jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

Beethro is a lot of things. Crafty. Indomitable. Clever (or at least cunning).

But of all of these things, there's this one item that we keep sweeping under the rug: Beethro is getting older.

Someday, possibly many years in the future, the Smitemaster's Guild is going to have to rent one of those tacky halls, cater a delicious feast made of roasted roaches, wraithwing kebabs, snake surprise and eyeball flan...and then the speeches will begin.

Reminiscences. "I remember Beethro when he was fresh out of the Training Grounds, on his first job! He barely knew which end of the sword to hold onto!"

And so on. There are alternatives, of course. Beethro could take matters into his own hands, choose one particularly spectacular last job and retire in a blaze of glory. On his terms.

But he needs your help!

This is a creative writing contest. The subject matter is loosely defined to provide maximum flexibility.

Write a short story about Beethro's last job, his subsequent retirement (whatever form that takes), or some combination of the two.

Ground rules:

1) The story should not exceed 1500 words in length. Less is fine, but much more will make the job harder for those judging the contest.

2) Within the context of the story, anything goes. There is no obligation to be true to canon in any way, shape or form. There is an obligation to conform to the Rules of Conduct for the Caravelnet Forum -- language or subject matter that would be considered inappropriate on this forum are inappropriate for the stories as well.

3) You have two weeks. Submissions for this contest will be taken [somehow -- probably a submission topic, which I will have to ask a moderator to set up for me]. We will then have a one week judging period in which people will be able to read all of the stories and vote on which ones they think are the best. Stories will be judged without author's names on them.

4) Prizes: First place will receive 50 Rank Points.
Second place will receive 30 Rank Points.
Third place will receive 20 Rank Points.

These prizes are courtesy of (and with special thanks to) our glorious moderators.

5) Other than providing prize points and assisting with technical details, the moderators of this forum disavow any knowledge of or connection with this contest.

6) There is no Item 6.

7) I do realize that a writing contest such as this puts non-native English speakers at an inherent disadvantage. (In some cases -- I know plenty of non-native English speakers who are better writers than a lot of native English speakers.) I'd hope that concept is given at least as much weight by judges as style, but ultimately that's up to each person's individual conscience.

You may begin.



____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

Citrus
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1233
Registered: 01-08-2006
IP: Logged

I'll have to try my hand at this. It's going to be hard translating puzzles into words but I have a concept in mind already.

EDIT: I also still have the power to create submission topics, so if no mod wants to do it, and I get permission, and that you want me to start one for you, I can.

Unfortunatley I can't make it so that you are the owner of the submission topic, and I don't think the mods can either. Maybe they'll give you the ability to create them!



____________________________
Call me Citrus.

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[Last edited by Ezlo at 07-20-2006 08:23 PM]

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

Ezlo wrote:
I'll have to try my hand at this. It's going to be hard translating puzzles into words but I have a concept in mind already.

The emphasis needn't be on describing a hold (although it certainly could be). Your options are wide open as to how you choose to approach the topic.

____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

gamer_extreme_101
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1939
Registered: 03-07-2004
IP: Logged

Heh...if you want to enter, Ezlo, I'd recommend against creating the topic just to play fair. I can create the topic, as I'd probably grab any of the stories that get made and put them up on a nice little page on the site...



____________________________
--That guy with a million different aliases since he doesn't like this name anymore.

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

gamer_extreme_101 wrote:
Heh...if you want to enter, Ezlo, I'd recommend against creating the topic just to play fair. I can create the topic, as I'd probably grab any of the stories that get made and put them up on a nice little page on the site...

Either way works for me. It would probably better if the owner of the submission topic was not competing in the contest, though.

____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

Citrus
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1233
Registered: 01-08-2006
IP: Logged

One story per customer? And is the 1500 limit strict? My stories tend to get rather long quickly.

____________________________
Call me Citrus.

gamer_extreme_101
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1939
Registered: 03-07-2004
IP: Logged

As a quick idea, and using a draft of the mini-novel I'm writing, 1500 words is approximately equal to four pages of actual writing.

____________________________
--That guy with a million different aliases since he doesn't like this name anymore.

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

Ezlo wrote:
One story per customer? And is the 1500 limit strict? My stories tend to get rather long quickly.

One story per customer.

The 1500 word limit is a guideline. I won't throw out a story with more, but the idea is to keep them relatively short. A 3000 word story probably won't make it.

Thing is, we might get just a few submissions, in which case it doesn't matter as much. But if a lot of people (say 30) participate, and everyone edges over to 2000 words, you're looking at 60,000 words to be read by everyone judging the stories. That's like reading a small novel.

Josh

____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

Alneyan
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 622
Registered: 07-06-2004
IP: Logged

jbluestein wrote:
7) I do realize that a writing contest such as this puts non-native English speakers at an inherent disadvantage. (In some cases -- I know plenty of non-native English speakers who are better writers than a lot of native English speakers.) I'd hope that concept is given at least as much weight by judges as style, but ultimately that's up to each person's individual conscience.

I demand that non-native speakers benefit from a bonus in rank points, goodies, free beer (hey, that makes for a good bribe), or higher votes. I cannot fathom why we should be discarded when we make up the bulk of the chaps on these forums. Foreigners unite! We are a voting block (and not voting blokes), and we can overthrow English from the boards! We will live forever in peace and in harmony with French as the sole language allowed on the forums... what, did I just say that out loud?

I will probably give this content a try; be warned I have as much originality as an used sock, and my style is about as thrilling as a Blue Screen of Death (granted, the BSOD *is* memorable, just not wanted). Still.

Jason
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1076
Registered: 05-05-2006
IP: Logged

What's THAT: The Girl, The Golden Sword, and...well, The Golden Sword, anyway

have to do with it?

____________________________
Play my holds?

Citrus
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1233
Registered: 01-08-2006
IP: Logged

Well, at the end of most spy/action/horror/treasure hunting movies, the main hero always gets the main chunk of the treasure/credit/whatever, and ALWAYS gets the girl. Well since this story contest is about Beethro's retirement, and we seriouslly doubt he'll be able to get any girl, we're just leaving it at the golden sword.

____________________________
Call me Citrus.

larrymurk
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1917
Registered: 12-09-2004
IP: Logged

I think I might come up with a story for this.

It might be fun for people to have the option to submit a sound file along with the text file so they can have some fun narrating the story and it might be more fun listening to the stories instead of reading them.

I'll pony up some additional mod points for the best voice narrating.

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

larrymurk wrote:
I think I might come up with a story for this.

It might be fun for people to have the option to submit a sound file along with the text file so they can have some fun narrating the story and it might be more fun listening to the stories instead of reading them.

Excellent idea! No reason why a sound file can't be made available along with the story.

Josh

____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

Jason wrote:
What's THAT: The Girl, The Golden Sword, and...well, The Golden Sword, anyway

have to do with it?

Ezlo's comment is correct -- the original inspiration for it was an old TV movie, back when I was a kid, called The Girl, The Gold Watch and Everything. Which doesn't actually have alot to do with retirement on its own, but since a traditional retirement gift is a gold watch, well...it just kind of seemed to work.



____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

Alneyan wrote:
I demand that non-native speakers benefit from a bonus in rank points, goodies, free beer (hey, that makes for a good bribe), or higher votes. I cannot fathom why we should be discarded when we make up the bulk of the chaps on these forums. Foreigners unite! We are a voting block (and not voting blokes), and we can overthrow English from the boards! We will live forever in peace and in harmony with French as the sole language allowed on the forums... what, did I just say that out loud?

I wholeheartedly agree. Well, mostly.

Items: Any extra rank points, goodies, and free beer will be distributed to non-native speakers by the contest organizer (me) at the conclusion of the contest. To facilitate easy distribution, I'd ask anyone who has extras of any of these items to send them to me for, umm, safekeeping. If there's anything left at the end of the contest, I'll make sure it gets appropriately distributed.

Also, rather than French, I think the dominant language of the boards should be Urdu. A pain to type, perhaps, but think of the benefits!

...

In all seriousness, I would like to do a little something extra for non-native speakers with the guts to submit an entry. Except for people from the Netherlands, because as far as I can tell they all speak English better than most Americans.

I'll have to give it some extra thought.

Josh

____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

Niccus
Level: Smiter
Rank Points: 308
Registered: 07-02-2006
IP: Logged

About foreign entries in English -- I'm sure that most people here are willing to polish thine entries as long as they'll enjoy reading along with the story itself...

Of course, all the witty wordplays would be lost from the original language. Sorry!

Alneyan
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 622
Registered: 07-06-2004
IP: Logged

Don't worry, the main thing I'm lacking is originality. Okay, that doesn't give the whole picture yet. The two things I'm lacking are originality and inspiration. Erh, waitaminit... Three things I lack sorely are originality, inspiration, and style. Okay, yet another thing I lack is originality, inspiration, style, and wit.

I give up. Among the things I lack are originality, inspiration, style, wit, and creativity. Alas, Jbluestein in his infinite wisdom, has deemed that the contest should require *creative* writing; had it been merely writing, I could have got away with something as thrilling as a shell man page. Still, I gather the Most Enlightened One has good reasons to enforce the creativity part, though my puny mind cannot fathom them.

Flattery is now officially part of my weaponry, right beside bribes, blackmail, bitching and other words starting with B.

---

[Last edited by Alneyan at 07-22-2006 05:32 AM]

larrymurk
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1917
Registered: 12-09-2004
IP: Logged

I've got the writing done. Now time to do a little voice acting.

How are we doing the submissions? Is there a submission thread?

Citrus
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1233
Registered: 01-08-2006
IP: Logged

There should be one soon.

____________________________
Call me Citrus.

gamer_extreme_101
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1939
Registered: 03-07-2004
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I was just waiting for an actual entry to be ready before I made one. I just plan on informing jbluestein of a few things via PM before I create the topic. Stay tuned.

____________________________
--That guy with a million different aliases since he doesn't like this name anymore.

Schik
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5454
Registered: 02-04-2003
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Actually, I'll just temporarily enable submission thread creation for jbluestein. Josh, go ahead and create your submission thread.

____________________________
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals.
--Mahatma Gandhi

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

Schik wrote:
Actually, I'll just temporarily enable submission thread creation for jbluestein. Josh, go ahead and create your submission thread.

Thanks Schik!

Submission thread is here.


____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

Just one week left, folks!

The Jumping Snakes are fun, but you can only solve the puzzle so many times. What will you do with the rest of your time?

pssst...why not write a story?

____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

Alneyan
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 622
Registered: 07-06-2004
IP: Logged

Is the deadline on April 4 00:00:01 or April 4 23:59:59 ? I guess it's the former, but hey, you never know.

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

Alneyan wrote:
Is the deadline on April 4 00:00:01 or April 4 23:59:59 ? I guess it's the former, but hey, you never know.

Just to eliminate any ambiguity, I'm setting the deadline for 00:01:00 on August 5th. (-ish)

Josh


____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

Citrus
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1233
Registered: 01-08-2006
IP: Logged

So, my story is maybe about 2/3 done and I'm already at 1,587. Are there enough entries that I have to stop there? Or can I keep going? I'm really having fun with this! I'm trying to keep it as canonical as possible while still being creative.

One more thing, if anyone would be interested in reading my entry and pointing out any huge grammatical flaws, I would appreciate it. I stink at grammar.

____________________________
Call me Citrus.

jbluestein
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1670
Registered: 12-23-2005
IP: Logged

Ezlo wrote:
So, my story is maybe about 2/3 done and I'm already at 1,587. Are there enough entries that I have to stop there? Or can I keep going? I'm really having fun with this! I'm trying to keep it as canonical as possible while still being creative.

One more thing, if anyone would be interested in reading my entry and pointing out any huge grammatical flaws, I would appreciate it. I stink at grammar.

Glad you're enjoying it! At the moment, I don't have any indication that we're getting an overwhelming response. I imagine most participants will post their entries fairly close to the deadline, though.

Ummm, in other words, I dunno. I wouldn't stop if you still have something to say. But if you're really going to be far over the limit, well...make it good. (Kant would be so proud of me.)



____________________________
"Rings and knots of joy and grief, all interlaced and locking." --William Buck

Citrus
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1233
Registered: 01-08-2006
IP: Logged

Well, my story is pretty much finished. It has a total of 2,466 words. And the recording of it takes 14 minutes to listen to. Will upload them later today.

____________________________
Call me Citrus.

Elfstone
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1285
Registered: 03-01-2006
IP: Logged

Ehhhh, jbluestein?
My piece is ready, but I can't see any submissions in the submission thread. Is there something I don't understand here?

Also, how should I go about a recording of my piece. I know I have iTunes and, although I've never used it, I'm assuming I can make a recording with that (the iMac has a built in microphone). What I'm completely ignorant about is how to arrange things so that other people can hear what I've recorded. Any advice would be most welcome.

Elfstone.

____________________________
Winner of: Novice Architect Excellence 2006.
FAPCA - Technical Design Excellence in Layout and Aesthetics

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[Last edited by Elfstone at 08-01-2006 11:01 PM]

larrymurk
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1917
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The beauty of a Submission thread is that people only see their own submissions. So you won't be seeing any submissions other then any you post.

I don't know about recording on the Mac as such, but the general method is:
1. Run a program that can record.
2. Click Record.
2.5. Speak into a microphone.
3. Click Stop when done.
4. Click Save and choose a filename to save it as.