Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Random Highbrow


So I read about this little contest which interested me because I love playing with words (translate: love to procrastinate with internet writing games)...anyway, here's the rules:

Random Highbrow competition

Writers - your task is to take ten words and write a very short work of fiction or a poem (250 words maximum). All ten words must be used. The frequency of their usage is up to the writer.

This competition's ten words are from Machiavelli's The Prince.

intentions
circumstances
rapacious
proved
joined
patrimony
powerful
resent
single-mindedness
retaining

I mean, some of the words are easy but try and use rapacious and patrimony in a 250 word story without coming off like a total pretentious asshole and see if you can do it.

So here's the link in question which features my story as well as all of the other entries over at Grimm Magazine and please don't hold this one against me -- it was done tongue in cheek and is totally and completely politically incorrect but what can you do -- better that than a pompous piece of PPA (prose performance art -- my term for stream of consciousness writing where oh-so-hip authors string fancy words together to form artful, nonsensical phrases and we're supposed to "get it", stroke our chins and whisper in reverence "Brilliant! Simply brilliant!" Though in a contest such as this, I guess I'll tolerate a little PPA.

But only if it makes me laugh.

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