The 2003 results of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest are in. This is a literary contest named after the author who wrote the much-plagarized opening line “It was a dark and stormy night.” Each year, the San Jose State University English department holds a fiction contest where entrants are encouraged to write their own worst opening line for a novel.
For example, here’s the winner in the “Children’s Literature” category:
The Prince looked down at the motionless form of Sleeping Beauty, wondering how her supple lips would feel against his own and contemplating whether or not an Altoid was strong enough to stand up against the kind of morning breath only a hundred year’s nap could create.
I keep threatening to enter this contest some day. Check it out. Great humor here.