COMING IN APRIL -- The 300 Word Writing Challenge

[Teresa Edgerton]

Starting the 1st of April there will be a brand new Writing Challenge — not instead of the 75 Word Challenge, but in addition to it. We have planned it as a quarterly competition and there will be a few other differences, though most of the rules will be the same as the 75 Word.


Here is the basic set-up (we'll post more details and the inspiration image on the first day of next month):

Maximum Length: 300 words

Theme: Response to an image (photograph, painting, or drawing) selected by mods

Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy, or other Speculative Fiction

Timing: Quarterly in January, April, July, and October

1st of month: Challenge posted

10th of month: Open for entries

30th/31st of month: Entries close

1st - 14th of subsequent month: Voting period

Note that the winner will not be choosing the new theme, but he or she will be able to bask in glory for three months!!

Note also that while we will be posting the inspiration image at the beginning of the month so that everyone can start thinking about and writing their stories, stories are not to be posted until the 10th. To that end, we will lock the thread, so that it can be read but not posted in. With the 75 Word Challenge, many wonderful stories have been written quickly in the heat of sudden inspiration. This is less likely to be true with the longer stories, and we don't want anyone to feel pressured to post something as quickly as possible because they perceive some advantage in being one of the first to do so. Of course there is nothing to stop someone from writing and posting their story on the 10th, but we hope that everyone will take time over their stories. After all, they will have an entire month to write them, even if the time for posting them is smaller. Because the upper word count is higher, there will also be more time to read through the entries and vote for them.

Then there will be an approximately six week period in between Challenges for everyone to rest and recuperate.

And finally, please note that while this thread is open for discussion and for questions about the new competition, we have already planned this, the rules are set, and we are not asking for suggestions on how to set it up. That's all been decided.

Whether the competition will actually continue after the first installment will, of course, depend on the level of interest and number of entries we see the first time around.

So, discuss away.

 

[digs]

Yay! I think this is a great idea. Finally, something to fill the long, empty days between 75 word entries.

Though does anyone else feel like it'll be hard to adjust to the luxury of 300 words after being restricted to 75 for so long?

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Woohoo! I love it! Thanks, guys!

 

[Chel]

Oh that's great!

I won't promise I'll take part in this every single time, but I will try to.

And Digs, yes.... it's going to feel like about 220 words too much, probably.

 

[Perpetual Man]

How exciting! I like the idea of this too. Count me in.

 

[cornelius]

Might give this one a try. Had some news about my job- get two more weeks to tackle this obstacle, so I should have the time for both this challenge and the 75 word challenge.

 

[Moonbat]

I will definitely be entering and I'm quite excited to get a chance to lengthen my stories, even if 300 is stall far too short for a short story and still falls within the flash fiction range, it'll be fun to see how much more we can cram into each entry.

Hoorah!

 

[HareBrain]

I'm looking forward to this, but it scares me a little. The amount of plot one could cram into 300 words is immense -- as much as in the concise synopsis to a full-length novel. Or you could write a much "smaller" story in more detail. It'll be interesting to see the different approaches people take. I think the results will be just as varied as the 75-worder and probably much more so.

 

[alchemist]

I also think it can expose my weaknesses more. I'm glad the mods have considered competition burnout, by making it three-monthly, and kept the 75-worder as well.
It's a bigger commitment, which makes me a little uneasy, but I'm sure that when I see the picture/theme, the cogs will start turning upstairs.

 

[cornelius]

Seems there is going to be a tough competition lining up. And giving the wordcount, it'll be even harder to judge. Phew. I'm still a bit shaken by the last challenge

 

[Hilarious Joke]

I like the idea, but I'm disappointed no one but the mods gets a say in it. Sure, I understand that the mods should make the final decisions, but I'm really surprised that we weren't even given the opportunity to make suggestions on the rules, or discuss them in earnest.

For instance, why can't the winner choose the image? The 75 Word Competition is a good template, and I think it's worked a treat. I'm sure a lot of contributors in that competition must like the idea that they can choose the theme if they win.

I honestly just believe the competition would be most enjoyable and work the best if everyone had the chance to contribute to its design, even if ultimate control rested with (as it should) the mods.

 

[cornelius]

Hilarious Joke has a point there. Getting to pic a picture would be another incentive to win for some people. Not for me though, I'm not a winner like that

maybe it's a way to control what's being posted, picturewise. I mean, usually the genius with the best story wins, and we all know that a genius can get a little crazy and post pics we fail to comprehend. I dont know. Is the subject still open for debate?

 

[The Procrastinator]

*hands HJ a hanky*

*sits and thinks about the 500 page thread on discussing the rules that was never given a chance to live*

*reaches for the hunny pot*

What say we give it a try as is and see how it goes. There's plenty of time for mutiny, strikes, other industrial action, graffiti, toilet papering, biffo etc down the track. Sounds pretty interesting to me. But then I am a La-Z-Bear

 

[digs]

I'd second what HJ said. I also like that the 75 word story can be SFF or not, as the winner decides. I know SFF is what brought us all here in the first place, but having the option of broader genres lets us follow our stories in whatever directions they take us, as well as allowing for a more diverse (so more interesting, imo) range of interpretations.

I know that the whole thing's been set up and the rules are irrevocably in place, but I'm curious to know if there's any particular reasoning behind the differences between this and the rules of the 75 word story.

 

[The Judge]

The difficulty with using an image, HJ, is that not only do we have to think about how appropriate or not it is (bearing in mind family-friendly etc) but we need to be concerned over copyright. Taking those two things together, and the problems which could arise if, say, the mods were inadvertantly misled over the issue of copyright/permission, it was frankly easier to keep it as simple as possible.

There was in fact talk of another Challenge at the back end of last year, when a member raised the idea, and some issues were discussed, though the then suggestion of stories with possibly several thousand words was really a non-starter. When the idea was revived very recently, we wanted to get things sorted by 1 April, which meant a lot of speedy and concentrated effort -- and I'm afraid experience shows that throwing things out for everyone to contribute, though democratic and enlightening, isn't terribly speedy nor particularly helpful in achieving decisions.

We also wanted there to be some clear water between this and the 75 worder -- hence the insistence on the genre of SFF, since this is, above all, a SFF site. We felt we needed to reinforce that generally, but we also had a very specific reason for it, which at present is still a little up in the air. Sorry to be so vague on that.

 

[Culhwch]

...but I'm curious to know if there's any particular reasoning behind the differences between this and the rules of the 75 word story.

Well, I'd have thought it was obvious, but the differences are to ... wait for it ... make it different! We didn't really see the point in having a second challenge identical to the first, only with more words. This way we have a little variety.

 

[digs]

We didn't really see the point in having a second challenge identical to the first, only with more words.

I thought that would be the point - to see how much of a difference changing the word count can make. Because restricting the genre doesn't so much add variety as...remove it.

Anyway, I want to be clear that overall I'm looking forward to the competition and I appreciate the effort the mods have already put in (and there's obviously been a lot of behind the scenes organising already).

 

[Moonbat]

Hoorah for the Mods!

Boo for the rockers!

I'm very keen to see the first picture, not sure what way they are going to go, will it be a cute cat in comedy glasses, or a picture of an ancient bridge covered with moss and a sign saying beware of the ogre, or maybe just some kind of NASA POTD image of Enceladus? How exciting. Very! that's how!

 

[Culhwch]

I wouldn't call 'SFF' much of restriction. We're talking about a genre that has given us everything from Dune to Lord of the Rings, Neuromancer to A Song of Ice and Fire, Gormenghast to Star Wars, Stardust to Starcraft, 1984 to Warhammer, every Disney animated feature, every superhero, every captain of the starship Enterprise, and the Muppets. Because, yeah, Kermit is frog, Fozzie is a bear, but seriously, what the hell is Gonzo?

Nope, no variety there at all...

 

[digs]

Yeah!

Anyway, back to the issue. I was just pointing out (in response to your reasoning that the rules were adding variety) that SFF, however varied it can be, is more restrictive than, say, unrestricted genre choice.

I'm just expressing what I see to be a reasonable and valid opinion, so I sincerely hope it's taken as such and not as an attack.