Competition: Variations on a theme 10 (Zappa)

pickarooney

For the tenth incarnation of our Variations on a Theme contest, the theme will be the songs of Frank Zappa.
No prior knowledge of the existence or music of Mr. Zappa is required to enter this contest.

If you wish to enter, simply say so on thread and I will send you a theme taken from a song title by the artist in question. As some of said titles do not lend themselves easily to short story writing, the full list of songs will be filtered beforehand.

Names will be added to the thread as people sign up.

The word limit is approximately 2000.

You may submit and resubmit at any time between the moment you receive your synopsis and the end of the contest by PMing me your story. The competition will close at 23.59:59 on the 14th of October 2012.

For anyone new to our short story contests, you can see previous editions here and here.

Some stories themselves can be seen here and here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIvrqeMXvR0

Das Kitty

What's the closing date?

pickarooney

updated: 10th October

Toasterspark

Count me in!

Das Kitty

Sure fire one at me.

Antilles

Sign me up, picka!

Insect Overlord

Gimme a go! It's been too long.

Mr E

Yuuuup.

me-skywalker

I'll play. Danke.

The Pooka

Long time lurker, been waiting for another VOAT - sign me up, please!

Leafonthewind

I'll give it a try.

Finishing a second before my birthday starts, good work

I'll play

Ectoplasm

This could be just what I need to distract me from other work! I'm in. :-)

Agent Weebley

Why is there a limit of only 2000 words?

Antilles

2000 is a bit long, imo. If I recall correctly its four times what it was originally.

Hrududu

Me too please

hcass

I'd love to take part please. Thank you.

Mr E

Antilles wrote: »

2000 is a bit long, imo. If I recall correctly its four times what it was originally.

It's a limit, not a target!

pick said something about 200 words being fine if they tell a good story, if that's what you want

Antilles

Mr E wrote: »

It's a limit, not a target!

Yeah that's like telling me I can eat half the pie. Next time you see me, half that pie and no less is going to have been eaten.

Antilles

bluewolf wrote: »

pick said something about 200 words being fine if they tell a good story, if that's what you want

For sale: Zappa discography. Never heard.

Edit: Just realised my next post will be the bit 1-0-0-0. Ooh now I'm too nervous to post in case I ruin it.

Rubecula

May I have a go please?

indough

i'd like to sign up too (if possible), thanks

Turtwig

*Deep breath*
Count me in.
*Takes the plunge.*

Agent Weebley

Mr E wrote: »

It's a limit, not a target!

bluewolf wrote: »

pick said something about 200 words being fine if they tell a good story, if that's what you want

Antilles wrote: »

For sale: Zappa discography. Never heard.

Edit: Just realised my next post will be the bit 1-0-0-0. Ooh now I'm too nervous to post in case I ruin it.

Hi Antilles,

I was just wondering about the word limit, in case I was to run over. Not that I am going to write a story or anything . . . pickarooney would probably give me something really gross like "Valley Girl" on the "Ship Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Witch" album . . . that would be grody . . . idaknow . . . I do want to talk to Mr Bufu, though . . . he's like really creepy, you know . . . like he looks at all the girls and rubs his chin . . . like, ew . . . like barf me out . . . oh my god, like, bag your face, I'm sure!

Hmmm. Nothing? I guess I can't use my becoming a "Mental Toss Flycoon" joke on you, since you are not One with The Zapster?

Oh, and I'm now The Central Scrutinizer . . . reporting you for advertising. Say hi to Gordon for me, will ya? Total bummer, I'm sure.

How much, by the way? I only have 10 of his albums . . . are yours vinyl? Did you maintain them by using shrink wrapping with a hairdryer?

pickarooney

I forgot my list at work. I might not be able to send to anyone from bluewolf on until Monday unless I get a chance to remake it.

Leafonthewind

Why don't we all wait until Monday then and move the deadline to 15th October so we still have 3 weekends to ponder and/or write?

Achillles

Aye, count me in!

I can't start writing til after the 3rd anyway so it's ok

damselnat

Go on, I've finished many long months of editing and am at a loss now, itching to write but no ideas...give me a reason to scribble!!

--Kaiser--

In like flynn

Brian Lighthouse

May I join please?

darkestlord

Count me in

pickarooney

Sorry about the delay. Internet is messed up here today and I can only access about 1 in 10 sites and everything times out all the time. I'll extend the deadline as soon as it's fixed.

Turtwig

Sweet! Just got my theme! Thanks Pickarooney.:)

Haven't the slightest clue what I'm going to write about for it though but that'll make it even more fun.

pickarooney

OK, things seem to be fixed here and I've send PMs to everyone who posted. If you didn't get one, or you would still like to join in, let me know.

If, after a minimum of 48 hours, you really cannot think of anything, you can request a new theme by PM. This is a one-off. If the replacement theme is worse... sucks to be you!

Agent Weebley

Hi pickarooney, could you count me in, please.

Toasterspark

Agent Weebley wrote: »

Hi pickarooney, could you count me in, please.

I feel like I'm gonna know which entry is yours. Your style is way too distinctive!!

Turtwig

Toasterspark wrote: »

I feel like I'm gonna know which entry is yours. Your style is way too distinctive!!

Why don't we all submit two entries, one in the style of "Mound of Hostages." and the other in whatever style we choose?

pickarooney

Toasterspark wrote: »

I feel like I'm gonna know which entry is yours. Your style is way too distinctive!!

Frank Zappa + Agent Weebley. It will probably cancel itself out and we'll end up with a Straight Story.

Agent Weebley

pickarooney wrote: »

Frank Zappa + Agent Weebley. It will probably cancel itself out and we'll end up with a Straight Story.

You guys are toooo funny! I really can't give much away at this point, but I think my story will be "in the pack," so to speak.

I have a question: should we, or should we not embed the song at the beginning of the story?

--Kaiser--

My story title isn't too bad actually. I went to Wikipedia to have a look at some of Zappa's other song titles......that is one humongous discography

pickarooney

Agent Weebley wrote: »

You guys are toooo funny! I really can't give much away at this point, but I think my story will be "in the pack," so to speak.

I have a question: should we, or should we not embed the song at the beginning of the story?

No YouTube videos. Don't forget you'll be submitting by PM.

Agent Weebley

pickarooney wrote: »

No YouTube videos. Don't forget you'll be submitting by PM.

OK, thanks.

Arlecchina

Am I too late to join in, pickarooney?

pickarooney

Arlecchina wrote: »

Am I too late to join in, pickarooney?

I'll add you tomorrow.

We're getting close to saturation point for a single contest at this stage; depending on how many actually submit we might need to split it over two weeks.

pickarooney

25 people are on board now. I think that's probably enough.

pickarooney

One entry in already

Toasterspark

pickarooney wrote: »

One entry in already

Tsch, show-off. *grumble*

me-skywalker

I'm happy with my theme. Havn't started the physical writing but I'm mentally wringing idea's.

Achillles

Can I have a change of theme please? It feels like cheating but I'm really at a loss for anything to write!