Fortnightly Writing Competition: After the Fire (until Nov 30)

[RootBound]

Hello all,

@Mandle and I have settled of the following theme:

After the Fire

Something has burned. A meal? A house? A forest? Perhaps simply a piece of pottery in a kiln?
Or has it burned metaphorically - burning your bridges, torching your relationship, or anything else where a "burn it all down" metaphor would be appropriate.

The caveat is this: whatever type of fire event you choose, the story must take place after that event. The focus should be on aftermath, repercussions, fallout... whatever comes "next."

Bonus points if you can avoid a big dump of exposition, but those points will be up to the voters, of course. 

My understanding is that the hosts may also write entries, but we'll see whether I have enough time.

Deadline is November 30.

[Mandle]

Love this theme. It was definitely the best of the bunch.

[Baron]

My understanding is that the hosts may also write entries....

Love this understanding of our hallowed rules.  Cue further debate! 

[RootBound]

Love this understanding of our hallowed rules.  Cue further debate! 

I mean, if I'm wrong that's totally fine--I would sort of feel weird about entering while hosting anyway.    I'm hoping we get enough participation that I won't need to enter. 

Spoiler

I actually did just sit down and write something short, though. Because I wanted to.    We'll see whether it's necessary to enter it.

[close]

[Stupot]

Generally the host doesn't enter. Occasionally they might still post a story but declare it as not an official entry.

In this occasion though, considering the three of you had been discussing the themes in PM, it's not as though Rootbound has had much more of a head start than the others, so I don't really mind if the host enters in this case.

In fact I'm not particularly against it anyway, especially if it means more entries.

[Mandle]

My understanding is that the hosts may also write entries....

Love this understanding of our hallowed rules.  Cue further debate! 

It was actually me that suggested that rule to RootBound for this round. When he said "it is my understanding" that probably meant his understanding was for this round. I actually don't mind if the host enters every round, but that's not the reason why I suggested the exception to the rule to him in this case.

The reason was that we have someone other than the usual gang who is potentially interested in submitting an entry.

Rootbound, feel free to write your entry and submit it. Like I said to you via our private discussions, if anyone doesn't approve of the host entering, they can just ignore that entry when they vote. The contest isn't even about "winning" it, really. It's just a motivation to write something every two to four weeks, and always feels good when something gets released no matter how few people read it. Well, it feels good to win as well, and the more participants we have, the better that feels as well.

I'm actually currently putting together a much-revised compilation of stories I have written here over the years into a short story compilation with hopes for some kind of publication. I wasn't even serious about writing the first time I joined this contest. You never know where bashing out a story every 2-4 weeks can take you.

Oh, and I finally have an idea in mind for MY story for this round... YAY!

[RootBound]

We'll see what happens. I'll have something written either way, and if we get at least 3 other entries, I will post it as a non-entry.

Side note, not a big deal, but I realized I've never been clear about my pronouns on here, so, added them to my signature.

[Sinitrena]

In this occasion though, considering the three of you had been discussing the themes in PM, it's not as though Rootbound has had much more of a head start than the others, so I don't really mind if the host enters in this case.

Two. I didn't participate in any discussions. As a matter of fact, I just now saw Mandle's PM concerning possible topics, because I hadn't logged in for a few days and for some reason I didn't get an e-mail notification.

Anyway, that's not the point, neither is a head start on the topic - it's the need in all contests for a neutral arbitrator.

I can't stop the host from entering, of course, but I'll repeat again and again that it is not a good idea, even in a little friendly contest like this one.


 Oh, and I'm already working on something, if I have the necessary time, it should be done fairly quickly. Love the topic!

[Stupot]

It is a great topic. I've already splashed out a good half of mine. The planets aligned and I had a long break at work followed by a string of cancellations and I happened to have brought my laptop to work.