Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Them's Fighting Words, Mister

Thought for the day:  Writing is easy. All you have to do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.  [Gene Fowler]

Now, nobody really expects any bloodshed. No hair-pulling, deep bruises, or knocked-out teeth, either, but there's a totally kick-butt competition coming up that might interest you.

Yeah, I know I don't usually post on a Tuesday. But I just found out about this today, and wanted to tell y'all right away. (Consider this a Public Service Announcement.)

DL Hammons is hosting a head-to-head writing competition on his blog, and the bell dings for round one at the end of this month. That's right. Here's your opportunity to climb into the virtual writing ring, mano-a-mano (womano-a-womano?) and let your words do all the fighting for you. Or if you'd prefer, you can grab a bag of popcorn, sit on the sidelines, and cast a vote for your winner from each match. All entries will be submitted under an assumed name, so no judging will be based on prior biases or irresistibly bubbly personalities, either. It's all about the writing.

Whatcha think? Sounds pretty cool, huh? Submissions are to be no longer than 500 words, and will be accepted throughout most of the competition, whose final head-to-head takes place in October. Oh, and here's the best part. When the competition gets down to the last round, and there are only two contestants standing, that round will be judged by an illustrious panel of Who's whos in the publishing world. (DL has REALLY outdone himself!)

If you want to sign on, either as an entrant, a judge, or both, click on the WRITE CLUB badge in the sidebar. Go ahead. Just do it. You can find out the rest of the juicy details there, too.

A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit.  [Richard Back]

                                                              Ready to rumble?

Until next time ... um, tomorrow... take care of yourselves. And each other.


18 comments:

  1. Susan, I like the way you wrote this post. ...don't know if I'll enter the competition though. :)

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  2. I didn't know about this competition. Sounds like a great one and I'll be looking forward to reading the rounds even though I'm not up for entering it myself right now.

    Love the Back quote, I'd never seen that one before but it's perfect. :)

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  3. Linda- Thanks. Hey, if you don't wanta fight, you can always judge. (You only have to wear a long robe and bang a gavel if you WANT to.)

    Julie- Yeah, I thought it sounded like a great competition, too. Dunno if I'll submit an entry or not, but I signed up, just in case. If nothing else, I can wear an "I voted" sticker.

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  4. Are you doing it, Sus?

    (I'll prob find out when I click the link and see your name ...)

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  5. Okay...you're doing all of my publicity stuff from now on!! This post ROCKS!! Thank you so much for doing this.

    Like you said, WRiTE CLUB is all about the words! :)

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  6. Suze- I signed up, but I haven't decided if I'm gonna enter a piece, or just enjoy reading everybody else's. Should be a blast, either way.

    DL- HA! Thanks. Glad ya like it.

    Alex- This'll be year one for me, so I'm not sure what to expect, but I'm really looking forward to it. Yep, I do believe it's gonna be a big hit.

    John- I'll be watching for ya.

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  7. Sounds too much like work to me. Think I'll watch. (Reminds me of the old days as a stringer and having to sell at least one article a week)

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  8. Competitions usually tend to annoy and intimidate me. They induce ugly flashbacks of when I was a kid in school and was the very last one to be chosen for the baseball team.
    I'm generally too modest to want to be a winner and far too insecure to deal with being a loser. There's something Freudian in this diagnosis but I'm too lazy to excavate.....

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  9. thank you! I am eager to have some kind of feedback...but this looks like it is random.

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  10. I'm too scared to enter. I never have anything to say.

    Love,
    Janie, the insecure one

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  11. It''s not in my personality to compete. Besides, my brain is on vacation. I love Survivor and all that stuff so I will watch how you all do. Oh God, how can you think in all this heat. It's hard enough for me to rifle through the freezer to find that ice cream sandwich that I hid from my grandchildren.

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  12. Cool. I was hoping DL was going to do another one of these. I amy have to look and see if I have anything I can enter...

    And did I mention I love your new header?

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  13. Sounds intense! I'm sure my brain would freeze up if I tried. :) But I bet it gets some outstanding results.

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  14. Mr. C- Cool. I didn't know you were a stringer. Heck, you could probably knock out 500 words with your eyes closed.

    Jon- Ve haf vays to make you write. (Did I sound like Freud there?)

    Annmarie- Yeah, is is kinda random, but it should be fun.

    Janie- Good thing I didn't have any soda in my mouth when I read your comment. You don't have anything to say? Riiiiiight.

    Arleen- HA! I know what you mean about the heat. As for me, I stay in the air conditioning as much as possible.

    Marcy- Cool. And I'm glad you like the silly header.

    Carrie- You'd kick butt, lady.

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  15. I love you. You had me at "riiiiight."

    love,
    Janie

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  16. Janie- What can I say? Like the blind ump said, "I calls 'em like I sees 'em."

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