What is a troublesome musing? And who has helped me with rewarding such musings? |
I host a forum ("Acid Tongued" [18+]) where stories of a non-mainstream nature are shared, discussed and reviewed. One day, Tension , a visitor to the forum, sent me an e-mail suggested I run a contest for these writings. That contest bloomed into
an annual contest hosted over the spring and summer with generous prizes. Why such generous prizes? In my opinion, writings of a taboo or unusual nature need all the recognition they can get. I'm also a generous person by nature Well, Tension is the first person I have to thank, as he sent me the e-mail in January/February of 2004. I got the contest up and running by May thanks in a large part to CTalley and Davy Kraken . Both of these wonderful people gave me advice and suggestions on all the technical aspects of the contest, from revising the rules to the format of the contest forum. Thank you both. I'd still be agonizing over the set up if it wasn't for you. Now that the origins have been explained and credit has been given to those wonderful behind the scenes motivators, it's time to answer that burning question: What is a troublesome musing? Troublesome is not sex. Troublesome is not violence. Troublesome is not profanity/obscenity. Troublesome is not theme. Troublesome is ORIGINAL. Troublesome is DIFFERENT. Troublesome is THOUGHT-PROVOKING. Troublesome is UNUSUAL. A troublesome musing is a writing of any form that is largely unaccepted by the mainstream populace for whatever reason. It can be of any rating (last year's winning pieces ranged in rating from 13+ to GC+, but all ratings are accepted in the contest), any static item (essay, poem, short story, etc.) and for this contest can be up to 100 KB in length. Usually a good troublesome musing has some sort of intrguing twist. Such twists include unusual genre combinations (political erotica, anyone?) or a refreshing take on a topic (such as suicide on a dream vacation). The 2004 round saw a diverse crop of entries of many different topics, including serial killers, homeless writers and rape. Therefore, anything goes in this contest...excluding fluffy and tame writing. To see the list of winners, feel free to check out "Troublesome Winners" [18+]. Now as I've said before, I had plenty of help with getting this contest going. However, I'd also like to acknowledge past donors and judges as well, since their contributions were very much appreciated. PAST DONORS Stormy Lady 2004 Former member kimberlyb1968 2004 Petra Pansky 2004 Wendopolis 2004 Redbird on brief hiatus 2004 MaryLou 2004 Former member panthera 2004 Jax: Not here. 2005 SilkAngel 2005 Former member lynk 2005 Laurel 2005 The Dankins 2006 Wenston 2006 Pia Veleno 2006 darkin 2006 Stiggles 2007 Former member plafleur 2007 Mark 2007 mars 2007 Acme 2007 Adriana Noir 2008 iwk2001 2008 Roari ∞ 2008 Mark 2008 tinytalegirl 2008 Lynn McKenzie 2008 Anonymous 2008, 2009 Former member flex 2009 Former member scattered 2009 Gabriel Daniel Albrigo 2010 Redtowrite 2010 Lobelia is truly blessed 2010 Maria Mize 2010 Champ 2012 atlantis 2012 C.Evil 2012 Lexi 2012 Lesley Scott 2012 If you would like to donate, please send your contributions to "Troublesome Banking" [18+]. PAST JUDGES Grammar Hawk 2004 *~*Chelle thanks anon*~* 2004 Jax: Not here. 2005 Hollowεtεrnity 2005 Davy Kraken 2006 Former member terryjroo 2006 Robert Waltz 2007 Former member plafleur 2007 Stiggles 2007 Lynn McKenzie 2008 Jeff (as ragefire2000) 2008 Acme 2009 Former member c.t.moon 2009 LdyPhoenix 2009 Ben Langhinrichs 2010 pitbull 2010 Ghostranch 2012 If you are interested in judging, feel free to send me an e-mail. Likewise, if you want to help but can neither judge nor donate, you can always help get the word out. To link the item in forums, there's an item alias for this contest. Instead of typing in the number, just type 'troublesome' into any item tag. Then presto! A link to the contest is ready to go! For the more visual types, be on the lookout for new image tags. This concludes the humble story of my contest. I enjoyed running it last year, and I hope that with each year it becomes more fun and more diverse with entries. I enjoy reading writings that dare to explore uncharted and taboo territory, and rewarding them is even better. So, won't you care to jump in and join me on this wild ride we call Troublesome Musings? |