Monday, March 07, 2005

Contest   Bev’s comment in the Inauguration bitter post about how depressing it is to attach a real date so far in the future (January 20th, 2009) to W’s departure put me in mind of a contest idea. Write the first paragraph of a novel for the next “Novel Beginnings” and win a prize. I don’t know what. Something good. I’ll decide later. And I’m not going to judge. Someone else will. I’ll figure that out later, too.   Here is the scene. It’s January 19th, 2009. President Bush is packing up in the White House. The paragraph must begin here. The only other rule is the paragraph cannot be longer than 250 words. Remember that even though this is the end of W’s reign, it is the beginning of a novel. The end of the paragraph should only raise questions, not provide answers.   That’s it. Email your paragraphs to me. I’ll post the winning entry on the blog. The contest closes on Sunday March 13th at midnight. Or maybe the 14th or 15th. And maybe at 11:52 or 11:53. AM or PM.   All are welcome to participate. 8:51:25 PM      comments []

Traveling This week I will be in Tucson. Back on Friday. 8:15:44 PM      comments []

Virtual Occoquan #70   The new Virtual Occoquan is out. A mighty fine compliment to a plate of barbeque ribs and an ice cold Inauguration bitter.   5:52:51 PM      comments []

Addendum   My new blog category “First paragraph novels” has been renamed “Novel beginnings.” Turns out there is already a blog called “the paragraph novels.” Damn if it isn’t getting crowded here in the blogosphere. I went to “the paragraph novels” site and really liked it. And I don’t want to step on anybody’s toes. (Anybody in this case being Superflywebpimp, the author of “the paragraph novels.” )   There is a subtle difference between what SFWP and I are doing with our one paragraph novels. He writes one paragraph novels that have a beginning, middle and ending. There is a payoff at the end of his paragraphs. I have no intention of providing payoffs in my one paragraph stories. My problem is that I get bored or lazy or both and quit writing my novels after just one paragraph. The reader is left thinking, “huh, that was neat, but I sure wish there was more” or “well, there’s two minutes of my life that I’ll never get back again.” In either case, there is no ending with my one paragraph story openers. So, in deference to Superflywebpimp, I have changed the category name. And that, I guess, is that. 5:43:34 PM      comments []

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