On the Premises #2

Here's a mini-contest from On the Premises. I'm thinking about taking a stab at it...what about you?


--- MINI-CONTEST #10 ---

STICKY NOTE

The goal of mini-contest #10 is to imply/evoke a complete
story with just a short note written by someone, to someone.
Make sure the note specifies whom it is addressed to, and who
signed it. (You don't have to use the word "signed.") Make the
note no more than 30 words long. With only 30 words to work
with, you'll have to make a lot of decisions!

Here's a dull example to clarify what we want entries to look like.

Sarah:

I bought milk.

Dan.

Remember, use no more than 30 words, and that includes the name(s) of the note's intended
recipient(s) and the name(s) of whoever's signing it. (So the example above is five words
long, not three!)

WORD COUNTS: Except when spelling out numbers, hyphens count as spaces.
"Half-baked" counts as two words, but "twenty-seven" counts as one
word because it could be rewritten as "27."

Deadline: 11:59 PM Eastern time, Thursday, December 31, 2009.

Prizes: $15 for 1st, $10 for 2nd, $5 for 3rd, publication but no money for honorable
mentions.

Send entries to Entries@OnThePremises.com and put MINI-CONTEST
in the subject heading, please. One entry per author.

Finally, remember to put your contact information in the body of your e-mail and attach
your mini-contest entry as a .doc, .rtf, or .txt file. (No .wps files! We can't read
them.)

Creative Writing Spark #2

Here's today's premise:

You've just moved to a new city and are unable to go home for Christmas. Feeling lonely, you decide to go into the office on Christmas Eve, where you find a co-worker...doing what?

Have fun!

Creative Writing Spark

To go along with the last entry, I've decided to periodically give you premises of my own to help you generate story ideas. On that note, the first premise is:

While house sitting for friends, you discover something unexpected on their property.

The first sentence could go something like:

"I couldn't believe my eyes..."

Feel free to post a comment letting me know what you think of this new feature, and telling me how it helped (or didn't help) your writing!

On the Premises

Some time ago, I wrote about using starter sentences to spark writing ideas. I recently ran across On the Premises, an online magazine devoted to a particular writing contest.

How does it work? Several times a year, On the Premises opens a contest to stories based on a story premise…supplied, of course, by their magazine. The premise for the current contest is:

THE PLAN

One or more characters have a plan. They think it's a good plan. Are they right? That's up to you, but whether the plan is brilliant, stupid, or anywhere in-between, something goes terribly wrong when the characters try to execute it.

Even if you don’t enter the contest, imagine the possibilities for using that premise to spark your own writing. Your story could be about a bank robbery, a wedding proposal, a surprise party or a battle. Think of anything that requires a plan, and write about it. Of course, I do urge you to enter the contest if you write a story based on their premise…the deadline isn’t until September 30, and it offers a cash prize, a chance to be published and the chance at a critique if they reject your story. (Yes, they actually critique some rejected stories, a valuable service few magazines offer these days.)

If you are interested in their contest, by the way, here’s some more info.

Write a creative, compelling, well-crafted story between 1,000 and 5,000 words long that clearly uses the premise.

Deadline: September 30, 2009, 11:59 PM Eastern Time.

Prizes: 1st - $140, 2nd - $100, 3rd - $70,

Honorable Mention - $25.

All payments in US dollars.

Between zero and three honorable mentions will be published.

No that you have another story idea, go forth and write!