Keep It 100 Challenge

I can't believe it, but the moment has come! With the publication of this piece I will have reached the threshold of 100 stories on Vocal!

At this time last year my story count was 5 and all of those pieces had published another year prior. I joined Vocal back in October of 2022 when a friend shared the Christopher Paolini Fantasy Challenge with me. When I made my account I published 3 old short stories, my entry for the Paolini challenge, and a High-ku. And those 5 pieces would turn out to be my only published stories for quite some time.

I had intentions of continuing to be active on Vocal, but then I met a guy, adopted a rescue poodle, had a big change happen at work, got busy with the holidays, started dating the guy, got engaged to the guy, planned a wedding, and married the guy all by October of 2023. So a year of crazy life events had derailed any writing ambitions.

Then in November of last year I logged into my Vocal account after the yearlong hiatus to discover an intriguing Neolomicro challenge that was ending that day. Inspiration struck and I haven't really stopped working a poem or story since!

I'm very grateful for this platform and all the writers I've been able to connect with over the past year. Reading the creative work of so many unique individuals each with their own poetic or storytelling style has been such a privilege. It has brought back many of the joys of being in writing workshops back in college, but elevated to such a grand scale.

I've also enjoyed the opportunity to stretch myself by creating entries for such a variety of challenges. There have been a lot of great Vocal+ Challenges and I always get a little antsy to see what the next one will be. Additionally, I've absolutely loved a lot of the unofficial creator hosted challenges, so I was super excited by the idea of hosting my own to celebrate my 100th story milestone.

Alright, enough backstory and on to the challenge!

The Challenge:

Write a poem or microfiction that includes the phrase "one hundred" (or "a hundred")

The Rules:

• Must include the phrase "one hundred" (or "a hundred" or “100”) in the body of the poem or microfiction
• Word Limit Range: 75-125
• Deadline: Thursday, November 21st at 11:59 PM EST
• Entry Limit: 1 poem and 1 microfiction per creator
• Entries must be submitted by including a link to the published story in a comment below
• Not a requirement, but an embedded link to this story in your published entry would be greatly appreciated
• An entry must be a new story that is published during the challenge window
• Keep all graphic/trigger levels at about a PG rating

The Judging:

I have enough self-awareness to know that I don't have an impartial or objective bone in my body. Therefore I've assembled a panel of fellow English teachers, book club members, and writers (not on Vocal) to serve as a judging committee.

Each submission will be scored on a 3, 2, 1, scale by the panelists in the following four domains:

• Originality & Creativity
• Organization & Clarity
• Language Use & Style
• Overall Impression

The ten submissions (assuming there are that many) with the highest scores in the poetry and microfiction categories will then undergo a rank choice vote to determine the final standings.

If you include an Author's Note in your piece the judges will be told not to read it, so make sure your piece is able to be understood without additional explanation.

In consideration of the panelists, please exercise discernment in any inclusion of triggering material. If I am concerned about a piece I will not submit it to the panelists and I will notify the creator so they can submit another entry if they desire.

The Prizes:

As this challenge is a celebration of my 100th story I'd like to award a total of $100 in prizes.

• 1st Place Poem - $20
• 2nd Place Poem - $15
• 3rd Place Poem - $10
• D.K.'s Spotlight Pick Poem - $5
• 1st Place Micro - $20
• 2nd Place Micro - $15
• 3rd Place Micro - $10
• D.K.'s Spotlight Pick Micro - $5

The spotlight winners will be selected by yours truly, but all other prizes will be awarded based on the panel’s votes.

Any individual creator is eligible to place in both the poetry and microficion categories.

Results will be announced Wednesday, November 27th at 10:00 AM EST.

I think that about sums it up! I’ve written an example poem and micro that I’ve linked below if you’d like to check them out!

You’ve heard a lot from me in the last two weeks and I think it’s time for a reprieve! I’ll be catching up on reads from this week and replying to comments but the floodgates have been sealed!

Looking forward to reading all entries!

My Poem:

My Micro: