I would like to invite all Steemians to write a short fiction story in under 300 words. I will try to read them all. I may vote some - or all - or at least vote the best ones. No guarantees though. It depends on my voting power which I would like to keep above 70%. You can see my voting power here, as well as what a 100% vote could be worth. If I vote you, which is not guaranteed, then my vote will be at least 1% strength, but could be up to 100% if my voting power permits it.
Anyone can participate. The story can be in any language. Please consider the benefits of also including an English translation, using Google translate.
Before, or after, you write your own story, please encourage others - especially newbies
Rules
- The first tag must be "story-300words"
- The story must be less than 300 words long
- Your original work only. No plagiarism (copying stories from the internet)
- Last day for this initiative is 8th January 2018
Fiction:
From Wikipedia:
- Fiction is the classification for any story or setting that is derived from imagination—in other words, not based strictly on history or fact.
To get things going, here is my short story. It is 247 words long.
Short Story in less than 300 words
.
It was midday in the scorching sun. The road was long and deserted. Two adults and a young boy had been walking for 3 days.
For food they had eaten olives, berries and leaves. The water bag was nearly empty.
They came across an olive tree and lay down to rest in its shade.
Presently, a Roman Centurion and his young son passed by. They also took refuge under the olive tree.
The Israeli boy started to play with the Roman boy.
“Don’t talk to Romans”, warned his mother. “It’s Ok”, replied the Centurion, “On this road, we’re just people”.
The children ignored their parents’ comments.
“I see you are out of water,” said the Centurion. He lifted his water bag and poured some into the couple’s bag. It was an unusual act of kindness. You wouldn’t expect it from a Roman soldier.
There was nobody here to judge.
The two young children carried on playing together, oblivious to their different backgrounds.
As the sun started to go lower, it was time to get going. The Israelis started to gather their things. They thanked the Centurion for his kindness and set off. Nazareth was still a long way to go.
As they parted in different directions, the Jewish boy turned and shouted to the Roman boy, “I’m Jesus. What’s your name, by the way?”
The Roman boy turned and shouted back, “Thanks for playing with me! I hope we can meet again. My name’s Pilate – Pontius Pilate.”
The End
Word count: 247
Explanation of the above story
At the beginning of the story you do not know the names of the characters. Then at the end, I drop the first clue “Nazareth” - which is well known to be the home town of Jesus Christ. You can maybe guess that the family are Mary and Joseph with Jesus as a boy.
You still can’t guess the other boy’s name.
The punch line - the one which is set to get you thinking - comes when we discover the other boy’s name is Pontius Pilate.
I don’t need to write any more as the rest of the story has already been told.
As many will know, Pontius Pilate, who became the Emperor, was best known for overseeing the trial and crucifiction of Jesus Christ.
At the end my story isn’t finished. It is part of one of the best selling books in the world - The Holy Bible.
There is no suggestion that this incident actually happened. It is fiction. Just a story. It’s not in the bible.
To see all 300 word stories written as part of this initiative, click here.
Please don’t forget to comment on other people's stories rather than just focussing on your own. #story-300words
What a captivating story. It is as if it should not end.
The never ending story. You got my 100% vote for the best comment!
Oh thank you! Thank you!! and Thank you!!! Actually i enjoyed the story,but now i enjoy it even more. I think I've gotten a topic to write my less than 300 words story on base on this early morning blessing. I hope you like my story much more than you did for my comment? Hug
Nice steemit power
Yes ooo. She is a blessing to me.
I am very happy for the work you have been doing to encourage the community to give their best, to be authentic, it is good to be encouraged if they receive rewards, and you are very good for that, may God continue to bless you, I do not know if I am time to make a story, but I hope everyone who participates does a good job. Greetings friend, continue like this, God bless you.
Maybe there is a story you tell to your children that you invented? Thank you and happy steeming...
Yes, I told my daughters stories, but I do not know if I qualify, since they are simple and short, they would have to put more creativity, but they would take it into account, today I go to my mother to sew, I have to follow the seams, not I know if you have visited my blog, I have shared interesting topics, but they are in Spanish.
I am no longer surprised to read this publication, every time I see your blog
I see the precise progress in the work you are doing for the STEEMIT community. This will make many people do the right thing (create original content). That's what it is about. I really appreciate the time you spend writing a story, and I appreciate much more than what mentions Jesus, the savior of humanity. I will be participating in your project.
That’s really great! I hope you can think of a nice story English/Spanish
perfect, I'll be working on that. I will try to do a mixed work, I will capture a story that did not escape from reality.
I'm very new to Steemit, but I really am touched by how people not only work together with such giving spirits, but also acknowledge the other's attitude. That is a very new aspect to me, in life I mean. So nice!
Hi @swissclive, What a great idea!
It's a way to educate newcomers and minnows to write good and original content. The final prize is an incentive to try to do their best, but i think that upvotes can also came from others people who read their posts.
I really am grateful that you would do that for Steemit community, Without an ulterior motive!!
Resteemed for more visibility, in the Italian community too.
Great idea, if I can come up with something good, I will join :)
For now I can offer a non-fictional story with 256 words - I promise, it's awesome: A little story of how gratitude leads to great things... [EN/GER]
Greets :)
I read your non-fiction story - which is indeed great and I upvoted it.
If you can write a fiction story in under 300m words, please don't forget to use the tag "story-300words", so I can find it quickly and easily by clicking on the above tag.
Thanks for reading it :)
Sure, I will! Already have an idea!
I am not writer but i really appreciate your work
lol I seriously don't know how you are doing this?!? Your last initiative on newbie posts was incredible. I read through your entire post and I have no idea how you could possibly get through everything that came through there. That was pretty amazing to say the least. I appreciate what you're doing to grow the platform.
As for this, it's perfect timing for me. :-) I just wrote my second ever story yesterday for the @STACH contest. I hope you don't mind me plugging it. I can edit it out if you do. Anyway, I've linked it below. That contest is only 199 words max so it will be a quick read for you. Thanks again for all you do. It's much appreciated.
https://steemit.com/stach/@dagger212/a-christmas-dream-short-story-by-dagger-stach-short-story-contest-15
Hi @dagger212 If you edit your story, you can change one of the tags to "story-300words", or just add that tag, and then the story will qualify for entry in this initiative.
I upvoted you here for the time being.
Oh, wonderful! Thank you! Some good stories so far. I've only read a couple but upvoted one at least. I'll try and change/add the tag now.....Done! It worked! What do you know....:-) Still so much to learn here.......
I used to write short stories when I was younger, but reality slowly snatched my creativity away with graceful stealth. I may not have it in me (since I may not have it in the first place), but I'd really like to try. After all, there's no harm in trying, right?
Thanks once again for this great initiative!
Well it's only 300 words. Don't forget -everyone has a story - to tell the children - or to tell your mates. I hope you will participate. Good luck if you do!
Yey! I was able to get my mind running (somehow). My short story is found here. Thank you very much once again for the opportunity!
Such great contest @swissclive, thank you!
And your story is amazing! I enjoy very much!
Here is my short story:
https://steemit.com/story-300words/@ir3k/a-story-in-under-300-words-to-believe-in-destiny
Can I write a second one and post it?
I resteem.
Good luck to you!
Happy New Year!
You can write as many stories as you want. It must be fiction and very original I.e. a story you made in your head, not the re-telling of someone else’s story. Thanks for the resteem.
Thanks, I like originality!
original story writing would be quite difficut i thought... But by reading your story...its was so much simple and meaningful, and to the point..even though my english is weak but then also i understood line by line meaning...i will also try to write it in my own simple words as you use...thanku you for providing us these all opportunities dear..no one has this much time to motivate new comers but i have seen that you always come up with new and interesting ideas for motivating newbies...thanku on behalf of all the newbies...
Am definately going to give this a shot, if i win so be it and if i dont well i love contest so i just keep coming back.
Thanks @swissclive for your previous contest you are a darling.
Hello, Swissclive, nice iniciative and thank you for reading some of my stuff.
I intend to do the same for the spanish community. Ive being into writing a long time and particulary in making content to help other people understand fiction writing, history-making and persuation. If i may, i will leave a post of how to approach writing short fictions, this migth help anyone, and specially the ones with little or no previous experience. I really think its useful information and migth help people to jump in the contest: https://steemit.com/art/@decomoescribir/improve-your-creative-writing-i-demonstrated-how-i-created-a-flash-fiction-and-so-will-you-do-you-accept-the-challenge
I'll upload my history for this contest in a couple hours :)
A great contest, which will motivate people to create excellent and small stories. I will take part, and I am interested in reading the stories of other participants.
About your story I can say the following ... you definitely have a skill in writing, because it reads all this is easily interesting, you can continue to write interesting stories, many will be interested :)
Great initiative. You, as always, do a lot for our platform. I have a small question, should history necessarily be artistic? Good luck to you and good. Resteem
Please everone, try and read other people's stories and comment on them as we should think of the work of others, and not just our own.
If you are of a nervous disposition, I urge you to avoid reading this one:
https://steemit.com/story-300words/@simonjay/a-story-in-under-300-words-28-12-2017
It really gave me the creeps.
Very nicely done. It's difficult to tell a complete tale in so few words. I tend to over-word stories so I like the discipline required of short flash like these. We have this post over at the Isle of Write Discord server, courtesy of @geekorner. I'll be joining in and encouraging others to do the same. Best of luck and thanks for the great idea!
@jrhughes Thanks for the discord link which I have now joined. It looks like fun!
Wonderful! See you around :D
This is the whole point. It is very difficult to squeeze na story into just 300 words! Good luck!
Good idea!
I would like to note that it could work out fine even if the #story-300words isn't the first tag, because the abominable tag system doesn't really care one whit where each tag is placed. It only cares about the first for when you open the post or when you view it on a feed...
Thanks @geekorner. You are correct. To get in the feed for this initiative you can actually put the tag anywhere. As there is another short story initiative currently running (which I did not know about until just now), it would not surprise me if some don't add both tags.
Great initiative! Thank you for thinking it up and thanks to @miti for sharing it with the Italian community: you might end up with quite a few stories translated from Italian 😉
I liked your story, too, although Mary comes off as rather harsh. I wouldn’t expect her to “snap”.
@imcesca . Very good spot about Mary. I changed the word to "warned". You could be a good proof reader.
I hope you will particiipate!
LOL Editor is one of my dream jobs, actually (but I studied Law so I do other stuff) 😜
Here’s mine, doubling up as #caturday post.
https://steemit.com/story-300words/@imcesca/the-vigil-a-300-words-short-story
This is a fantastic well-written story! I'm going to participate in this. Thank you for providing this opportunity.
Done, and submitted! - Is there any bonus for speed? lol
25 minutes from start to finish...
https://steemit.com/story-300words/@lucylin/boots-and-battles
Good piece of work. I upvoted it 100%
I noticed ! thanks for that - I had fun writing it.
Just in case anyone needs any explanation to understand the punch-line (last line) of my above story, I will explain it here:
"Pontius Pilate is best known for the trial and crucifixion of Jesus Christ"
It's a great idea, this contest will motivate people to create original small stories! I resteemed it for more visibility, I hope people will take part. I have a question : can be the post both in English and Italian ?
Yes no problem in multi languages
I am going to participate in this! Thanks for the opportunity :)
Thanks @swissclive for great contest and for all the work you have been doing!
Here is my short story:
https://steemit.com/story-300words/@ir3k/blessing-in-disguise-a-story-in-under-300-words
Thanks @swissclive for this great contest!
Here is my short story.
It is a absolute fiction of 299 words :)
https://steemit.com/story-300words/@ir3k/executors-of-desires-a-story-in-under-300-words
Thanks @swissclive for such great contest and such wonderful your story! I was enjoing when I was reading it!
After reading your captivating story, my two stories about Executors of Words seem pale and poor... Am I right?
Those Executors of Words make whatever you say to be true!
I have a continuation, two more stories about them. Can I publish them? :-)
Thank you! My post here: https://steemit.com/story-300words/@alexmove/a-story-in-under-300-words-new-year-s-gift
Sorry if I am a little late in getting to your story. I’m planning to read them all and have so far read 70%, but unfortunately I am around 48 hours behind, so please be patient.
In the meantime, it would really please me if you would take the time to comment some of the other stories written here. People really appreciate the feedback.
Thank you for the comment.
It really is so - it's nice to read comments and reviews.
Thank you. Please see my post here: https://steemit.com/story-300words/@moneyjessica/kind-magician
Sorry if I am a little late in getting to your story. I’m planning to read them all and have so far read 70%, but unfortunately I am around 48 hours behind, so please be patient.
In the meantime, it would really please me if you would take the time to comment some of the other stories written here. People really appreciate the feedback.
And I too... my story...
https://steemit.com/story-300words/@wordpress24/the-magical-mirror-a-story-in-under-300-words
Thanks @swissclive for the great contest!
Here is my absolute fiction of 299 words :)
https://steemit.com/story-300words/@ir3k/a-story-in-under-300-words-new-year-s-surprise
Sorry if I am a little late in getting to your story. I’m planning to read them all and have so far read 70%, but unfortunately I am around 48 hours behind, so please be patient.
In the meantime, it would really please me if you would take the time to comment some of the other stories written here. People really appreciate the feedback.
Here's my short tale: https://steemit.com/story-300words/@decomoescribir/the-drama-of-the-communs
Thanks for making this happen!
Hello, @Swissclive. You disqualified my text becouse it doesnt have a plot. Here is the link for other people to see and join the debate: https://steemit.com/story-300words/@decomoescribir/the-drama-of-the-communs
I would like to discuss, and hope that Steem is also about creating valuable with debate and not just about writing "your are great, your are amazing, nice post..." give-me-monney'ish kind of stuff...
What do you understand by a plot? so if i write: "it was a boy, who went into the school, got bullied and became a murderer" that would apply for the contest? that has a plot, rigth? By your definition, many great contemporary authors would also be desqualified, like Faulkner, by following your advice...
Im defending the time it took me to make an idea into its simplest form, and i know thats ficition, becouse ive being 10 years into reading and writing, and i can make an argument with evidence of authors who i got inspired from...
What i think you meant by desqualifying my text, is extension, you want people t write with the extension you purposed... well, then my advice is to be clear... say: at least 100 to 300 words... then, that would make sense...
I dont mean to offend, but to expand, debate and share knowledge... Your contest, your rules, and that's ok... it just feels really arbitrary that someone comes and says: "your art is not art, becouse art is what i understand of art"... thinking as mainstream as that art would never took forms like surrealism, impresionism, romanticism, and we would still be landscaping like 1600 years ago and making counted-verse poetry... dont you think?
i would like to hear a good counter-argument so i can expand my knowledge, and if im wrong, to accept it...
Hi @dicomoescribir. I think you don’t get what I mean by “fiction” or “story”. I invite other steemians to review and comment.
Thanks @swissclive for this initiative. Here is the link to my entry. https://steemit.com/story-300words/@petoz/for-the-love-of-sisiologe-201816t112352206z
Great idea thanks for sharing I follow you .. Awesome
Very interesting story, makes a lot of sense. Good work
i will trymy best to write a short story
Great contest to inspired people to writting story.
Nice initiative! I will think about sthg and post it asap!
amazing
@wajid786. I looked at your other comments, and they are all very short, like this one, and seem to add nothing to the debate. For example you made 10s of comments reading “NICE WORK KEEP IT UP. I REaLLY LOVE UR POSTS“. This looks like spam. You are trying to attract attention. You are chasing votes or follows. Usually I downvote people who do that.
Here is your opportunity to explain in less than 300 words what is so amazing, otherwise I am going to flag you for spamming.
i am going to participate
Terbaik banyak di sukai
Thank you very much !!! Thank you again and again for sharing this post because you did not just share this post. This post has been written in a beautiful manner by writing everything well.
Why not? I'm going to participate, I think I have a nice idea for this story :)
Just posted my short story :-)
Fantastic. I am making my way through the stories and expect to read and vote for every one. I am really glad you are participating.
A question: is it possible to write more than one story for the initiative?
I was going to ask the same question!
You can write as many stories as you like!
I think is a really good news! I love this contest because it's not easy to condense our short stories in only 300 words but I must say, it's working out surprisingly well.
You had a brilliant idea..Just look at the success of #story-300words tag!
Well done, my dear friend!
I wrote my second story! I love it! Thanks @swissclive
Sorry if I am a little late in getting to your story. I’m planning to read them all and have so far read 70%, but unfortunately I am around 48 hours behind, so please be patient.
In the meantime, it would really please me if you would take the time to comment some of the other stories written here. People really appreciate the feedback.
Well, I have some free time today and I was planning to comment some of the other stories.. some of these are really good.
Great initiative. I will definitely look to produce something. And I have a question...should it only be a fiction or non fiction too?
The idea is for fiction. A story. But if it something which happened to you, thats OK too.
Only fiction. I.e a story you made in your head. Not the re-telling of someone else’s story.
I had a story from a family member... And that's not fiction too. It happened to them.
300 words story contest is great , great opportunity for short story writer. I would be join it.
I will be reading your story with pleasure.
I wrote my story yesterday,after seeing your post. You are doing a very great job here,giving confidence to the new accounts :)
I wrote my story in about 45 mins after reading your post. I hope you like it :)
https://steemit.com/story-300words/@reyhan/melancholy-a-short-story
Read my story
The secret of happiness
https://steemit.com/story-300words/@virus95/the-secret-of-happiness-a-short-story
hello @swissclive...may i know what are fiction stories..i am not getting...if i write my own personal experiance of life as a short story...is that will be okay..?.:(
Yes that would be good too.