Thursday, May 18, 2006
Twas a Dark and Stormy night...
My man Alan in Chicago pointed me to this writer's contest in USA.
Each year, there are 10 winners of the Bulwer-Lytton contest, aka "Dark and Stormy Night Contest" (run by the English Dept. of San Jose State University), wherein one writes only the first line of a bad novel:
Today, I am privileged (?) to bring you the winning entries placed at number 10, 9 and 8.
This year, No.8 has the ....um.... sort of thick treacly prose that strikes shame into any writer's heart.
10) "As a scientist, Throckmorton knew that if he were ever to break wind in the echo chamber, he would never hear the end of it."
9) "Just beyond the Narrows, the river widens."
8) "With a curvaceous figure that Venus would have envied, a tanned, unblemished oval face framed with lustrous thick brown hair, deep azure-blue eyes fringed with long black lashes, perfect teeth that vied for competition, and a small straight nose; Marilee had a beauty that defied description."
Tomorrow, thebetter (?) winning entries and the source of these pearly gems....
Each year, there are 10 winners of the Bulwer-Lytton contest, aka "Dark and Stormy Night Contest" (run by the English Dept. of San Jose State University), wherein one writes only the first line of a bad novel:
Today, I am privileged (?) to bring you the winning entries placed at number 10, 9 and 8.
This year, No.8 has the ....um.... sort of thick treacly prose that strikes shame into any writer's heart.
10) "As a scientist, Throckmorton knew that if he were ever to break wind in the echo chamber, he would never hear the end of it."
9) "Just beyond the Narrows, the river widens."
8) "With a curvaceous figure that Venus would have envied, a tanned, unblemished oval face framed with lustrous thick brown hair, deep azure-blue eyes fringed with long black lashes, perfect teeth that vied for competition, and a small straight nose; Marilee had a beauty that defied description."
Tomorrow, the
