December Drabble Dare Contest

 This is a reminder of our December Drabble Dare. 



That's right people.  It's that time of year!

December means so many different things to people around the world. It could mean Winter Solstice, Christmas, Winter Wonderland, New Years' and everything else we can think of.  To most, it is "The Holidays."

In December, The Burrow will be hosting our annual Advent Calendar.

All you have to do is to write a drabble in exactly 100 words based on any/all of these photographs, and email it to 'theburrow360@gmail.com' by November 26, 2011. The winning entries for each of the images will be featured in the December feature.


So here are the images to choose from:

Poinsettias

Peace Tower at Christmas

Winter Wonderland

Advent Wreath

And just for fun- Snowhenge

Good luck and happy writing!



All images are courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Say what?

There's not really a PC way to say this, so I might as well lay it out straight - folks, I am WEIRD. A total oddball, non-conformist, nutjob-type person. And I'm fine with that. Apparently, some people find great amusement in the exceedingly bizarre things I say from time to time, despite the fact that they usually have a perfectly logical explanation. Like this gem that a coworker walked into without hearing the preceding conversation:

"And then some goat-man blew $%^&*^% GLITTER on me!"

(Erm, no. Not this goatman. I wish...)

Now, this sentence has a totally reasonable backstory - but it would be absolutely NO FUN at all if I just told you what happened. So I was thinking, hey, you know what, it has really been forever since we've had a drabble challenge around here. And seeing as 1) it's Friday and therefore you have the whole weekend and 2) I have no idea whatsoever what to write about today anyway, your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to construct a drabble around the above bit of wackiness. You can quote it outright, you can simply use it as a starting point, you can end with it, whatever, as long as it's 100 words long (no more, no fewer!), and posted in the comments. I'll pop on here sometime Sunday to declare a winner (provided someone takes me up on it).

What are you waiting for?

Image from... erm... I forget, but whatever, it's James McAvoy, okay?

I just wanted to throw out a reminder, that our January Drabble Dare is up and running!  This is a repost from  earlier in the month.

MMXI !!!!

A New Year. A New Decade (yes, I am a dork, for me the new decade starts AFTER the old decade gets over, even if the number in the tens place moves forward a whole year earlier).

Christmas pudding digested. Christmas gifts exchanged. Tree ready to be taken down. Resolutions committed to paper. Greetings sent out, or not. Holiday season OVER.


We at the Burrow have found the perfect way to cope with the post-holiday season blues- we start planning the February Valentine Feature. This is the third year that we will be hosting the feature, and this time, you can be a part of it too.

We have picked out four images that would be a part of the feature, and the drabble accompanying each of the images would be the winning drabble chosen from the entries sent in by you.
All you have to do is to write a drabble in exactly 100 words based on any (or all) of these photographs, and mail it to us at 'theburrow360 at gmail dot com' on or before January 23, 2011. The winning entries for each of the images will be featured in the February feature.

Image # 1 - The Kiss, Francesco Hayez

Image # 2 - Heart beat of a Foetus

Image # 3 - Victorian Valentine Card

Image # 4 - Toy Love

To summarise -

- Write a drabble (a story in exactly 100 words) inspired by any (or all) of the photographs above

- Check that the drabble contains exactly 100 words - word count tool here

- Choose a name for the photograph, if you wish

- Mail the drabble to 'theburrow360 at gmail dot com', mention your pen name (if any), the name you would like to call the image (if different from the descriptive name we have given), and any other information you may want to provide us BY MIDNIGHT JANUARY 23, 2011.

- Pick the next image to write a drabble to and start the process again


Time to take out the laptop, the word-processor, the typewriter, the pen or the quill, and start drabbling. YOU!!!!

Yes, I do mean You.
_____

Image credits -
The Kiss, Francesco Hayez - http://en.wikipedia.org/w...:Francesco_Hayez_008.jpg
Heart beat of a foetus - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EHR-BBII.jpg
Victorian Valentine Card - http://en.wikipedia.org/w...o-cherubs-red-hearts.jpg

Drabble Dare # 12 - Valentine

MMXI !!!!

A New Year. A New Decade (yes, I am a dork, for me the new decade starts AFTER the old decade gets over, even if the number in the tens place moves forward a whole year earlier).

Christmas pudding digested. Christmas gifts exchanged. Tree ready to be taken down. Resolutions committed to paper. Greetings sent out, or not. Holiday season OVER.


We at the Burrow have found the perfect way to cope with the post-holiday season blues- we start planning the February Valentine Feature. This is the third year that we will be hosting the feature, and this time, you can be a part of it too.

We have picked out four images that would be a part of the feature, and the drabble accompanying each of the images would be the winning drabble chosen from the entries sent in by you.
All you have to do is to write a drabble in exactly 100 words based on any (or all) of these photographs, and mail it to us at 'theburrow360 at gmail dot com' on or before January 23, 2011. The winning entries for each of the images will be featured in the February feature.

Image # 1 - The Kiss, Francesco Hayez

Image # 2 - Heart beat of a Foetus

Image # 3 - Victorian Valentine Card

Image # 4 - Toy Love

To summarise -

- Write a drabble (a story in exactly 100 words) inspired by any (or all) of the photographs above

- Check that the drabble contains exactly 100 words - word count tool here

- Choose a name for the photograph, if you wish

- Mail the drabble to 'theburrow360 at gmail dot com', mention your pen name (if any), the name you would like to call the image (if different from the descriptive name we have given), and any other information you may want to provide us BY MIDNIGHT JANUARY 23, 2011.

- Pick the next image to write a drabble to and start the process again


Time to take out the laptop, the word-processor, the typewriter, the pen or the quill, and start drabbling. YOU!!!!

Yes, I do mean You.
_____

Image credits -
The Kiss, Francesco Hayez - http://en.wikipedia.org/w...:Francesco_Hayez_008.jpg
Heart beat of a foetus - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EHR-BBII.jpg
Victorian Valentine Card - http://en.wikipedia.org/w...o-cherubs-red-hearts.jpg

Drabble Dare # 11 : "December" Theme

December!!!

The month means different things to different people. Winter in the Northern Hemisphere, Summer in the Southern. Countdown to Christmas; conspicuous consumerism and family fun-times. The last month of the year; looking back and leaping forward. Winter wonderland. The prime of life. Holidays.

In December, we at the Burrow will be hosting an interactive feature to celebrate the month. Modifying the concept of the Advent Calendar, we will count down to the New Year by revealing a drabble a day, every day during the month of December.

And you can be a part of it too.

All you have to do is to write a drabble in exactly 100 words based on any (or all) of these photographs, and mail it to us at 'theburrow360 at gmail dot com' on or before November 26, 2010. The winning entries for each of the images will be featured in the December feature.

Image # 1 - Pole Star

Image # 2 - ice sculptures

Image # 3 - Poinsettias

Image # 4 - Colourful beads

To summarise -

- Write a drabble (a story in exactly 100 words) inspired by any (or all) of the photographs above

- Check that the drabble contains exactly 100 words - word count tool here

- Choose a name for the photograph, if you wish

- Mail the drabble to 'theburrow360 at gmail dot com', mention your pen name (if any), the name you would like to call the image (if different from the descriptive name we have given), and any other information you may want to provide us BY MIDNIGHT NOVEMBER 26, 2010

- Pick the next image to write a drabble to and start the process again

Happy Drabbling!

_____

Image # 1 & 2 - Wiki-Commons

Drabble Poll

So we... Burrowistically speaking... were sure when we started this venture, that we would attract thousands... or maybe dozens... of people THRILLED with the idea of drabbling weekly... that a competition of sorts would draw LOTS of readers and writers to enter and recruit all of them to a lifetime of drabbling...

It isn't clear to me now why we thought it was so seductive... except that somehow the idea seduced all of US—but I'm pretty easy to seduce... a nice man-thigh in a lovely garter and I'm sold... but y'all knew I was easy...

Anyway... as far as our public outing... we've had lukewarm to moderate participation at best. That is not to say the entrants haven't been fabulous, because mostly they HAVE, but they have NOT been as numerous as we expected. So today we are trying to do a bit of analysis (or rather data collection to be FOLLOWED by analysis) to see what we might do to improve our popularity. *pushes up boobs to improve illusion of cleavage*

SO PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help us out with the following questions...

1) Have you participated? (How often? Once or more?)

2) Are there any who like reading and pondering the image but are not interested in participating?
3) If (when) you DON'T participate, why not?

4) Would you participate (be more or less likely) if you could post on your blog and link directly?
5) Would you like to see us continue?
6) How often? (weekly, 2X a month, once a month, special occasions?)
7) As a contest, or just as a fun activity (no judging)?

This blog is a collective identity for the Burrow, but we also need to navigate our collective existence, so your help is very appreciated in figuring out if readers LIKE this and/OR want it to continue.

I'd like to promise that if drabbling discontinued, it would be replaced by Naked World Domination, but there are a few clothed sticklers, so the replacement will surely be more traditional... just in case that was why any of you were holding out...

Saturday Mismatch

Ahoy me hearties! It be Saturday today, and that being the case it be a drabble day. Afore I go any further, I’ll just be rambling a little litany for ye. Ye see, although I’m thinking me portrait were a rip-roaring image to use for your inspiration, it seems that you’re all too busy with your pirating ways and haven’t managed to scribble on your planks! If I were an evil pirate, I’d be making ye walk the plank, but I’m a nice pirate and so I’ll let ye live to sail another day. Ar, that be right, me hearties!




As well as being scallywag pirates, me fellow Burrowers also like to scribble on planks ourselves, and now and again we also like to mix things around, just to keep things as fresh as the sea we sail upon. As any pirate will tell ye, ye have to keep one step ahead if ye want to avoid the hangman’s noose. Aye, me hearties, ye have to be cunning to be a successful pirate o’ the seas in today’s world. Complacency has no home aboard me ship, and not aboard the ship of any decent pirate. Yo ho ho, me hearties!



I’ll be keeping me portrait up for a wee while longer, so any pirates-to-be can still have a go at scribbling on their planks (or any other piece o’ wood they can get their hands on). In the meantime, me and me fellow pirates be working out some new crew duties for the Good Ship Burrow. But never fear, we still be sailing to a shore near you each and every day, just like we always do (well, except for once, and that blogging pirate still be having nightmares ‘bout the sharks. No decent pirate can let mutiny be unpunished).



Afore I go, I be having a little puzzle for ye. Look at this post, and look closely. This pirate be sneaky and cunning in more ways than one (like all good pirates should be). If ye be wanting to be a true heartie, then ye be figuring it out in no time, but iffen you don’t spot what I be puzzling about, have no fear, for if you have to work at it then ye be showing your dedication to becoming a pirate of the first order, and that be something to be proud of, to be sure. Arrr!



Well I be getting away now afore I mangle me litany so much that I confuse all of ye. Don’t forget to gaze at me portrait again (it be floating on the sea on the eastern side) and see if me rugged pirate looks inspire a drabble or two. All scribbles to be placed in a bottle and thrown overboard, addressed to theburrow360atgmaildotcom, and make sure you be using ‘Drabble Dare #10’ in the subject line. I’ll be off now so that I can join me crew and get brainstorming. Have a bottle o’ rum this weekend, and keep pirating!

Drabble Dare #10 (enter by 09/23)

Shiver me timbers! 'Tis International Talk Like a Pirate Day, an' we be drabblin'! So drop anchor, me hearties, and pen a bit o' ye thoughts to yon beauty:



If ye be yet a landlubber, then I be tellin' yeh: A drabble ain't no fewer than a hundred words. And it ain't no more. Best way to remember, it be six an' two thirds words for each man on a dead man's chest.

When yeh've written yer bit, send it by email to: theburrow360 (at) gmail (dot) com

An' if ye want to send it smartly an' all pirate-like, then get yerself a parrot. Then have the parrot send yer email.

Me savage Burrowers will look at them drabbles as we got by 30 September, then scrap it out amongst ourselves. An' him or her that survives the scrappin' will show the favorite here, on Saturday next.

Sunday Drabble Dare #9 (Due 9/16/10)

Come one, come all!

Just four days left for all those who wish to participate in Sunday Drabble Dare #9. Write that story, and send it to us at theburrow360 (at) gmail (dot) com by Thursday, September 16, 2010.

Have you ever wanted to tell a story in exactly 100 words? Do you enjoy writing brief notes to others? Do you wish an entire story can be told in one or two paragraphs? Well, today is your lucky day. Look at the image above, create a story in exactly 100 words and submit to the email above. I look forward to reading your drabbles!


(FYI- the above is a drabble. It took me approximately five minutes. You can do it too!)

Drabble Dare # 9

A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words. And this particular picture is so bursting with stories, one could write an entire book based entirely on it.

BUT, we give you only HUNDRED WORDS. A hundred words in which to tell a story hidden in this picture taken on the streets of Bombay, India.

Write that story, and send it to us at theburrow360 (at) gmail dot com on or before Thursday, September 16, 2010. Yes, you heard it right, September SIXTEEN!!! We've had people sending in entries after the expiry of the deadline (most of you seem to drabble best on Saturdays), so we thought we would keep the contest open longer so even the bird who oversleeps gets a shot at finding a good breakfast.

Do mention Drabble Dare # 9 in the Subject name, and give us details of your website and pen-name (if any).
If you can't stop at just one story send them all, but each story should be exactly 100 words long. And if you would want us to consider a group of 100 word drabbles as a collective (rather than as stand alone entries), let us know in advance.

Happy drabbling.


And check back for the results on Saturday, September 18, 2010.

Drabble Dare # 8

It is Sunday, and by now our Sunday posts should be a familiar drill. But just in case you're joining the party late, or perhaps you're just slow on the intake (not that any of our readers would be that, of course...) I have composed a quick exercise routine to remind y'all what you're here for today:

What do we want?

Your drabble (make sure it is exactly 100 words long)!

When do we want it?

By the end of Thursday, September (I can't believe it's September already!) 2nd!

How do we want it?

By email (theburrow360 at gmail.com), tagged with "Drabble Dare" in the subject field (and we won't shoot you if you also include you name/pen name, in case that isn't entirely obvious from your email address)!

Why do we want it?

Ah.... Now is not the time for existential questions...

What image do we want your drabble to be inspired by?

This one:

"Girl with parrot"from the Tuti-Nâma-Manuscript, 1585, Chester Beatty Library.

So, everyone, say it with me:

Send your drabble to theburrow360 at gmail.com by Thursday, midnight, GMT (you know, when Tursday turns into Friday in Britain)!!!



The winner will be announced at Saturday

Now stretch...

(Just don't do this...)

Drabble Dare #7

Hallo, fine peoples! We have reached Sunday once again, and it is time for another Drabble Dare! And it is Drabble Dare #7 and 7 is the most magical number, right? And because I can't help myself... and it is my turn, the painting is... you've got it... NAKED!!!

Icarus and Daedalus (attend to or ignore this information), painted by Lord Frederick Leighton, 1869 (apt, eh?)
Permissions

So... (instructions mostly plagiarized from Leanne)

If you've forgotten the way this all works or are new to the challenge, here's a quick recap:

1) Look at the picture
2) Get inspired (for examples, check out some previous winners here and here)
3) Write a drabble (100 words, no more, no fewer - you can count them here)
4)Email it to us at theburrow360 (at) gmail (dot) com before the midnight GMT where Thursday becomes Friday - if your name or pen name isn't obvious from the email, please include it, as well as a link to your blog if you have one.
5)Jitter around like you're potty-dancing until we announce the winner on Saturday at noon GMT!



Come on... I know you want to... There is a NAKED MAN in the painting!!!

Drabble Dare #6

It's Sunday again, so you know what that means! Time for our new Drabble Dare image!















Climbing the Glen Stone (Fairy Glen, Isle of Skye, Scotland)





Photo: Emily Gaudier (a.k.a. my similiarly Scot-obsessed roommate here in Boston, who's also really good at this whole taking-pictures thing)


If you've forgotten the way this all works or are new to the challenge, here's a quick recap:
1) Look at the picture
2) Get inspired (for examples, check out some previous winners here and here)
3) Write a drabble (100 words, no more, no fewer - you can count them here)
4) Email it to us at theburrow360 (at) gmail dot com before Thursday at midnight GMT (you know, we've been saying that but I think it's really Friday... hmm...) - if your name or pen name isn't obvious from the email, please include it, as well as a link to your blog if you have one.
5) Jitter around like you're potty-dancing until we announce the winner on Saturday at noon GMT!

Good luck everyone! We're looking forward to seeing what you lovely creative people have to share this week! Oh, and by the way, just because you've won in the past doesn't mean you can't win again, so all former winners are hereby formally invited to have another go at it.




What, you're still reading? Go write!

Drabble Dare #5

IMAGE: Pepys and Lady Batten

ARTIST: John Digman Wingfield

SOURCE: Wikimedia Commons




Hello boys and girls! It's Sunday, and that means it's time for the weekly drabble dare! On the right you will see the image we would like you to drabble to this week. If you would like to have a go, then pull out your trusty pen (or flex those typing fingers), and compose a little ditty of one hundred words exactly - not one word more, not one word less - using this week's image as your inspiration. An example of a drabble written to an image can be found here. When you are happy with your efforts, please email your entry to: theburrow360 (at) gmail dot com, where we, the aforementioned Burrow, will no doubt be awed and inspired by your imagination....

Entries to be submitted by Thursday 12th August, and please be sure to mention your blog (if you have one) and your pen-name (if it is different from the name on the email) when you send your entry.

Good luck, and happy drabbling!

Drabble Dare #4

IMAGE: Journey to the Edge of the Map
ARTIST: Joris Ammerlaan















Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY! MonsterDrabbleJam 2010!

Featuring... you.

Rules- The writer produces a drabble (story written in exactly 100 words) and emails the finished product to the Burrow at theburrow360 (at) gmail dot com. Here is an example of a drabble written to an image. If your pen-name is different from the name that appears on the e-mail, please also mention the pen-name (and the name of your blog, if you have one).

Drabble Dare #3

Image: Jules Being Dried by His Mother
Artist: Mary Cassett, 1900

Happy Sunday everyone! You know what that means . . . It is time for the drabble image challenge of the week. The image is posted above.

Rules- The writer produces a drabble (story written in exactly 100 words) and emails the finished product to the Burrow at theburrow360 (at) gmail dot com. Here is an example of a drabble written to an image. If your pen-name is different from the name that appears on the e-mail, please also mention the pen-name (and the name of your blog, if you have one).


For those who are like me and simply do not have the time to count each individual word, here is a tool you can use- The Burrow Word Count Tool. Please do not hesitate to ask us for help. Happy writing!!!

*This image is for my son who turns 16 today. I remember just bringing him home from the hospital. Time goes by so quickly and then they grow up!*

Drabble Dare # 2

If, like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, we believe that a story sparked off by a picture can be told in just a hundred. For well over two years, we have been amusing ourselves by writing drabbles- stories told in exactly 100 words. And a year and a half back, we went public with our drabbles inspired by artworks.

Not content with creating The Burrow- the largest collection of art-inspired drabbles in the Universe- we are now looking at nothing short of World Domination. We want every man, woman and on the planet to start drabbling, and we are starting with you. Yes, YOU.

Every Sunday, we will publish a visual image- it may be a painting, digital art, photograph, or a stained glass window (who knows, it may even be a set of fingerprints or a blank canvas?) – and we want You to write a drabble inspired by the image. It could be a complete story, or a conversation. It could be something inspired by an element in the image, or a description of the image itself. It could be funny, or sad. It could be a memoir, or slapstick. It could even be a song or a poem. In short, it could be anything, as long as it is exactly 100 words long (a handy word count tool custom designed by Jason).

Once you are done, send in your entries to us at theburrow360 (at) gmail dot com by Thursday (July 22, 2010) midnight GMT. By the end of next week we will decide on the winner, who will be announced on Saturday. There are no tangible prizes, but the winning drabble will be posted on the blog. And who knows, in addition to the honour and glory of being featured as a winner, you may even get to take home a sparkly Winner badge to display on your website.

The image for this week is a photograph I took on the streets of Bombay, India, five months back. The photograph whispered to me the stories it could tell, but I never got down to penning any of them down. Maybe I was waiting for the fantastic stories that I know you are going to come up with-

To recapitulate -

Write a drabble (100 word long story) based on the image

Send it to theburrow360 (at) gmail dot com by Thursday, midnight, GMT. Make sure to write "Drabble Dare # 2" in the subject field of the email.

Bite fingernails until Saturday – and check back in!

For this week's Drabble Dare only (since I still can't get over the fact that a photograph taken by me is sandwiched between those of two Masters), I've up-ed the stakes? This week's winner gets a 8*10 print of the photograph, and all contributors get the photograph in the largest resolution possible (and the highest resolution is pretty high for this particular one) by e-mail- if they ask for it.

Happy Writing!

Sunday Drabble Dare

It's been a great first week for the Burrow Blog! We are thrilled to have you here to share this with us. To celebrate this fact we are launching what we hope will become another success... Every Sunday from now on we intend to post a picture - it may be a photograph, it might be a classical painting, or perhaps it will be a drawing made by one of the Junior Burrowers? The purpose of this picture – whatever it will be – is to inspire all of YOU! Because we want your stories...



If you read yesterday's post, you will already know that the Burrow has a history of combining artwork with short, short stories, more specifically the 100 word long (short!) ones – drabbles. We find that the format fits us quite well, and now we would like to request all of you to join! The challenge is as follows:



Write a drabble to the picture below. It is your choice entirely how the picture is linked with your drabble – or if the link is visible at all. Once you have made sure your drabble is ready (make sure to test that it is exactly 100 words – a handy tool for this purpose is the Burrow's very own Jason's custom designed word count tool), send it to us at theburrow360 at gmail.com.



By the end of next week we will have come up with a winner, who will be announced on Saturday. Since we are planning to make this a weekly feature, there will be no prizes, but the honour and glory of being picked as the Burrow's weekly winner is definitely worth putting on your resumé! Also, we will naturally be delighted to post the winning drabbles on this site.



The picture you should all print out and hang over your desk is:





Conversation - Camille Pissarro




So, is everything clear? Let me repeat:
Write a drabble (100 word long story)

Send it to theburrow360 @ gmail.com by Thursday, midnight, GMT. Make sure to write "drabble challenge" in the subject field of the email.

Bite fingernails until Saturday – and check back in!
(Of course you are also allowed to read all the other lovely blog posts that will appear in this spot all week long!)



NB! THIS CHALLENGE IS NOW CLOSED!
Please check back in on Saturday for the results, and on Sunday for a new image to trigger your drabblability!