What Happened Next Writing Contest (WHNWC)

That's excellent... we already have 3 volunteers.




whatukno
mojo4sale
sdp333


This is really encouraging

I haven't been in the ATS Writer's Realm for very long, but if you find that another judge is needed for future writing contests, feel free to ask me. Would be happy to help out!

It hardly matters how long you've been a writer. What matters is that you are.



Welcome to the #4 slot and thank you.


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edited out quote

[edit on 13/3/07 by masqua]

Hey,

what a surprise to wake up to this morning!! 3rd prize, awesome stuff!

congrats to ubermunche and sdp333 for 1st and 2nd prize and a thank you to all readers.

looking forward to next story

Thx

first prize

Reapers of the Universe by ubermunche

second prize

stains of Georgia Clay by sdp333

third prize

Mind Control: Out of Control, Minds Eye Matrix by ImaMarty

Well done and congrats to you guys.

Stains of Georgia Clay by sdp333,I would love to see a movie or a series made around that theme and link,very intriguing disturbing and mysterious!

There were many more excellent contributions and I enjoyed reading them all and also had a bit of fun myself,so thanks.

masqua
You can put me down as a volunteer as well,no problem at all or whenever you need someone to make up the numbers you need.

I can see I have a lot to learn from you all and hopefully in the coming years will be able to contribute some quality as well.

Cheers.

Congratulations to all who entered, but especially the winners.
I always enjoy reading "all" of your stories.

Masqua, you can call on me anytime. Thanks for your hard work.

The list is growing;


whatukno
mojo4sale
sdp333
DCFusion
gps777
SEIGE


Thank you all for volunteering. It should make our next contest an exciting experience for all those involved.

I'll say it once again, though, that being on the list for judging DOES NOT preclude you from submitting a story in that future contest. I prefer no-one at all feels that they should refrain from the fun of creativity.

I'd even like to see admins/staff getting into the fun of writing fictions. It's one way to vent our deepest fears or our most cherished hopes for the future without having 'back it up with evidence'.

With the writers being the judges, it doesn't matter who wrote the story... it will only be the story itself which makes it rise to prize levels.

On the subject of prizes, I'm going to be asking that they be increased dramatically. The creative talent which is showing itself within these contests is nothing short of amazing and THAT deserves substantial prize packages. One only needs to read through the Showcase of Winners, also among those which didn't win within contests or just stories at random in the forum home page.

So... any more ideas for the next contest?

Originally posted by masqua

So... any more ideas for the next contest?

I'd love to try a sci fi as i think you suggested masqua, but i also liked loams idea.

originally posted by loam I have a suggestion for a contest...

How about a short story involving the last day of civilization?

We can call it the what-were-you-doing-when-the-world-ended contest.

Add whatever rules you deem appropriate.

this thread is a good place to add your suggestions for contest idea's

cheers mojo.

How about a story that has to do with something on the ATS main page. The author would have to link in the story to the thread, and incorporate much of the thread into the story?

Congrats to all the winners. I too enjoyed the stories very much and I too would like to volunteer my services for judging.

So many great ideas for the next contest it's so hard to decide. My favorite is the end of the world idea...it excites me just thinking about it. Second is the idea of writing about a thread on ATS and linking back to the thread.

How about...length? All you asked for this time was 10,000 characters. that's roguhly four single spaced pages on a word processor. I've tested it out, and it takes roughly nine single spaced pages on a work processor to eat up the entire 25,000 character count. To increase the challenge factor, ask for the whole story in one submission.

What about a contest in the general writing forum for pieces that relate to the actual craft of writing. No reason to limit this talent pool to just short stories. With such 'serious' material on display, why not try for a contest that tests the writers to do...comedy? Suppose the writers were tasked with a serious attempt at collaborative writing?

Originally posted by dirty_underground
My favorite is the end of the world idea...it excites me just thinking about it. Second is the idea of writing about a thread on ATS and linking back to the thread.

Thanks, d_u, you just made the #7 slot

whatukno
mojo4sale
sdp333
DCFusion
gps777
SEIGE
dirty_underground

I'm thinking about that next contest... why not use BOTH ideas? We could make 'end-of-the-world' stories based on information from and linking to ATS threads.

It shouldn't be too hard to find something... there's the Predictions and Prophecies forum for the obvious scenarios and there are hundreds of others which may not seem like a Doomsday thing at first glance, but I'm sure creative minds can do wonderful things with it, wouldn't you agree?

We could call the contest (THE END) and they should all end with 'The End' as well.

I like whatukno's idea about taking a thread subject and creating a work of fiction from it. It could be a popular thread or totally obscure.......

Another idea is to let the winner of each contest pick the theme for the following contest. However, mods would still set the rules and deem what the prizes may be.

Just a couple of suggestions......

Ok...let's say we're going with the ATS thread idea.

Should we not have a theme of some sort? I don't want to narrow it down to any particular forum for ANY reason, but to have something in common for all the stories could be helpful.

What say we all to 'length' as Justin suggested? Should we raise the bar a little on the next contest by asking for longer stories?

Here's one for you. Suppose "you" had the chance to write the sequel to any of the short stories you saw in this contest? Which one would you...dare...to take on?

Side note. I should recuse myself from anything done with the ATS front page as a theme because...I am on the ATS front page.

Congratulations to the winners

I tried to make it to the contest but got caught up in life. I'll do my best to make it to the next contest though.

Masqua, anytime you need someone to help judge, You can send me a U2U.

I'm also seeing some good ideas for the next contest. Maybe the tag team story should be considered. Two writers decide on a plot, from differant angles. Two lives providing two perspectives that are both coming to the crux of a dreadful situation. One is a hitman, one is a target, both coming to the same fateful encounter. The writers would both have to agree on the outcome and bring their characters to it. That would be a whole new level. It doesn't have to be hitman/target. It could be lover/cheating spouse, Alien/abductee, officer alone/criminal, etc etc etc....

Still, I've read some other great ideas as well,

Both good ideas, but look here

I agree with increasing the length on the next contest. It would make it more challenging.

Though I appreciate the short story contest, for those of who are short on time, this makes it possible for us to participate.

Any idea how long before we can expect the next challenge to begin? I am anxious to get started on this next one a bit earlier then I did on this past story. I almost didn't see in time.

It's already started... look here

You have until the end of May

Thanks for the directions!