This is the one with the special prize. It's sitting here on my desk, waiting to go to a lucky winner at the TGIO party.
...ever heard of a Tasmanian devil?
Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to get a Tasmanian devil into your story.
Now I agree, on the face of it, it looks tough for some of you. But one of the purposes of the challenges is to encourage lateral thinking.
Because you just have to have those two words consecutively in your story. How they are (ahem) ...punctuated...well, that's up to you. Whether you have a tall dark Tasmanian gentleman, or a rather aggressive marsupial is also up to you.
It's the final challenge, so it would be great to see lots of excerpts for this one. Please put them up on Friday 30th or Sat1st, and (as above) the prize will be given at the TGIO party.
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The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of your pants to the seat of the chair - Anon
50,197 / 50,000
Nov 26, 2007 - 17 01
I can see it now:
"No, it was a Tasmanian Devil."
"A what?"
"It's a small, vicious marsupial from Tasmania."
"Something small did that?" He pointed to the wreckage behind them.
"I did say it was vicious."
"You also said 'marsupial' what's that then?"
"Um, it's an animal with a sort of pocket that it keeps it's young in."
"An animal wearing a coat?"
"No, not that sort of ... look, forget the marsupial bit."
"Alright, where's this Tasmania place then?"
"Near Australia."
"Near where?"
"Australia, big place, south of Asia."
"Never heard of it."
"Well that's because it hasn't been discovered by anyone except it's natives yet, it won't be for a couple of centuries."
"Orly?"
"Oh look forget I said anything, it was a werewolf ok? Forget all the stuff about Tasmanian Devils, I only said it for a bet."
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Fata Tractabilia Mutationi
50,060 / 50,000
Nov 27, 2007 - 00 06
This was a bit of a gift to me. The animal attacks appear currently as a list here, but if I ever edit, these may expand into scenes. (I've already got three actual scenes of animals tearing people up...)
The college guy had disappeared. Marcus was bummed. He suspected that there was some type of sleeping gas being pumped into the chamber he was in, because every now and then he just seemed to lose space and time. He needed that college guy if he was going to get out of here, because he couldn’t do it on his own. They had talked about it. The walls of the arena were made of some sort of fabric, right? So there must be some way they could cut through them, get their way out. But how to get hold of a knife, how to get it sharp enough? People were stripped before they were thrown in here, and the food just seemed to appear out of nowhere.
In the time Marcus had been in this place, he had seen over twenty groups come and go, each facing creatures of varying sizes but of equal anger and ferocity. He had seen people scratched to ribbons by bears, swallowed by anacondas, gored by bulls. He had seen one wretch hideously attacked by a large group of starved, stinking Tasmanian Devils, who then, making an unearthly shrieking sound that made him cover his ears and shudder, ate every last scrap of her body.
And the sickening roars of the audience had accompanied each and every scene.
Marcus had somehow managed to avoid his own downfall just by staying put, by not going out into the ring. He had tried to warn the others, but they just thought he was mad - why stay in the dark, stinking antechamber, when you could be out in the light, open arena? He could see the draw - out there, after hours of pitch blackness, fear and strangeness was the promise of hope, redemption even. The victims thought they were going to a better place and were unlikely to believe the dreadlocked stinking wreck in the corner.
Perhaps they were right.
61,091 / 50,000
Nov 27, 2007 - 10 38
Hmmm. How about:
"He was mad. A real maniac."
"He wasn't so bad. Not such a threat as mani..."
"And evil, so whatever you were about to say, you can keep quiet."
"I was only going to say, 'as maniacs go'. I didn't say he was good."
Spot the "Tasmanian Devils" in that! (It is there - you said we didn't have to worry about punctuation.) LOL
All I gotta do now is find somewhere to put the dialogue. Oh, wait, you also said it had to be two words. Darn! Back to the think tank. Or fish tank. Or whatever.
Chrom.
42,615 / 50,000
Nov 27, 2007 - 11 01
No, I think you have at least won a prize for the most original way of using the words.
I'm impressed!
The bar has been raised, people...
50,060 / 50,000
Nov 27, 2007 - 13 46
I have just read this through and shuddered. It is a fine case in point about the first nano drafts being in need of severe revision. Look at all those adverbs, for one thing... But, for the time being, it fulfils a narrative function for my story.
50,197 / 50,000
Nov 28, 2007 - 07 19
Genius, no way I can top Chromo's offering.
*applause*
50,330 / 50,000
Nov 28, 2007 - 13 07
Any awards for brevity? I know it's against the Nano ethos but three challenges in 15 lines can't be bad (if you include the acrostics).
42,615 / 50,000
Nov 28, 2007 - 13 25
*headdesk*
42,615 / 50,000
Nov 28, 2007 - 13 26
Chromo....
...you've just been outdone, I believe.
50,197 / 50,000
Nov 28, 2007 - 16 32
Made from win and awesome.
50,000 / 50,000
Nov 30, 2007 - 09 35
My excerpt is up, though I have no illusions that it is anywhere near as clever as chromo's and dave's.
(Why do I always kill things in my challenge excerpts? I swear the rest of my novel isn't so violent.)