Greetings, everyone! This is Parable speaking and I'm here to kick off our Seventh Writing Contest! Ready to dig out those plot bunnies and work those keyboards? If so, then step right up and sign on for this contest. This is chance to show your all, your skills, your improvement, your commitment to the art of writing. Don't be shy, first timers are always welcome and veterans are always welcome back! So let us get this ball rolling; This is the Seventh TV Tropes Contest!

Rules:

• Must be 2000 - 5000 words.
• Stick to the theme.
• Meet the deadline.
• Original work only.
• Whatever else we might think of later.

Theme:

Work With What You Got

This theme was the runner up from last season and it's been decided to revive it for this one. Work With What You Got is about writing a story with certain conditions, namely that you must utilize four objects (read: Nouns, excluding persons or places) to be component in your story. Think of them as a special set of building bricks that you will use to build your story out of. Judges will rate your theme appropriateness based on how well you utilized each object. What's that mean? If one of the objects is a yo-yo, then having Bob play with a yo-yo will score you points. Having Bob's yo-yo turn out to be a critical piece of evidence in his murder will get you even more.

As part of this season's contest, everyone will be allowed to submit one object over the next 48 hours. After that, four of them will be selected at a random drawing and those will be out thematic objects. So our contest actually begins on Wednesday, when everyone will know what we got to work with.

Note: As Host, I reserve the right to not include submitted objects in the drawing if they are basically impossible to work with. To the wise guy itching to type "Dark Matter" for an object, I've got my eye on you.

Submitting:

1. When you are finished with your work, post it on Free Text Host, an anonymous text-hosting service. It uses BB Code and you can assign administrator passwords for tweaking. Do not post your name anywhere in it! The judging process is blind!

2. Send a PM with the URL of your Free Text Host story to our Entry Handler, [To Be Determined]. [To Be Determined] will pass the URL of the story on to all the judges. Your name will not be included since, as stated before, the judging process is blind.

3. When the submissions are done, URLs to all the stories will be posted here, and the judges will post their results when they're done here in the thread.

Deadline:

All entries must be turned in by September 21, Midnight Pacific Time.

Judges:
Parable
Nocturna
Freezair For A Limited Time

Entry Handler:

Participants:
Fallen Legend
Brother Mycroft
Libris Dedita
Dr Starky
Doktorvon Eurotrash
Saturn
imadinosaur
knightofthecolossus

edited 6th Sep '12 10:47:40 AM by Parable

I sign up :)

I'm interested in judging, but I'm not sure if I'll have the time. (This coming school semester is shaping up to be quite busy.) So please put me down as a possible judge; I'll know better if I'll actually be able to do it in a few weeks, once the semester has actually started.

Oh, and for an object: carding combs.

edited 13th Aug '12 5:12:50 PM by Nocturna

I hereby announce my intent to join. Consider me a contender in this grand tournament of writing skill!

My contribution to the list of objects is as follows:

Spork

Everyone is added.

How did I know that would turn up.

With minds as diabolical as mine orbiting the Writer's Block, it was an inevitability. I am simply glad that I managed to submit it before any other Troper.

In the interests of absolute clarity, I refer to the hybridized eating utensil, not the science officer of the U.S.S. Enterprise (who spells his name in a subtly different manner).

I'm not committed yet, but...

Mop

Police box!

Oh, duh.

Ocean!

Won't the judges be able to match up significant objects in the story to what people have announced here, thereby knowing whose story they're reading and negating the anonymous judging process?

Its the same four objects for everyone, regardless of who suggested them in originally.

I shall sign up.

Tin whistle.

Count me in as a judge.

Also, are judges allowed to choose items, as well? Because if so, my contribution is: Music box.

I'll give it a shot.

A Hatchet.

Entered. Yes. And Entered!

Not sure if I have time to enter or not.

Broken alarm clock.

I would like to enter.

Toy monkey.

Shoulda saw that coming. You are entered.

I'm entering as a contestant.

And Gameboy.

Alright, should be a laugh. A human tooth - separated from a human mouth ;)

This sounds wonderful, but I don't think I'll have the time to do this, even though I already thought up of my four objects. The only problem is 1. I'm already going to write this story at a later point in time, and 2. I'm too busy. ;~;

Empty bottle.

You already submitted an object.

You don't think up your own objects. Everybody gets the same four objects to work with, drawn from those put forth in this thread. Still, if you're too busy, you're too busy.

Really? I was assuming that each writer could choose their own four objects from the overall list.