Alright, Prosers. I said we’d cap the season at 16 writers, so here we are with 18 (wait, what?). It’s the people on the list plus Pope, who I haven’t added yet, but probably will after this – so ignore the part about him not being on the list.
Your judges:
Colin Wolfson. Has not judged before. Be gentle.
Me. Judges you even when you’re not writing. Tough talk is welcomed.
I need a gatherer or two for this season as well; I always assume Pete’s good to go but more is better.
Your season flow will look like this:
WEEK A: Deadlines on Monday and Thursday; short word limits
WEEK B: Deadline on Thursday only; long word limit
Please allow some time for the Thursday one to go up, depending on the number of words I give you.
Medals. Three gold, three silver and three bronze for each challenge from each judge. Eighteen people is kind of handy like that.
This season, you’ll be writing in the vein of one of your CdL contemporaries for each challenge. That is to say, I’ve distilled a bunch of you down to narrow, perhaps-unfair stereotypes. It’ll be fun!
This challenge is the Bret Highum Challenge. Is Bret even doing this season? I don’t remember. Anyway, your task is to write a central character that’s an emotionally repressed redneck. From there, it’s a wide open playground. The word limit is 150 and it’s due Monday night the 11th at 9pm Central.
Playoffs? I’m glad you asked. We’ll do the usual thing. Six make the playoffs. Two head straight to the semifinals while the other four do a challenge where two advance. Then two of four advance from the semifinals. Then the finals happen, and we see which of Ian and the two Wreisners is left out.
Alright, Prosers, let’s have some fun with this. Word limits will be found organically; let me know after the first cycle if you’re feeling stifled. Okay, off you go.
Casa de Leche 
19 comments
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May 7, 2015 at 11:24 am
BigPapaJonTheElf
Actually, I am on that list down there. Do I have to write 2 stories for each challenge now? Fine, I’ll do it.
May 7, 2015 at 11:46 am
Inkarnit
Yes. And you get scored based on the average medal count of your two stories.
May 7, 2015 at 12:13 pm
christinapepper
You know what would be cool (but more work for you)? A link to a story or two from the featured person to accompany the prompt.
Bret wrote a great cowboy piece during Survivor XIII, but I can’t remember what . . . ooh, just found it! Voila: https://spookymilk.wordpress.com/2013/08/26/spookymilk-survivor-xiii-results-suspect/
May 7, 2015 at 1:24 pm
margaritamartini
Fun! I haven’t written anything but reports since Survivor 15. And I’m sure that one of Bret’s stories has been dragging its heels through my brain — for one thing, I’ve started drinking beer from a can again. For another, I’ve starting saying “fire” as a one-syllable word. 🙂 LOL
May 7, 2015 at 2:01 pm
MelissaDiamondPhillips
It’s…NOT a one-syllable word?
May 7, 2015 at 4:20 pm
BigPapaJonTheElf
It’s got a dipthong in the middle of it. How do you pronounce it so it’s a one-syllable word?
May 7, 2015 at 4:22 pm
MelissaDiamondPhillips
FIRE.
May 7, 2015 at 5:19 pm
BigPapaJonTheElf
Is this some weird latent Texas thing coming from you right now?
May 7, 2015 at 4:23 pm
Inkarnit
FYR as opposed to FI-ER.
May 7, 2015 at 4:24 pm
Inkarnit
Or FAHR.
May 7, 2015 at 4:27 pm
Inkarnit
In fact, a good reference is Johnny Cash, Ring of Fire. He pronounces it with one AND two syllables in different parts of the song.
May 7, 2015 at 4:28 pm
mbnovak
Hey Spooky, how about if anyone writes a story without using the word fire, their medals are forfeit?
May 7, 2015 at 4:30 pm
Inkarnit
But this challenge is about rednecks. Certainly rednecks and fire can’t go in the same… Oh. That’s normal? Carry on.
May 7, 2015 at 10:34 pm
Beau
I think with 18 entrants there should be 8 in the playoffs. It gives more people a chance at the end and reduces likelihood of non-subs. You could even do 9 spots and make the 8 and 9 seeds do a play-in round.
May 8, 2015 at 9:32 am
mbnovak
I’ve decided I like the conferences. But even conferences is so overdone. We should have 2 conferences, one with 3 players, and one with 15. The three player conference gets 1 playoff spot, the 15 person gets 5 playoff spots. We can call our conferences “Wreisners+Ian” and “Everybody else.”
I suspect there are at least 15 writers who will think this fair.
May 9, 2015 at 9:42 am
mbnovak
I do actually support the expanded playoff idea though.
May 8, 2015 at 9:37 am
The Dread Pirate
I think the theme idea is fantastic. You should have a Josh Mitchell Challenge due on a Monday of a B week.
May 9, 2015 at 9:34 am
bhiggum
I’m just glad I’ve got something new to show up in the Google search results for my name!
May 11, 2015 at 9:52 am
margaritamartini
Are we sending this to you, Kelly?