Science Fiction Microstory Contest discussion
DECEMBER 2016 MICROSTORY CONTEST - COMMENTS ONLY
Wow, Jot. That Critique Thread is a great idea! It should make it easier to see story related comments when not mixed in with other group business. Still looking for the Anthology for 2015. :-)
Great theme, Jot!Carrol--asap, for my part, I hope to get my edits done this week. We've all been work-swamped, I think. Sharon probably can tell you more. We thank you infinitely for this!
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Jot, I think you need to check with Sharon re your pieces; I'm pretty sure they'd have got in on time, though.
Paula wrote: "Great theme, Jot!Carrol--asap, for my part, I hope to get my edits done this week. We've all been work-swamped, I think. Sharon probably can tell you more. We thank you infinitely for this!"
I have some time right now, so I would appreciate getting moving on this. After Jan. 1, I will be swamped again, and it will probably be June, 2017 before I can get to it. I'll email Sharon.
Jot wrote: "Thanks Paula. Now all I have to do is figure out a fitting story. Speaking of which, did Sharon ever include any of my stories for the 2015 anthology? I might have taken too long is my email respon..."I saw on my notifications stream that you are working on an anthology or a collection of stories. If you´re looking for stories I would love to contribute. How do I contribute?
John
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All,I used Donald Trump's visage at the end of my December story as a nod of my writer's cap to Heather. Now I've changed it back to the original imagery.
Hope you liked the story, Heather!
-C.
Hello everyone,I just found out about this sci-fi writing contest the US Army is conducting:
https://community.apan.org/wg/tradoc-...
They want ideas about warfare, etc., in the 2030 through 2050 timeframe. If you go to the website I listed here, there are five PDF's. Two are examples of the writing, the other three are pieces of information about the contest.
If you're interested in military sci-fi, this might be something for you. I think I might take a run at it.
I do like the story, C! Great to see some old characters back in the tale again. I was still having a bit of a think about it though and so haven't started my critique of your story, which I will do ... when I finish counting just exactly how many 'b's you managed to get into the concept of "subbbbbbtle." The Trump reference had brought it back to "sutle," but I think Santa has a few 'b's in his sack.
Speaking of odd criteria for awarding appreciation-of-stuff, this one is a little amazing, "This Morning's Award" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rq21... (in this case won for checking the petrol (gas) level in the tank with a lighter!!) I think it should be called the Pre Morning Cup of Coffee Decisions-Maker's Award
This was the runner up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_-eR...
Anyone can enter can they, Justin? (I haven't found the terms and conditions section yet ... but at first glance it looks a wonderful competition. I might even have a go at it myself ... stretch the ol' brain's comfort level a little, or a lot. :) )
Anyone can enter. It is an open competition. Look at the waiver form about how much you are signing away by entering. It is one of the five PDF's on the page.
Curious competition, that, Justin. I'd wonder--are they recruiting? trying to suss out potential terroristi? looking for free R&D? seeking to get a lock on possible competitors/ideas? on patent potentialities? Don't they have a whole "look to sf for likely future scenarios" division? or maybe a recruitment endeavour in fact. In any case, it's a whole little story in itself!
I think "they" are looking for any out of the box thinking that could lead to a potential breakthrough to help the US maintain its technological advantage. The book "Ghost Fleet" (which I've read) is sci-fi in this vein - the US succumbs to a technological "Pearl Harbor" inflicted by China. It is fascinating reading and now required reading in Pentagon circles.
I love the fascinating contributions you make to this forum, Justin ... and the generosity with which you share.What I love about the idea of this competition you've shard here is that it adds a whole new level of writerly constraints that, for me anyway, will act as 'a writing teacher pushing me to expand what I can do.'
I love the idea of an increasing connectivity between science and art, ie, between rule-based systems and creativity ... because that, in my opinion is where our best hope of Peace and Kindness on human-riddled Earth (and now, the Universe beyond as well) lies.
I have no trouble coming up with 'the idea' phase of what I want to write.
But then I have to really work at the nitty gritty for conveying the idea I'm trying to write about - like some of the things you mentioned in your critique of my last month's story (the necessity of characterization well to elicit empathy, and other things I can think of I fail on, like using conflict to maintain interest ... etc. etc.)
Now this 'competition' ('exercise' for me ... I mean I'll enter, but I don't expect to win but I do expect to learn!) brings me to a whole new level of getting to the nitty-gritty of (being articulate about) the actual idea I want to convey in story form. 'Nitty gritty' such as drilling down into the possibility of drawing on the most advanced technological ideas available and that are real, or could be real soon (ie Military Technology,) in order to harness 'the peace and love locked within humanity's creativity' ... almost as a weapon against, a force against, evil intent!
So I have to fit 'the idea' within the constraints, e.g it has to be an idea that could really be developed between 2030-2050 to a real standard of tech readiness, viz., "Technological Readiness Level (TRL) 5 or 6" ... by 2050 is one of the constraints.
So that means I have to go through and do some research about what the constraints all mean and what technologies are already out there that 'match up with my vague ideas' so I can see if I can write them up as less vague, more real ... in story form!
I find this exercise a really exciting step in trying to develop my story-telling craft with a view to telling of real ideas and possibilities. I've no allusions about the difficulty I will inevitably find in attempting this, but that doesn't matter at all. It will be good fun!
p.s. I'm looking forward to getting myself a copy of "Ghost Fleet" (is it a movie too ... it sounds movie title-ish?)
p.s. again. I haven't been through all the PDF's yet ... so one thing I haven't found yet is the deadline. Do you know when it is? Thanks
""they"" meaning the US Army (persons therein), Justin, or at least think that's who you said was running this. Anyhow, sounds like a fun contest, and could well enable some new developmental ideas.
Yes, the Army, or the shady military-industrial complex, DARPA, Men-in-Black, Little Green Men, etc. :)When you look at the example of the article written in the 1950's, a lot of it are things that would never work in reality - like the flying tanks. However, some of the equipment is very similar to our current drone systems and remote sensing equipment.
Considering we are mounting lasers on ships and developing railguns that fire hyper-velocity GPS guided munitions, getting sci-fi writers to stretch the envelop is certainly one way to get new ideas from a pool of people outside the usual think tanks.
Heather wrote: "I love the fascinating contributions you make to this forum, Justin ... and the generosity with which you share.What I love about the idea of this competition you've shard here is that it adds a ..."
Hi Heather, thanks for the compliments! The deadline is February 17, 2017. Ghost Fleet is not a movie, but I think would make a good one. Start there for some ideas about what the military is already looking at or thinking about. You could try to research this to death but this is where creativity will also play a big role.
Some of the submissions I'm sure will come from military or former military people and have a very Tom Clancey-esque feel to them. But the whole purpose of the contest is to get outside that box and see what non-military writers might come up with.
Heather wrote: "I love the fascinating contributions you make to this forum, Justin ... and the generosity with which you share.What I love about the idea of this competition you've shard here is that it adds a ..."
You might look at this article as well: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi...
This would be for the Air Force, but the Army has use for lasers for counter battery fire against artillery shells, mortars and rockets.
Justin,Might they be interested in a Star Wars missile defense system? That's been a Sci-Fi story for 30 years now. ; )
-C.
SDI is so 1980's. :)
Jot, In the story section I don't see the usual story stipulations. I think it is important for newcomers.
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Justin wrote,"...You could try to research this to death but this is where creativity will also play a big role."
What I like about the military s/f story competition, which is different to this GR one - and that's not to disparage this one in any way - is that there seems to be, in that military one, a very nice tension between researchable reality and creative imagination. Here we can be as creative as we like without restraint.
But there even the most creative, out of the box, pure imagination idea will have to be 'researched':
* to eliminate that it is not already in use
AND/OR, on the other hand,
* to confirm it is able to be included within the technology parameters of it's an idea that could really be developed between 2030-2050 AND to a real standard of tech readiness, viz., "Technological Readiness Level (TRL) 5 or 6" ... by 2050 ... AND is not a 'classified' topic (I will definately have to research all those things ...)
... and that's before I even begin to poke about a bit/google/etc to check some details of the idea I already have in mind, to help me see if it is likely to be a good fit with the competition's requirements.
I think that's where a lot of the creativity will come in, i.e., in asking the question, "can I articulate a crazy-seeming, creative idea in such a way that it really could hover sufficiently enough within the vicinity of a rigid military box to be taken seriously, without loosing it's 'out of the box' characteristics?"
Heather wrote: "Justin wrote,"...You could try to research this to death but this is where creativity will also play a big role."
What I like about the military s/f story competition, which is different to this..."
It will certainly be a balance between the future-possible - like armored suits for infantry for example, versus the impossible, such as teleportation.
Teleportation impossible?First I'm here, and then I'm there
A malfunction might put parts anywhere
But the thing that scares me, pale as a sheet
Is reintegration with hands for feet.
: )
-C.
you're a card, C ... hahahaWhat'a ya know ...I just found a picture of you http://www.themarysue.com/monkey-feet/ at the very moment of teleportation back to Earth! Oh no! You've got monkey feet!
Yaaaa monkey feet!!!Wait a minute. I could mix martinis four times faster! Hmmm.
-C.
Here's what I'm thinking of, Justin: my idea is that Bayesian Theory is what artists and compassionate people have in common in intuitively using it in decision-making, to come up with a beautiful outcome ... and so if 1.) the most straightforwardly measurable form of a 'art' (which is music) can be analysed for it Baysian Theory decision-making characteristics, and
2.) a way to 'transmit' that Bayesianism into the thinking of 'unwilling subjects' can be devised, then
hostile, cruel insurgencies could be 'prevented' - by a type of mind control that counters their cruel minds' faulty programming! ( So no need for massive loss of life! Just turn the baddies into goodies!)
So there's a bit of researching to be able to demonstrate that point 1.) above is a reasonable idea ... and re point 2.) it seems that mind control is underway by the military ... but still not very sophisticated (relatively speaking) as mentioned here http://content.time.com/time/nation/a...
So, that is my challenge: to try to show how it is more possible to transmit creative and compassionate thoughts - even to the unwilling - than any other form of thought transmission ... because artists already do this, in a Bayesian sort of way! Harnessing that way is the challenge (well part of the challenge ... it is multi faceted ... including just getting it said in story form for a start!) It's going to be good fun to try though. Even if I don't manage it by the deadline - which I will TRY TO DO - it's still a wonderful long term story project to work on!
Hey it looks like using our initials is becoming all the rage! Of course C has been doing that for a while ... but now Justin has signed of on his latest in the critique thread as JSS. Hmm, I'm not sure though I can really use just my initials and (still?) be taken seriously, since my full name is Heather Marion MacGillivray ... hmm? Do we have anyone here with the initials LOL, I wonder? :)
C is indeed who I am hereBut if a C I could not be
advance me one more closely near
But then a question becomes quite clear
The query: to B or not to B?
: )
-C.
HMM, I was just using my initials to be quick.JSS
Not sure about mind control or thought projection. I think the movie "Men who Stared at Goats" addressed that issue. I don't want to poke holes in your idea before you get started however.
Psychological warfare is certainly a valid avenue to pursue!
No, that's exactly what I want to do: poke holes in the idea where holes can be poked so I can see which 'ports' might be secure enough for me to use. It's a drilling down thing. I'll check out that movie. Thanks.
I have never heard of anyone using a connection between Bayesian thinking and artistic thinking-&-mind-control-communication-in-the-arts and compassionate thinking though.
But if it is already around, that's what I am trying to find: what's already been done so I can see if my idea has any original thinking aspects still left to it, which I think it does ... but won't know till I do a lot more checking.
A theory of bio-mimicry of how the artist manipulates the audience is what's at the core of it.
It's a theory I've had for years ... since childhood really, listening to my mother sing in church with a soul-moving(=subconsciously manipulating) beauty to her mezzo voice ... before I had even heard of Bayesian theory and that therefore a way to make it real and replicable, outside the artist-to-audience connectivity, existed - that it is a way to make people 'nicer' - which is essentially what the artist does, even for just a short while, ie while the audience is lost in the artist's beautiful work.
EDIT: and I suppose it is also a way of asking questions about the morality of (mass) manipulation (by beauty, as the artist is capable of doing ... and I don't mean by 'playing beautiful music to the enemy'!) (And also, if it is all too non-aggressive a 'weapon'/just an 'instrument of creating peace' would the military be interested in it anyway?
I just checked out (on Wikipedia) what that movie is about: "psychic warriors"! I think my idea is not really the same fundamentally ... in that it has, a similarity but, not at all such an aggressive intent (nor method, nor outcome, therefore.) I'll keep checking though for holes in the originality of my hypothesis. (It's something I've wanted to try to really articulate well for ages ... so if nothing else, that story-writing challenge will help me, finally, to have a good attempt at that! It's been a gnawing idea chewing on my brain :) )
Did you get it, C? eh=A ??? ha ha "advance me (at least) one (implied) more closely near" ... so "not to B" would have to be A !! (IF it was not going to
I just found a quote that speaks about unusual juxtapositions of the elements of very traditional concepts ... that while not intended to be about that traditional concept that is psychological warfare, is an analogy that fits very well all the same:“If you’re good enough, like Picasso, you can put noses and breasts wherever you like. But first you have to know where they belong" ~ Alice K Turner (former fiction editor at Playboy)
So I guess that's what I'm trying to do: write a story that "moves the noses and breasts" of psychological warfare, as a concept, to a place I think they should be ... even while still trying to learn where they have traditionally been seen as belonging within that concept!
Heather wrote: "No, that's exactly what I want to do: poke holes in the idea where holes can be poked so I can see which 'ports' might be secure enough for me to use. It's a drilling down thing. I'll check out t..."
When you finish, I would like to read it if you're willing to share.
Mod
https://community.apan.org/wg/tradoc-...
Yes Jot, that is the competition I've mentioned earlier in this thread. I have a feeling they are going to be swamped with entries!
O.M.G. ... it does seem like a loosing battle at times though http://bigthink.com/philip-perry/low-...
'Finished' my story for this month ... just gotta shave 205 words off it now to fit it in the 750 limit! :)
I've changd the title of my story from "Back Door" ... to ..."Back Door, Or: Why The Earth Blew Up"
Jot wrote: "We do an anthology for each year of the contest, so for 2016, you will be included. The notification might have been talking about the Science Fiction Consortium, which was published a couple years..."I would be willing to take poart in the anthology and the Science Fiction Consortium if possible. What about deadlines?
Jack MacDaniel´s story called "Friends" is briliant. I really liked it.
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Jot wrote: "I have no plans at this point to launch a second Science Fiction Consortium. Too many other projects in the way, and before I do, I'd like to figure how to promote it better. We didn't sell many co..."gotcha.
Book promotion of any money-making sort requires either a Big 5 publisher, a very large marketing/pr budget for print, broadcast. andsocial media, or hiring a $10,000+ pr company for a major marketing campaign. A fourth possibility--usually no more than a tenth as effective as these but still able to make back expenses and get several big reviews--is a very, very, very large effort by 10 or more experienced and/or enthusiastic volunteers with a day or two per week to give to the effort.
Elements: Something artificial, something alien, a holiday