Amph SFF Writers' Guild Writing Contest! VERSION THREE --- contest closed

right then


I'm grateful for feedback on the prompt and I shall limit it to a one sentance thing in the future.



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Prompt ideas

 

How about the beginning of extraplanetary colonisation?

 

What I'd like is something that can easily fit both sci-fi and fantasy categories. Not something that is clear-cut one way or the other.

 

I too would prefer a prompt that was not clearly biased one way or another. Just change "extraplanetary" to "far distant" and it works either way. And doesn't restrict a sci fi tale to beginning with a single planetary system.

The one for which (with an extension - which in my case was needed because I forgot to keep track of when the contest was starting) we had the most entries was what I call a spark prompt (the one line/simple idea type of prompts) and moreover one of a particular type. An initial conditions spark prompt. The second one was more of a situation spark prompt to continue with my own wierd view. The third contest was not a spark prompt but more like a plot outline prompt. So maybe spark prompts work better or maybe it is just initial condition spark prompts that work better or maybe I'm full of it.

Spark prompts that I can think of off the top of my head (and can type up with two damaged fingers on my right hand):

The country's/planet's/system's/socio-political grouping's/universe's best political negotiator is stumped when (s)he must broker a deal to save (some aspect or the entirety of) his/her country/planet/etc with a people/planet/etc whose outlook is beyond her/his understanding at first. (situation)

A common (wo)man (farmer/machinist/dockworker) finds a mystical/mysterious artifact in the course of his/her duties and must choose between using it for gain or getting it to its rightful place. (situation or stop at "duties" and it is a pure initial condition prompt)

The main character has just been pushed into a deadly situation. (initial condition)

It's 3am, do you know where your son/daughter and heir is? (initial condition)

The main character's friend doesn't show up for their weekly get-to-gether, why? (initial condition?)

The main character receives a message with instructions to do something. What/why/will (s)he follow them)? (initial condition)

The main character has just escaped from prison/a POW camp/the enemy. (initial comdition)


Some single word prompts that might work:

Evacuation

Starvation

War

Peace

Exploration (to steal Sanctimoniously's idea a bit)

Pompous

Hidden

Counterfeit

Prescient

Defenestrate

It's too hard to type correctly when you only have two fingers on the right hand that can hit keys so, I'm done... (you may all now breathe a sigh of relief)

 

lube can prevent those friction burns you know

 

Some of those (like the first two) were really complicated-sounding because you tried to make it so open. Maybe something like the first contest (if memory serves, that had a character suddenly waking up) leaves it very uncomplicated. The thing with the words . . . unless you ask all participants to bold them and count off if you don't, that requires judges to go searching for them.

 

Those were single word prompts, NYCG. Like the whole prompt for the story was the one word: Evacuation. Not a list of words that had to be in a story. Those sorts of "your story must include the following words" things are fun exercises as long as the story can be short and probably also silly but I would think they're not that great as a prompt for this kind of story. Specially not just as a list. I think I always see required word lists as an addition to the prompt not the only thing in the prompt.

As for the multiple choice stuff in the first two, that was just me being too lazy to figure out the right words that would encompass most of the range of possibilities.

There's a number of websites that list prompts. Many of which are not too useful for this contest but some of the prompts off some of the websites easily could be.

KD

 

Ah, got it.

 

Sure is quiet around here...


If you post in here, please contribute to the discussion.

 

When will we get the results of the judging?

 

Oh, I'm sorry. All discussion just seemed to falter. I couldn't really think of anything to contribute, and I am curious as to how the judging's going but I didn't want to seem impatient or anything, so I didn't come right out and ask.

 

Due to PC issues as alluded to last week I've not had chance to e.mail them out (As After the fix I was able to recieve but not send ) This has since been fixed and I compiling the e.mails as I sit here today.


As there are only two entries I'm going to give it a week and ask for all results to be sent to me for next Saturday. I will post the final results after I've recieved them.




Again sorry for the delay.





//glares at PC

 

I had the first lot of results back today

 

How many judges are there, just out of curiosity?

 

4 judges.


1 down 3 to go.

 

I wish i had been here before to join in, this idea sounds fun There's going to be another one, right?

 

I'm hoping to give it one last try.




I opening the floor for suggestions for a prompt.


PM your ideas to me and I'll then create a list of the various prompts.



I'll post the list here so everyone has an idea what everyone else is thinking of.



We shall then have a brief discussion over the prompts but my general feeling is to get a consensus of 3 preferred prompts (this gives everyone a chance to get some ideas for all prompts together) and when the contest is started the prompt you all use will be posted.



This is open to debate but in a nutshell we could have



Prompt 1: A war in which the good guys are losing

Prompt 2: The final choice of a person who's dying

Prompt 3: Problem in a research lab, it's all gone wrong.


And you would see these a week before the contest is due to start


When the contest is posted I would put forwards the final prompt we would use.



Basically I'm saying I want YOU to help chose the prompt in the hope that this will encourage more entrants.

 

Given a choice of something like those three, I'd like to see something more like the first two than the third. Those two leave it open to sci-fi or fantasy, but the third pretty much imits it to sci-fi (though I won't be writing because I don't need colors, but that's my opinion).

 

I like Prompt 1. Wars are a nice general background, and having the good guys be losing opens up vistas of possibility.

It's a good one. That, or something like it, would be the best kind of starter prompt IMO.

 

I agree with Nem, but as a whole having us come up with prompt suggestions is a great idea.

 

I would like to do the first promt as well, i have a good idea to use if it is chosen.

 

OK I'll use prompt one as an option for the next one.




We just need two more prompts.




Get your thinking caps on and start posting your ideas.

 

How about an alien race/forgotten race invades your planet/kingdom and you are the sole proprietor of the information on how to defeat them?

 

Idea 1: An empire on the very verge of collapse is dragging your hero/ine down with it.

Idea 2: Your hero/ine is accused of a crime they didn't commit.

Idea 3: A routine exploratory expedition goes really, horribly wrong.

 

Here are my ideas:

One: A person witnesses a horrible event that no one was supposed to see.

Two: A kingdom/planet's ruler goes mad and seeks to destroy his or her people.

Three: A prisoner escapes his/her confines