I made it into the finals for the NYC Midnight Microfiction contest. I’m one of 100 writers vying for the top two spots. I didn’t get here because of votes. I made it as one of two judges picks from my group. I made it on my texts from last night style entry. Here it is again.

(323) did an eight ball with the point break dude. gonna seduce him in the hot tub. thinking of you.

I’m happy this is the one that I moved forward on. It’s my favourite of the seven that I came up with for the word break. The finals is a little less giving of a word: oxygen. Following the #nycmidnight hashtag on Twitter, apparently I’m not the only one that has been struggling with it.

I’ve come up with eleven potential entries. It’s a harsh and limiting word to work with. That said, I have three that I really like. I’ll post all of them here after the midnight submission deadline.

I believe that one is straight up solid. It offers context, history, conflict, hints at a larger story, and manages to kick in a little bit of humour. If think any potential I have of winning is off this entry.

My other two are not quite as clear cut. One is self referential and breaks the traditional narrative (as traditional as one can be in 100 characters). In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if some took it as breaking an unspoken, unenforceable rule and seen as cheating. The other is ripe for misinterpretation. That leaves me with an option. I can be safe by submitting two entries I’m not as keen on, or I can be fearless.

I think it took me writing this out to decide. I’m choosing fearless.

david shute - 18.08.11 @ 22:06 - permalink