Madlib News - Week 1... (Creative Writing Game/Contest)
Welcome to Madlib News! This is Week 1 of a brand new concept, playing with news-ish stuff like a madlib... I was fond of madlibs when I was a boy, although I enjoyed it most when I stretched the rules and wrote outlandish things instead of mundane... This Madlib News idea is a wee newborn... I thought of it yesterday, after taking part in a creative writing contest here on steemit...
A few weeks ago, @marty-art posted a painting of his, with a fiction story... Every now and then, words are missing, with directions in parentheses... Everyone who participated copy/pasted the story into a comment, with their editions... The results were quite hilarious, and I've come back every week for more... So why not try it with news? I told my Pops the idea, and that I was on the hunt for a good newspaper parody... I said how about USA TOUCHE, or Washington Posthumous? He replied, "WASHINGTON COMPOST!" (zing!) A little bit of late night photoshop, and it was ready to go...
I don't want to get hung up on rules, though I would say the more creative, the better... Copy the news story below and paste it in a comment... Change the words inside parentheses, there is no right or wrong answer... Try to flow and make sense, though... All participants (not folks who say NICE POST) will be awarded an even portion of the payout... This is the part I hate, because math is not my friend... The giving part is easy, but if anyone can help me figure out how to divide the payout between participants, please help! (Also, I may work out a bonus for my favorite, let's see what the internet comes up with!)
Madlib News - Week 1
Tensions broke today in ( place or places ), after the most unexpected temporary armistice since the ceasefire began... Soldiers laid down their ( object or metaphor ), and then began to ( action verb or macguffin ) to the bewilderment of spectators and news crews... ( notable personality ) had this to say about the event, "Well, at least nobody was ( verb ) at each other!" The ambassador of ( some country ) has also scheduled a trip to ( some country ), after supposedly leaking a ( wildcard-YOUPICK ) about a shortage of bullets... Onlookers were unclear whether ( asian rap name 1 ) or ( asian rap name 2 ) was the victor...
"Maybe it's a new kind of ( event or artform )", says ( some wise guy ), "or a result of the recent SPACEX launch, with their nano-pollination of ( place ) project, which was designed to ( deus ex machina here )..." FAUX NEWS reported that aliens from ( place ) were responsible for the ( big evil crisis ) and that all citizens should immediately ( fear response )... The ceasefire ended abruptly as an ICBM suddenly ( occurrence ) and began skywriting the words, ( ironic platitude)... Eventually, everyone went back to their ( wildcard ) and life returned to ( state of being ) ...
The End... (You can continue it if you want, or write a prequel trilogy, lol...)
Here is the video that inspired the breakdancing summit madlib... I used to think this really happened... I am too gullible! Oh, and I am not the producer of this video, I only share it because it's so awesome, and really ices my post's cake...
While photoshopping last night for this post, I spontaneously did a back to the future banner for myself... I do grafficks for steem! @ me up, we can work something out... GIFs, memes, custom art by hand or digital... I can take cheesy and make it exotique... haha
And of course, resteeming this will get more folks madlibbing and drive up our payout... Yes, I said OUR payout...
@marty-art I want feedback for next time! How could this be improved? Simplify? I think you totally nailed it...
Personally, I found it very much fun to write, but quite a lot of entries to fill (even though I tried to keep them short). I try to 'steer' my story somewhat: writing a start, middle and ending (though I'm not sure that really works) based on a short story I've written myself.
But, hey, this is your game, you'll learn as you go, i think consistency is big here on Steemit (I guess - I've only been here for 6 months), so keep it going, adjusting the format as you see fit, really. But I think you may be onto something - if it feels right for you :)
Give it some time, see where this post ends up after the 7 day payout and whether you want to do it again (or increase the frequency to daily, but I'd bet you wouldn't wanna give away your sbd daily?)
Have fun here, if you feel like it's worth your time: do it; if you feel like it doesn't - it probably isn't :)
(But if you do another episode, I'll probably be among the first to join, woo-hoo!)
I didn't know it was going to be this extensive, but let me be the first to try your MadLibs!
Tensions broke today in Guadalupe [I just love how that sounds], after the most unexpected temporary armistice since the ceasefire began... Soldiers laid down their uniforms, and then began to throw presents to their enemies, much to the bewilderment of spectators and news crews... Noam Chomsky had this to say about the event, "Well, at least nobody was throwing valuable Guadaloupean Monero's at each other!" The ambassador of Liechtenstein has also scheduled a trip to South Central Guadalupe, after supposedly leaking a message written in invisible ink about a shortage of bullets... Onlookers were unclear whether MC Yin Yang or DJ Karmadon was the victor...
"Maybe it's a new kind of crowdfunding", says Dr. Anderson Wiseguy, "or a result of the recent SPACEX launch, with their nano-pollination of Nova Zembla project, which was designed to bring about world peace by throwing aggressors to death with gifts..." FAUX NEWS reported that aliens from Betelgueze IV were responsible for the ensuing mass looting of gift and dollar stores and that all citizens should immediately hoard their Hotwheels, Lego and Playmobil... The ceasefire ended abruptly as an ICBM suddenly exploded in a cloud of confetti and began skywriting the words, "Why Can't We All Just Get Along?... Eventually, everyone went back to their kids and life returned to a playful state of being...
This is beyond extraordinary!!! I am laughing so hard!
Glad you like it, had fun writing in Xmas spirit :)
Splitting a payout 50/50 is easy math, if nobody else joins in!
Oh wait, I better do one! LOL!
So should I take total payout and divide by 3 participants?
Damn world politics just stepped up its game! That video is amazing. Loving the writing challenge too :) So here's my take on it. Just imagine that people are walking records (vinyls).
Tensions broke today in Gordon Ramsey's Cypriot restaurant, after the most unexpected temporary armistice since the ceasefire began... Soldiers laid down their forks, keeping but their knives, and then began to cut and chop beats out of each much to the bewilderment of spectators and news crews... Gordon Ramsey had this to say about the event, "Well, at least nobody was trying to f**k with Gordon Ramsey!" The ambassador of the DMC to Universal has also scheduled a trip to the Cypriot-Turkish border, after supposedly getting drunk, leaking on a tree and accidentally telling his rival's advisor about a shortage of bullets... Onlookers were unclear whether Lil' Terriyaki or Kaos Padd Thai (with double-d cos you get double the dose) was the victor...
"Maybe it's a new kind of drug they're trying out", says the clueless warped guy who just walked out the loo, "or a result of the recent SPACEX launch, with their nano-pollination of atmospheric techno-pollen project, which was designed to turn everything into the internet..." FAUX NEWS reported that aliens from over the border were responsible for starting the crisis by stealing people's jobs and being a burden on unemployment, and that all citizens should immediately contact the Ministry of Sound and remain in their sleeves... The ceasefire ended abruptly as an ICBM suddenly broke the cloud cover and began skywriting the words, "We wi ll b - t / u i..."(the cloud cover and unfavourable winds meant the message was incomprehensible)... Eventually, everyone went back to their circular lives, while the elite platinum big wigs planned the next dub warz, and life returned to the horrifyingly fun spectacle it had always been...
This was fun to read! And I haven't even had my coffee yet! LOL
Got the payout! Thanks @occupywallets! :)
Here's my own attempt at this:
Tensions broke today in THE MARFA CINEMATIC UNIVERSE, after the most unexpected temporary armistice since the ceasefire began... Soldiers laid down their iPhones, and then began to POP-N-LOK to the bewilderment of spectators and news crews...
Dennis Rodman's personal trainer had this to say about the event, "Well, at least nobody was sshooting dank memes at each other!"
The ambassador of GOOGLE-SLAVIA has also scheduled a trip to Mars.gov, after supposedly leaking a PROPHETIC LOTTERY NUMBER causing a shortage of bullets... Onlookers were unclear whether Captain Condomstyle or DJDJDJDJ was the victor...
"Maybe it's a new kind of statistical analysis", says Gilbert Godfrey in his Iago voice, "or a result of the recent SPACEX launch, with their nano-pollination of Yomamma project, which was designed to REWRITE THE NEW STAR WARS MOVIES, TO FIX THE MASSIVE PLOT HOLES..." FAUX NEWS reported that aliens from A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY were responsible for 'The JarJar Abrams Debacle', and that all citizens should immediately ASK DISNEY TO FUCK OFF... The ceasefire ended abruptly as an ICBM suddenly fell into orbit from a Star Destroyer and began skywriting the words, "YOU ARE WHAT YOU TWEET..." Eventually, everyone went back to their MASTERY OF ABATING, and life returned to where it all began...
FINN
Google-Slavia!!!!
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