Last week, Nesli of Wi.Nes won Monthly Wine Writing Challenge #31 (#MWWC31) and just like all previous winners of the Challenge, her “reward” was to choose the theme for the following Challenge (in this case #MWWC31).
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 eleven submissions last month’s theme “Faith” which was pretty close to the average that we have had over the last several months. We did, however, have a gigantic turnout for the vote, which was certainly a departure from the previous month. What does it all mean? Who knows? But as many of you know, I am a bit of a numbers person, so I am always looking for patterns, predictability, and anomalies (yes, I lead a rather boring life).
Nesli was perhaps the quickest in submitting the theme as her “reward” but that is purely conjecture since I have not been keeping track of that at all (insert comment: “Boy, Drunken Cyclist, that is not very good statistical record keeping, now is it?”). Regardless, I have Faith (see what I did there?) that this month’s theme will equally inspire the intrepid and the timid, the impetuous and the ponderous, and the prolific and the procrastinators.
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.
No more dancing around the issue, here is this month’s theme:
A quick recap of the rules:
The rules
- 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).
- Write a post based on this month’s theme: “TRANSLATION”.
- The post should be at least tangentially related to wine (after all, it is the name of the challenge).
- The post should be more or less around 1000 words (I routinely violate this rule, so it is just there as a “guide”).
- Include the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge badge (above) that was designed by the very first winner, The Armchair Sommelier.
- Remember to vote!
- 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:
- Include a link back to this post in your entry.
- Use the hashtag #MWWC32 somewhere in your post.
- Tweet, using the #MWWC32 hashtag and include a link back to your post.
- Send me an email: jeff(at)thedrunkencyclist(dot)com
- Include a link back to this post in your entry.
The all important dates:
Deadline for submission: Monday, April 24th, 2017
Voting Begins: Tuesday, April 25th, 2017
Voting Ends: Monday, May 1st, 2017
Winner Announced: Tuesday, May 2nd, 2017
Previous winners:
If you’re looking for some inspiration here are the links to the previous winning posts:
MWWC1 – Transportation
MWWC2 – Trouble
MWWC3 – Possession
MWWC4 – Oops
MWWC5 – Feast
MWWC6 – Mystery
MWWC7 – Devotion
MWWC8 – Luck
MWWC9 – Fear
MWWC10 – Value
MWWC11 – Friend
MWWC12 – Local
MWWC13 – Serendipity
MWWC14 – Tradition
MWWC15 – Success
MWWC16 – Finish
MWWC17 – Epiphany
MWWC18 – Crisis
MWWC19 – Choice
MWWC20 – Variety
MWWC21 –Pairing
MWWC22 – Second Chance
MWWC23 – New
MWWC24 – Pleasure
MWWC25 – Travel
MWWC26 – Solitude
MWWC27 – Bubbles
MWWC28 – Smile
MWWC29 – WineStory
MWWC30 – Obscure
MWWC31 – Faith
Please contact me if you have any questions: jeff (at) thedrunkencyclist (dot) com
the drunken cyclist 
Translation??? I guess this is why we call this a “challenge”. I know, most of the new themes show up as quite difficult – but generally, I have at least a lame idea of an approach. “Translation” in connection with wine doesn’t generate even a lame idea. Well, will see what will happen…
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Aw come on Anatoli, you can do it! A guy that is fluent in what, 27 languages?
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if I figured it out, you can! -JvB
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What JVB said.
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Another true challenge, a real poser, trying to come up with an angle and then how to write it. I guess a trip to the cellar is called for.
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If there were ever anyone up to the Challenge, John….
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Just stumbled upon your challenge thanks to Reader – I’m in!!!
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Great!
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