Fanfare! We Have Two Joint Winners...!

[AgentPete]

I’m delighted to announce that we have two joint winners for this month’s ONE PERFECT SENTENCE contest…

Claire & Jonny!​

Graphics for both are below, and are going out on our social media right now.

I loved all the entries! Here are the top three places together with a special mention:

Joint First​

“He'll never know it's about him, she thought, as she typed the final word of her latest romance novel.”

… Claire




“I'd often been told one day it would happen, and yet when it actually did, I was completely unprepared for my life being turned upside down.”

… Jonny

Joint Second​

“That which we call a heart, by any other name would taste as sweet.”

… Rachael


“It wasn't until she opened the suitcase that she realised ... the ‘love of her life’ would never fit inside.”

… Barbara

Joint Third​

“He’s the only man I’ll ever love, but I think I just met the girl of my dreams.”

… Sedayne


“Choosing the wrong love song can be awkward, but singing it to the wrong person can be deadly.”

… Carol

Special Mention​

“As an auditor, Roslyn Devine felt out of place at the cockfight.”

… Aethalope

Next month’s contest kicks off on the 7th October, watch out for it!​

 

[mickleinapickle]

Fantastic!

 

[Barbara]

Congratulations, @Jonny and @Claire G. Two superb entries. You both deserve one of these . Well done, you two.

 

[Claire G]

This has made me smile! Thank you!

 

[E G Logan]

Congratulations to two very worthy winners!

 

[Sedayne]

Congratulations @Claire G and @Jonny
Very well deserved!

I'm pretty chuffed with tying for 3rd myself. At last I have something to put on my writing CV

 

[Bloo]

Great

This has made me smile! Thank you!

Congratulations, Claire. But I gotta say, your award card is not at all how I pictured the scene you set. I didn't get any Happy Ending vibes. And your protag deserved at least a pair of sandals

Anyhoo...here's what I saw...

A mid-thirties woman is home alone in front of her laptop, elbows on the desk. Her chin rests on clasped hands as she stares at "The End" below the final paragraphs of her story.

There's a half glass of red wine on the desk. Not a silly long-stem glass; those are for celebrating or relaxing. This one is much shorter, and it has no stem.

There's a tissue box, too. It's lightly used - just a few moist tissues occupy a small wastebasket by the desk. One landed on the floor. She doesn't notice or doesn't care.

It's late. She clicks "save", then goes off to bed. She doesn't bother finishing the wine. It'll be sour in the morning.

 

[Bloo]

Good show Jonny and Claire - and the notables, too. I'd keep reading

 

[Claire G]

Great


Congratulations, Claire. But I gotta say, your award card is not at all how I pictured the scene you set. I didn't get any Happy Ending vibes. And your protag deserved at least a pair of sandals

Anyhoo...here's what I saw...

A mid-thirties woman is home alone in front of her laptop, elbows on the desk. Her chin rests on clasped hands as she stares at "The End" below the final paragraphs of her story.

There's a half glass of red wine on the desk. Not a silly long-stem glass; those are for celebrating or relaxing. This one is much shorter, and it has no stem.

There's a tissue box, too. It's lightly used - just a few moist tissues occupy a small wastebasket by the desk. One landed on the floor. She doesn't notice or doesn't care.

It's late. She clicks "save", then goes off to bed. She doesn't bother finishing the wine. It'll be sour in the morning.

Love this!

 

[Trey]

Great fun and really enjoyed reading everyone's attempts. Congrats to all the medallists!!

 

[AgentPete]

This is a pre-announcement, i.e. the whole thing is in beta at the moment, but…

I’ve been thinking how to give prizes for winners. It’s always a bit of a problem, since our membership is nothing if not geographically disparate, and the shipping cost of a prize can often be more than its value.

So I’ve come up with the idea of “LitBits”, our own digital currency.

Eventually, you’ll be able to do fun things with it, but that’s a way off yet.

For the moment, LitBits can be won by winning the OPS contest… and maybe other things, too.

So I’m pleased to say that the following LitBits have been awarded to this month’s winners:

• 1st place: 100 LitBits
• 2nd place: 50 LitBits
• 3rd place: 25 LitBits
• Special mention: 10 LitBits

You can check your LitBit account in the new main menu item, “Credits”.

 

[CarolMS]

This was fun! More, please?

 

[AgentPete]

This was fun! More, please?

Next month The contest is 721, i.e. starts on the 7th, ends on the 21st.

 

[CarolMS]

Next month The contest is 721, i.e. starts on the 7th, ends on the 21st.

Super!

 

[Bloo]

Next month The contest is 721, i.e. starts on the 7th, ends on the 21st.

721 is cool name.

Will it be the same open prompt, or a variation? I sense a Christmas theme in a couple of months.

 

[AgentPete]

721 is cool name.

Will it be the same open prompt, or a variation? I sense a Christmas theme in a couple of months.

It will be a different prompt and not always a first sentence. Am thinking about a closing sentence for October’s contest, but it will need rather more context-setting.

Not sure about Xmas, want to keep it fresh/different, but we’ll see

Also, am wondering about having all next entries posted anonymously. I’m not sure there’s any favouritism going on in any case, but it might be fun just to see the results if you don’t know who you’re voting for!

 

[mickleinapickle]

I wonder if you need to remove the 'like' button. It's possible folks didn't always notice the 'vote' button and hit 'like'... thinking they were voting.

 

[AgentPete]

I wonder if you need to remove the 'like' button. It's possible folks didn't always notice the 'vote' button and hit 'like'... thinking they were voting.

Yeah, much harder to do, unfortunately. I think people will get used to upvoting.
It’s also theoretically possible to downvote, but I’ve hobbled that option, cos it’s mean

 

[Bloo]

Yeah...there might've been a little of that going on. Doesn't help that the vote buttons are in different locations across platforms.

 

[JohnBertel]

theoretically possible to downvote, but I’ve hobbled that option

From the heart: thank you