Writing Contest: Main Thread

Miranda Brawner

Miranda Brawner

This thread is for general discussion about the writing contest.

There will be a contest every two weeks, with the due date Monday at noon UTC. Extensions can be offered in exceptional circumstances. Voting will begin when the contest closes, and will be open for three full days. Once the poll closes, the winner is free to choose a topic for the next week and start a new entries thread. If the winner does not create an entries thread within the next day, or decides not to create a thread, then someone else may create one. In any case, whoever chooses the topic may not participate in that contest. Entries can be in any language. Entries must be written from the perspective of someone in an alternate world, a future world, or a fantasy world.

Feel free to suggest potential topics for future contests.

Here are some ideas I had:
Treaty
Anthem
Excerpt from holy text
Inaugural address or coronation speech
Travel brochure
Restaurant menu
Newspaper or website from a democratic state
Newspaper or website from an authoritarian state
Review of a book, movie, show, or play
Top secret file from a top secret organization
 
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Miranda Brawner

Miranda Brawner

Prince di Corsica said:
So while I've always wanted to try an hand at writing an anthem, would this be reduced to the English language and therefore English organisations? That could give low creativity

BTW perhaps a fortnight calender such as the map contest could work better. Not everyone can write very fast
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You're welcome to write in whatever language you like. And I'll switch to the fortnight schedule. I'll update the rules right now.
 

TRH

I may try my hand at this. For the law contest we're starting with, is it expected that we write a piece of legislation, or would it suffice to describe one?

Some of your other examples would feel wrong not to do verbatim, but laws can be so long and complex that it could become a bit of a chore.
 
Miranda Brawner

Miranda Brawner

TRH said:
I may try my hand at this. For the law contest we're starting with, is it expected that we write a piece of legislation, or would it suffice to describe one?.
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Glad to have you on board! An excerpt from a law is perfectly fine. If you're going to do a summary, make sure it's an "official summary" so that it reads like a law itself. I'm not looking for news reports or summaries you might find in a history textbook, since the goal of the contest is to try out different styles of writing. I hope that makes sense.
 

TRH

Miranda Brawner said:
Glad to have you on board! An excerpt from a law is perfectly fine. If you're going to do a summary, make sure it's an "official summary" so that it reads like a law itself. I'm not looking for news reports or summaries you might find in a history textbook, since the goal of the contest is to try out different styles of writing. I hope that makes sense.
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Makes sense. I'll see what I can come up with. Something from the world of Marche Consulaire, probably.
 
Miranda Brawner

Miranda Brawner

Hope everyone's enjoying legal documents. Let me know if you have any other questions or feedback.

Some more ideas for contest topics:
  • A prayer
  • A speech given by a religious leader
  • A wedding vow
  • A funeral speech
  • An obituary
  • An oath of initiation
  • A political cartoon
  • A wall covered in graffiti
  • The front page of a tabloid
  • A private letter
  • A diary
  • A diploma or certificate
  • A ballot or referendum
  • An article debunking a common misconception or fringe theory (within a fictional setting, of course, so the theory being debunked will be doubly fictitious)
  • A school syllabus
  • A school exam
  • A financial record
  • A comedic monologue that references that world's current events
 
HeX

HeX

What exactly is this? I'm interested, but a bit confused at the same time. Is it basically just MotF but for writing? Or something different?
 
Miranda Brawner

Miranda Brawner

Jonathan said:
I am highly intrigued by this idea.
What is the first topic to contest?
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The first challenge is to write a law. You can find out more on the entries thread.

HeX said:
What exactly is this? I'm interested, but a bit confused at the same time. Is it basically just MotF but for writing? Or something different?
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Yep, that's it. Check out the entries thread for details on the current contest. Every contest will have its own rules, but the one rule they will all share is that entries must be written from the perspective of someone in another - one that it is either set in the future or is entirely fictional.
 
Jonathan

Jonathan

FriendlyGhost

FriendlyGhost

This seems like a great idea to stimulate members to write, even those who can't manage full TLs. I've got a couple of ideas for a law so this might even result in me contributing more than just comments and flags...o_O

One suggestion though: perhaps have the poll for each contest open for more than just one day? Three days would allow for members who just don't visit in that 24hr period, for whatever reason, particularly given that the forum has members from all round the world.
 
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