Iron Pen 7: I Need a Vacation!
Greetings!
Welcome to the seventh installment of CFC's Iron Pen Writing Competition. We have two fine challengers, ready and eager to test their skills by writing a short story within a specified time period, word count, and incorporating a secret theme which will not be revealed to them until the competition starts.Because this is a competition and there will be voting to determine a winner, each contestant is identified by a Pen Name. This is so the stories will be judged solely on their own merits, without regard to the true identities of the authors. After the voting is over, the authors' names will be revealed.
The competitors will have 48 hours from the time stamp of this introductory post to write and submit their stories to me, via PM, so that I may post them. I will not accept any submissions during the first 24 hours. After the 48 hours are up, I will post both stories, along with a poll so voting can take place.
Contestants, please take note: Your stories will be judged partly on the following requirements:
Length. The stories must be a minimum of 600 words, not counting the title (yes, you need a title!). The maximum number of words allowed is 1000.
Mechanics. Please proofread your story for spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. Typos can happen, but overall presentation does matter.
Entertainment. The end goal of any story is to make it enjoyable for the readers, whether they find it engaging, funny, thought-provoking, scary, etc.
Secret Theme. Iron Pen is much like the Iron Chef TV program, in that the competitors are expected to incorporate a secret ingredient/theme they don't get to know about until the competition begins. It is up to the competitors how they interpret and incorporate the secret theme into their stories. It is up to the readers to judge how effectively they have accomplished this.
Please keep CFC forum rules in mind. If your story requires profanity, please refer to CFC's guidelines. Iron Pen authors don't get a break with the autocensor. If you're uncertain about a word or phrase, feel free to PM either me or Plotinus for guidance. I will be available during this 48-hour period if you have any questions about this or any other aspects of the competition.
A note about word count: I reserve the right to disqualify any story that is under the minimum or over the maximum. This is in the interest of fairness to both contestants.
Because different word processing programs can have different ways of determining word count, I ask that the contestants use this online word-counting site to determine word count (copy/paste your story into the field and it will give you the word count; don't worry about #of characters, #of paragraphs, etc.).
And now the time has come to begin the competition. Please welcome the challengers:
Our first competitor is Iron Pen Sabotage Phantom.
Our second competitor is Iron Pen Spiderpig.
The two worthy opponents take their places on opposite sides of Iron Pen Stadium, where they find all manner of writing implements and supplies everything an author could possibly need to turn out a well-crafted story. The only thing they will need to bring with them is their own creativity.
The Hostess of Iron Pen Stadium comes forward, and announces the secret theme that each writer will use in the stories:
I Need a Vacation!
The theme for this Challenge was inspired by the Hostess' fond memories of end-of-June packing for the trip from her home in Alberta to the cottage on Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, where the family would spend the next two months (with a few side trips to other places around the province, along with some nice visits with family and friends).
The current Iron Pen challenge is as follows: The stories are to be about a vacation - long, short, planned, unplanned, or perhaps one that can't quite be pinned down. The story does not have to be about a vacation that happened in RL. You may use any genre, any time, and any setting. The choice is completely up to you.
Iron Pen Challengers, your 48 hours start NOW. When you are finished, please PM your stories to me and I will post them for you.
May your Muse smile on your efforts. We, your audience, await your stories.
