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NeoGAF Creative Writing Challenge #160 - "Down the Hole"

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Not open for further replies.
N

Nezumi

Member
Theme - "Down the Hole"

Word Limit: 2500

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ATTENTION CHANGED DEADLINES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Submission Deadline: Friday, February 27th by 11:59 PM Pacific.

Voting begins Saturday, February 28th and goes until Monday, March 2nd at 11:59 PM Pacific.

Grace Periods: Each of the above deadlines will be followed by a 6-hour grace period. Submissions made after the end of the grace period will be ineligible, and votes cast after the end of the grace period will not be counted. Remember that these are grace periods, not extensions of the deadline--you should still submit your work or cast your vote by the deadline set above.

Optional Secondary Objective: Collaboration

Work with another gaffer to write your story! Now, I'm aware that this might turn out to be a nightmare to organize. I thought that maybe we can pick a date by which everyone that wants to do the secondary has to "sign up" so to speak, and then do randomized pair-ups. People working together on a story will have a word limit of 5000 words. I'm more than open to suggestions how to pull this off however. "Sign ups" will close Thursday at midnight Pacific.

Cyan said:
It probably depends most on the working styles of the two writers, but I'm envisioning something like this:
-"meet up" on IRC or google video chat or some such to talk through plot ideas
-hash out the basic structure of the story, divvy up resposibilities
-write the story in a shared Google Doc so each person can see what the other is doing/has done
-when it's complete, each writer does a full edit passthrough to get the voices to kind of meet in the middle

There are other ways. The novel Sorcery and Cecelia, which is an epistolary story where two characters exchange letters, was written by Pat Wrede and Caroline Stevermer literally just exchanging letters as though they were the characters, and then compiling them into a book when they were done. You might have multiple POVs where each writer writes one character's POV and they have distinct voices, and you trade scenes and comment on each other's stuff. You might literally sit down together and do all the writing as a pair (I can't imagine this working for me). You might both be discovery writers and go in different directions, then find a way to make it all meld.

Could be anything!
Click to expand...


Submission Guidelines:

- One entry per (two) poster(s).
- All submissions must be written during the time of the challenge.
- Using the topic as the title of your piece is discouraged.
- Keep to the word count!

The Entries:

"Star Search for the Thirty-first Century" - Ward & karenq0506
"Darkness at the Center of Town" - John Dunbar & Sethista
"Sun City, Moon City" - Cyan & Tangent
"BANG MY HEAD AGAINST THE WALL" - Figments
"Icarus" - Metaphoreus & FlowersisBritish
"Purgatory" - ZeroRay & Rock And Roll
"On The Terminator" - Charade & mu cephei
"The Dreamer" - Cahinsawkitten & Aaron
"The Search for Paradise" - Ourobolus & Nezumi
"Lost" - Sober & Valhelm
"License Transfer" - Mike M & Blargonaut

Voting Guidelines:

- Three votes per voter. Please denote in your voting your 1st (3 pts), 2nd (2 pts), and 3rd (1 pt) place votes.
- Please read all submissions before voting.
- You must vote in order to be eligible to win the challenge.
- When voting ends, the winner gets a collective pat on the back, and starts the new challenge.

NeoGAF Creative Writing Challenge FAQ
Previous Challenge Threads and Themes
 
C

Cyan

Banned
Definitely count me in for the secondary. Though I've never done anything collaborative before, it sounds way cool. If everyone wants to do randomized, that's fine by me... but I kind of want to work with Tangent. We could meet up and stuff. Also I bet our story would be nuts. :O

Edit: oh, um. I should probably check with Tangent first.
 
J

John Dunbar

correct about everything
i think i might want to try the collaboration thing. been in a rut so maybe that forces me to actually write something.

be prepared to do all the work while i take the credit.
 
R

Rock And Roll

Member
I'm willing to try a collaboration. My schedule is pretty flexible too so I don't think it would be hard for me to work around someone else's schedule.

EST -5:00
 
M

Mike M

Nick N
Oh shit snacks, I have a great concept for the collaboration angle...

Someone be my partner for something sci-fi!
 
N

Nezumi

Member
I'd suggest we wait till Thursday night to see who wants to do the secondary. Any longer and Mike will probably burst from impatience ;)
 
C

Cyan

Banned
This should become one of those recurring secondaries like the anonymous challenges. Such a fun idea. :)
 
F

FlowersisBritish

fleurs n'est pas britannique
Aw yeah new challenge. I got a heart full of despair and half a bottle of wine left. Let's write the most depressing *looks at secondary* oh well nevermind then.

But yeah, I would be up for a collaboration. Never done it before, nor do I even know what that would physically entail, but yeah sure why not?
 
C

Cyan

Banned
FlowersisBritish said:
Aw yeah new challenge. I got a heart full of despair and half a bottle of wine left. Let's write the most depressing *looks at secondary* oh well nevermind then.

But yeah, I would be up for a collaboration. Never done it before, nor do I even know what that would physically entail, but yeah sure why not?
Click to expand...

It probably depends most on the working styles of the two writers, but I'm envisioning something like this:
-"meet up" on IRC or google video chat or some such to talk through plot ideas
-hash out the basic structure of the story, divvy up resposibilities
-write the story in a shared Google Doc so each person can see what the other is doing/has done
-when it's complete, each writer does a full edit passthrough to get the voices to kind of meet in the middle

There are other ways. The novel Sorcery and Cecelia, which is an epistolary story where two characters exchange letters, was written by Pat Wrede and Caroline Stevermer literally just exchanging letters as though they were the characters, and then compiling them into a book when they were done. You might have multiple POVs where each writer writes one character's POV and they have distinct voices, and you trade scenes and comment on each other's stuff. You might literally sit down together and do all the writing as a pair (I can't imagine this working for me). You might both be discovery writers and go in different directions, then find a way to make it all meld.

Could be anything!
 
R

Red

Member
Cyan said:
It probably depends most on the working styles of the two writers, but I'm envisioning something like this:
-"meet up" on IRC or google video chat or some such to talk through plot ideas
-hash out the basic structure of the story, divvy up resposibilities
-write the story in a shared Google Doc so each person can see what the other is doing/has done
-when it's complete, each writer does a full edit passthrough to get the voices to kind of meet in the middle

There are other ways. The novel Sorcery and Cecelia, which is an epistolary story where two characters exchange letters, was written by Pat Wrede and Caroline Stevermer literally just exchanging letters as though they were the characters, and then compiling them into a book when they were done. You might have multiple POVs where each writer writes one character's POV and they have distinct voices, and you trade scenes and comment on each other's stuff. You might literally sit down together and do all the writing as a pair (I can't imagine this working for me). You might both be discovery writers and go in different directions, then find a way to make it all meld.

Could be anything!
Click to expand...

Sean Platt and Johnny Truant are a couple of successful e-book writers, who've discussed their work flow pretty extensively. They develop a concept together, one of them provides story beats, the other fleshes the beats into a section or chapter, further beats are provided as the story grows, and more story grows out of the beats. So on and so forth.
 
M

Mike M

Nick N
timetokill said:
My curiosity is piqued.
Click to expand...
Story concept:
In the distant future, FTL transport of matter is an impossibility, but quantum entanglement allows for the instantaneous transmission of data. People "teleport" interstellar distances by having their bodies broken down to its basal matter and subatomic blueprint to be reassembled at the receiving end from their own matter supply. A hacker discovers an exploit that allows him to transmit his blueprint without being broken down himself, and the narrative is split as the original and the copy do their own thing in the aftermath.

Or not. I dunno.
 
B

besada

Banned
Mike M said:
Story concept:
In the distant future, FTL transport of matter is an impossibility, but quantum entanglement allows for the instantaneous transmission of data. People "teleport" interstellar distances by having their bodies broken down to its basal matter and subatomic blueprint to be reassembled at the receiving end from their own matter supply. A hacker discovers an exploit that allows him to transmit his blueprint without being broken down himself, and the narrative is split as the original and the copy do their own thing in the aftermath.

Or not. I dunno.
Click to expand...
I like that. Neat use of quantum teleportation and the philosophical question of identity. I'm hoping whoever I wind up with is down for some eldritch horror, personally. I've been playing a lot of Sunless Sea and feel the need to dip my toes in the murky waters of the Elder Gods.
 
T

timetokill

Banned
Mike M said:
Story concept:
In the distant future, FTL transport of matter is an impossibility, but quantum entanglement allows for the instantaneous transmission of data. People "teleport" interstellar distances by having their bodies broken down to its basal matter and subatomic blueprint to be reassembled at the receiving end from their own matter supply. A hacker discovers an exploit that allows him to transmit his blueprint without being broken down himself, and the narrative is split as the original and the copy do their own thing in the aftermath.

Or not. I dunno.
Click to expand...

This gives me an idea. I'm going to PM it to you to see if you're interested.
 
B

Blargonaut

Banned
Ah jeez, dat secondary :eek:

I'm putting myself out there, if anyone should want to collaborate with a total hack amateur writer, and on strictly non-live messaging, only-on-GAF-PM-or-this-thread communication for my own selfish convenience (but gmail for the file sharing would be totally fine)

:I

You'd get genre creative control too, I'm game

joblvl1 ned leeching pls respond
 
O

Ourobolus

Banned
Screw it, I'm in for the secondary. I've passed on all of the challenges this new year so maybe I need the motivation
and the time
.

EST -5:00
 
N

Nezumi

Member
Haven't thought about it since I'm used to not sleep a lot and timezones (while totally confusing) don't bother me much. Anyway GMT+1 (Frankfurt, Germany) here.
 
N

Nezumi

Member
OK, from now on I'm declaring this thread a "no downplaying" zone! No more "I don't want to bring people down" or "I'm in if someone's willing to pair up with a beginner" stuff! If you are willing to commit to the secondary you are also committing to the fact that you might end up with a person that writes totally different than you. This is part of the fun. This is about getting out of your comfort zone! See this as an opportunity to learn and expand!
 
T

Tangent

Member
Cyan said:
Definitely count me in for the secondary. Though I've never done anything collaborative before, it sounds way cool. If everyone wants to do randomized, that's fine by me... but I kind of want to work with Tangent. We could meet up and stuff. Also I bet our story would be nuts. :O

Edit: oh, um. I should probably check with Tangent first.
Click to expand...

That would be awesome. *fist pump* But I understand if Nezumi wants to randomize too.
Nuts?!?! Are you referring to woodland creatures' diets?!?! Maybe nuts "outta this world" working with you! Badam ching!
 
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