Weekly Wattpad Contests

Contest #47

Before we begin, like, okay: I'm a professional procrastinator. I'm supposed to judge these guys in the week after the closing date, but sometimes (all the time) I'm tired. So then I'm like, yes, it's Saturday! Let's do it! And I was NOT prepared for the sheer volume of entries for Contest 45 – The World Problems. So I'll take the fall for that. My bad. I haven't finished judging that one yet, but I'll send through the results in the next few days and I apologise for the delay and I'm super duper sorry about it all but I've read most of them and they all seem quite nice and I'm sure I'll have the time of my life whittling it down to just three of y'all. But, until comes that time, please forgive me and be patient. Thank you very much.

Onto this week's challenge:

Generally, I try to make these contests mean something, and by that, worth something. You might recall that when I was new here, we focused on specific things and practiced particular writing skills and styles.

We've focused on world-building, character, plot and inspiration, theme and motif, symbolism, critical writing and detail.

We've also had some fun times – pieces that don't necessarily focus on anything, but allow us to stretch our creative brains.

One thing I've shied away from, however, is the concept of philosophy and meaning – and there's a very good reason for that:

I do not entertain philosophies. My schooling and my training has exhausted all the patience I've ever stocked away for philosophy. It's absolutely true that every man and woman on the street is a philosopher – everybody has their great beliefs and their insight into how the world works. Even me.

It's important, of course, for every writer to be aware of their philosophy, and how they communicate that in their work, so that's what we're going to do this week.

Here are some philosophies from my favourite authors:

Stephen King once wrote a short story titled 'Fair Extensions' – a piece in which a man makes a fair exchange deal with the devil. He bought life and fame and riches with the lives of his enemies, who were good people and did good things. In his afterword, King said, "Why do bad things happen to good people? Because they can."

H.P. Lovecraft, in his earlier days (I believe he was a teen when he started writing, but I might be mistaken) wrote stories about the ordinary subjugated by the fantastic. People in ordinary circumstances were exposed to strange and mystical things in their sleep, and this started affecting their waking lives. Consider 'Polaris', or 'Beyond the Wall of Sleep', or even (my favourite and the first Lovecraft story I'd ever read) 'Ex Oblivione'. While it's not expressly stated by any source I recall, I find the philosophy in these to be 'The world is more than you know it to be by reason.'

Anne Rice has always written with a particular penchant for the beauty in things macabre. One work that comes to mind is 'Violin', in which a woman finds extraordinary beauty and relief in classical music upon the death of her aged husband. Even in her vampire books – my favourite here being 'Pandora' – the world is filled with murder and plot and filth, yet she always finds the time to write about the beauty between those things. There was once a scene about the beauty of Venice, the colours of the merchants and the glitter of the water, the scent of spices and the vivid colours of paintings, which followed the abduction (I think) of a character. "Go where the pain is, go where the pleasure is."

Douglas Addams had a philosophy I'd readily accept. The way I read his works, I've come to learn that things happen, because they can, by some cosmic universal law that coagulates destiny and fate with entropy and madness – simply, nobody knows, nobody has ever known, and nobody ever will.

What are you supposed to do about all this? Spend some time thinking about the books you read, and the philosophies the authors hold in them. Spend some time thinking about your own philosophies, and how you'd communicate them to a reader. Then, darling, write that story.

Side note: Due the nature of critical thinking on philosophy and the fact that I am not an expert (and that we don't have the patience or time to write novels to engrain our philosophies with), I ask you to write a short story that gives at least a taste of that idea. For my own clarity on what to look out for, preface your entry with your selected philosophy.

End of side note.

I'll be judging this contest on how well you communicate your ideals and concerns without expressly stating them. This is something we've practiced before, so it should come a little easier this time.

I hope I don't ramble too much, but then again, that's my prerogative as the Great TimberWoolf in the Sky, King of the Arachnids and Master of Serpents, Lover of Ice Cream and Adjudicator of Contests.

Due date is on Sunday the 19th of May.

VERY IMPORTANT: HOW TO ENTER A VALID ENTRY ALSO SEE DETAILS REGARDING GOOGLE LINK

In order to ensure that your submission for this week's chapter of Weekly Wattpad Contests is valid, please follow the steps below:

(1) Write your entry and make sure that it meet the guidelines or requirements for the contest.

(2) Publish it in a book under your Wattpad account. It can be a book dedicated to your entries, a chapter in one of your existing books or just a book with that single entry.

(3) Add "This is my entry for Weekly Wattpad Contest #47" before you write your entry. Make sure Contests is tagged and the contest #number is correct. Note that this does not have to be the title of your published chapter or work, simply just a text input before the introduction of your contest entry as an additional safety measure.

(4) Comment in the comment section of this chapter and state where your entry was published in your profile and the title of it book it is in.

(5) Share the love by voting, commenting and encouraging friends and fellow competitors!

What does the winner get?

Apart from the fact that as a writer you can brag about winning a freaking Weekly Wattpad Contest, the winner will also get a follow from as well as a shoutout in the next chapter, in addition to that, a detailed review as to why your entry was successful will also be published and if you have any works of your own, that will also be read and commented on.