Results of Morgen’s 100-word competition: July 2019

August 17, 20192 Comments

Hello everyone and welcome to the forty-seventh month of this competition. There were 33 entries from 14 authors for the theme of ‘given the chance’. NB You can all send in three stories for a better chance of being picked.

One was disqualified for only being 98 words with a two-word title. Fortunately the author had submitted two other spot-on submissions, however one of those had two sets of words (include a number) that should have been hyphenated, bringing it down to 98 words. To be fair on every entrant, I have to be strict and it just goes to show how valuable (useful anyway) it can be to submit three stories.

Another story was 99 words because a word (the) was used twice. Again the author had submitted two other stories. One of those however was only 97 words (98 originally but one word had been written as two). The remaining went through to the judging.

A 99-worder possibly was because it included a hyphen/dash which doesn’t count as a word.

Another was 101 words and I couldn’t find any reason other than there being too many words. I pasted it into https://wordcounter.netand it agreed. Ditto a 95-word story and sadly both those stories were the only submissions from their authors so they missed out on the competition for this month. Hopefully they’ll submit again. One author sent the same story three times (and another) but, as per the rules, only the first version is accepted. Another 101 story started as 100 but had a word missing (‘at a time’ rather than ‘at time’) which was a shame so was sadly disqualified, especially sad as the entrant’s only submission.

One was disqualified for having a numbered ‘year old’ half hyphenated, i.e. ‘15-year old self’ rather than ‘15-year-old self’ because it’s only the self that’s the noun rather than old self. Fortunately the author had submitted two other stories which went through to the judging.

The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way),or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly). Sometimes a story beats another because it has a strong link to the theme – and there were several this month that barely stuck to the theme, if at all (sorry!) – so it’s worth writing a story to the theme rather than tweaking a story you already have to loosely fit it.

You may have chosen a different order or indeed not placed one or more of them so if you entered and didn’t find your story / stories here, don’t lose heart. You probably only just missed out so do enter new stories this month*, next month, whenever you like (but not in advance!). It’s an ongoing competition and free, so you could win at any time. There were new and familiar names this month so anyone could win… it’s all dependent upon whether your story grabs me, for whatever reason (whether it be clever, funny, unusual, quirky, or sweet).

Apart from the top three and highly commended, there are some ‘Honourable Mentions’. They don’t win anything but they were so close to being Highly Commended that I wanted them to know how close they came. It’s still something for them to put on their CVs.

*The theme for August is ‘escalator’ and you can submit your entries (and do send three) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Saturday 31st August. Details and entry forms on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/100-word-free-monthly-competition. So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.

First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18):

Joyce Nelson with ‘Always in the Wings’
It would be so liberating to be given the chance of taking the lead. Always in the wings, learning the lines and stage directions others will use. I’m just a spear carrier, and my family think I have made it, living the high life in London. I mouth the words of my character as he is played out on stage as I await my entrance. I’m on, and I’m off, don’t blink, you’ll miss my performance as the bustling butler. I have made the part my own, there are no better butlers in the West End. I dream of accidents.

Second place (winning free access to two of myonline creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14):

Paul Mastaglio with ‘One More Day’
Given the chance, we’d walk in the fields again. I’d hold her hand, stroke her cheek and make her smile. We’d go to our favourite place. There, we would embrace, look into each other’s eyes and recall the happy memories.
We’d dine in our special restaurant and talk until they threw us out. Then we’d stroll by the river and stare at the moon. Later, we’d amble back home, close the door and go up the stairs one last time.
Tears filled my eyes as I walked away from her stone. If we’d had one more day. Given the chance.

Third place (winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9):

Jennie Cordner with ‘Second Chances’
When I left Isobel, six months pregnant, I never imagined the consequences of my actions. I thought she deserved better than a layabout as a father for her child. Later, the pain of witnessing her marrying another man upset me greatly. I had to move away.
Over the years I grabbed every chance to better myself. I’m now a professor. Who would have guessed it? Yet, nothing stopped me thinking of my child or my missed opportunity to be a dad. Then, today, I saw a young man in the lecture theatre who was the image of my young self.

Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitionscourse worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:

Alan Barker with ‘An Affair of the Heart’
Christine Law with ‘Oh for Fate’
Jane Broughton with ‘Nemesis’
Yvonne Mastaglio with ‘Race Day’

Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in alphabetical order:

Ez Baril with ‘No Rites for the Wicked’
Jeremy Chotzen with ‘Anna’
Laura Besley with ‘Then vs. Now’
Shalom Aranas with ‘Tipo’s Trenchcoat’

Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.

If you’ve enjoyed these stories and / or just want to leave a comment, please do so below and / or you can email me at morgen@morgenbailey.com., although I won’t (can’t) discuss forthcoming entries unless it’s a general query.

Results of Morgen’s 100-word competition: June 2019

July 14, 2019Leave a comment

Hello everyone and welcome to the forty-sixth month of this competition. There were 32 entries from 20 authors for the theme of ‘the wrong card’. NB You can all send in three stories for a better chance of being picked – please do as several were disqualified this month…

One was disqualified for only being 98 words, possibly counting a multi-hyphenated word as three instead of one. Fortunately the author had submitted two other stories which were the correct word count. Ditto another two authors who’d not hyphenated pre-noun adjectives, e.g. counting ‘well-known celebrity’ as three words rather than two, so the stories were actually 99 words. Fortunately one author had submitted two other pieces but sadly the other had only submitted the one.

Another story was 97 words where three standalone hyphens had been included in the word count. Tip: if you change – to – Word won’t count it as a word.

This may seem mean on my part but this competition has a strict word count and it wouldn’t be fair on those who were correctly submitting 100-word stories for the errors not to be taken into consideration.

A couple of entrants submitted the same story (or similar, with changes) twice. Another story was 95 words but had a five-word title. 😦 That author also resubmitted the story with five extra words but because it was the same story, it too had to be disqualified. As the rules state, only the first version is accepted. Please don’t submit a story until you’re happy it’s correct. Thank you.

Another story was disqualified for not being to the theme, however hard I tried to work out how it did! It was a shame because it was a really good story, exactly 100 words, and from a new author to this competition, and the only story sent. I hope this author will submit again.

Finally, another story turned out to be 101 words because there were two words separated by … ellipses but with no space between, e.g. ‘fare…as’, which is clearly two words but Word has counted them as one. Another shame because it was again the only story entered by a new entrant.

The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way),or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly). Sometimes a story beats another because it has a strong link to the theme so it’s worth writing a story to the theme rather than tweaking a story you already have to loosely fit it.

*The theme for July is ‘given the chance’ and you can submit your entries (and do send three) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Wednesday 31st July. Details and entry forms on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/100-word-free-monthly-competition. So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.

First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18):

Shona Small with ‘Blonde Ambition’

When it is time to pick a card, any card, the bubbly busty blonde in the front row with the saucy smile is his choice.
He flashes the jack of diamonds and breaks out in a cold sweat when she shakes her pretty head. The audience falls silent, as sharks scenting blood. She reaches forward and taps his breast pocket. He draws out the ace of spades. She claps her hands and giggles. The crowd goes wild.
He looks for her after the show but she has pulled a disappearing act along with his wallet, gold watch and diamond cufflinks.

Second place (winning free access to two of myonline creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14):

Anthony James Dandy with ‘With Deepest Sympathy’

Tears dripped onto the card in her hand. ‘With deepest sympathy,’ it said.
Tears of relief.
They said his boat had capsized during a storm, whilst he was out at sea.
Forty years of drunken abuse ended.
Finally, peace. No more fear. No more hiding her pension money.
A fortnight later, she hummed to the music she had not played in years.
The door opened and he came in.
Unshaven, dirty, stinking of drink.
‘Can’t remember where I’ve been. Fell out my boat, swam to the shore and went on a bender.’
Tears rolled down her cheek.
Tears of grief.

Third place (winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9):

Jody Kish with ‘A Heavenly Mistake’

“Hello? Yes, my husband has items he’d like to donate. That would be great! Our address is 4635 Sand Hill. Thank you. Bye.”
Feeling satisfied, Beth sat the phone in its cradle. Business cards scattered as her arm hit the pile of her husband’s things. A plethora of color scattered before her. Not remembering which one was the number for church donations, she scolded herself for her rush.
“Uh… may I help you? Robert! Someone is here to pick up your donation!” Beth hissed.
His flushed face watched as his wife sped away, leaving a dumbfounded call girl and husband.

Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitionscourse worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:

Alan Barker with ‘A Vicar’s Fall From Grace’
Dawn Plestina with ‘Oops a Daisy’
Katy Lohman with ‘Foster’s Fixers’
Lesley McLean with ‘Sweet Revenge’
Paul Mastaglio with ‘Misplaced Sympathy’

Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in alphabetical order:

Ez Baril with ‘Speedball’
Jeanne Meeks with ‘The Meaning of Flowers’
Jiana Marita with ‘Uno Out’
Valerie Fish with ‘Fate Accompli?’

Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.

If you’ve enjoyed these stories and / or just want to leave a comment, please do so below and / or you can email me at morgen@morgenbailey.com, although I can’t discuss entries unless it’s a general query.

Results of Morgen’s 100-word competition: May 2019

June 14, 2019Leave a comment

Hello everyone and welcome to the forty-fifth month of this competition. Last month I received 29 entries from 16 authors for the theme of ‘irresponsible’. NB You can all send in three stories for a better chance of being picked.

Three stories were disqualified for only being 98-99 words. Sadly they were all by the same author. 😦

Another was only 99 words because a set of ellipses (with more than one in the story) had been left on their own rather than attached to the previous word so when reattached, lost a word.

One missed out on being placed because it less of an impact on me as a judge. I’m a stickler for repetition and there was a lot of repetition in it. That’s personal choice but, for me, it’s how much I enjoy the piece as well as how well it’s written. Its author, sadly, only submitted one story so missed out entirely.

One of the last submissions was only 99 words because a number (ninety-nine) wasn’t hyphenated so ironically was disqualified for only being 99 words. Even sadder is the fact that the author only submitted that story rather than taking up the offer of submitting up to three so missed out. Hopefully he / she will submit again for another theme.

Finally, one story was marked down for a typo (a ‘The’ instead of – I assumed – ‘He’) which was a shame. Please read, reread and read again your story before submitting. Read aloud. Read each sentence in reverse order, from the last to the first. It won’t make sense but that’s the point – you’re too close to your writing. Write it early, let it marinate, then read, tweak and submit when you’re 100% happy with it.

The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way),or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly). Sometimes a story beats another because it has a strong link to the theme rather than being more ‘literary’, so it’s worth writing a story to the theme rather than tweaking a story you already have to loosely fit it.

*The theme for June is ‘the wrong card’ and you can submit your entries (and do send three) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Sunday 30th June. Details and entry forms on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/100-word-free-monthly-competition. So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.

First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18):

Gerry Coyle with ‘Endless Knot’

Your fingertips brush the bows of my bark, burning to penetrate my heart carved from hearts. You circle me, treading the path where lovers’ palms once kneaded soil and harts fed on grass. You wield an axe to ease my severance. I pine to strip flesh from ignorant bones. One tug on the cord and metal teeth begin to laugh. You fail to hear a warning cry over the laughter of your accomplice. The cry comes from a woman’s face behind a pantry window. In haste, you’ve failed to notice the wind direction. And the direction in which I lean.

Second place (winning free access to two of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14):

Lucy Morrice with ‘Won’t Buy you Happiness’

For the first time, he experienced pure joy.
The trigger was another election, a shift further to the right, a society increasingly divided and cruel.
He recognised his part in the country’s downfall, the pursuit of wealth, climbing over others and stamping on their livelihoods.
His mother would be horrified. She always told him to keep something aside ‘for a rainy day’. He had given it all away, to the environmentalists, the food banks, the shelters for abused women.
He had enough to get by, and he had his hot feet cooling in a stream, with trout nibbling his toes.

Third place (winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9):

Lestie Mulholland with ‘Payment Plan Percy’

I knew I was being irresponsible but I couldn’t help it. What I wanted was expensive, not-enough-money-in-my-bank-account expensive, but the taste of ownership had become peppery.
Maybe I could stretch my card? Maybe the bank manager would understand? I certainly did.
Caressing the fur, stroking it, feeling its sensual softness, delighting in the creamy colour and contemplating the consequences of my actions, I got lost in my thoughts.
Pure-bred Persian, aquamarine eyes, I would call him Percival. So what if they had a ‘no pets’ policy at the complex, I’d deal with that later as well.
Purring, I drove home.

Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitionscourse worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:

Anne-Marie Latter with ‘Blue Lines’
Jennie Cordner with ‘Congratulations!’
Kathy Schilbach with ‘Gone’
Paul Mastaglio with ‘Sign of the Tides’

Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in alphabetical order:

Dide Siemmond with ‘Lilith’
Katy Lohman with ‘Take Me’
Shalom Aranas with ‘The Vampire Ogrencisi’

Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.

If you’ve enjoyed these stories and / or just want to leave a comment, please do so below and / or you can email me at morgen@morgenbailey.com, although I won’t (can’t) discuss forthcoming entries unless it’s a general query.

Results of Morgen’s 100-word competition: April 2019

May 20, 2019May 20, 2019Leave a comment

Hello everyone and welcome to the forty-fourth month of this competition. Last month I received 32 entries from 15 authors for the theme of ‘making a claim’. NB You can all send in three stories for a better chance of being picked.

Not an easy choice this month – as if they ever are! – with me rearranging the stories several times before finally plumping for the order that appears below.

One was disqualified for only being 99 words (according to Word). It did include a correctly hyphenated word so it could be possible that the (regular) entrant counted that as two words. Fortunately it wasn’t the only story the author submitted – it’s always worth sending three… although sometimes that makes my job harder as I struggle to choose between two (or three) of them!

A second was also 99 words (with two words that should have been one) but was the only story submitted by that author, a regular to the competition, so missed out. 😦

Another was disqualified for including the three-word title in the word count and sadly the only other story submitted by the author had two words separated by an … ellipses with no space in between so once separated, made a 101-word story. It’s only fair to everyone to correct the stories to check the correct word count. It’s always worth submitting three stories for this reason.

Another was 102 words because two words had been incorrectly hyphenated (as it stood alone rather than being before a noun, e.g. it was half term rather than a half-term holiday) and another put together, as one word, when they should have been separated. If in doubt, I go by the Oxford English Dictionary (e.g. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/bed_sheet).

Another story had a hyphenated word that did preceded a noun but it was an adverb, a quickly-prepared picnic – https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/6-common-hypercorrections-and-how-to-avoid-them/assuming-that-all-final-consonant-sounds-in-french-are-silent(the fourth of the six) explains. Fortunately the author had submitted two other stories, one of which was successful.

Another author was not so lucky by submitting a story that was, when the punctuation was connected to the relevant words, only 92 words and one of those (a spare ‘it’) shouldn’t have been there. The story was submitted three days before the competition so time to have reread it and ensure it was correct. It’s a shame because it was really good but the author’s only story so missed out this month and sadly new to the competition so a treble shame.

Please please do read your stories carefully. There was a story, for example, which contained an ‘eighteen’ rather than ‘eighteenth’ and ‘where’ instead of ‘were’ – simple mistakes but judges mark down mistakes to be fair to every entrant. Fortunately in this instance, the author had submitted two other stories, one of which went on to the final batch.

If grammar isn’t your strong point, please do ask someone else to read your story and give you feedback on it. There’s no harm doing that anyway. 🙂

I recommend using something like https://wordcounter.net to check your word count, which leads to grammarly.com if you click on the ‘grammar & spell check’ option, although it didn’t pick up on the rogue full stops and commas. 😦

The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way),or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly). Sometimes a story beats another because it has a strong link to the theme so it’s worth writing a story to the theme rather than tweaking a story you already have to loosely fit it.

*The theme for May is ‘irresponsible’ and you can submit your entries (and do send three) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Friday 31st May. Details and entry forms on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/100-word-free-monthly-competition. So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.

First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18):

Jennie Cordner with ‘This Should Be Fun’

“Come camping,” they said. “It will be fun.”
Why didn’t I refuse? I broke my neck tripping over a bloody tent peg. For thirty years, I’ve been confined to a wheelchair.
The telephone rings. “I’m calling about your accident,” they say.
I like to engage in these distractions from everyday life and reply, “I’m so glad you called. I’d like to make a claim.”
They are unable to hide their enthusiasm for my suffering.
“The date of your accident?” they ask.
“Let me think. Yes, June 19 1989.”
There’s silence.
Still, once I Google “accident,” someone else will call tomorrow!

Second place (winning free access to two of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14):

Laura Besley with ‘As One’
‘But how will I know which is the right one?’ I ask.
My mother kisses my forehead. ‘Women have been claiming hearts for generations, love. You will know.’
There are rows and rows of them, all beating to their own rhythms. Choosing seems impossible. My own heart flails like a fish on land, until my eyes rest on a small heart at the back, tight as a fist, but slow and steady.
‘That’s the one,’ I whisper.
And its owner, my life partner, appears. We leave hand in hand, hearts beating in unison, bound together until one of them stops.

Third place (winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9):

Carol Allison with ‘Living the Dream’
“This is everything we’ve ever wanted.”
Beth stands on the veranda surveying the rolling hills beyond the scented cottage garden.
“Last night there was a family of badgers playing on the lawn. We never got to see anything like that from the council flat.”
Pouring a glass of champagne, she lets out a contented sigh.
“Who would believe we could own a place like this? Apart from me. I always did. I believed it when I took out the life insurance policy. When I put the weed killer in your food.”
She raises a glass.
“Here’s to living the dream.”

Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitionscourse worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in author alphabetical order:

Celine Curtis with ‘Hell at Heaven’s Gate’
Justin Rultonwith ‘Clown and Out’
Lestie Mulholland with ‘We Came, We Saw, We Went’
Paul Mastagliowith ‘Within Touching Distance’
Shona Small with ‘Last Call’

Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in author alphabetical order:

Jane Broughton with ‘Oh Brother!’
Lee Thomas with ‘I’d Like To Make A Claim’
Valerie Fish with ‘Heartbeat’

Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.

Results of Morgen’s 100-word competition: March 2019

April 22, 2019April 22, 20193 Comments

Hello everyone and welcome to the forty-third month of this competition. Sorry it’s rather later than mid-month but it’s been a particularly busy one, not least with resurrecting my podcast and its 121 episodes! Last month I received 31 entries from 17 authors for the theme of ‘turn down’. NB You can all send in three stories for a better chance of being picked.

One was disqualified for only being 99 words. It came in at 100 but there was a number which should have been hyphenated. Another for the same word count and reason but with a descriptive adjectives preceding a noun, e.g. a well-known celebrity. I know I’m mean but it’s only fair to all the entrants to correct it. Fortunately both authors had submitted two other stories.

Another story was submitted twice, under different titles within a couple of days of each other. They may have changed other than the title – I didn’t check. Only the first version is accepted so the author was still able to send two other stories although didn’t.

One story wasn’t disqualified but lost brownie points for having several adverbs (the dreaded ___ly words) and two points of view in the piece. It’s a shame because it was a great story. Another story had different tenses where it should have stayed in one. I know… I’m strict!

Another also lost a brownie point for having an adverb rather than the correct noun: jealously instead of jealousy. Another had ‘has’ where it should have been ‘as’. Both easy mistakes to make but to be fair to everyone entering, mistakes that should have been picked up in the editing process do need to be marked down.

Tip: although it’s not an error as such, be careful of not having too many sentences starting with a pronoun, i.e. the characters names or He / She / The. One of the stories had seven sentences, five of which started with ‘She’, the other two were ‘He’ and ‘The’. Even adding, ‘As…’ or ‘When’ before a sentence can make them more varied, or you can put the verb first, e.g. Putting the gun down… although you don’t want too many ‘ing’s either. 🙂

The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way),or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly). Sometimes a story beats another because it has a strong link to the theme so it’s worth writing a story to the theme rather than tweaking a story you already have to loosely fit it.

*The theme for April is ‘making a claim’ and you can submit your entries (and do send three) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Tuesday 30th April. Details and entry forms on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/100-word-free-monthly-competition. So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.

First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18):

N Sebastian with ‘Proposal’

I had imagined the moment you asked the question so many times. There had always been a happy-ever-after feeling as the scene faded. Of course there had. Everyone said we’d been made for one another.
Believe me, I did not know that I was going to turn you down.
But here in this real world, when your question came, there was no happy ending. At that moment, the image burning in my mind’s eye was of me, on my hands and my knees, trying to sweep thousands of fragments of my broken dreams under the carpet upon which you stood.

Second place (winning free access to two of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14):

Alan Barker with ‘The Wedding Vow’

She gazed at him despondently. “So that’s your final decision? You won’t marry me?”
“I’m sorry. I’ve considered the matter carefully but the answer has to be no.”
“My love isn’t good enough for you?”
The priest shook his head. “This church takes the view we cannot marry a couple that includes a divorcee, during the lifetime of the former spouse.”
On her way home, she thought about her wonderful fiancé and how she so wanted theirs to be the perfect wedding.
Then she thought of her ex-husband and vowed to invite him for one final walk along Beachy Head.

Third place (winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9):

Barbara Young with ‘Your Funeral’

You expected me to turn down the invitation. No way – what a grand occasion it is. Your family, draped in black, emit elegantly muted sobs, whispers of suicide slithering through cold air.
I sit, head bowed, as they throw disapproving glances at my inappropriate clothing (I couldn’t resist a splash of colour).

Will I make a scene? Throw my howling body onto the coffin?
No chance, Peter. You know every scar on my body. You should do, you put them there.
I know the exact shape of the bullet wound on your head.
I should do. I put it there.

Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitionscourse worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:

Anne-Marie Latter with ‘Star Light, Star Bright’
Bobby Fairfield with ‘Community Decline’
Justin Rulton with ‘You Get Less For Murder’

Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in alphabetical order:

Pamela with ‘Turn Down’
Sarah Mosedale with ‘Plenty More Where That Came From’
Val Fish with ‘Decisions Decisions…’

Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.

Results of Morgen’s 100-word competition: February 2019

March 5, 2019March 5, 20192 Comments

Hello everyone and welcome to the forty-second month of this competition. Last month I received 33 entries from 17 authors for the theme of ‘hard times’. NB You can all send in three stories for a better chance of being picked. It was an interesting batch with different levels of hardship, some very tongue in cheeks, others picking the same plot but told very differently, another had a clever layout.

Four were disqualified for only being 99 words. They all arrived as 100 but sadly there was a rogue full stop in one which Word counted as a word so when removed, the story was one word short. Another had an ‘any more’ (quantity) that should have been ‘anymore’ (time). The others had two words that should have been hyphenated as preceding a noun (e.g. ‘a well-known celebrity’ rather than ‘the celebrity was well known’. I know that’s not the worst mistake but I have to be fair to everyone and there were other stories that correctly contained hyphenated adjectives so this one had to be disqualified.

Another was disqualified for only being 98 because in that one there were two sets of pre-noun words that should have been hyphenated. Fortunately all but one of the authors had sent in other stories, and in each case, another was my preferred, so no harm done. Sadly, one author had only sent in two stories and both were disqualified. It’s always worth submitting the maximum of three.

One story lost a (brownie) point for a spelling mistake. It’s easily done but there are different spellings and meanings of the word “draw” (vs. drawer). ‘draw’ is a verb, as in to paint something or to bring, as in to draw attention to something, whereas the noun for a storage section in a desk is a drawer. Not something to be disqualified for but a common error I’ve found. Ditto an error in one of the titles (Higns instead of Highs) which would have come up in the spell check. Again, the author had submitted two other stories, one of which I liked equally so that went through to the next round.

The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way),or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly). Sometimes a story beats another because it has a strong link to the theme so it’s worth writing a story to the theme rather than tweaking a story you already have to loosely fit it.

*The theme for March is ‘turn down’ and you can submit your entries (and do send three) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Sunday 31st March. Details and entry forms on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/100-word-free-monthly-competition. The 2020 themes are now there too!

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Today’s poetry and story exercises: 1st March 2019

March 1, 2019February 10, 2019Leave a comment

*** If you enjoy these prompts, or are looking to improve your writing or submit a manuscript, do take a look at my seven online courses… five currently half price and two FREE! (coupon codes on the online courses page) and / or my Writer’s Block Workbooks… now available in eBook and paperback format! I also run a free Monday mentor group. Do join us and pick my brain. 🙂

Every weekday I post a set of poetry prompts on poetrywritinggroup.wordpress.comand shortstorywritinggroup.wordpress.com. Here are those exercises…

Poetry Writing Exercises 1597: Friday 1st March

(NB. This link won’t be active until noon UK time today)

Here are your four poetry exercises for today. If you enjoy these prompts, do take a look at my online courses… five are currently half price (when using the coupon codes on my main blog’s online courses page) and two others are FREE!

Time yourself for 15 minutes per exercise, having a break in between each one or move on to the next. When you’ve finished, do pop over to this blog’s Facebook Group and let everyone know how you got on. I also run a free Monday mentor group. Do join us and pick my brain. 🙂

Below are the four – you can do them in any order.

Keywords: pad, paw, petal, possum, pew
Random: a lovely tune
Picture: what does this inspire?
One-word prompt: tear

Have fun, and if you would like to, do paste your writing in the comment boxes below so we can see how you got on! Remember though that it counts as being published so don’t post anything that you would want to submit elsewhere (where they require unpublished material).

See below for explanations of the prompts, they do vary…

Sentence starts = what it says on the tin. You can use it at the beginning of the poem or include it later, and being poetry it doesn’t have to be exact – just be inspired by it.
Keywords = the words have to appear in the poem but can be in any order and can be lengthened (e.g. clap to clapping).
Single-word prompt = sometimes all it takes is one word to spawn an idea. Sometimes it easy, sometimes hard but invariably fun.
Mixed bag = an object, a location, a colour.
Picture prompts = nothing other than a picture. What does it conjure up?
Title = the title for your piece.
Haiku poem= 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables
Random = whatever takes my fancy!

Story Writing Exercises 1601: Friday 1st Mar

(NB. This link won’t be active until 10am UK time today)

Below are your four story exercises for today. You can do them in any order. Time yourself for 15 minutes for each one, then either have a break or move on to the next one.

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