Flash-Fiction Contest

Hello and welcome to the first ever Taleworlds Flash Fiction competition!

How does it work?

It's very similar to the popular Photo Contest thread. I will set you a topic. You will write a 1000 word (max) flash-fiction piece based on this topic. You will have one week to submit your work, and then one week to read the entries and cast your vote for the one you like best. The winner then chooses the next round!

Seventeenth topic is: The Red Baroness



Please read the rules before submitting!

• Your piece of fiction must be no more than 1000 words. Please post a word count at the beginning or end of your submission.
  
  
  
• If submitting your work directly to this thread, please use the spoiler tags to save room. Your title can go in the spoiler title (and the word count too, if you like).
  
  
  
• If submitting your work directly to this thread, keep it to PG-13 rating. If submitting content with gratuitous violence or sexual content, host it on your own space and provide a link in this thread with relevant warnings about content some might find offensive. Wordpress, fictionpress.net and Google docs/Google Drive are some resources you may wish to make use of for external hosting if you don't have anywhere already.
  
  
  
• If it is your turn to choose a topic, please pick something that is accessible to a wide audience. "Mr Spock's Day Off" might sound great to you, but not everyone will know who Spock is. Where possible, avoid specific popular culture references and settings, and be a little more general. "An alien's day off" is something everyone can work with. If you're stuck for topic ideas, one way of getting around this is by visiting a random word/random phrase generator, and generating a phrase (or a pool of words) for people to pick from.
  
  
  
• Characters and settings should not be based on existing published works (be they yours or someone else's). For example, writing about a Vulcan called Spock on the Enterprise for "An alien's day off" is not acceptable, as this doesn't so much show your creative writing skills as show your ability to write about existing characters and situations. However, using character traits or mixing several characters together, whilst not terribly creative, is acceptable. For example, if you want to write about a highly logical alien called John Constantine and his adventures on a mysterious time-travelling island during his day off, then knock yourself out.
  
  
  
• Submissions must be made within 7 days of the topic being set (The cut-off time is 8pm GMT on the Friday after the topic is set). Late submissions will not be accepted. After all entries have been received, you will have one week to read submissions and cast your vote. In the event of a tie, the winners may either collaborate on a new topic, decide between themselves who wants to choose, or ask an impartial third-party to flip a coin for them.
  
  
  
• A topic-setter may write a piece for their own topic, but this must be submitted after all other entries have been received, and it cannot be included in the voting.
  
  

Archive of previous topics/stories:

Round 1 - 22nd March - 5th April 2013
Topic: A secret meeting
Set by: Llandy
Winner: Pillock
Link:  http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,267797.0.html

Round 2 - 5th April - 19th April 2013
Topic: A street corner in November
Set by: Pillock
Winner: Llandy
Link:  http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,269272.0.html

Round 3 - 19th April - 3rd May 2013
Topic: Four words
Set by: Llandy
Winner: Havoc & BenKenobi
Link: http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,270781.0.html

Round 4 - 3rd May - 17th May 2013
Topic: Ship
Set by: Havoc
Winner: Llandy
Link: http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,272255.0.html

Round 5 - 17th May - 31st May 2013
Topic: Random Town Event
Set by: Llandy
Winner: Lord Tim, Pillock & Folms
Link: http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,273648.0.html

Round 6 - 31st May - 14th June 2013
Topic: Friendly Fire; Great Escape; Green
Set by: Lord Tim, Pillock & Folms
Winner: TheFlyingFishy & BenKenobi
Link: http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,275244.0.html

Round 7 - 14th June - 28th June 2013
Topic: Magic in the Starlight
Set by: BenKenobi
Winner: Llandy
Link: http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,276593.0.html

Round 8 - 28th June - 12th July 2013
Topic: The man behind the mask
Set by: Llandy
Winner: Pillock
Link: http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,278553.0.html

Round 9 - 12th July - 26th July 2013
Topic: A small favour
Set by: Pillock
Winner: Llandy
Link: http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,280177.0.html

Round 10 - 26th July - 9th August
Topic: A secret package
Set by: Llandy
Winner: Kazzan
Link: http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,284391.0.html

Round 11 - 9th August - 30th August
Topic: Escape
Set by: Kazzan
Winner: Pillock & MadVader
Link: http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,284391.0.html

Round 12 - 30th August - 13th September
Topic: A long awaited reunion
Set by: MadVader
Winner: Lumos
Link: http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,285834.0.html

Round 13 - 13th September - 27th September
Topic: Rain
Set by: Lumos
Winner: Ben & Llandy
Link: http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,286843.0.html

Round 14 - 27th September - 11th October
Topic: The Secret Door (the random place)
Set by: Llandy
Winner: Vermillion Hawk
Link: http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,287769.0.html

Round 15 - 13th October - 26th October
Topic: The Basement
Set by: Vermillion Hawk
Winner: Lumos
Link: http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,288810.0.html

Round 16 - 1st November - 6th December
Topic: The Last Days
Set by: Lumos
Winner: Ruthven & Ben Kenobi
Link: http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/topic,291631.0.html

Round 17 - 18th December -
Topic: The Red Baroness
Set by: Ben Kenobi
Winner:
Link:

1000 words in a week? Child's play. I'll consider signing up.

Well hurry up cause there is a signing up bonus
I don't think there will be many entries, but nonetheless, this could be fun.

I dunno, there are quite a few writers around here, Argeus, Pillock, myself, Winter (who is BANNED from this contest... j/k) amongst others. Even the photo contest started off slow, and even 2 entries will be enough to run this.

I might put a redirecting thread in the D&S too as there are a lot of creative folks there.

FLASH

AAA-AAAAAAAA

CONTEST ON TALEWORLDS

I kept staring at this thread in disbelief for 5 minutes before I realized it didn't say "slash-fiction contest"

Ahh, the simple male mind :p

Pfh, slash fiction is totally a girl thing.

Napooki's right. Also, this sounds interesting.

Yes, I may enter some. Might get me to actually write something. 

Stay tuned, and tell your friends!

For those of you who don't have friends (you KNOW who you are!) tell your chat-roulette partners or whatever.

Better be a half-decent topic. Also, question - will we be given a setting, a genre, or a combination of the two to work with?

I'm assuming it will be free, as long as you work the topic in to the writing reasonably well?

Vermillion_Hawk said:

Better be a half-decent topic. Also, question - will we be given a setting, a genre, or a combination of the two to work with?

Click to expand...

It could be anything from a setting to a random phrase or even a song lyric or a line of a poem. You'll have to wait and find out.

Also, there are no bad topics, only bad writers.

True, but some topics are more conducive than others.

Vermillion_Hawk said:

True, but some topics are more conducive than others.

Click to expand...

Not really. I could write two pieces of equal quality for "a rainy day" and "invasion of Earth by mysterious alien forces!"

In fact, I bet I could write better for "a rainy day".

Anyway, we now have rules. Check out post #1, read, comment, offer suggestions for new rules, go crazy, whatever.

How exactly does fiction differ from story?

BenKenobi said:

How exactly does fiction differ from story?

Click to expand...

It doesn't.

By the way, to avoid word limits (which I dislike, and are no longer the educational standard), shall we limit it to 3.5 pages double-spaced, 12-point font with one-inch margins? That roughly equates to 1000 words, and it also allows for some wiggle room if you absolutely need those extra lines.