Science Fiction Microstory Contest discussion
* APRIL 2018 MICROSTORY CONTEST - COMMENTS ONLY
My April story is up.This was a really fun one.
-C
I had fun reading it, C. Brilliant concept, and well executed. My compliments.Mine's up.
Thanks Tom!Great story from you this month. Dramatic irony at it's best!
-C
C. wrote: "Thanks Tom!Great story from you this month. Dramatic irony at it's best!
-C"
Thank you!
Wow! Some great entries so far! Outstanding!
Might try to get a story in this month. Adult stuff taking up too much time, lately.
Mod
Yeah, Jot. . . I hear you.Here's a great Blog to share about the dangers of humor in fiction writing:
http://jimfishertruecrime.blogspot.co...
Q: Why did the Klingon cross the road?
A; To stomp the crap outta the chicken!
-C.
Either I'm losing my creativity or my sense of humor, but I'm coming up dry so far this month. Sheesh.
Writer's block. Happens to all of us. Persevere.
C. wrote: "Yeah, Jot. . . I hear you.Here's a great Blog to share about the dangers of humor in fiction writing:
http://jimfishertruecrime.blogspot.co...
Q..."
Oh yeah, Bugs over Mickey; no question. "Should'a turned left at Albuquerque."
I'm no expert on writers block but a simple trick for me is to just write anything even if it's nonsense. That often unlocks the creative juices. On humor, twists on old jokes can work well sometimes, "Three aliens walk into a bar..."
So Kalifer after your advice I had to post a story. Your method seems to work. Its been a while. Hope you can read it through the rust.
@ W.A. Glad it worked for you. Good story.
Chris wrote: "Either I'm losing my creativity or my sense of humor, but I'm coming up dry so far this month. Sheesh."I think the trick is to not let the elements completely block you. Sometimes you may have a story sitting around that could work for the overall theme, and just have to weave the elements in some how.
That's how I get past it.
Well, for what it's worth, mine's up. Not sure if it exactly satisfies the requirements of the contest this month, but it's all I can come up with. Really tough theme this month for me. I think maybe I've just done the time travel thing too much, lol.
W. A. wrote: "So Kalifer after your advice I had to post a story. Your method seems to work. Its been a while. Hope you can read it through the rust."
I loved it. Reminded me a little of "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe."
Marianne wrote: "Might try to get a story in this month. Adult stuff taking up too much time, lately."I hope you do, Marianne. I've missed you.
Jon wrote: "Mine's up. Hope you folks enjoy!"I did.
Chris wrote: "Well, for what it's worth, mine's up. Not sure if it exactly satisfies the requirements of the contest this month, but it's all I can come up with. Really tough theme this month for me. I think may..."I think you're too hard on yourself, Chris. It was certainly a very entertaining story. 'Reminded me of that old Twilight Zone episode where William Shatner keeps getting fortunes from the devil's head box in that small town café.
The joke and charity aspects were certainly satisfied, and the time travel theme was certainly suggested, even though it turned out to be a joke. Excellent twist, though it raises the dreaded controversy "What is truly science fiction?" If nothing science fictional actually happens in a story, but a character only thinks it does, is that science fiction?
That's a good existential puzzle for a story about a Chinese restaurant. Like, "one hand clapping," or "if a tree falls..." Well, you get the idea.
Kalifer wrote: "I'm no expert on writers block but a simple trick for me is to just write anything even if it's nonsense. That often unlocks the creative juices. On humor, twists on old jokes can work well sometim..."With me, it's often cathartic. If there's something weighing on my mind, I'll let it out through writing, like a primal scream. Yeah, let it all out first, even if it doesn't hold together, then worry about touching it up later.
Jot wrote: "Mine's up. Humor is not an easy theme, even if you can go back a say the joke a hundred times."I enjoyed it. A human trying to explain humor to a non-human is a recurring sci-fi theme. (Humor just can't be explained.) Comedy relief always helps an action story, and this was a well plotted one, I thought. Partner stories are great venues for humor as well as action, especially in sci-fi where you have a human partnered with a non-human. (Kirk and Spock, Sykes and Francisco, and the Asimov characters Elijah Bailey and R. Daneel Olivaw.)
Tom wrote: "Chris wrote: "Well, for what it's worth, mine's up. Not sure if it exactly satisfies the requirements of the contest this month, but it's all I can come up with. Really tough theme this month for m..."Thanks, Tom. I think it was the combined elements that I struggled with, especially the combination of a joke and charity. Then, relating it to time travel? Brain. Cloud.
Thanks Jot and Tom,I just couldn't resist (not that I'm trying to resist) this theme and elements. It has been a really busy couple of years. If you all don't mind, I promise to drop something off every now and then.
W. A. wrote: "Thanks Jot and Tom,I just couldn't resist (not that I'm trying to resist) this theme and elements. It has been a really busy couple of years. If you all don't mind, I promise to drop something of..."
Please do!
Chris wrote: "Tom wrote: "Chris wrote: "Well, for what it's worth, mine's up. Not sure if it exactly satisfies the requirements of the contest this month, but it's all I can come up with. Really tough theme this..."I usually go for the backdrop first, then worry about the details. Time travel is a theme I can cut loose and have fun with because it's so broad; all those exotic locales and time periods. The required elements can be worked in any which way.
Tom wrote: "Chris wrote: "Tom wrote: "Chris wrote: "Well, for what it's worth, mine's up. Not sure if it exactly satisfies the requirements of the contest this month, but it's all I can come up with. Really to..."Maybe it was the other elements for me, then. I think I struggled with doing something I haven't done already, or something I haven't seen before by someone else. I like to try something new each time - a new original story for the contest, rather than reusing some of my old stuff. Tricky, tricky. ;)
For better or worse, mine is up :) I think I misread Charity for a charity, but what the heck. Life can be interesting with a reading issue.
Chris wrote: "Tom wrote: "Chris wrote: "Tom wrote: "Chris wrote: "Well, for what it's worth, mine's up. Not sure if it exactly satisfies the requirements of the contest this month, but it's all I can come up wit..."Something new each time. Ambitious and laudable. Yeah, I find my self re-covering old ground too often. Oh, well.
Marianne wrote: "For better or worse, mine is up :) I think I misread Charity for a charity, but what the heck. Life can be interesting with a reading issue."Welcome back, Marianne. And, thank you for a baffling but beautiful run though a labyrinth of riddles and rainbows.
Tom: Thanks. It's what came of a silly joke and attempting to understand closed timelike curves. In the end, it is all nothing without light. ;) Dare to baffle :)
For what it's worth, I noticed we really didn't have any critiques this month, so I posted some for the first few submissions. I haven't been able to get to them all, but I hope you find them constructive. I'll see if I can get to some of the others later.:)
Marianne,Clearly you are operating on a different plane of thought and existence than the rest of us mere mortals! Great story!
You and Paula do wonders with streams-of-consciousness, non-linear plots and just plain old creativity.
Nicely done!
Thanks, Justin, and with just a wee dash of physics ;)
Chris wrote: "For what it's worth, I noticed we really didn't have any critiques this month, so I posted some for the first few submissions. I haven't been able to get to them all, but I hope you find them const..."Excellent reviews, Chris! Just posted a couple of my own.
Justin wrote: "Just posted mine!"Marvelous story, Justin!
Justin wrote: "Marianne,Clearly you are operating on a different plane of thought and existence than the rest of us mere mortals! Great story!
You and Paula do wonders with streams-of-consciousness, non-linear..."
Agreed.
Thanks, Tom, it is the global intelligent, field independent, INFJ brain that is responsible for filtering my energy ;)
Wow, this months stories are all amazing. A tough choice!
Mod
Mod
King of the Universe by C. Lloyd Preville
Five Days in L.A. by W.A. Fix
Fortune by Chris Nance
Circle by Marianne G Petrino
Votes needed from:
W.A. Fix
Greg Krumrey
Mod
King of the Universe by C. Lloyd Preville
Fortune by Chris Nance
Circle by Marianne G Petrino
Votes needed from:
C. Lloyd Preville
Karl Freitag
To help polish our skills and present a flavour of our art to other members in the group, I am continuing this friendly contest for those who would like to participate. There is no money involved, but there is also no telling what a little recognition and respect might generate. The rules are simple:
1) The story needs to be your own work and should be posted on the goodreads (GR) Discussion board, which is a public group. You maintain responsibility and ownership of your work to do with as you please. You may withdraw your story at any time.
2) The stories must be 750 words or less.
3) The stories have to be science fiction, follow a specific theme and potentially include reference to items as requested by the prior month's contest winner.
4) You have until midnight EST on the 22nd day of the month to post your story to the GR Science Fiction Microstory Contest discussion. One story per author per month.
5) After, anyone from the LI Sci-Fi group or the GR Science Fiction Microstory Discussion group has until midnight EST of the 25th day of the month to send me a single private vote (via GR or to author.jotrussell@gmail.com) for a story other than their own. This vote will be made public once voting is closed. Voting is required. If you do not vote, your story will be disqualified from the contest. You don't need a qualifying story to cast a vote, but must offer the reason for your vote if you don’t have an entry.
6) To win, a story needs at least half of the votes, or be the only one left after excluding those with the fewest votes. Runoffs will be run each day until a winner is declared. Stories with vote totals that add up to at least half, discarding those with the fewest votes, will be carried forward to the next runoff election. Prior votes will be carried forward to support runoff stories. If you voted for a story that did not make it into the runoff, you need to vote again before midnight EST of that day. Only people who voted in the initial round may vote in the runoffs.
7) Please have all posts abide by the rules of GR and the LI Sci-Fi group.
8) For each month, there will be three discussion threads:
a) Stories - For the stories and the contest results only.
b) Comments - For discussions about the stories and contest. Constructive criticism is okay, but please avoid any spoilers about the stories or degrading comments directed towards any individuals. If you want to suggest a change to the contest, feel free to start a discussion about the idea before making a formal motion. If another member seconds a motion, a vote can be held. I will abstain from voting, but will require a strong two-thirds majority to override my veto.
c) Critiques - Each member can provide at most one critique per story, with a single rebuttal by the author to thank the critic and/or comment to offer the readers the mind set of the story to account for issues raised by the critique. Critiques should be of a professional and constructive manner. Feel free to describe elements that you do and don't like, as these help us gain a better perspective of our potential readers. Remarks deemed inflammatory or derogatory will be flagged and/or removed by the moderator.
9) The winner has THREE days after the start of the new month to make a copy of these rules and post a new contest thread using the theme/items of their choosing. Otherwise, I will post the new contest threads.
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Theme: Time Travel
Requires elements:
1) A Joke
2) Charity