Fox
COME ON BOYS AND GIRLS, GET THOSE FINGERS A-FLYING OVER THE KEYBOARDS!

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You can't hurry creativity :D

Count me in. Nice pic, by the way :D

Alright... deal the cards adn pass the servicing wench. I'm in too.
:cool:

And just to make sure that all our enthusiasts get the info, our wonderful host Jin has posted a Contest Page ! Please take a second to check it out – it has all the information you wanted to know, but were afraid to ask for :D

and, just btw - i am really glad all of you like the picture. Looking forward reading all those stories!

I'll give it a try. Here it says the deadline is Oct. 31, but Jinn says it is Nov. 15. Which is correct?

The new deadline is Nov 15. It was moved forwards, since the words only got out on the main page a few days ago.

November 15, 2003

I submitted a story for the contest. It just so happened that the story I am currently writing fit the picture perfectly so my submission is also the fifth chapter of a continuing story. My question, is should I post my story also to the story side so it corresponds to my current story or should I wait until the contest results are announced?

Powerone

Fox is temporarily incommunicado, so I'll take a shot at this: I'd wait until the results of the contest are posted, but you CAN do whatever seems best to you.

I'd be interested in the next one. I will have some time to write during the holidays and may be ready to test the waters. I'm certainly not up to the caliber of PowerOne, e.e. norcod and the like, but i'd like the motivation and the deadline to try my hand.

I can't wait to read the entries!

Watch out for the story Bootsie which is in the queue to be added to the Library. It was written in exactly the way you suggest.

So come on Jinn, Fox and redEva ... when is the next challenge starting?

We're all twiddling our fingers in anticipation.

Firebird

Good idea. I'm in again!

Maybe there should be a limit on the story size, so that it's easier for reviewers to compare like with like.

(Also, a size limit will prevent me from writing far too much and still managing to send in a story with material left undeveloped.)

I guess I could also volunteer to judge, if any existing judges are unavailable, or perhaps they want to enter something themselves.

Anyone else got thoughts on the next story competition?

The rapacious ravishing redhead redEva and I have begun discussing the next story contest.

Well, truth be told, I'm doing the talking, she is kinda tied up, if you know what I mean.

heh heh ;)

I wish! :rolleyes:

But a new story contest is in the works ... wait for it.

Over the last month the yipping of the fox has been greatly missed.

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Originally posted by e.e. norcod
Over the last month the yipping of the fox has been greatly missed.

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i'll second that!

sl

It seems that masses are getting restless, so with Foxes help and with Jinn’s blessing we started to roll out new Story Challenge!

Preparations are on the go, and I would like here – first publicly ask if I can get some volunteers or recommendation from perspective authors – who should be judges to join the panel?

Aurelius has already volunteered, so I am here by extending the invite to him to join in this round as a judge. As soon as I get few more volunteers and have their commitment we will post the rules and deadlines.

As we would like to make this as enjoyable to everyone involved, please do post your suggestions here (what should the time line be, what would you like to see as a topic etc). We will do out best to take all the suggestions in consideration and possibly work them in future contests if not this one.

So… *drum roll* … let it roll!

Time line suggestion, topic announced April 1st (what better time than April Fool's Day), stories due, May 1st (The Lusty Month of May).

Length Restriction. 10 pages, MS Word, 12 point Times, regular margins.

I would love to be a judge but I suspect that I will be submitting an entry. I may be dispassionate about my writing but I am not that dispassionate.

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Originally posted by e.e. norcod
Length Restriction. 10 pages, MS Word, 12 point Times, regular margins.

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One thing I've learned from years of teaching college is to never specify the length of a paper in pages. Ten pages is about 5000 words, so if you wanted to specify that as a length, do it by word count.

I'm not sure I agree with a length limitation at all. Five thousand words is not an excessively long story. I would suggest limiting it to stories that are complete within themselves. Anything that is part of a longer work, "to be continued," or other variations of the same thing should be disqualified.

The topic should allow for a wide variety of approaches. Do you plan to use a picture again?

Bill

Thank you for your comments gentleman. I can see your point bill, but I do like some limit on the story. For one thing – judge panel has to read through all the stories they receive – and for one thing – I don’t feel it to be fair to shower them with mandatory read of 20+ pages per story.

I loved the picture idea, but… we were wondering if this time we could make it somewhat different… one of the possibilities is to have one paragraph written, and have all authors continue the story. Another suggestion was to set just the mood, word or colour. Somewhere on the forum there is suggestion to have a set of words that need to be used in a story…

As we have not set anything yet – I am still looking for suggestions. More we get, better!
Take this as a brain-storming, and we will use the suggestions if not this time, than for sure for some of the upcoming events.

Again, thank you for your suggestions and interest and for the rest of the potential writers – lets us hear your thoughts :)

i am very happy to hear a new story contest is in the planning and am willing to offer my two cents worth of opinion.

First opinion, i agree with Red about keeping the length short, making it a "short story" (if 10 pages can be called short) contest as opposed to the feature length stories that are submitted in the library. Perhaps too, if kept short, a few more of the none winners might also be published. But i also agree with bill's suggestion of requiring the story to be complete. The entries should have a beginning, middle and an end, no continuations. Yes, it may be more of a challenge to do all that in the limited space of 10 pages, but isn't it part of a good contest to be challenging?

Second opinion, i personally, really like the picture inspired challenge best. i was very impressed by how one picture could inspire such different ideas. i liked being able to look at the picture thru the eyes of the writers and their stories and each time see something different.

Lastly, i will close with a question. What are your requirements for being a judge? As a newbie to the library, i may not qualify but would gladly offer my help.

simple thoughts from a simple mind:)
kym

I agree with Kym with having a picture as a frame of reference for the story. (I thought it was a brilliant idea when I first saw it in the original competition.) It just seems to make the stories more ... visual. What's the often used phrased, A picture's worth a thousand words. Hey, that's nearly a page of writing gone in one foul swoop. <Grin!>

I'd recommend not putting too many restrictions on story writing ... I was involved with another story competition a couple of months back where the website owner said what the story theme was going to be, then he said what the story had to be about, then he said he only want three characters involved and described their occupations, desires, history, etc ... the only thing the authors could write about was how the characters physically look. The rest of the story was done.

Needless to say the webmaster only got a couple of stories (I didn't bother writing anything after reading the rules) and the competition was really a waste of time. The webmaster then amused us by writing a nasty forum message saying how disappointed he was that no one cared enough to write anything.
Homer Simpson, you're not the dumbest dude around.

The only rule I'd recommend is page length. When I write a chapter in my stories I routinely keep the chapter to approx 8000-10,000 characters. Anymore and readers will often get tired, bored or worse, won't finish the chapter. So let's say one story with a max of three chapters, and the story has to have an ending.

[Fire-bird jumps down from his soap-box and dusts it off for the next person.]

Fire-bird

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Originally posted by Phoenix
Homer Simpson, you're not the dumbest dude around.

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But subs, don't let Homer Dom you.

Seriously, I think you make an excellent point about how demanding too much can injure the storyteller's process. And then there's the issue of writing credit-- the last thing I want, or would want to do to someone else as a Mod, is have my name tacked on to something someone else wrote because they had to use a scenario I suggested in detail.

I have been looking for photographic images to suggest for the contest, but all I seem to come back to are Alebeard's pics, and some of Roberts. Since I think Alebeard would want to participate, I'll have to keep looking.

Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy! I would not automatically pass on Alebeard without consulting him first. In my opinion, and it is not a humble one, Alebeard and emma do the finest work in North America and maybe the world. I would love to write a story based on one of their photos.

Another one to consider is Masterkurt. Perhaps in his archives he has something, particularly black and white, he would consider sending.

In any case both of the above choices have been contributors to this site in the Personal Photography Forum. Dedicating one of their pictures as the theme photo would honor them for their contribution. I think that it would be a neat artistic cross-over combining two of this sites themes, fiction and personal photography!

Perhaps he could take something new for the contest and agree to be a judge!

Alebeard, are you interested...?

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Another suggestion was to set just the mood, word or colour. Somewhere on the forum there is suggestion to have a set of words that need to be used in a story…

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I think you might be refering to my suggestion. Actually the words I mentioned were literary devices (tropes!) like metaphors, puns, irony, alliteration. Designed mostly as a way to make the story amusing and witty, as well as stimulate the writer towards a bit of humour.

Having volunteered to be a judge I suddenly find myself greatly in favour of a word limit! ;) Though for me 5000 words is around 15 minutes reading time maximum, which isn't much really. I don't mind if they are a little longer than that.