Short short story: a WW contest
Written by washwords on April 23, 2009 – 3:22 pmA WASHWORDS CONTEST!!!!!!
Write me the shortest short story you can.
Winner gets a prize! (tbd) Reaaaddddy setttt gooooo.
In my “work” fun for DCBlogs, I noticed over the last few weeks that content across the area seemed to be… well, shrinking.
Chalk it up to the beaaauttiffffull weather or maybe (probably) I’m/we’re still not looking in the right place. DCblogs founder Pat had another thought: Writing reducer, thy name is Twitter!
He has a point; not only were there fewer (DC-related, clean, funny, sweet, or otherwise engaging) posts out there, but some that did catch my eye, were literally only as long as their title. That got me thinking….
Twitter’s “thing” is that you leave status lines of 140 characters or less only (think facebook, if you’re umm new to this whole interweb thang; or IM, if you are really new, or umm the p.s. at the end of a letter to your BFF (best friend forever) at sleepaway camp if you have NO idear what i’m talking about.
Full disclosure and/or comfort if you’re in that latter group: I had a brief romance with Twitter, early in my blogging time, and admit being pretty solidly in the “eh?” category now. But what I DO like about twitter: the simplicity, the parsimony of saying something in very few words and letters, as few as possible.
Many former journalists, wanna-be-writers, editors, readers of 8 million page reports put out by government agencies can appreciate that I bet.
So, with a nod to the loverly six-word memoirs, and sites such as this, I present: A WASHWORDS CONTEST!!!!!!
Write me the shortest short story you can.
Winner gets a prize! (tbd) Reaaaddddy setttt gooooo.
The fine print:
- Leave all entries in comments and/or present a link on your blog.)
- Deadline Next Thursday April 30, 6 p.m. (when I usually work on my Friday DCBlogs entry.)
- My scoring algorithm is still in development completely at my whim, but I can tell you there’s points for story, points for short, and bonus points for working in Washington and words.
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Tags: contest, short short story, short story, six words, twitter, washington, words, writers, writing contest
Posted in wash, words | 17 Comments »
April 23rd, 2009 at 6:21 pm
It is hard to watch tv without a remote even if it is a big flat screen tv. This is what happened (and I think this is funny). My husband and I just moved and in the move we misplaced our remote. Since it is a generic tv none of the codes word for it so we could not program the remote that comes with the cable box. We have been here 1 month and not looked at tv because we could not find the remote to turn the tv off and on. Sad but true. I am happy to say that when my husband was cleaning out the trunk of his car, he found the remote. Oh happy day. No I guess we can sit on our new couch in our new home and watch tv with our remote.
Stormees last post: Quilted Bath Mat
April 24th, 2009 at 12:03 am
[...] I’m wondering: is tweeting making you write – even BLOG – less? I have a contest for you. Cheers and happy [...]
April 24th, 2009 at 2:07 am
did this contest accepted blogger from indonesia ?
thank’s
widi
widis last post: Lung Cancer Healed
April 26th, 2009 at 7:11 am
Hello Miss washwords,
I wrote a short story for the contest. I tried to make it as short as possible. Here is the link
http://zorlone.blogspot.com/2009/04/difficult-to-please.html
I hope to hear from you soon.
Zorlone
PS. read your “who?” I found out about you from EC droppings (that didn’t come out right)
zorlones last post: Difficult to please
April 27th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
For me, Twitter and Blogs are SO different – someone who’s a good tweeter is not necessarily going to be a good blogger, and vice versa. So it makes me sad to think that content would be migrating from blogs to Twitter, since God only knows how well it will survive the transition.
I’m tempted to think that this will be temporary. For one thing, Twitter is benefiting from an explosion of media coverage that can’t go on forever. And I think that some bloggers will just realize that Twitter isn’t for them, and go back to blogging exclusively.
Jennas last post: Highlights from the 2009 Smithsonian Craft Show
April 27th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
I thought I’d play along. I love writing prompts and flash fiction. Hope you like my little snippet.
http://angelsharums-storyboard.blogspot.com/2009/04/defeat.html
Angels last post: Defeat
April 28th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
My entry, titled “The Death of Fauntleroy”
“Timmy was wrong when he said I couldn’t fit my head into this corrugated pipe,” thought Fauntleroy.
Phils last post: Bon informs CDC: The cure for swine flu is inside this bacon-lined brief case, and it will cost you $500 million
April 29th, 2009 at 5:10 am
I swept the wedding cake off the table so it exploded over the carpet, turned, and walked away.
-Fin-
Chinarens last post: Art!
April 30th, 2009 at 10:07 am
My submission:
This is a short story disguised as a tweet.
[F]oxymorons last post: Gonads And Strife
WW says: love itttt foxy one. ha.
May 1st, 2009 at 8:11 am
In the Bad Old Days, Corcoran Street (now Yuppy Heaven) used to be known as Stab Alley. One morning, 40 years ago, I awoke to a gun
fight going on 3 doors down. Seemed police found that neighbor was
running a numbers biz from under the lid of his garbage can. No one hurt. I want a plaque put up to commemorate The Last Gun Battle of Stab Alley.
May 4th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Oops, I missed the contest, but realy love stuff like this. Two of my favorite variations? iambossy.com runs “ten word Tuesday”, wherein she throws out a topic and you leave a response in ten words. Even more parsimonious (and I do love that word, Wash!) is threewordsblog.com. Same idea only even more challenging! I’ve blogrolled both at my site. Check ‘em out!
Megs last post: Comfort food
May 5th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
WW says: Thanks so much to allllll of you for playing – making me chuckle, gasp, smile and think I have a really hard time ahead of me, picking a winner! Apologies for the delay and stay tuned…winner coming soon! –WW
May 6th, 2009 at 7:23 am
The adrenaline rush from racing and tripping to board the train subsiding, I rummage through my bags while settling into the coveted seat. Preparing to erase the monotony of today with Dorothy Parker, he is standing on a seat nearest the door, inevitably capturing my attention. A sigh, knowing the impending tragedy will win out over stories of New York society long gone.
A girl-woman, seemingly his mother, with gadgets in each hand and ear, sits beside him. With every harsh word and act of indifference, my heart is stabbed with pains of not fair. He’s trying to get your attention, he’s tired from a long day, he’s four and incapable of malice. The messages I futilely send her via a gaze she never sees. Falling off the seat, wails and tears, a cruel spanking, an abundance of apathy.
A snack, a toy, a book. I must have something in my bag. How simple it would be, how comforting, how natural. A daring escape even, thoughts of the zoo, ice cream on the Mall, a chat with Mr. Lincoln. She wouldn’t mind, she couldn’t. The bed she made doesn’t fit, isn’t easy, isn’t comfortable. The hero I would be, and happy, and fulfilled.
Their exit, two stops before mine, punctuated with the yanking of an arm and more empty threats and absent love. I should make my move. He’d be safer on the train, just watching a bleak future with her slide away, his relief, my joy as the train enters a tunnel filled with light, not darkness.
The book sits on my lap, unread.
May 18th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
So, have you picked a winner? Sad that I missed the contest deadline. Hope you do another one. Love stuff like this.
the critics last post: 26 Weeks, 4 days
June 11th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
Congrats to whoever won the contest!
December 9th, 2009 at 8:59 am
god, why all the contests are over now?? no…. this is just too sad…. what I am left with is only reading the very short stories on twitter now…. btw I prefer @short__stories
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M´s last blog ..Introducing
December 9th, 2009 at 9:44 am
Love this, great blog, thanks.