Welcome!Several months ago, a thread in Open Discussions sparked an idea: a monthly writing challenge. And I, as if my mind had been taken over by evil aliens/demons/warlocks/government agents (pick your favorite according to personal taste), took it upon myself to administer over it.
Since then we have enjoyed the added exuberance of dozens of newbies who may be unfamiliar with the Rewrite Challenge. This post is an invitation to participate—both as WRITERS and READERS!
The rules go something like this:
1. READERS: All are invited to request Challenge submissions for their personal reading enjoyment. Comments and critiques of the stories are welcome but NOT REQUIRED!
*MAKE your request by emailing the writer directly.
*DO NOT post your request to read on this thread.
*DO NOT post comments of any kind on this thread.
*QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS may be posted in Open Discussion on the thread entitled "(WHATEVER THE CURRENT NUMBER) Rewrite Discussion Zone".
2. WRITERS: Re-Write the story (FILL IN STORY TITLE HERE—WHICH ARE GENERALLY LESS FAMILIAR FAIRY TALES OR LEGENDS). The following is a link to read and/or download a copy of the original story.
(LINK APPEARS HERE—YUP, RIGHT OUT OF NOWHERE )
The challenge is to rewrite this story in one, or a combination of, the following four ways:
*Twist the story to suit your own creative bent.
*Write the story in the style of another well-known author.
*Combine the tale with another tale of your choosing.
*Write a "What if…?" version—a prequel, sequel, or other, of the original tale.
3. Submit the first 13 lines of your final draft (at least 'final' as of the deadline) to this thread.
*PLEASE post pre-deadline requests for 'Process' critiques (critiques intended to help you prepare for the deadline) on your own thread.
*DO NOT post comments or questions on this thread.
*QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS may be posted in Open Discussions, on the thread entitled "(WHATEVER THE CURRENT NUMBER) Rewrite Discussion Zone", or by contacting Dakota directly by email.
*THE CHALLENGE is ever-evolving. Let me know how we can do it better.
4. Word limit: 5000
5. Deadline: Midnight EST, (DATE).
6. Please, for SPAM's sake, include the word "Hatrack" in the subject line of all correspondences.
That said, the current Challenge will be handled just a little differently.
Why?
*First, a whole bunch of people are participating in NaNoWriMo, and have requested that there be no Challenge during November for their sakes.
*Second, with the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays, I thought it best to have a slightly longer Challenge period.
*Third, I love Christmas stories, which is why I've set the new Challenge as a Christmas related one. I'm leaving it open, but it has been suggested that I offer the 'Theme' as GIFTS. You may, however, do what you like.
So:
I hereby Challenge you, the venerable writers of Hatrack, to write a Christmas/or related story.
*THIS story may be entirely original, or a rewrite of another story.
*DEADLINE: Midnight EST, December 23, 2004.
*ALL other rules still apply.
Dakota