h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Does anyone think it would be fun to have our own 'Bulwer Lytton' competition?

The background is at A22547829, but the idea is simple. All competitors have to do is craft the very worst first sentence of a novel.

I've got one of my own if you want it.

Huh, I thought I'd do that inadvertently each time I write something.

I'm game.

I think it's an excellent idea. I've followed the BLFC for many years and I've often thought about submitting something.

I think it would be good to spin it out by having a different genre of novel each month. The BLFC results are given by genre, so we could use theirs. Maybe we could add a few of our own, too (Edited Guide genre, for example )

Good idea.

Mala recently asked people what they would like to do that they never have done.

I was going to say 'enter the Bulwer Lytton Contest'. I always forget when the deadline is, and suffer from an embarrassment of riches when it comes to ideas. A genre limitation would help.

I also enjoyed the one 'Philosophy and Literature' had for awhile - the contest for most impenetrable postmodern criticism. This went on until they made Judith Butler really mad by giving her the prize.

http://www.denisdutton.com/bad_writing.htm

Wasn't there a thread on Ask about it a little while ago? It might be worth announcing the competition there, too, if it runs in The Post.

MVP, I'd volunteer to set up a page and submit to the next - or would you rather do that yourself, seeing as it's your idea?

I'm not sure - did you think to ask people to vote, or just to do it for the fun of it? I'd tend to the latter, as it's difficult to get people to vote as other examples show.

KB, I was just about to search for that Ask thread.

I like the idea, but not turning it into a formal competition.

Found it.

F19585?thread=5781108

There certainly seems a fair amount of interest!

I'd thought of it as a competition but it would be difficult to decide which was the very worst. Should we ask people to nominate their favourite but accept that we may end up with two or three? Perhaps we should aim for a kind of on-line anthology?

As for genres, I would have thought people would get bored after a while. Perhaps we should try one or two genres and see how it goes?
Science fiction seems an obvious starter.

Great idea! Start it in September, though - there's nothing for dampening enthusiasm than a summer break...

That gives us a while to think about details.