o help entrants optimise their entries to meet the word-length requirements, the following sample entry has been prepared. It is presented here in three different forms, with some analysis for each, as an indication of what information should be presented. We realise that 75 to 200 words can be challenging, but more than possible with a few tricks.

Take this entry for example:

Using the kidnapped Elizabeth “Fox” Gant as bait to lure Schofield, I would set up line-of sight through the recruit training facility’s obstacle course, placing Gant in the midst of the track, out in the open at the foot of the vertical climb.
The Scarecrow would then be forced to traverse this course to rescue the hapless Gant, and so give me the opportunity to snipe Schofield at my leisure.

This entry is only 70 words long, so it's too short for the entry requirement. The points of How, What, When and Where have been addressed - the general idea of the plan is there, but it lacks any kind of emotion...

Studying Schofield’s routine for a period, I would discover the opportunity to kidnap Gant and take her away, leaving behind enough evidence for Schofield to track us both down. This would lure Schofield to the Marine Training Ground’s Obstacle Course, where Gant would be waiting, bound and helpless in the middle of the track.
Schofield would then need to run the obstacle course to get to Gant for a heroic rescue, thus ensuring that he was trapped with no way out. The open nature of the obstacle course would give me ample time to pick Schofield off from a distance using an H&K PSG-1 Rifle, a rubber mat, and a handy roof-top. Schofield would not be able to escape the Obstacle Course without running it from start to finish.

This entry comes in at a comfortable 129 words. It's within the word limitations, and also gives more information on the set-up and possibilities within. It actually sounds like a premise for a short-story! The thrill of the hunter and hunted is conveyed - rather than just the facts, as in the first example.

I would study his routine for a few weeks, noting his movements each day and correlating that information to use against him. A pattern would emerge thus bringing about his downfall. Kidnapping Gant would be an excellent lure. I would leave a clue to her whereabouts and he would be led into a trap.
Schofield cares a great deal for Gant, and he would act immediately if anything threatened her.
The clue, Gant's gun and a note, would lead Schofield to the recruit training area, late at night, where the obstacle course is set up. Putting Gant in the midst of this course at the foot of the vertical climb with plenty of open area around her would place her in a vulnerable position. Gant would be bound, gagged and blindfolded and secured to the ground, and I would be positioned, up high in a tree with a sniper rifle, ready to shoot Schofield in the back, as soon as he appears.
This job, for which I am being paid a disgustingly enormous amount of money, will set me up for life. I will quit the States and travel to Rio De Janerio and retire.

Clocking 195 words, this final entry is at the outer limits of what needs to be said. Being verbose enough to also include Why into the plan, this entry has more information than is necessary, but still meets the entry criteria. Other entries could use the extra space to flesh out a more complex plan.

So. What is your plan for getting to Schofield? Hand to hand combat? Fake a natural disaster? Horrendous traffic accident? Poisioning? Get creative and get writing - the release date of Scarecrow will not wait!
Good luck!

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