Of course, we all know what the traditional starting word for this sentence is – but surely there are so many other possibilities?

Firstly, fill in the blank with a word of your choice, and then construct a story around your new philosophy – you need to reference it in some way in the story, whether that be the title, a line of dialogue – just get it in there somewhere…

For judging purposes I find it useful to set down a loose set of ingredients for you to try and incorporate into your tale:

1. Technical skill – structure, word choices, tone and effect on reader
2. Good links between your new ‘philosophy’ and your story
3. A plentiful dose of originality and flair!

Clearly these are what would make your entry good anyway, so don’t think I’m limiting you, I’m just giving myself some criteria to fairly judge the thing on…

I give thee a nice, round 10 days – go!