Creativity, Pressurized
The Second Challenge of GWC '24
Out of the Pot, Into the Fire
Our Competitors have a taste of what this competition is about. Alice Meredith, E.B. Howard, Eric Falden, Hanna Delaney, and Hyun Woo Kim have written their stories for the first challenge, they’ve been scored, they’ve received their feedback. They know what it takes to write under the tight deadline, and tight word constraints. They’ve had a couple days to process, to think of what they’ll do differently, what they’ll do better. The future of the competition hangs in the balance—the scores are so close, with EB Howard in the first position by the barest of margins: a single point. That speaks to the incredible talent and skill we have in this group of five writers. Spanning the globe, from Korea to the United Kingdom, these competitors find themselves separated by geography but united in their literary struggles.
And so: we find ourselves now at a key juncture—the unveiling of the Second Challenge.
Reminder of the Rules
Let’s refresh our memories about the rules, Some of which are different for the second challenge, so make sure you read through these again thoroughly! Please pay close attention to these rules to ensure you get full marks for your story.
This second challenge must be 2,000 words +/- 150 words. That is: your story must be between 1850 words and 2,150 words. No more and no less!
Please include the wordcount at the end of your story. e.g. (1,930 words)
Your story can not include characters featured in a previous story of the competition.
You must schedule the story to be published at 8:00am April 20th American Eastern Time.1 If you are not in this time zone, please take care to ensure that it is scheduled to post at that time. I think this is an international competition for the first time, so this is very important. The time zone I am using is UTC-5, if that helps you search for it.
This is a new feature of GWC ‘24. Last year, competitors could post at any time in the window. This created some pressure to post first, and added perhaps an intimidation factor for the last to post, who could potentially see everyone’s stories before they’ve finished theirs. This way—everyone’s stories post at the same time, regardless of when you’re finished writing.
Please use the whole time to draft, edit, and polish.
In the post, please tag both judges: myself Scoot (@gibberish) and Sara Sara Dietz (@saradietz) so we are notified that your story is published.
The Second Challenge
Competitors, you have tried your hands at the first challenge, you have seen your feedback, you know your scores and those of your competitors. Now is the time to adjust and grow. Let’s consider the second challenge:
The first challenge was open: put your readers on the run. Now, let’s tighten your parameters. Many of us like open, expansive worlds—grand settings, creative situations, endless people to interact with. But it is so easy, as writers, to enjoy writing the world more than we enjoy writing the characters, or developing a strong plot. What are we relying on to hook our readers? Are we really using all the tools available to us?
To test your writerly senses and see how you work within a confining prompt, we are revisiting the second challenge from GWC ‘23—we’re doing a Bottle Episode.
Your Challenge This Week: Write a “bottle episode” story with one character in one setting for the entire story. In any genre, give your readers the urgent desire to get out of there! A required story beat is that, at the end of the story, they must get out of/leave the chosen setting. How you guide your readers through this challenge is up to you!
The open-world prompt has been taken away from you, now you must craft a story with only one character in one space. In order to succeed at this challenge, you will have to pay attention to details. Can you craft a compelling story without changing the location? Can your character really shine when given 2,000 words to perform alone? Will the setting be influential to the story, or merely a backdrop? Can we maintain the precision of our writing, and introduce varied pacing, despite the unvaried prompt? Can you make your readers feel as confined as your character?
The Judging
To reiterate: Sara and I will read all five stories between the 20th and 22nd, and the results will be published on the 22nd—giving our competitors a bit of a breather before challenge three begins.
Here’s a reminder of the categories by which each story will be assessed:
Craftsmanship: How well does your story flow? Does it have a beginning, middle, and end? Is there tension and release? A conflict and resolution? Is the story complete? Does it stand on its own? Have you taken care of both the structure and the style of the story, to make it uniquely yours? I will be judging this category out of 5 points.
Character: What do we learn about the characters? Do they have distinct personalities and voices? Are they motivated and invested? Do they have to make choices? Do they feel alive? Do we understand and relate to them? I will be judging this category out of 5 points.
Setting: Does the setting matter to the story? Does it enhance and compliment the characters and structure? Is the setting described, do the characters interact with it? How does the setting contribute to the overall story? I will be judging this category out of 5 points.
Grammar/Syntax/Structure: Do your word choices make sense? Do you pay attention to spelling, punctuation, structure? If you deviate from these—does it serve the story? Do you leverage your sentences and paragraphs and the full suite of tools offered by the English Language to enhance and serve the story? Sara Dietz will be judging this category out of 5 points.
Pacing: Do you adjust pacing to the story? Do you speed the readers up and slow them down? Does the pacing make sense for what is happening in the story? Can you make the reader sit on the edge of their seat in intense moments, or relax in calm ones? I will be judging this category out of 5 points.
Je ne sais quoi (JNSQ): Sara and I will each be able to offer one point for stories with that “I don’t know what”, that undefinable trait that makes us excited to keep reading. These will be offered sparingly, and to not receive a JNSQ point does not mean a story was bad, and it should be assumed that stories will NOT receive JNSQ points unless there is something truly and unexplainably remarkable about them. Sara and I will each judge this category out of one point, for a total of 2 points possible.
The maximum score for an entry in this competition is 27 out of 27 points.
Ladies and Gentlemen…
Put on your author hats! YOUR TIME STARTS NOW!
Good luck!
This is different! Normally I would have you submit your stories at 11pm on the 19th, but giving you extra hours to make it five complete days (120 hours) rather than five incomplete days (111 hours) helps balance the time available to everyone. The stories are due at the same time the challenge is announced, so whatever time of day it happens, it’s the same time of day when it ends. I also decided to push this into the next day, the 20th, rather than cut your hours short.
*Cracks knuckles*
Cool limit. It will be interesting to read what the contestants come up with. Good luck to you all.