FLASH CHALLENGE: September '10

[kailhofer]

The "Hated by the World" Challenge:



When we face tragedy or adversity, we've all heard the statement that we have to keep breathing, keep facing the day, because tomorrow will come whether we want it to or not. The world doesn't care if we're not up to it, if we don't feel good, or if getting up in the middle of the night doesn't fit into our plans. Fate laughs at your plans, and the sun rises anyway.

But, what if... the world did care?

What if it wanted you to fail?

What if, somehow during your existence, you had managed to offend the world itself or annoyed fate?

How would that manifest itself? If you had truly angered the world, a lightning bolt could smite you in an instant, but what if fate's distaste for you made it want to see you fail? The world has forever, but your life is an instant in comparison, so fate could wait your entire life for you to stumble and eventually crumble before its vindictive influence.

How would you know? Perhaps you've gone mad. What would you do?

In this challenge, your task is to have your character face this reality.

See the example at the end of this post for a possibility.



RULES





CHALLENGE REQUIREMENTS: (1) Your science fiction, fantasy, or horror story must be about a character facing the realization that somehow he or she has offended fate or the world itself, and must therefore face those consequences; (2) One entry per author; and (3) This is a Rated 'PG-13' challenge.

FORMATTING: 1,000 words or less, not counting title, byline, or "The End". Give your story a title and a byline. Leave an extra line between paragraphs, just like when you see them in the 'zine. I will allow different colors, but not changed fonts or sizes, artwork, or any other embedded or external links. You are responsible for doing your own formatting.

CHARACTERS & SETTING: No copyrighted characters or settings, or references thereto. Famous, non-copyrighted fictional characters like Santa Claus, or religious figures such as the Devil, named angels such as Gabriel, or gods like Thor, etc. as supporting characters at best and at my discretion. The Wicked Witch and Dracula may be in the public domain, but don't expect me to allow them. No person that was ever a human being may be used as a character, but can be referred to, as in "President Kennedy had declared it would be so." Except as noted above under non-copyrighted fictional persons, character names may not be copied from fiction or real life, even if changed, i.e. Char-les Darween. Characters, except as noted above, must be used in their original appearance only. All non-copyrighted settings are ok. Famous, unique sites like Stonehenge may be used over and again. No fan fiction or sequels, so don't bother putting your story in the Land of Oz or that great place you thought up three challenges ago.

DISQUALIFICATIONS/REFUSALS: If, in my judgment, any requirement or rule is missed, I won't post the story for voting, but authors are free to resubmit with changes until the deadline. Should a story be initially accepted and posted in the challenge, but then later judged by me to be in violation, the story may be disqualified and removed from contention at any time prior to contest end. Authors who feel a story may be in violation should send me a PM and state their case.

HOW TO ENTER: Stories must be sent by PRIVATE MESSAGE, and NOT posted into a thread. Just click the 'PM' button at the bottom of this post and paste your story in the message.

DO NOT send a regular email to me.

CONTEST PROCEDURE: Stories will be posted "blind"--without the author's name on them. All the story titles are literally tossed into a hat and chosen at in random order. When the poll closes after the voting week, I'll post a list of the stories and who wrote them. The winner is chosen based on total points scored. All entries are reposted in the Flash Archive with the author's byline included after the challenge is concluded.

Entries from new authors are strongly encouraged. C'mon. Give it a try!

NOTE: ONLY REGISTERED MEMBERS who have posted at least one message may submit a story. Without that one post, the system may not let you send a PM.

DEADLINE: Stories should be in by 9 p.m. Central Standard Time (GMT-6), Thursday, September 23, 2010. The stories will then be posted for voting at around 10 p.m. Voting will close on Sept. 29, 2010 at approximately 10 p.m., GMT-6.

VOTING: Stories are rated on a scale of 0-10 in whole numbers in 6 different categories by filling in scores in a form that is posted by me immediately following the post containing the stories for this challenge. Voters copy and paste the form into a PM and send it to me for tallying. One vote per user (that is, per ip address), and authors may not vote for their own story.

Every effort will be made to keep the voting fair. In the past, some voters have abstained from voting for some of the stories while voting for the others. Since total points scored decides the winner, this put the stories that weren't voted on at a disadvantage. Should this happen again, the skipped stories will be given marks equaling whatever the story's average is at the time of contest close. IF YOU WISH TO SCORE A ZERO FOR A STORY, YOU MUST ENTER A ZERO IN THAT POSITION ON THE VOTING FORM. A challenge entrant who does not vote for the other stories will receive a 10% deduction in their own score at the time of contest close, and the other stories will be given marks equaling whatever their story's average is at the time of contest close.

If more than two stories are tied at the end of voting, there will be a succession of one-day runoff votes until a single winner is chosen or the number of winners is reduced to two.

WHAT YOU WIN: Writers get improved short fiction skills, increasing their chances in the marketplace, without the lengthy investment in time a longer story would take. That, as well as bragging rights and pride--there is stiff competition each month amongst some great stories.

LEGAL STUFF: Aphelion will not try to make a dime off you or your stories. Really. We want to see you succeed but nothing about that will line Aphelion's pockets. We love fiction and we love seeing authors get better to the point where people do pay them for their stories. That's why we're in this.

I'll try to do my best lawyer impersonation: By entering this or any challenge you are technically granting Aphelion: The Webzine of Science Fiction and Fantasy perpetual electronic rights only to post and archive your challenge entry. Aphelion would rather not lay any claim on them at all, but by posting them on a public site, they'd legally count as being published no matter what.

Ok. A real lawyer would have been less interesting. I tried.


Completion of the example story was delayed. If finished in time, I'll post it. Otherwise, it may be entered with the other stories.

[Lester Curtis]

Ooooooh . . . I'm going to try this one . . . profound possibilities . . .

[kailhofer]

Sergio hit the mark, folks. Bring your A game.

[kailhofer]

Thanks for the warning, Nate. Might have sent this piece of crapola in if you hadn't said Sergio nailed it.

Is that even fair?

Bill Wolfe

Not only is it fair, but a tried and true method of shrewd editors wanting to squeeze the best stories out of their writers. Editors hate crapola.

[kailhofer]

Two more in, two more rejected.

Advice to those still working on it: remember the genre and the realization requirements. Most of the rejects and rewrites have been for that.

[kailhofer]

Due to technical difficulties, things will be delayed one day.