You can help by promoting next week’s #SatSunTails on your blog or by giving the post a +1 or a tumblr reblog or click the ‘tweet this’ link up on the right hand side or share from the facebook fan page or retweet from my twitter page to spread the word.
Or, even better, go on the #SatSunTails twitter search results and retweet other entrants.
The more people that hear about #SatSunTails, the more entries there are and the better the competition becomes!
If you are on twitter and you’d like an @reply every weekend to remind you that the competition is open then please leave a note regarding this along with your twitter handle in the comments of this post so I can set that up for you.
But for now, let’s get to the winners!
The Written Prompt
understated caramel
Runner Up Mentions
@klingorengi –
Understated, like the word prompt, but a good story nonetheless.
Overall Winner
@doctormikereddy –
Enjoyable and unexpected.
A Glass Half Empty
"Look I get it. I thought ‘whine tasting!’ was a typo. We’d get sloshed. Meet some adults. Have conversations. Get out of the house for the first time in eight months!"
Jake squeezed his wife’s hand "Ok, Jill. The babysitter’ paid for. We’ll give it a try." He led her nervously into the restaurant.
A buffet at the far side remained untouched, as numerous couples, dressed to the nines, stood attentively listening to the ‘whine tasting’ coach sermonising. "Like fine liquor, there’s an ‘understated caramel’ here. A soupçon of emotional blackmail," he judged a recording of a nest of hungry chicks. Several onlookers nodded agreeably. Others tilted heads to catch the nuances. "Now we move on to a baby’s cry. A hint of saddle…?"
"Oh my god, this is such bullshit!" Jill blurted out. "Fifty Pounds each! For this?"
The whine tasters turned, stared, and applauded. The coach sighed happily.
Critique Mentions
Now, as promised, I shall critique those entries that didn’t make it. Sometimes it can literally come down to the smallest things.
@needanidplease –
Firstly, welcome to the competition. There were some great bits in your piece (such as the starting sentence which really grabbed attention) but there were some parts that were unnecessary. You don’t need to tell us that it was an ‘ill-advised adventure’; it should be obvious from your description of the protagonist’s emotions and surroundings. You can also fit more of a story in if you condense similes such as ‘like a bird catching the prey in its talons’ to something like ‘like prey caught in talons’. You still have the evocative words there but you’ve cut out redundant ones and given yourself plenty more word count space to play with. I really look forward to seeing your next entry.
Thank you to all of those who entered.
The criticism is never meant to harm. It is there to help you better your writing and someday win overall. I’m sure it will also benefit those who were not criticised. I hope this has helped you in your writing as well as encouraged you to join in again next week!
Click here to read the other mentioned entries.
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Thank you for your critique. I am looking forward to the next prompt.