GRAND FINALE

Read The Stories, See The Results!

Welcome Back to the bittersweet end of the Gibberish Writing Competition!

The Third Challenge Results

Vincent Marshall

of

On the 12th

wrote “We Blood”

We Blood

This is a classic Vincent Marshall! He tied together all of his previous stories and enhanced them with some new flavor and context. It is filled with drama, tension, and includes his characteristic twisty ending, this time more of a low burn than a neck-snapper! Vincent’s score for this challenge is 17/27.

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Derek Petty

of

Narrowtives

wrote “Villages, Churches, and Dirt”

Villages, Churches and Dirt

This allegorical tale took us on a poignant adventure through one mans crisis of loyalties. HE MUST CHOOSE! You’ll have to read to find out what happened next! Derek’s score for this challenge is 18/27

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Sara Dietz

of

Blinking Blue Line

wrote “Freedom: Scenes from a Crucible”

Freedom: Scenes from a Crucible

I have really enjoyed the continuity between each of Sara’s stories, and the number of easter-eggs in this one is pretty astounding. Here we follow the stressful life of one of MIND’s low level employees, and get a first-hand look at the toll it takes on his life, health, and relationships. Sara’s score for this challenge is 21/27.

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Christina Nicole

of

Christina Nicole’s Cult Journal

wrote “Til Death”

Til Death

A suspicious wife wants to save her marriage—what are her limits? This is a certified classic from Christina and includes her trademark slow-boil intensity and suspense. This was a very fun read! Christina’s score for this challenge is 22/27

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Cork Hutson

of

Life UnCorked

unfortunately had technical issues that prevented him from completing this challenge. Cork’s writing is great and I’ve enjoyed every entry he’s submit so far, so keep an eye on him as I know he plans to publish more fiction!

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This puts the standings as follows, after all three challenges:

Christina Nicole is in first place, with 62 points (18 + 22 + 22)

Sara Dietz is in second place, with 59 points (14 + 24 + 21)

Derek Petty is in third place, with 56 points (19 + 19 +18)

Vincent Marshall is in fourth place, with 44 points (14 + 13 +17)

Cork Hutson did not finish (DNF), with 26 points (11 + 15)

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This means that

Christina Nicole

of

Christina Nicole’s Cult Journal

is the first ever winner of the Gibberish Writing Competition!

Congratulations Christina!

Christina applied to this competition with only 12 subscribers—a relatively new presence on Substack, and exactly the kind of writer I wanted to highlight with this competition. Her success was due in large part to her ability to write creative, intense, engaging stories with a high level of consistency. Christina has demonstrated herself to be a strong and creative writer and she will definitely be someone to watch on Fiction-Substack!

Christina has won a Free-For-Life subscription to Gibberish, and a copy of my book Sandbox Earth!

Let’s also congratulate our competitors!

Sara Dietz

came very close to running away with this whole thing, missing the lead spot by a narrow 3 points—but showed the most improvement, jumping 10 whole points after just the first round! I can’t wait to see what else she has planned with Blinking Blue Line!

Derek Petty

was hot on their heels, with some of the most consistent scores in the competition. His Narrowtives are always thought provoking and creative!

Vincent Marshall

had some of the most wild and dramatic stories of this competition, with insanely creative twists and turns and they were just FUN to read.

Cork Hutson

showed himself to be a great competitor and a strong writer, with his stories demonstrating his strong affinity for both history and meaningful parables.

As I said at the beginning—while Christina has well-earned her spot as Winner of this competition, there can be no losers. These five competitors, chosen from a pool of twelve talented applicants, subjected themselves to three intense challenges and produced THOUSANDS of words on short schedules. Everyone deserves a round of applause here for just gritting their teeth and writing their heart out.

No one feels more honored than I after this whole thing. These five entrusted me with the judgement of their writing and I hope they can agree I did so fairly and helpfully. This was fun for me, and I can’t wait to do this again.

Later today, I will be sharing an example of the feedback I shared with Christina, and next week some takeaways I have learned in administering this competition and things I might change for the next time around.

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Thank you so much for following along with the Gibberish Writing Competition! Congratulations again to Christina, and a hearty THANK YOU to all the competitors! Until next time, my friends!

Photo by Elena de Soto on Unsplash