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Hemingway Six Challenge (2008-5) |
| “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Once upon a time, during the 1930’s, the great writer Ernest Hemingway was challenged to write a novel in exactly six words. He won with the above entry. The six-word novel has been popular ever since. The author’s challenge is to write a story with exactly six words—no more, no less: 1. No particular theme, setting, or plotlines need to be specified. Not necessarily Harry/Ginny. It simply has to be about something from the seven books from J.K. Rowling. The challenge is in the construction and story-telling. 2. Titles, summaries and authors’ notes would not be used. The six-word story has to be self-explanatory. 3. Grammar and spelling are still important. Punctuation can be used in any way but must be used correctly. 4. Muggleborn is one word. Death-Eaters is two words. Blast-Ended Skrewt is three words. If JKR wrote it, that’s what “counts.” Rules: 1. General submission rules apply, with the exception of the thousand-word standard. R-rated stories will not be accepted. Anything considered or related to death will not be allowed. 2. All entries must be submitted by email to SIYEChallenge@aol.com The e-mail subject field MUST say Hemingway Six. Up to four entries per e-mail, one e-mail per day, will be allowed. More than four entries in one e-mail and the e-mail will be rejected without comment. The e-mail must have the six-word entry and the author’s pen-name in this order. Example: “Best Challenge ever, I am fantastic” by Sir Ollivander 3. In case of a duplicate, the earlier one will be accepted. The date/time stamp will be based on the e-mail being sent. 4. Plagiarism of other’s works will be watched carefully. This is very easy to check. 5. All entries must be submitted by midnight, Friday, October 31, 2008. 6. The Chief Challenger will transfer each entry to a consolidated submission page for viewing at the end of the submission date. Nobody will see the entries beforehand. 7. The winning categories are: · Best Overall · Wizard’s Best (any guy stuff) · Witch's Best (any girl stuff) · Potterverse (anybody/anything) Examples: · Harry, Ron, Neville, Dean, Seamus, Gryffindors! · Wand, Bat-bogie hex, scary Ginny! · Lumos, Nox, Lumos, Nox, tic, toc. PS: “Papa” was Ernest Hemingway’s most prominent nickname. PSS: This Challenge is 99 & 44/100% based on the suggestion by that other coffee-drinking Hemmingway, Spenser. |
| Sir Ollivander on 2008.10.01 - 08:37PM () |
Comments
lilyevans_Jan30 came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.01 - 08:53PM to say:
Okay, Obviously this challenge is already too much for me, as I can't count. Very, very, very interesting.
Sovran came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.01 - 09:08PM to say:
Interesting, indeed. How are contractions counted?
Spenser Hemmingway came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.01 - 09:17PM to say:
For the record, I intentionally spelled Spenser's last differently and have pressed the point numerous times that the original character is not related to Papa.
In the credit-where-it's-due catagory--I suggested this idea to Sir Ollivander because a similar competition was on here in Portland at the time. It was extremely popular and very successful. Eric
Sir Ollivander came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.01 - 09:17PM to say:
Sovran - contractions are two words made into one, shorter word. So, er...that's one.
Yunchao came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.01 - 09:33PM to say:
Wow, I'm very curious to see what the authors come up with.
sanidad came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.01 - 09:40PM to say:
Great concept -- easy month for Betas.
(Already trying to get into the spirit of things. :) )
pippan121 came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.01 - 09:52PM to say:
Wow! You mentioned the next challenge would be "different".
LilyLady came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.01 - 09:57PM to say:
Am I the only one that's a tiny bit disappointed that we won't have any real "stories" to read for the Halloween month's challenge?
Sir Ollivander came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.01 - 10:02PM to say:
LilyLady - I hope not. I'm just trying to start mixing things up a bit. I have so many Challenges to last till 2011.
LilyLady came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.01 - 10:03PM to say:
@Sir Ollivander - I understand, and I hope I didn't come across as rude! I guess I was just hoping for some fun Halloween stories to lose myself in, lol. A six word story just doesn't take as long to read :P But I meant no offense!
Sir Ollivander came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.01 - 10:42PM to say:
LilyLady - no offence taken. You just gave an opinion. The next Challenge, December (2008-6), isn't about Christmas. But you could turn it into one.
M_And came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.01 - 11:51PM to say:
Wow! I mean...fantastic! Great idea! (Sorry I couldn't resist.) - Mike
CarolineBlack came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.01 - 11:51PM to say:
Hey, I might actually have the attention span to take this one on...
M_And came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.01 - 11:53PM to say:
Ok, now that I've had my fun... I can't remember, but is there any limit on entries (especially since this is so...shall we say...brief)? Mike
M_And came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.02 - 12:01AM to say:
OK, never mind the previous question, I missed the paragraph where you explained about the e-mails and 4 entries per e-mail, and 1 e-mail per day. By Jove, I think I've got it! Sorry, sorry. Let's not talk about who can't read what! :D -Mike
Spenser Hemmingway came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.02 - 08:30AM to say:
Here are a few more examples of the six-word novel I've found:
"Fishing, beer and NASCAR. 'Nuff said." By Unknown.
"Totally out of control. Situation normal." By Unknown.
"Failed SAT. Lost scholarship. Invented spaceship." By William Shatner.
"Liars! Hysterectomy didn't improve sex life!" By Joan Rivers.
"Well I thought it was funny." By Stephen Colbert.
"What's that mountain goat doing up..." By Unknown Pilot.
These may give you a little more of an idea about what is possible.
Sovran came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.02 - 10:45AM to say:
Do the stories have to be presented on a single line? I've conceived a couple that work best on multiple lines, even though they only have six words. If multiple lines are allowed, how should they be demarcated for submission?
Sir Ollivander came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.02 - 12:09PM to say:
Sovran - if I understand your question correctly, the answer is no. The way I am doing this by moving them to one document, by day, by line, and sorting alphabetically, will mess multiple line stories up. The best method is one line, just like the samples shown.
Sovran came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.02 - 12:28PM to say:
Bummer. That handicaps anyone who wants to use any dialogue. I'll submit them on one line, though, and hope that readers don't have too much trouble understanding where the breaks are.
Miri came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.02 - 01:42PM to say:
Good grief Spenser, this makes Haiku poetry look verbose! How about "Hmm...six word novels--very hard."
Spenser Hemmingway came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.02 - 05:07PM to say:
Therein lies the term 'Challenge' Miri. You will be amazed when you do the computer search to see who else has attempted this writers' challenge--people like Mailer, O'Neal and Fitzgerald. Consider it a great exercise.
sanidad came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.02 - 06:12PM to say:
I'm assuming we can only use English words?
melkior came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.02 - 06:13PM to say:
How is this going to be judged exactly? I mean, there's a possibility that you could end up with hundreds of entries. Theoretically, even more.
Sir Ollivander came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.02 - 07:40PM to say:
Sovran - Sovran? I'm over here. Oh, wow.
Sir Ollivander came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.02 - 07:42PM to say:
sanidad - well, I didn't say you have to use English words. But you do have to remember who your readers are and the judges who has to read and understand it. Chow.
Sir Ollivander came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.02 - 07:43PM to say:
melkior - "...hundreds of entries." Don't limit yourself, man. Yes, you are quite right.
Feff came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.02 - 10:16PM to say:
A new genre in Fan Fiction: Micro Drabbles.
Rogan came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.03 - 05:45AM to say:
Wow, this really does sound like a challenge. My trusty notebook is already half full of 6-word novels, but it's seriously hard to make them work.
Kezzabear came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.03 - 06:06AM to say:
Er ... I'll give it some thought ...
Torak came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.03 - 09:37AM to say:
"Harry... I am your father." "Voldemort! NOOOOOO!"
Torak came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.03 - 09:39AM to say:
Okay, so that was seven, but seven is a much nicer number than six.
sweetdreamer285 came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.03 - 10:42AM to say:
Heheh, we ought to do haikus next: lines of 17 or fewer syllables!
sanidad came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.03 - 12:55PM to say:
Why stop at haikus? We could do limericks...
There once was a wizard from Nantucket...
Miri came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.03 - 01:01PM to say:
Torak, contractions are counting as one word so you could do it as "Harry...I'm your father." "Voldemort! NOOOO!" Then it would fit. LOL And sanidad, I rather like the idea of limericks.
sanidad came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.03 - 02:41PM to say:
Miri: Just for you, I'll write my entire entry for the next challenge in limerick style.
Spenser Hemmingway came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.03 - 04:14PM to say:
In Boston-town it's said
"Some books should not be read!"
But read them they do.
They're Best-Sellers too!
Their authors are well-fed.
Torak came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.03 - 04:33PM to say:
There once was a lady from Niger,
who smiled as she rode on a tiger.
They returned from the ride
with the lady inside
and the smile on the face of the tiger.
heroesnevercry came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.03 - 05:53PM to say:
Hi, I'm brand new to the site and was just wondering, how would one submit their entry?
Fics by Fumph came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.03 - 05:54PM to say:
My first reaction to this challenge was 'Eeeek! How the heck am I going to do that?' But I just took a shot at it. Quite enjoyed it, actually!
Sir Ollivander came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.03 - 07:24PM to say:
heroesnevercry - please read the Rules of the Hemingway Six Challenge at the top.
heroesnevercry came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.03 - 08:29PM to say:
Ah. Thank you, I missed that. Good luck to those submitting.
MyGinevra came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.03 - 09:29PM to say:
I have a suggestion. All reviews of the winners should be in six-words.
M_And came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.03 - 09:37PM to say:
As long as we're throwing suggestions out, why not English Sonnets? Complete with iambic pentameter, and the "abab abab abab cc" form. Now that would be an interesting challenge as well (though I do like the limerick idea as well). - Mike
M_And came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.03 - 09:39PM to say:
Actually I need to correct myself amoment - The form for the sonnet would be "abab, cdcd, efef, gg". Sorry about that. Been awhile. - M
Spenser Hemmingway came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.04 - 07:14AM to say:
Sonnets? That other Spenser (Edmund) wrote sonnets. I named my character after Robert Urich's detective as well as Spenser Avenue where I once lived (as well as Hemingway Street a few years later), but... Hmm...I may just try a sonnet as a side-challenge. Thanks for the idea.
Miri came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.04 - 08:39AM to say:
MyGinevra--6 word reviews is a great idea. I'm going to try that. I'm beginning to feel a bit sorry for the judges of this challenge though. From the enthusiasm shown here, and the numerous example given, it looks like there's going to be lots of entries.
hgfan1111 came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.04 - 10:18AM to say:
Because I've had people ask me, I want to have something clarified, please... The rule is, 4 entries per email address, per day. Not 4 entries per author, correct? So, theoretically, there could be lots of entries from the same author, as long as they only place 4 entries in each email, and send them on different days. Have I got that right? I don't want to mislead anyone. Thanks.
Torak came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.04 - 10:47AM to say:
It's pretty clear, really. Each author may submit one email per day, which may contain no more than four "stories". All in all, you can potentially submit up to 124 "stories" during the month, for a total of 744 words. You can't submit eight stories in a day by using two addresses, nor can you and your mates submit four stories each in one email. One author - One email per day - Four stories per email - Four stories per day.
hgfan1111 came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.04 - 10:54AM to say:
Thanks for clarifying that. I didn't want to give anyone false information.
jennyelf came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.04 - 02:36PM to say:
So do numbers count as words? Just wondering...
Yunchao came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.04 - 02:42PM to say:
So there are going to be judges for this one?
Sir Ollivander came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.04 - 08:28PM to say:
jennyelf - yes, numbers count as words. A 6 is the same as six. October 31, 2008 is counted as three words.
Sir Ollivander came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.04 - 08:30PM to say:
Yunchao - yes, there will be judges. Somebody has to choose who the winners are. They just won't be able to start judging the stories till the end of the Challenge Oct. 31, when the one big document is posted.
Yunchao came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.05 - 03:29AM to say:
Yup, I see, wow that will be some document. I think we're going to see a LOT of submissions for this one.
jediprankster came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.05 - 10:33PM to say:
I have a question. The last sentence in rule number 1 is "Anything considered or related to death will not be allowed." I have an idea that is a clever pun related to the defeat of Voldemort. Death isn't mentioned, and we didn't know for certain that Harry would have to KILL him until the end of book five when we learned about the prophecy. And we know since Deathly Hallows that Dumbledore's defeat of Grindelwald did not result in his death. I guess what I'm asking is since defeat does not equal death, but we know that voldemort's defeat does end in his death, would that disallow refering to his defeat in this challenge? I hope not. I had a great idea occur to me before I had even gotten to the rules. Of course, I drew up short after reading the first rule.
Sovran came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.06 - 01:26AM to say:
I happened to run across a fairly good six-word story that JKR wrote herself and tucked away into DH: "Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming." There's an awful lot behind those six words.
Sir Ollivander came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.06 - 07:56AM to say:
jediprankster - no, it would not. Voldemort gets defeated, destroyed, killed off, etc. That is okay. It's all the other blood and gore stuff that's not allowed.
Spenser Hemmingway came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.06 - 08:56AM to say:
Sovran--Good eye there. I suppose that we can enter it for her in the Challenge. I would like to think that she wouldn't mind (and may even know about SIYE).
Victor Aagaard came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.06 - 04:35PM to say:
WOW. That's a great idea!
Victor Aagaard came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.06 - 05:00PM to say:
Question - how, if at all, can we receive judging results? (I assume these won't be posted as stories on SIYE, and so no reviews. Am I wrong?)
Sir Ollivander came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.06 - 08:15PM to say:
Victor Aagaard - a good question. All the entries will be placed in one, big story as one-liners. The story itself will be the only story entered in the Challenge category. It's the one-liners that are being judged. Comments can be left for the one story once it's posted at the end of the Challenge. Everybody, readers and judges alike will see it for the first time, Nov. 1. Judges can still leave a review if they wish. But again, it would be for the entire "one" entry.
KateriBella came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.06 - 08:22PM to say:
One large, one-liners story...hmm. Sounds like a creative writing class I took in college. Professor had taken a line from everyone in the class's submissions, put them all into one, and made that as part of our next assignment - Choose someone else's line and write a short story. I'm already thinking on this one!
werekitten came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.06 - 09:06PM to say:
Whoa, this is hard. Every time I feel sucessful, I look back at what I've written and realize that it's really just describing what JKR wrote, nothing new or inventive. So, question: What do acronyms count as? Could I say "Yeah, everybody's gone surfin, surfin' USA"? Or would USA count as three words?
Victor Aagaard came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.06 - 10:30PM to say:
Thanks Sir O. Another question - and this goes for all challenges in general, but especially this one as I'm feeling a bit of an idiot right now - can I use tomorrow's email to amend my stupid, factually incorrect, unpoetic entries from today's email?
kaypgirl came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.07 - 12:32AM to say:
What time zone is the standard for the end of the day? Like, 12 am Eastern or Pacific?
Sir Ollivander came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.07 - 07:09AM to say:
werekitten - USA is one word. SPCA is one word. RCMP is one word. COMNAVSURFLANT is one word.
Sir Ollivander came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.07 - 07:11AM to say:
Victor Aagaard - yes, you can. If I don't catch any duplicates, both will appear. No problem.
Sir Ollivander came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.07 - 07:14AM to say:
kaypgirl - I'm not that picky. However, I am on the East coast of the US, Florida. That makes me GMT-5. What I do is submit all the e-mails from the previous day. So, this evening, I will process all e-mails with yesterday's date. This eliminates any 11 PM or 1 AM issues.
Victor Aagaard came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.07 - 05:53PM to say:
Thanks again!
Victor Aagaard came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.07 - 07:00PM to say:
Okay, I submitted my revisions. :-P
lilyevans_Jan30 came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.08 - 03:59PM to say:
Here's another from JKR:
Here Lies Dobby. A Free Elf.
She just might win the contest.
Ginebra Wood came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.09 - 06:31PM to say:
This one is from Molly: Not my daughter, ypu bitch!
Ginebra Wood came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.09 - 06:36PM to say:
Well I think that maybe I will give this one a try...
Ginebra Wood came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.09 - 06:36PM to say:
So no work till Halloween?
jediprankster came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.11 - 04:00AM to say:
SIYE is run on UK servers, but the e-mail address for this chalenge is @aol (AMERICA online). Am I the only one to find that amusing?
Torak came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.11 - 05:20AM to say:
It's not an SIYE account, it's just for this challenge (as I understand it); some would set up a Hotmail account, Sir Ollivander picked AOL. It's simple enough.
Spenser Hemmingway came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.11 - 09:46AM to say:
The nature of the Challenge calls for a consolidated page with the entries. The system wouldn't be efficient or the entries easily read if everyone submitted them in the traditional manner--we're receiving hundreds of novels. Sir Ollivander created a temporary email account that was easy and accessible. As he lives in Florida, AOL would be an expected avenue of approach.
Kerney came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.11 - 06:41PM to say:
1) My E-mail doesn't support HTML and italics are important in a couple cases. Can I submit attached word documents? 2) 382 BC, one word or two?
Torak came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.12 - 07:50AM to say:
To denote italics, simply put it in /slashes/. And "382 BC" is two words.
lilyevans_Jan30 came out of the woodwork on 2008.10.01 - 08:52PM to say:
Hmmmm. Interesting. Very, very interesting.
There's one! Hehehe. Lilyevans_Jan30