So you think you can write a story? Prove it! [The Friday Challenge]

[Vintage Season]

On 24 April 2010 I posted a thread about an online, informal writing contest -slash- workshop hosted by sci-fi author Bruce Bethke ("Cyberpunk," Headcrash, etcetera). I literally posted an announcement for the Folk Tales of the Final Frontier challenge on MobileRead as soon as I thought to do so... but since that was a three-week "greater" challenge, folks here only had a one-week warning to meet the deadline.

Since anyone interested in participating needs adequate time to prepare an entry, this thread will be where I keep folks apprised of the current challenges. I will try to keep this initial post up-to-date, with the details of any current challenges and their respective deadlines.

If you would like to participate, lurk, or just read some really good stuff, come on over to thefridaychallenge.blogspot.com. I'll see you there!

- M.

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Folk Tales of the Electronic Frontier
Category: Lesser Challenge
Deadline: "midnight Central time, Thursday, July 1"
Winner: TBA!
... click here to visit the original blog announcement
... click here to read the entries
... and click here to see the results!

Folk Tales of the Electronic Frontier

Let me tell you a little story.

In 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon. Everyone knows his famous line about the small step and the giant leap. What fewer people know is his next line, "Good luck, Mr. Gorsky."

Confused, NASA officials tried to figure out who Mr. Gorsky was. He wasn't a Soviet cosmonaut nor a Soviet scientist. He held no position at NASA, not even as a janitor. He wasn't even one of Neil's former commanding officers, college instructors, or school teachers. When questioned, Neil refused to identify Mr. Gorsky, saying it was personal. This, of course, did not stop speculation, and Neil was regularly asked about Mr. Gorsky after speeches and during other public appearances. Every time he was asked, Neil politely refused to answer the question.

Then, in 1996, while Neil was taking questions after a speech in Florida and was again asked about Mr. Gorsky, he said, "I've been asked that question for the last 27 years and have always refused to answer. Well, Mr. and Mrs. Gorsky have both passed away and they had no children, so... The Gorsky's were our next door neighbors when I was growing up. One day, when I was nine, my brother and I were out in the yard throwing a baseball back and forth. My brother threw one over my head and into the Gorsky's yard. As I was picking the ball up, I overheard Mrs. Gorsky saying something to Mr. Gorsky. She said, 'You want oral sex? You'll get oral sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!'"

I loved this story. Truly and thoroughly loved it. I stumbled across it on the internet many years ago and took great pleasure in telling it to friends, family, and co-workers. I was really disappointed when I discovered it wasn't true. It was one of those folks tales for the electronic frontier, otherwise known of as an urban legend.

I'm sure most of you are familiar with some of the more famous urban legends. There's the guy who strapped JATO rocket to his car and ended up smashing into a mountain going a couple of hundred miles per hour. Then there's the one about rattlesnakes in the McDonald's ball pit. And who could forget about the poor guy waking up in a tub full ice with both his kidneys removed?

What do all of these stories have in common? They combine just enough details to imply reality with just enough imagination to grab our attention. The best of them have just enough of the ring of truth that people the world over forward emails recounting the urban legends to all their friends and family. Those of us who are less gullible always have snopes.com bookmarked in our browser.

As you've no doubt guessed by now, your challenge for this week is to write an urban legend. No topic nor person is out-of-bounds. Remember, though, that a true urban legend is rarely, if ever, graphic in its descriptions. You will lose major points if the judges can find your entry at snopes.com now. You'll score major points if your entry ends up on snopes.com sometime in the future. (That won't help you win next week, but it would still be pretty cool.)

As always, we're playing by the loosely enforced and rarely updated Official Rules of THE FRIDAY CHALLENGE, and playing for whatever is behind Door #3. The deadline for this one is midnight Central time, Thursday, July 1.

July 4, 2050
Category: Greater Challenge
Deadline: "(midnight) July 1"
Winner: TBA!
... click here to visit the original blog announcement
... click here to read the entries
... and click here to see the results!

July 4, 2050

As for this month's greater challenge: I'm going back to the well and dipping out one that has worked very well for us before. Quite simply, I want you to imagine that it's July 4, 2050. What does the world look like? What kind of holiday are the people of this nation celebrating today?

Reunification Day, on which we celebrate ridding ourselves of that pesky American exceptionalism and humbly rejoining the community of responsible nations? Defeat Day, on which we celebrate the president's historic trip to Moscow, during which he stunned the world by apologizing for the Cold War and then unilaterally surrendering to Russia? Could this be Oppressed People's Payback Day, the highlight of which is the ritual burning in effigy of an "Uncle Sam" cowboy at the big community bonfire tonight? Or is it perhaps even Dependency Day, on which we celebrate all the blessings of Mammon that Fearless Leader showers down upon we, the little people, who are too weak and foolish to know what's really in our own best interests?

Or maybe, just perhaps, God willing, is this Blood of Tyrants Day?

That's the challenge. We're looking for stories that celebrate freedom, liberty, independence, and all that jazz. For our U.K., Canadian, Australian, and Romanian friends: if the July 4th date doesn't work for you, substitute one you like better. This being a Greater Challenge, we are looking for actual complete stories of at least 1,000-words in length. The deadline for this one is July 1.

Meet My Strange Family
Category: Lesser Challenge
Deadline: "midnight Central time, Thursday, June 24"
Winner: TBA!
... click here to visit the original blog announcement
... click here to read the entries
... and click here to see the results!

Meet My Strange Family

And now for this week's challenge, we turn the microphone over to Kersley Fitzgerald.

Interstellar chick
Giant robot pants on stilts
Nice day for a walk

My brother is an artist. My sister and I text each other in haiku. That caption, if you didn't recognize it, is an acceptable haiku.

This week's challenge is to write a short-short story about the above illustration, which was drawn by my brother, John Tank. Bonus points if your entry is in the form of a particularly clever haiku or limerick, although I'll be impressed by any kind of poem.

As always, we're playing by the loosely enforced and rarely updated Official Rules of THE FRIDAY CHALLENGE, and playing for whatever is behind Door #3. The deadline for this one is midnight Central time, Thursday, June 24.

• • • • • • • •

The Western Pitch
Category: Lesser Challenge
Deadline: ENDED
Winner: Avery
... click here to visit the original blog announcement
... click here to read the entries
... and click here to see the results!

A Truly Fantastic Book Review
Category: Lesser Challenge
Deadline: ENDED
Winner: "For the win, Miko, and tying for runner-up, Avery and Dana!"
... click here to visit the original blog announcement
... click here to read the entries
... and click here to see the results!

Geek Confessional
Category: Lesser Challenge
Deadline: ENDED
Winner: Stephen117
... click here to visit the original blog announcement
... click here to read the entries
... and click here to see the results!

The Land Before ZIP Codes
Category: Greater Challenge
Deadline: ENDED
Winner: The Bandit
... click here to visit the original blog announcement
... click here to read the entries
... and click here to see the results!

tlhutlh Daq Qapla'
Category: Lesser Challenge
Deadline: ENDED
Winner: Avery
... click here to visit the original blog announcement
... click here to read the entries
... and click here to see the results!

Invasion of the Ring-Stealing, Satellite-Snatching Mechanical Zombies From Outer Space!
Category: Lesser Challenge
Deadline: ENDED
Winner: Miko (by default, since his was the only entry!)
... click here to visit the original blog announcement
... click here to read the entries
... and click here to see the results!

Short Attention Span Theater
Category: Lesser Challenge
Deadline: ENDED
Winner: Miko
... click here to visit the original blog announcement
... click here to read the entries
... and click here to see the results!

Folk Tales of the Final Frontier
Category: Greater Challenge
Deadline: ENDED
Winner: Anton Gully (a.k.a. dadioflex)
... click here to visit the original blog announcement
... click here to read the entries (note: the last two entries have been removed)
... and click here to see the results!

[Billjr13]

Thanks for the post

[Vintage Season]

Updated the initial post to include Short Attention Span Theater, due 14 May. Busy weekend... I'll try to do better about remembering to update these as soon as they are announced, from now on! Fortunately for SAST, you shouldn't need an abundance of time.

- M.

[Vintage Season]

Updated the initial post to include Invasion of the Ring-Stealing, Satellite-Snatching Mechanical Zombies From Outer Space, due 21 May.

Also, don't forget to vote for an entry in the Short Attention Span Theater lesser challenge!

- M.

[Vintage Season]

UPDATE! The winning entry for The Land Before ZIP Codes will be the featured story in the July issue of STUPEFYING STORIES! See this link for complete details.

- M.

[dreams]

for STUPEFYING STORIES. I'm looking forward to the first issue.
PS having this one thread to keep up with the updates makes it so much easier. Thank you.

[Vintage Season]

Updated the initial post to include results of recent challenges.

DON'T FORGET:

The winning entry for The Land Before ZIP Codes will be the featured story in the July issue of STUPEFYING STORIES! See this link for complete details.

- M.

[Vintage Season]

LAST-MINUTE UPDATE

Entries for The Land Before ZIP Codes will be accepted until the judges begin to wake up this morning (7:00 AM Eastern / 6:00 AM Central / 5:00 AM Mountain / 4:00 AM Pacific). If you began an entry, found an old bit of writing that might be applicable, or are just really, really good at speed-typing, there is still time to submit it!

Remember, this particular challenge has publication on the line as a prize.

- M.

[Vintage Season]

Updated the initial posts to include links to the entries for recent challenges, and to announce the new lesser challenge, tlhutlh Daq Qapla'.

- M.

[Vintage Season]

Updated the initial post with results from the Invasion of the Ring-Stealing, Satellite-Snatching Mechanical Zombies From Outer Space! challenge, and tweaked the formatting for easier maintenance of this thread.

Also, the judges are currently in the process of weighing entries for The Land Before ZIP Codes.

If you would like to preview the entries, and add your voice to the selection process, please do! Comments, reviews and observations should be placed in the thread at this link.

- M.

[dadioflex]

Edit.

[Vintage Season]

Originally Posted by dadioflex

Is "vote" the right word?

What would you call it? Swing on by and proffer a well-reasoned argument for preferential superiority?

We have a ruling troika of judges who have the final say. That said, the judges are not immune to well-reasoned arguments! I don't know how the actual tallying of the final results works, since I am not one of those judges, but "vote" is the terminology we tend to use.

- M.

[Vintage Season]

AN UPDATE FROM THE JUDGES:

We realize you're all waiting for a decision, but the question of which of the four entries won last month's Greater Challenge, "The Land Before ZIP Codes," is still pending, as there is some heated debate going on behind the scenes. Wow! This is work. No wonder professional editors use form rejections! In the meantime, if you'd like to read, comment on, and vote for your favorite among the submitted entries, please do so. Your comments might help us to resolve our collective mind.

... with added emphasis for clarity.

Although it looks like a few nice folks from MobileRead have visited The Friday Challenge (and possibly also read the entries?), none of those visitors have offered any comments/feedback. If you have an opinion, now is the time to speak up, regardless of what that opinion might be!

- M.

[Vintage Season]

Updated the initial post to include the latest challenge, Geek Confessional.

Our two extant challenges, The Land Before ZIP Codes and tlhutlh Daq Qapla', are currently being judged. (If you would like to participate in an informal critique and review, please follow the respective "... click here to read the entries" links.)

- M.

[Vintage Season]

Updated the initial post with results from tlhutlh Daq Qapla'.

The Land Before ZIP Codes is still being judged. Results should be available tomorrow night, barring any additional holiday delays.

- M.

Small update from the judges:

Due to holiday travel, houses full of company, and traffic jams in Wisconsin, the judges must postpone the announcement of the winner of the Land Before ZIP Codes Friday Challenge.

The judges are sorry for the delay and hope you all understand.

Results are now anticipated Tuesday...