It Was a Dark and Stormy Mossy Bits
The 1996-1997 Mossy Bits Contest
Let's face it - writing well is difficult. It takes concentration,
determination, and a willingness to spend hours agonizing over
sentences or even individual words. With this in mind, the editors of
Mossy Bits proudly announce the It Was a Dark and Stormy Mossy
Bits contest, in which members of the department are invited to
write as badly as possible.
The rules are as follows:
- There are two categories. The first category is to come up with
the worst possible opening sentence to a fictitious novel. The
second category is to come up with the worst possible opening sentence
to a fictitious research paper. Anyone who manages to do write
a sentence which applies to both categories will be considered a
Really Spiffy Person and given free psychiatric counseling.
- Since the contest is to come up with the worst sentence
possible, entries consisting of more than one sentence will not be
judged.
- The more painfully bad the sentences are, the better. Try to
come up with sentences that would make a B-movie scriptwriter cringe.
No entry is too overblown, too cheesy, too convoluted, or too
bizarre. The Muses that inspire you should hang their heads in shame
by the time you're done.
- Participation is limited to graduate students in the department
of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington.
- Contestants may enter as often as they like, but may only enter
their own work.
- All entries must be received by mossy-bits@cs.washington.edu
before Friday, March 7. Contestants may submit more than one
sentence per message.
We have not yet chosen the prize to award to the winner, but it
will be something suitably tacky. So, enter early, enter often, and
prepare to live in infamy. May the worst man or woman win.
Our contest is patterned after the Bulwer-Lytton Contest, an annual
contest sponsored by San Jose State University. The worst entries are
published every year or two in the hysterically funny It Was a
Dark and Stormy Night books edited by Scott Rice, available in
finer bookstores everywhere. For those who would like to know more:
Back to the Mossy Bits home page
Mossy Bits - It's more fun than what you're supposed to be doing.