Last week, Shez of The Epicurious Texan won Monthly Wine Writing Challenge #29 (#MWWC29) and just like all previous winners of the Challenge, her “reward” was to choose the theme for the following Challenge (in this case #MWWC30).

A few of us started the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge a couple of years ago with the desire to promote more creative wine writing. The thought was that we get caught up in tasting notes, winery visits, and the occasional food porn and we soon forget that part of the reason we put in all the hours that we do on these silly blogs is that we love to write!

We had ten submissions last month’s theme “WineStory” which seems to be a bit of the new normal (what ever that means). All of the stories submitted, though, were compelling and they were actually a joy to read. I did not enter this past month since, simply, I do not find my “WineStory” all that compelling: I drink wine and I write about it (OK it is a little more complicated than that but I am sitting here trying to fill this space with something, so you can cut me a little slack, right?).

This month, I asked Shez to submit her choice for the next theme and, well, her response was a bit nebulous. This is not a criticism of Shez really so much as an observation that now that the Challenge has reached its two and a half-year anniversary (essentially), coming up with a compelling theme could be a bit, well, challenging.

Since I normally announce the theme the week following the post about the winner (and given that I am at least on the path to hopelessly ACD), I sent an email to Shez late last night asking if I could propose a theme based on her general thoughts. Since I sent that after she was likely asleep and am now writing this likely before she has awakened, well, there is a bit of a dilemma.

With the guise of stalling for a bit more time, I opt for a public service announcement to underscore the main idea behind the Challenge:

I want to stress that the goal of this Challenge (at least for me) is to, well, challenge myself to get out of the norm and produce something I would otherwise not write, be it fiction, non-fiction, whatever. Recently, I have been falling into the trap of making the theme fit into my writing instead of having the theme inspire me to write.

After waiting a bit, I hope that no one sees this as a gross violation of protocol, but here is the theme for this month’s Challenge:

A quick recap of the rules:

The rules

1. The Challenge is open to anybody and everybody. It helps if you have a blog, but that is certainly not a requirement (contact me if this is the case).
2. Write a post based on this month’s theme: “WINESTORY”.
3. The post should be at least tangentially related to wine (after all, it is the name of the challenge).
4. The post should be more or less around 1000 words (I routinely violate this rule, so it is just there as a “guide”).
5. Include the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge badge (above) that was designed by the very first winner, The Armchair Sommelier.
6. Remember to vote!
7. Once you post on your blog, please do at least two of the following and I will be sure to include a link  on all subsequent posts about this month’s challenge:
   1. Include a link back to this post in your entry.
      
   2. Use the hashtag #MWWC30 somewhere in your post.
   3. Tweet, using the #MWWC30 hashtag and include a link back to your post.
   4. Send me an email: jeff(at)thedrunkencyclist(dot)com

The all important dates:

Deadline for submission:  Monday, January 23rd, 2017

Voting Begins: Tuesday, January 24th, 2017

Voting Ends:  Monday, January 30th, 2017

Winner Announced:  Tuesday, January 31st, 2017

Previous winners:

If you’re looking for some inspiration here are the links to the previous winning posts:

MWWC1 – Transportation

The Armchair Sommelier

MWWC2 – Trouble

My Custard Pie

MWWC3 – Possession

The Wine Kat

MWWC4 – Oops

Confessions of a Wine Geek

MWWC5 – Feast

The drunken cyclist

MWWC6 – Mystery

The SAHMmelier

MWWC7 – Devotion

The Sweet Sommelier

MWWC8 – Luck

The drunken cyclist

MWWC9 – Fear

The Sybarite

MWWC10 – Value

Dracaena Wines

MWWC11 – Friend

Armchair Sommelier

MWWC12 – Local

Talk-a-Vino

MWWC13 – Serendipity

Duff’s Wines

MWWC14 – Tradition

Cheap Wine Curious

MWWC15 – Success

JVB Uncorked

MWWC16 – Finish

The Wine Raconteur

MWWC17 – Epiphany

Wayward Wine

MWWC18 – Crisis

Traveling Wine Chick

MWWC19 – Choice

Frankly Wine

MWWC20 – Variety

JVB Uncorked

MWWC21 –Pairing

L’Occasion

MWWC22 – Second Chance

(Un)Common Grape

MWWC23 – New

The Drunken Cyclist

MWWC24 – Pleasure

Cheap Wine Curious

MWWC25 – Travel

Traveling Wine Chick

MWWC26 – Solitude

JVB Uncorked

MWWC27 – Bubbles

Traveling Wine Chick

MWWC28 – Smile

Pairs With: Life

MWWC29 – WineStory

The Epicurious Texan

Please contact me if you have any questions: jeff (at) thedrunkencyclist (dot) com