CONTEST

[Nittanylizard]

For anyone who likes to write original stuff (i.e. something other than fan fiction), literary agent Nathan Bransford is having a fun contest on his blog. Post in the comments section the first paragraph of something original that you have written. It could even be a paragraph that you specifically wrote for this contest. The idea is to stress how important a first paragraph can be to hook your readers.

From the blog: "The winner will receive a partial manuscript critique from yours truly and a copy of one of my client's books (your choice!). Runners-up will win, as always, my everlasting admiration and the satisfaction of a job well done. Oh, and a query critique as well. (yes, prizes for the runners-up! I've gone soft in my old age.)"

He's taking submissions until Thursday night.

nathanbransford.blogspot.com/

[Keira]

Sounds cool. Good luck to everyone who enters!

[queenjaneapprxmtly]

Now can this submission be anything you've written? I recently dug up the prologue of my second original novel and I really like it, so I might think about entering that. :)

Peace,
Queen Jane

[Keira]

I'd go see if he has any specific rules posted at his site. From what Liz said, thought, it seems like it can be from anything, so long as it includes the first paragraph.

[BlindedxxFalcon]

Only a paragraph? Going to write mine now...

[Nittanylizard]

Yes, this is a very loosely run contest. It can be anything you've written. This guy is very funny and approachable. He ran another contest recently (the Stupendously Ultimate First Line Challenge, whereas this is the Largely Indispensable First Paragraph Challenge) and pretty much refers to the rules as guidelines. He likes to have fun with his blog, and it helps get more people sending him queries. I would absolutely love to have him for my agent. He'll definitely be getting queries for Finding Rocket and Finders Keepers, but I'm not holding my breath because he doesn't represent too much young adult. It has to be really different to grab his attention. But it doesn't hurt to start at the top, I've got time . His agency (Curtis Brown) was actually where S.E. Hinton's agent worked.

These are the rules from Nathan's blog in their entirety (except that the deadline is now Thursday night because he's got something going on on Wednesday night, lol):

"The guidelines (subject to change upon a whim):

1) All may participate. First paragraphs can be from your work in progress or one you made up solely for the purposes of the challenge. Your choice. Please limit yourself to three (3) entries.

2) Leave your first paragraph in the comments section. Paragraphs stretching on and on into infinity will be judged, well, not necessarily with impunity but definitely with hearty skepticism.

3) Entries may be made between now and Wednesday evening Pacific time. On Thursday nominees will be announced and voting will commence, and the winner will be announced on Monday.

4) After the fantastically generous help of Anne Dayton in the SUFLC, I've enlisted the other half of Good Girl Lit, May Vanderbilt, to help me judge this week's contest. (Because Good Girls make good judges.)

5) Spreading the word about the challenge by means of the Internet is encouraged. Let's make this one the most largely indispensible ever. 700 entries? 10,000? A BILLION? Bring it!! I'm ready.

6) Oh yes, and the prizes. The winner will receive a partial mansucript critique from yours truly and a copy of one of my client's books (your choice!). Runners-up will win, as always, my everlasting admiration and the satisfaction of a job well done. Oh, and a query critique as well. (yes, prizes for the runners-up! I've gone soft in my old age.)"

Good luck everyone! I've got the first paragraphs for my two current WIP's.

Liz

[Tensleep]

Sweet. I have a few I think are post worthy. Thanks for sharing, Liz. I'll put 'em up under Tensleep, if anyone's interested in what's going on in my freaky head.

[anotherillusion]

I'm going to see if I have anything worth entering. Thanks for the link, Liz, it's a really interesting looking blog.
AI

[Nittanylizard]

Hey Tens,

I read your entries. They both sound awesome! There are so many paragraphs on there that have me shaking the computer monitor and yelling, "More! Tell me more!" ;D

I have no idea how that man is going to pare them down. In case anyone missed it, he is going to post the nominations that he has selected on Friday, and then it's up to the blog commenters to vote on them.

[zevie]

Tens! They were awesome! Funny, unique, and very, very, VERY intriguing. I agree with Liz about the "more" thing. And the rest of you - what are they posted under? If you don't mind sharing.

[Nittanylizard]

I posted as lizr (no link because I don't have a blog set up yet). These are the two that I entered, so you don't have to go back hunting through 500+ posts:

From Finding Rocket, YA WIP:
On a sunny April morning when I was fourteen years old, I went from being the youngest of eight children, to being an only child. The funny thing is, nobody had to die for it to happen.

From Finders Keepers, YA WIP:
A discordant vibration hung for an instant in the steamy garage, and by the time it faded off I think we were all holding our breath. Cray, looking like he was trying hard not to kick something, let his Fender Stratocaster dangle from its strap and raked a hand through his damp hair. He took a single deep breath, let it out, and turned to glare at me. If I didn’t know my oldest brother almost as well as I know myself, I might have cringed. “This is the fourth time we’ve been through this,” he said, “and we’re playing it in two days. Now get it freaking right already!”

[zevie]

Nice ones, Liz! You guys are so good at making the readers want more, lol. I'm really curious about that first one, Liz. How the heck ... ?

Good luck, guys!

[BlindedxxFalcon]

Winners were announced:

The first rose.... goes to MAY VANDERBILT.

Let me tell you -- it took hours and hours to go through the entrants to pick finalists, and I seriously cannot thank May enough for her help. For the love of all things Bachelor, please subscribe to Good Girl Lit, buy THE BOOK OF JANE, and express your appreciation to May -- this was a tremendous task, and the mere thought of trying to choose finalists without May gives me hives. Not that I get hives. Moving on.

Now for the finalists in the Largely Indispensible First Paragraph Challenge...

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER...

The second rose.... goes to Sophie W.:

Oh no, it's some kind of infestation, Rosemary thought, prodding the ground with her boot. Next to the barn were several fist-sized holes, just big enough for rats, or worse, imps. She hated imps. They were always getting into the larder and causing a fuss.

The third rose.... goes to eric:

There’s this girl I’ve never met that I know everything in the world about. Well, most everything. Not the big stuff, I guess. Like what she prayed about when she would cry at her bedside or whether she really believed those prayers might get answered. And I never knew all of the reasons for the crazy shit she did, but hey, who really does? I did know other stuff though. The real freaky-deaky shit. Like how she would crack open her father’s disposable razors with a pair of pliers she kept stashed behind her dresser and how she’d slice herself up. Sometimes I think she left her window blinds open that way just so somebody, anybody, me--a guy she never met--would know. Not that she was some kind of attention whore. Just about everybody is some kind of attention whore. Not Scissors, though. And I could testify in court to that, since, I’m like, some kind of authority on the girl.

The fourth rose.... goes to CC:

Brooklyn didn't know very much about me. Actually, the girl knew surprisingly little, which was exactly what I needed in a friend. She didn't ask intrusive questions and I didn't have to lie or have my heart pound while I searched for acceptable answers. She wasn't into meaningful conversation and heartfelt talks. She was light, snappy, and never depressed. And most importantly, she wasn't my responsibility.

The fifth rose.... goes to Emily Davis-Ryan:

Life inside a piano isn’t all knitting cobweb sweaters and napping. It’s dangerous. Every time a clumsy student flings himself at the bench and bangs on the ivories, just to see his fingers walk across the black and whites, I face death. The action’s unpredictable. If I’m in the wrong place at the wrong time, I could lose my head.

The sixth rose.... goes to Aden:

He was short and skinny, shorter than the others, and never wore a shirt when he ran. His thin arms flailed as he kept ahead of us and we all wondered how. He was so fast. But mostly we watched the bouncing scars on his back and thought about how he got them. We called him the Wizard. It was because of his hair, wild black mass with a white shock hanging in the front. That’s how I thought of him. The Wizard. I wish I knew what names they had given him but I never asked. Between us, there was an unspoken rule: everything would remain unspoken.

Chris Harrison: "Paragraphs, Bachelor... this is the final rose this evening."

The last and final rose.... goes to Regan:

The great flaw in the system was that some of the Children remembered what it felt like when they were taken. It was impossible to tell who would remember--temperament, age, gender, none of them seemed to matter. The flaw persisted despite all of the technicians' attempts to eradicate it. In rare cases a Child, newly imprinted, would awaken at odd hours of the night, crying for reasons she couldn't explain or shaking with a nameless dread and a desperate feeling that something wasn't right.

[Tensleep]

You know, I really don't think I would read any of the stories he picked. The narration just isn't my style. But congrats to them! That was fun, we should have contests on here!

Dude...

We should have a contest! That would be fun! But what to have a contest about?

I really need to stop having random moments...but hey.

Suggestions? Thoughts? Willing to confirm my insanity? Make some noise!

[queenjaneapprxmtly]

Actually, that would be really cool, Tens! Great idea. :)

We could have one similar to that first paragraph one. Just change it up every once in a while, like a contest for the best first line, best prologue, best plot summary, etc. The possibilities for that are endless. And it could be for anything, fanfiction or original.

I think that would be awesome, actually. We should totally do it. :)

Peace . . .
Queen Jane