Science Fiction Microstory Contest discussion
***SEPTEMBER 2021 SCIENCE FICTION MICROSTORY CONTEST (Comments Only)***
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Sensational theme, Thaddeus. Can work in most anything, including most books of the Old and New Testaments, the Koran, Gilgamesh, most of our own novels here, and most every work between---or at least, any with a theme of any depth. Should be an interesting bunch of stories, this month.
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All you may be interested in this. "We Asked, You Answered: Your 50 Favorite Sci-Fi And Fantasy Books Of The Past Decade"
https://www.npr.org/2021/08/18/102715...
That's a fantastic (pun intended) list.
Jot wrote: "To avoid ties (which I am not a fan of) and to provide an incentive for posting stories earlier, I make a motion to have tie-breaks go to the writer who posts their story first. Do I have a second?"I second. That seems fair.
I don't know, Jot. I think it's as likely to discourage anyone who doesn't get their story in ahead of most others from posting stories at all. Actually, why not allow ties? Seems fair when in fact 2 stories get same number of votes, and in a way gives a more accurate picture.
I thought we originally did another round of voting when there were ties.
I agree with Paula and in addition, I like to let my story sit a week or so. I can then see it with fresh eyes and make needed revisions. I think that's a good writing habit to engender. Of course, there are those that claim they write the perfect story on the first try without any editing like Harlan Ellison. Definitely, not me!
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What would work for our advantage in leaving the Goodreads platform? Maybe I'm not seeing this, Jot--sorry, if so. It seems, though, that this would cost potential readership, and thus limit participation and readers. Can you clarify? Thanks.
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The idea is to create a flash-fiction site starting with this contest where votes would be tallied automatically and other constructs for critiques and such would be present. Mostly it would be for the purpose of having ads on the website.
Oh wow, Jot, "have to take a new job" sounds like a definite time-grabber. I hope it goes well.
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Jot wrote: "Yup, accepted an offer from InfoSys as a Technology Architect. Has me a little nervous."Good luck.
Sounds involving and worthwhile, Jot. Congratulations.
Jot wrote: "Yup, accepted an offer from InfoSys as a Technology Architect. Has me a little nervous."Congrats on the new job! I'm sure you will do great!
Congratulations Jot! Sounds like a good position. I ended up in a similar position many years ago and had to go back to the books to cope with my newfound responsibilities. I did fine and so will you. I hope you will still have a slot of time for this group but if you don't, I understand.
Good to hear. I have given up ever expecting to work in the tech industry with 25 years of experience. I have come to terms with the state of things. Congratulations on your new job.
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Though I'm almost exclusively a SQL/plpgsql/perl programmer these days, with little C experience (I've had an intro college course) it looks very interesting and I'll pass the link around to my coworkers. I worked for years in a simplified language called Progress, which we leveraged to migrate some of our seasoned content specialists into database programming, so I'm all about simplifying programming so that air-breathers can use it. Nice work, Jot!
Thank you, Jot, for taking the time and effort to compose so fine a story, in spite of all you have to deal with right now.
Justin: I just finished your story and wondered why you added the last sentence. Until that moment, your story was beautiful and terrifying all at the same time. I wasn't sure who the last person was or whether the entire story was meant to be part of a drug-induced psychosis. Help me discern the truth!
Oh my, this is one of the better months of stories this group has ever had, I think. Haven't read them all yet, but from those--in no particular order of their posting--I have read, super. What is particularly strong is the range of styles, approaches, visions, and breadth, this month--much wider range than usual!
Thaddeus wrote: "Justin: I just finished your story and wondered why you added the last sentence. Until that moment, your story was beautiful and terrifying all at the same time. I wasn't sure who the last person w..."Ah Thaddeus, thank you. But I leave it to you, dear reader, to discern what is real - and what isn't. :)
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Jot wrote: "The architecture job was not what I was expecting. More learning how to utilize other systems than designing microsystems from scratch to act as one. For me, I'm a coder. Had to resign the second d..."Sorry the position wasn't a good fit for you, Jot. And yes, that time to work on your new language is a great compensatory plus!
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Jot wrote: "Just waiting on Tom for a vote; otherwise, I think we have a winner."My vote is cast.
Jot wrote: "The architecture job was not what I was expecting. More learning how to utilize other systems than designing microsystems from scratch to act as one. For me, I'm a coder. Had to resign the second d..."Sorry the job didn't work out Jot. Frustrating to have to start and stop. Good luck with the continued hunt.
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Jot wrote: "It was a huge mood swing and very stressful, but am so happy I was able to recognize what I had to do. Have an interview on Wednesday (second of six I have to pass) for a crypto transaction managem..."Door closed; window opened. Your drive is admirable. Best of luck.
Hey Jot, I posted the three sections for October but I do not actually SEE them yet. Did I do something wrong?
Hi All, Finally got some time to post a story. Took some liberties with the seed but I think it fits the theme. Also, read some recent stories about how the wrong people got credit for the work of others and got Nobel Prizes and that was on my mind as well.
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, and reading each story before 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 you 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.
Jot Russell
Contest Creator/Director
SEPTEMBER THEME: a (terrifying/transformative) secret
SEPTEMBER ELEMENTS:
an addict (the addiction is up to you, there can be more than one addict)
a nation, (a tribe, culture, civilization, nation-state, star system, galaxy, go nuts)
problem-solving (or the failure there of)
This should be a wide enough array of parameters for a host of stories. I know we usually specify "science fiction" but I would like to open the array to "speculative fiction" meaning the stories can range across the spectrum of the fantastical from humble magical realism to star-spanning space opera. I look forward to this month's creativity. Good luck!