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Aptenodytesforsteriphobia

Just joshing with you Sir!

Your suggestion is actually quite interesting. Hard to score though; it would be the judges that I'd feel sorry for.

The Rambo trilogy in 4 seconds

Hilarity Clinton

Yes. Absolutely.

The last 'word' was... 

...and my reply was, John Frost Bridge.

Which is the Arnhem road bridge in Holland. The restored bridge named after 'Johnny Frost';  Major-General John Dutton Frost.

My grandfather served with the British 1st Airborne Division and was killed on September 21st 1944 in the operation to capture and secure that bridge against overwhelming odds. A small force of lightly armed British paratroopers far behind enemy lines, with only what they could carry in their pockets (they hadn't known that Arnhem had recently been garrisoned by the mighty 9th SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Hohenstaufen). Despite this, and in small bands with scant food, water and ammunition, they held out for nearly a week. Heroism within a foolish mission, a mistake, a massacre, and he and is buried with his comrades in Oosterbeek War Cemetery.

Last weekend I took my old mother from London, England over to Arnhem in Holland so that we could pay our respects at the grave of my grandfather, her father and to remember all of those who fought and died in the battle for that bridge. She's been to Arnhem before; her husband, my father had taken her to the to the remembrance/reunion  event held in late September, a few times over the years. Now that my father has passed away and my mother is into her eighties, she wanted to pay a last visit to her dad's grave. She never knew her father, her mother was eight months pregnant the day he died on that bridge.

So last weekend I stood on 'John Frost Bridge.' Troubled waters? I should say so! Not only the thought of that ferocious battle in 1944, but the fact that although my grandfather was killed by a German bullet; killed trying to liberate mainland Europe from the Germans; over that bridge, as I pondered, poured a constant stream of BMW's, Audi's, Mercedes and Volkswagen cars. Little else. This is a Holland, a Europe that is now totally dominated and governed by the Germans in the political and economical sense, whilst the bloodied ground in Arnhem is now occupied largely by immigrants and migrants from the Middle-East and Africa who seem to hate and despise the indigenous Europeans and who disrespect and desecrate our war memorials. The price of liberalism.

I know that all of this will mean little or nothing to a North American, and I have no wonder that my reflex comment John Frost Bridge in reply to bridge over troubled waters sounds so spurious and meaningless to someone from the American continent that it is deemed worthy of a challenge as to its relevance or legitimacy. However to me, it was truly and emphatically the first word/phrase that came to mind.

http://www.euro-t-guide.com/See_Photo/H … 009_03.jpg

Lest We Forget

Norm'inative determinism

Polished Turd

Barbiturate

Jack Dempsey

I'd always considered that the 'strength' element refered to the sheer quality of the prose and it’s delivery irrespective of genre; and the 'start' to be an evaluation based upon the reviewers overall impression of the opening three chapters.

I supposed that the competition represents a random agent or publisher’s eye view of a submitted manuscript. Do they still ask for the first three?

This subjectivity subject cropped up in the early days of the Strongest Start competition on the old site. A lively group of erudite author members back then; I recall a thread where examples from literature were posted to illustrate ‘the hook’.  Some examples were from the ‘slow burn’ approach to a novel where the ‘electricity’ is written in. Where phraseology, word choice and the delivery of words prove to be an enthralling and compelling introduction (rather than fast paced action sequences or “adolescent gadzookery”).

There were some excellent examples of literary ‘devices’ that plant a hook without resorting to action sequences.
There was also a very interesting forum thread that discussed in great depth the elusive ‘the X-Factor’ element within a piece of writing. 

I miss those discussion forums from the old site along the thousands of hours of knowledge and opinion that was poured into them. There were many gems.

For an uneducated would-be writer like myself, the mentoring and advice that was dispensed by the experienced, educated and enlightened authors back then, was pure gold.
The new site is not the same and I wonder if my legacy connotation of the ‘Strongest Start Competition still stands?

(Script)

Inspector Frank Butterman: I used to believe in the immutable word of the Law. That is until the night Mrs. Butterman was taken from me. You see no-one loved Sandford more than her - she was head of the Women's Institute, chair of the floral committee. When they started the Village of the Year contest, she worked around the clock. I've never seen such dedication. On the eve of the adjudicator's arrival, some travellers moved into Callaghan Park. Before you could say 'gypsy scum' we were knee-deep in dog muck, thieving kids and crusty jugglers. We lost the title. And Irene lost her mind. She drove her Datsun Cherry into Sandford Gorge. From that moment on, I swore that I would do her proud.