Calling all Minnows (and everyone else too)!
I love fiction of almost every genre, but my favorite may well be the Urban Legend. Maybe because of the organic nature of these myths, or the insights they grant into our collective consciousness, or the way they so often take the horrific to the precipice of the absurd; whatever the reason, my predilection is about to become someone’s payday.
You have until 11:59 Eastern Standard Time on Sunday July 9 to post your entry into the Flash Fiction Urban Legend Contest to be judged by yours truly with generous help from my friend and infuriatingly superior writer, @horrorguyian, whose A Fair for Psychopomps is a fantastic example of a fresh take on an Urban Legend. CHECK IT OUT! We will make a daily post promoting the entries. It may be only links or it may be excerpts, depending on the number of entries, but we will be working to generate more readership for the participants.
Your entry can be funny, sad, terrifying… it can be a new take on an old Urban Legend, a mashup featuring an Urban Legend in an unlikely genre, or perhaps you will create one from whole cloth, and in a decade you’ll hear someone in a bar claim that very thing happened to his mother’s mechanic’s nephew!
Fair warning: I am a stickler for spelling and grammar. You don’t need to be stilted - this isn’t academia - but things like subject-verb agreement and knowing how to use quotes to set apart dialogue are going to be important in the reviewing process.
We want to encourage all minnow participants to use the incredible resources available at the fiction-workshop channel on Discord’s Minnow Support Project. The folks there are great and will help without judginess. The contest is running for three days specifically to give our fellow minnows time to polish their posts with the aid of the Fiction Workshop so please get over there asap!
If you are writing English as a second language, please feel free to note that at the bottom of your post, as there is obviously more leeway there. I am sure I would be incomprehensible in any other language and I applaud the many ESL contributors here for writing in my native tongue better than the average American college student.
The rules are simple:
- You DO NOT have to be a minnow to participate, but you must include the #minnowsupportproject in your tags because I’m a minnow and I love MSP and I’m paying the prizes so I say so.
- The piece must be 1,000 words or less. We will be counting! (Or our software will anyway)
- The piece must focus on an urban legend
- You must tag the post with “urbanlegendflash30” so we can easily find all entries.
- Finally, Upvote and Resteem this post to spread the word!
Winners will be announced and prizes awarded on Wednesday, July 12.
First Prize 30 SBD
Second Prize 10 SBD
Third Prize 5 SBD
Feel free to post your #urbanlegendflash30 links here for others to see and read! And don't forget to comment, follow, and resteem!
This post received a 3.5% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @jrhughes! For more information, click here!
Resteemed this, so hopefully more people can see and participate. I have my thinking cap on now, I'll see what I can some up with.
Awesome, thanks!
Here's my Urban Legend entry! One of the scariest psychothrillers from the 70's revamped for today! https://steemit.com/urbanlegendflash30/@michaeladamparis/have-you-checked-the-children-urban-legend-flash-fiction-contest
great job mate,it will encourage steemiens specially minnows.
https://steemit.com/urbanlegendflash30/@matthewtiii/the-window-wash-man-an-original-urban-legend-by-matthewtiii
Resteemed and following. Great story!
Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by jrhughes from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, and someguy123. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows and creating a social network. Please find us in the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.
If you like what we're doing please upvote this comment so we can continue to build the community account that's supporting all members.
"Fair warning: I am a stickler for spelling and grammar. You don’t need to be stilted - this isn’t academia - but things like subject-verb agreement and knowing how to use quotes to set apart dialogue are going to be important in the reviewing process." YESSSSSS!!!!! Excellent. Will resteem and hope you have so many entries you read for a week. :-)
Thanks so much! I am really happy to be participating in what you have going over at the Fiction Workshop. I usually have a lot of trouble coming out of my shell, but y'all make it easy ;) It's such a terrific community and I love how we are supporting one another!
~smiles~ ...raises hand, slouched butt raised of his seat...oooh oooh! Wouldn't just one exclamation point suffice? It's been a 'thing' with me but I'm far toooOOOooo (eyes rolling in his pointy head) polite to point it out. However you are a teacher...just thought I'd seek clarification from you rather than search the net.
RFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I sit. Corrected!
https://steemit.com/urbanlegendflash30/@kathieletalis/limbo-urban-legend-flash-fiction-contest
This contest is an amazing idea being carried out by amazing people! * resteeming furiously *
Then go WRITE furiously! I can NOT wait to see entries. I'm so excited!
Absolutely!
Nice one. Would certainly encourage newbies aka minnows to engage.
Would be putting in an entry.
Can't wait to see it!
Came in from @mk40 's resteem and I love this. I haven't written fiction in over 10 years but if I can find the time I'll definitely be submitting. Been meaning to get back into it for years now. Thanks for doing this!
If I can find the time, I am so in on this.
I hope you do, I'd love to see what you come up with!
Brace yourself, I wrote a downright startling piece.
You wrote a downright fantastic piece!
Thank you kindly!
I will be entering the contest! Good Luck to everyone!!
Looking forward to it!
Great concept!! I loveeeee urban legends! I can't wait to read all the entries and maybe even write one myself ;)
Do it!
upvoted and resteemed!
I made an entry, 😊
Follow the link .
Hugs. J.
https://steemit.com/urbanlegendflash30/@jhagi.bhai/flash-fiction-contest-urban-legends
I won't be the biggest stickler for grammar, I do'nt English the goodest. But I am all about story elements, narrative voice, and world building/atmosphere. Looking forward to all the entries. Great contest idea, @jrhughes!
What an cool initiative! For a moment there I almost regretted I write fantasy and not the urban stuff. All the best to the entrants.
Surely even fantasy worlds have urban legends? ;)
Mine does have one, about the skin snatcher, but the piece is almost 2000 words, so too long, I understand.
Awww... too bad. No way to pare it down just for fun?
That’d be a tough one, since the scene belongs to a 500000-word trilogy I need to edit and publish somehow. Technically, I could post here a link to a 1000-word excerpt on Google docs, but if you don’t read the previous 1000 words, then you won’t get the context and feel of the scene’s protagonist.
Maybe, if I find the time for it, I'll just write a new piece. Well, in fact, I'm writing it right now and should post hours before the deadline.
Wow!
Well I'm looking forward to reading what you post!
Here it comes. Enjoy! It's a pleasure to participate in this contest!
https://steemit.com/urbanlegendflash30/@arekwolf/short-story-about-game-addiction-law-and-beer-and-murder-urban-legend-flash-fiction-contest
Here's mine: https://steemit.com/urbanlegendflash30/@pegasusphysics/uber-story-time-urban-legend-flash-fiction-contest
This was a lot of fun! Thank you for making it. ^_^
Minnows have to stay together! I am probably going to be one of the last entries if I finish in time :p , are you planning on making another ?
Right now I'm playing ugh the idea of a Tall Tale contest in the vein of Paul Bunyan next.
finally got it!: https://steemit.com/urbanlegendflash30/@hndmarshall/the-price-of-passion-urban-legend-flash-fiction-contest
Great initiative! I fully support the @minnowsupport projects and this looks like a lot of fun.
Hhmm, it somehow sounds familiar...
https://steemit.com/flight370/@v4vapid/100sbd-in-prizes-conspiracy-theory-creative-writing-contest-what-happened-to-malaysia-flight-370
I considered entering that one, but I've been so busy I don't think I'll get to :(
Just in the nick of time!
INTERGALACTIC CLICKBAIT - The Legend of the Legless Space Pirates
Wonderful idea for a set of stories! I've attempted an original Urban Legend based around the rumour that there was a theatre hidden in the network of tunnels running underneath Paris. You can find it here:
https://steemit.com/fiction/@miniature-tiger/le-theatre-souterrain-original-horror-story-urban-legend-flash-fiction-entry
Thanks! Enjoy!
Here's my urban legend story: https://steemit.com/fiction/@sandzat/come-tomorrow-urban-legend-flash-fiction-contest
Totally enjoyed writing on it!
Upvoted and resteemed the awesome contest. Cheers! :) - @sandzat
Here's my attempt at writing the origin story of an Urban Legend. Hope you enjoy it!
The Barking Network
You seem to have edited this post and removed the rules you had in a previous version of it. I still have the earlier version open in another browser tab, though. Why did you remove them? Do they still apply?
EDIT: Oh, now I see you added them to another post. I guess they still apply, then.
What? They moved the goal posts?...wait...no they moved the entire field! Where am I and why am I here?
Oh...I see the blue text. A portal!
~smiles fer miles~
Ack! Thank you! I must have accidentally deleted a bunch of the post when I was copying the rules to the update. That'll teach me to tired-post!
Hi 👋🏼 friend! You have a very interesting page, I will follow it and recommend it to others! Rate my first post please!
Brilliant idea, have resteemed it :-)
Thanks! I hope you enter 😊
Here is my contribution:
https://steemit.com/urbanlegendflash30/@mcdevlin182/beyond-the-mirror