Short Story Challenge: The Gift

Holly Ringland 144 posts

Hello lovely story-tellers,

With the new change-over in our ‘My Bubble’ feed and group bmails, I’m not sure if my recent post fell into the ether un-noticed… so a quick recap is that, well, I’ve got another hosting feather in my cap and am now tickled scarlet to be co-hosting Short Stories Spherical Scriptings. To celebrate my new fandangle feathery cap, I thought I’d launch a group writing challenge – it’s been quite a time between drinks since this group has had one. So here’s the low down:

The Challenge
Launching on April Fool’s Day and wrapping up after the Easter long weekend (four whole days off for writing in between chocolate) scrawl your very best tale inspired by this prompt:

THE GIFT

It can be any genre, narrative, style or theme – no poetry please – just as long as it involves your interpretation of the prompt.

Voting/Judging Criteria
Minimum 500 words maximum 2000… give your words room to stretch and breathe… use a bit of spit and polish… and unleash your pet poodle Creativity to go nuts, go crazy… go for the short story jugular.

Rewards/Prizes
Winners will receive Featured Member and Featured Work line-up plus massive amounts of endorphins for their muse and rosy lovely ‘I’m the Best’ thoughts and what-not.

(Future challenges will include prizes – we have to warm up to that though.)

How to Enter
POST A LINK TO YOUR WORK HERE
TAG YOUR WORK WITH ssgift SO IT’S EASY TO FIND
ENTER YOUR WORK IN THE GROUP

Open/Closing Dates
The Gift is launched today and wraps up the night of Easter Monday… ten days to put together your words, box them up and wrap them in gloss and ribbon for us to delight over.

So far, no entries as yet, so consider the closing date extended to the end of next weekend, let’s say Sunday night, April 19th. That’s a blush shy of two weeks… plus a FOUR day weekend thrown in the middle to make sure you have oodles of time to while away your hours dipping your fingers in story-telling ink.

Please do come on board and play… The Gift... scratch the surface and take it anywhere you want to go in between 500 – 2000 words.

Any questions, my bmail door is wide open. I’ll also post this in our forum so you can keep a track of it there too.

Holly.

7 months ago

1stAngel 200 posts

Good luck everyone!

7 months ago

nancyames 7 posts

I’m not sure how to post a link – help, please.

7 months ago

Zolton 368 posts

Real Friend

7 months ago

DarKarsean 10 posts

The Gift of Tears and Love

7 months ago

Alison Pearce 378 posts

Ebb and Flow

7 months ago

Holly Ringland 144 posts

Well knock me off my feet with a feather!

I’ve been watching the forum thread topic on this challenge, thinking to myself, goodness, there’s work to be done on waking everyone up again to the well-round vibrant mob of writers this group houses… I thought my launch of this challenge had fallen into the black pit of the ether… only to check this group news section today (I’m still finding my way around the new group bmail/notice system) and find THREE entries! Z, DarK and Alison, thank you so much for your participation – you are completely fabulous.

There are still four and a half whole days until this challenge closes!

The Gift…

... any way you want to interpret it, anything your mind wants to turn or twist it into…

Get crack-a-lackin’ little spherical scribes!

Holly.

7 months ago

Holly Ringland 144 posts

Hi Nancy,

Creating a link to a piece of work is very simple and easy to do.

Before you start, select and copy the full address of the piece you want to create a link to.

For example: http://www.redbubble.com/

Then when you’re ready to create your link in this topic thread, all you have to do is put quotation marks around the word you want to link to your piece, followed by a colon.

Once you’ve done that, paste the address of the piece you want link to next to the colon. Make sure you don’t have any additional spaces.

When you click on ‘save reply’, you should see the word you included in quotation marks in a different colour and when you run your mouse pointer over the word, you’ll see it’s able to be clicked on.

For more information, refer to the little Formatting Help examples underneath these text boxes when you click on ‘Reply to this topic’. If anything’s unclear, feel free to bmail me.

Cheers,
Holly.

7 months ago

Jim Hall 31 posts

Have just joined. Unfortunately a day late and this time, two dollars short. Be real nice if you increased the frequency of your writing challenges. Perhaps I will get an opportunity to burn off some words that could possibly arouse enough interest for someone to read them. Have recently submitted something new for me, a short short story, ie “The Coyote Howled” and “CATASTROPHE.” Don’t get me wrong. I am new to writing and am just beginning. Get most of my ideas while dreaming and rush to write them down when I wake. Hope this source continues, because I have a few written down.
How about you? Do you wake up at four in the morning with a short story crashing through your head? I do. Maybe I should take something, but writing them down can be weird. My pen keeps running out of ink when I’m trying to write lying down in bed. Got to work on that.

7 months ago

Holly Ringland 144 posts

Hey little scripters,

The Gift challenge has come to a close and I wholeheartedly thank Zolton, Dark and Alison for their entries. With only three pieces, it’s a little difficult to select a ‘pool’ of work for features and what not – never the less bear with me over the next couple of days and the challenge outcome, new features and treats a plenty will be unveiled.

How’d you find this prompt for the challenge? Broad enough? Did it get ideas stirring and waking in your imagination? Any thoughts or ideas on challenges for the group in general? I’m currently in the process of looking at the Short Stories group forums to see if there’s the room or opportunity for a little be of reorganising in line with this new mybubble/group news format we’re working with. Stay tuned!

And Jim, thanks for popping in and saying hi. Welcome! Our short story challenges usually run for a few weeks to allow writers to flesh out their choice of word length which is generally 500 -2 000 words. Challenges will be launching generally twice a month and the door is always open for suggestions or ideas or requests of group members.

My notebook collection is silly. One beside my bed for the dreaming stories, one in my handbag, one at my work desk, one in my car. They follow me everywhere hoping to catch a word or two falling from my mind… and occasionally my aim is right and I get them down in ink :)

You need to buy yourself a box of pens, I think.

7 months ago

DarKarsean 10 posts

Hey Holly – I thought the prompt for the challenge was good. The fact that you could write about it in any format was good. Not too sure if I will always be successful in matching my thoughts to the prompt but keep them coming.

7 months ago

Zolton 368 posts

I think the prompt was great! It was not too limiting. I liked it! Thank you for hosting. : )

7 months ago

Alison Pearce 378 posts

Sorry it has taken me so long to answer your question!! I thought the prompt was wonderful. Broad prompts give way to so many possibilities and I love how everyone interprets it differently. You’re doing a fabulous job!

7 months ago Holly Ringland 144 posts	Hello lovely story-tellers, With the new change-over in our ‘My Bubble’ feed and group bmails, I’m not sure if my recent post fell into the ether un-noticed… so a quick recap is that, well, I’ve got another hosting feather in my cap and am now tickled scarlet to be co-hosting Short Stories Spherical Scriptings. To celebrate my new fandangle feathery cap, I thought I’d launch a group writing challenge – it’s been quite a time between drinks since this group has had one. So here’s the low down: The Challenge Launching on April Fool’s Day and wrapping up after the Easter long weekend (four whole days off for writing in between chocolate) scrawl your very best tale inspired by this prompt: THE GIFT It can be any genre, narrative, style or theme – no poetry please – just as long as it involves your interpretation of the prompt. Voting/Judging Criteria Minimum 500 words maximum 2000… give your words room to stretch and breathe… use a bit of spit and polish… and unleash your pet poodle Creativity to go nuts, go crazy… go for the short story jugular. Rewards/Prizes Winners will receive Featured Member and Featured Work line-up plus massive amounts of endorphins for their muse and rosy lovely ‘I’m the Best’ thoughts and what-not. (Future challenges will include prizes – we have to warm up to that though.) How to Enter POST A LINK TO YOUR WORK HERE TAG YOUR WORK WITH ssgift SO IT’S EASY TO FIND ENTER YOUR WORK IN THE GROUP Open/Closing Dates The Gift is launched today and wraps up the night of Easter Monday… ten days to put together your words, box them up and wrap them in gloss and ribbon for us to delight over. So far, no entries as yet, so consider the closing date extended to the end of next weekend, let’s say Sunday night, April 19th. That’s a blush shy of two weeks… plus a FOUR day weekend thrown in the middle to make sure you have oodles of time to while away your hours dipping your fingers in story-telling ink. Please do come on board and play… The Gift... scratch the surface and take it anywhere you want to go in between 500 – 2000 words. Any questions, my bmail door is wide open. I’ll also post this in our forum so you can keep a track of it there too. Holly.
7 months ago 1stAngel 200 posts	Good luck everyone!
7 months ago nancyames 7 posts	I’m not sure how to post a link – help, please.
7 months ago Zolton 368 posts	Real Friend
7 months ago DarKarsean 10 posts	The Gift of Tears and Love
7 months ago Alison Pearce 378 posts	Ebb and Flow
7 months ago Holly Ringland 144 posts	Well knock me off my feet with a feather! I’ve been watching the forum thread topic on this challenge, thinking to myself, goodness, there’s work to be done on waking everyone up again to the well-round vibrant mob of writers this group houses… I thought my launch of this challenge had fallen into the black pit of the ether… only to check this group news section today (I’m still finding my way around the new group bmail/notice system) and find THREE entries! Z, DarK and Alison, thank you so much for your participation – you are completely fabulous. There are still four and a half whole days until this challenge closes! The Gift… ... any way you want to interpret it, anything your mind wants to turn or twist it into… Get crack-a-lackin’ little spherical scribes! Holly.
7 months ago Holly Ringland 144 posts	Hi Nancy, Creating a link to a piece of work is very simple and easy to do. Before you start, select and copy the full address of the piece you want to create a link to. For example: http://www.redbubble.com/ Then when you’re ready to create your link in this topic thread, all you have to do is put quotation marks around the word you want to link to your piece, followed by a colon. Once you’ve done that, paste the address of the piece you want link to next to the colon. Make sure you don’t have any additional spaces. When you click on ‘save reply’, you should see the word you included in quotation marks in a different colour and when you run your mouse pointer over the word, you’ll see it’s able to be clicked on. For more information, refer to the little Formatting Help examples underneath these text boxes when you click on ‘Reply to this topic’. If anything’s unclear, feel free to bmail me. Cheers, Holly.
7 months ago Jim Hall 31 posts	Have just joined. Unfortunately a day late and this time, two dollars short. Be real nice if you increased the frequency of your writing challenges. Perhaps I will get an opportunity to burn off some words that could possibly arouse enough interest for someone to read them. Have recently submitted something new for me, a short short story, ie “The Coyote Howled” and “CATASTROPHE.” Don’t get me wrong. I am new to writing and am just beginning. Get most of my ideas while dreaming and rush to write them down when I wake. Hope this source continues, because I have a few written down. How about you? Do you wake up at four in the morning with a short story crashing through your head? I do. Maybe I should take something, but writing them down can be weird. My pen keeps running out of ink when I’m trying to write lying down in bed. Got to work on that.
7 months ago Holly Ringland 144 posts	Hey little scripters, The Gift challenge has come to a close and I wholeheartedly thank Zolton, Dark and Alison for their entries. With only three pieces, it’s a little difficult to select a ‘pool’ of work for features and what not – never the less bear with me over the next couple of days and the challenge outcome, new features and treats a plenty will be unveiled. How’d you find this prompt for the challenge? Broad enough? Did it get ideas stirring and waking in your imagination? Any thoughts or ideas on challenges for the group in general? I’m currently in the process of looking at the Short Stories group forums to see if there’s the room or opportunity for a little be of reorganising in line with this new mybubble/group news format we’re working with. Stay tuned! And Jim, thanks for popping in and saying hi. Welcome! Our short story challenges usually run for a few weeks to allow writers to flesh out their choice of word length which is generally 500 -2 000 words. Challenges will be launching generally twice a month and the door is always open for suggestions or ideas or requests of group members. My notebook collection is silly. One beside my bed for the dreaming stories, one in my handbag, one at my work desk, one in my car. They follow me everywhere hoping to catch a word or two falling from my mind… and occasionally my aim is right and I get them down in ink :) You need to buy yourself a box of pens, I think.
7 months ago DarKarsean 10 posts	Hey Holly – I thought the prompt for the challenge was good. The fact that you could write about it in any format was good. Not too sure if I will always be successful in matching my thoughts to the prompt but keep them coming.
7 months ago Zolton 368 posts	I think the prompt was great! It was not too limiting. I liked it! Thank you for hosting. : )
7 months ago Alison Pearce 378 posts	Sorry it has taken me so long to answer your question!! I thought the prompt was wonderful. Broad prompts give way to so many possibilities and I love how everyone interprets it differently. You’re doing a fabulous job!

Short stories - Spherical Scriptings

Short Story Challenge: The Gift