Science Fiction Microstory Contest discussion
FEBRUARY - 2020 - MICROSTORY CONTEST (COMMENTS ONLY)
I decided to pull a Tom this month and got my story out early.Here we go, time to bring your "A game." It's a new decade of high quality Sci Fi, the Roaring 20's!
-C
I've always thought the originator of the theme should post first. (I mean, if you can't realize the theme as a story, you shouldn't post it in the first place.)Any way, mine's up now.
Very potent and moving finish, C. My compliments.
Mod
Thanks, Jot. Fascinating imagery and intriguing concept in yours.
Thanks C! Much appreciated. Great prompt for this month!
Mod
Mines up. It's sort of a bedtime story for may grandkids.
Mod
Monster big Bird. Way to give them nightmares, dude. Lol
Mod
At this point, my second job, other than writer, volunteer ff, home owner, parent and such, is a crossword game called Jot. A patent and trademark have been filed, and I have my fingers crossed I get both. It works on Android and I just started looking into the iOS version. This is an improvement to both Scrab and WWF, in that you have your own bag of letters (not to have your opponent steal all the good letters), plus vowels and consonants are shaped different, so you pick as many of each as you like and not get stuck with only one or the other. It's also I higher scoring game. I'll let everyone know once it's published.
As for Jack's site, if this pans out and seems a way to increase the exposure of our writing, we can decide if we want to migrate the contest there. For me, other than the amazing stories posted here, this contest has been active every month for over the last eight years. That, in of itself, is a big thing to say, and I thank you all.
Another idea I had about the contest, is to have a yearly theme to build a complete story, one monthly chapter at a time. This would be written in the form of a screenplay, completed by the members here, edited, and presentation to a scout for use as a mini-series on one of the big name outfits. That's a big leap, but right now all of these outfits are beating each other up to gain access to big stories. I see this as an opportunity for us to make money and get our real/pen names known. Money would be divided up based on contribution. The openness of the criques has helped those who remain here to improve and and consequently has caused others to leave. That said, participation in the contest would not automatically grant someone a part of the proceeds. Winning a month to provide at least one of the story chapters certainly would, but the complete work is no easy task and a share division would have to be mostly based on contribution. If we decide to try this, we can together figure those things out. The easiest way to develop something of this order is through github, where we can work collectively and check in/our changes to one private and master work. Thoughts?
Cool idea for the crossword, Jot. One thing, my site doesn’t have to be speculative fiction. We could turn it into the micro story site if everyone is interested in that.
I have taken some of the stories from last month’s contest to use to build out the site. They can be removed before it is launched.
If everyone would please look around and create an account it would be appreciated.
Https://www.undertowpress.com
Interesting thoughts Jot. I'm fine with moving to Jack's site since it, perhaps, might have more overall exposure. As for the giant story - it is an intriguing idea and I'm interested in participating.
Mod
As for the screenplay, if we decided to give it a try, would we do this along side the existing contest or temporarily be the contest for the next year? And if we did try it, we would first need to vote upon the overall story plot to base the chapters from.
So the votes are:
A) Keep the contest the way it is.
B) Spin up the screenplay contest separately.
C) Have the contest be based on the creation of the screenplay for a year.
Use of Jack's site can be made separately.
We could easily rename the contest on my site. We could also set up the screenplay contest on the same site, if desired
One other thing about the site for those interested. I am thinking of adding a section called "Listen", where visitors can listen to stories that have been uploaded--either read by the author or someone else. This would be for any of the stories that qualify through the voting process each month.Any interest in that?
Some thoughts/questions:---- there might be
--a Jot-site contest, i.e. the present one--on this (Jot's) site on Goodreads;
--Jack's contest on Jack's publishing house site;
--Jack's contest's site "listen" section, for (selected? voted upon? contest-winning?) stories (each month?)
--screenplay long-story/novella site (based in github, which--you do realize?--not everyone is familiar with or perhaps has even heard of, btw), created from "winning" screenplay-style chapters (one per month) (each by the whole group? by one winner per month? by--? and edited together?--by--?)
---payment (if any) for this long-form screenplay will be based on "contribution" time? or on who wins how many screenplay-chapters? or on--? Circulation and attempted sale of screenplay will be done by--?
Just some questions for people to consider. It's a lot to consider, in fact.
Very ambitious idea. And, for those of us with no experience in screenplay style, a learning experience and a challenge. I'd like to give it a try.
Mod
As for a screenplay contest, this would not be for self-publication nor pro bono. It would be held until a reasonable figure was provided for its production. Granted, that's seems like a stretch, but I base it on confidence in the writers here and my ability to figure out how to lead a unique approach for engineering a story.
Git is a revision control system (which most of you likely know about given your background in development). It basically keeps a record of every change made to a work, measuring each line separately. In our case, each line would represent a paragraph.
Git has an intelligent comparison engine which allows numerous developers to make changes to the same set of files. If there is a conflict which can not be resolved, then Git highlights which section of lines need to be reviewed and reconciled.
Does Git make sense to everyone or does anyone have any other questions about it?
Jack wrote: "One other thing about the site for those interested. I am thinking of adding a section called "Listen", where visitors can listen to stories that have been uploaded--either read by the author or so..."Well you know I'm all over that! :)
I love the idea of having a podcast section for anyone who wants to contribute. One thing no one has commented on--
I like C's voting scheme. I modified it a bit, but here is the key point: any story receiving an average score of 28 out of 35 will be placed on the public site for that month's issue. The winner is the highest average score.
We could still publish an annual book with all of the winners from the previous year. I'd love to do that. Any income generated could go to the monthly winners for the upcoming contests. Also, could easily integrate a couple 'Donate' buttons to use for the winners each month. It's not a lot, but it might attract more people.
Speaking of monetization, how many copies of the last short story anthology were sold, and did anyone here receive any royalties?
Pretty sure they went out of business. I would take a different approach, too. But that's off in the future.
I take issue with the proposed and possibly modified story scoring scheme. These are always linear and whether you like a story or not is not linear. A good example is on the show Britan's Got Talent, Susan Boyle's voice totally overwhelmed her dowdy appearance and other aspects that are normally scored when judging a singer. If she got a 5 for voice and 1 for her appearance she wouldn't have won and that would have been very sad. These scoring schemes often kill experimentation and creativity since people fear to get scores on everything they submit. It's too much like a high school English class. If you want this to be a closed club of seven or eight people then you are on the right track. It used to be around 25 people, I think. Jot, do you know the participation rate?
Mod
I think some writers want candid reviews to improve their craft, and some just want recognition.Everyone likes recognition, not everyone appreciates a critical review.
This group used to be a huge bore, populated by a large, cliquish mutual admiration society.
Which is better? Eye of the beholder. My own theory is that if we had more people doing reviews, we'd attract more writers that value reviews, but writing long involved reviews is too much work for most people hence my suggestion of an easy, 2 minute grading approach.
But as a group in transition, a rebuilding must occur. Perhaps Jack's idea to rip and replace makes more sense after all.
I'd vote for keeping the contest the same, so A, and here on Good Reads. Short form is my best form, so no screenplays for me. It would also be unlikely that I would migrate to a new site. I have enjoyed doing the contests here as a way to keep my hand to pen, especially if an idea intrigues me. The informality of this group appeals to me. I have no desire to write for money. That ship sailed long ago in some other life.I have wondered why the number of writers have dropped off here. Life? Gender issues (Where the women at ?)? Boredom (Predictable stories all ending in death, she said of herself)? Who can say. But, perhaps, for those interested, and for those whose goals are different, the time has come to mutate into something more ambitious.
Eight years is a crowning achievement. I tip my hat to you, Jot. I will miss this group when it is gone. I am grateful for the opportunity you provided :)
Got my story up. Blame Journey to Arcturus. I think I was channeling a new version of that.
Marianne wrote: "Got my story up. Blame Journey to Arcturus. I think I was channeling a new version of that."Touching. Fascinating. Excellent. I loved it!
Justin, many thanks. :) As usual, my brand of SF is a bit more psychological/metaphysical. I usually get a notion, attempt to tailor it to the challenge, and go off running :) The songs got this one going. :)
Much like Paula's, I appreciate your psychological/metaphysical because it's not a way that I write very well.
Justin, it is always best to work to one's strengths, but it is also good to stretch with something new, even if unsatisfactory. Good rule of thumb :)
Mod
And on a separate note, Happy Birthday Paula, one of the original founders of the contest.
Hi Jot,The best and easiest way I've found to make a story screenplay-friendly, is to write it in present tense. I did this with my first book of my three-book Axe Series, and it was quite challenging.
I hoped for an immediate call from Los Angeles regarding a movie deal, but for some strange reason, I'm still waiting. Lol
And a big "Happy Birthday!" to Paula, the esteemed, (and periodically feisty), matriarch of the Sci Fi micro-story contest!
-C
Happy Birthday, Paula - And, thank you for all you've done for the group.
Thank you all re my birthday! I hope we will all have a good year.I see no reason to move the site of this group/contest; on Goodreads, it is "every group member's" site; on, say, Jot's or Jack's or C's or Justin's or . . . , it becomes that member's site, even though he/she likely had/has no wish whatsoever that that happen. Further, if one wants more participants, best to leave the contest on a known and public forum.
As for the screenplay idea--it's a specialized form; we'd all do well to read several screenplays, of which many written in the past few years and some--but not all--for the media/format/type (vid, serial, film, etc.) we'd want it to be in.
As for the judging and what gets published and remunerated---well, as Jot said, very kindly 3 or so years ago, my work tends to go in my "own" (more literary) direction than what most of you prefer. And Marianne's also differs from what most here seem usually to prefer. And most here tend to a particular cluster of themes/forms. And so if what gets published--and what gets (most) remunerated, but the publication point is basic--is decided by vote, then it is likely that the number of participants will not increase, and perhaps may decrease, should publication of the stories, remuneration, and/or perhaps screenplay participation depend on a vote-for-a-"winner" model.
Sorry to sound negative. I think what is wanted is to *open* the contest/group/site to reach and appeal to *more* participants, yes? And it's not clear that all these ideas, though very fine and thoughtful, will do that.
p.s. Not everyone here is in software development. How long would it take someone with no experience in software development and no knowledge of Git to get up to fluent and quick usage on it?
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This Month's Theme:
First contact with Aliens.
Required Elements:
The Aliens read human minds.