“By Any Other Name”

Much to my delight, “Executive Action” scored 96/100 in the 2010 Spring CS Open writing contest.

Here’s the Round 2 premise I received:

“Your PROTAGONIST has been betrayed by his CONFIDANT — someone deep within his (or her) inner circle. This betrayal threatens to destroy everything the protagonist has been working towards. The protagonist’s only ace in the hole: the confidant is not yet aware he’s been found out. Write a crackling scene in which the protagonist confronts the confidant. “

With only 24 hours to craft a 5-page scene, I felt much more pressure to develop a concept I could commit to. I jotted down three possibilities:

• Husband/wife sabotages spouse’s job promotion
• Two 9-year-old friends compete mano a mano in a statewide spelling bee
• A friend ruins her friend’s garden so she can’t enter a flower show

Before I knew it, I’d filled a half-page with handwritten notes for concept 3, so that’s the one I went with. It’s not as tight as “Executive Action,” but it’s work that pleases me. Also, I finished both rounds of the contest, which demonstrated that I write very well on tight deadlines.

As ever, feedback is welcome. Thanks for reading.

By Any Other Name (PDF Download)