@Scoot, could I request that we be allowed to include the original story at the end of the post instead the start? My entry-story hasn't been published yet, and if I can I'd like to keep the ending unknown for my subscribers when they first enter into the story.
One more question: do you still want the argument to be the main meat of the story, or is it enough that it merely be featured/expanded/explained?
Yes, you can include it at the end! The main logic is just so we all have a point of comparison.
No--the argument is no longer the core feature here, now I just want you to expand the story. Of course, because the argument is part of what is being expanded, I am expecting to see the argument/core conflict of the application story included in some way, but you can revise how it is presented. Does that make sense?
Ohhhh, man. I guess that's my story concept picked for me. 😂 I was determined to do something different this time! I hope you enjoy another adventure story with even more running.
This is hilarious 😂 but also, I love the way a tighter turnaround forces us to confront the type of story we always fall back on. Mine is the psychological/physiological drama. It was… illuminating 😅 to realize that was my instinctive reach-for plot
Scoot, after I mailed you the 250-word story, I extended it a bit and submitted it to a magazine, and it turns out that the story will be published in May. While the magazine stated that the story may be published on a personal website, it feels somewhat wrong to publish another story which shares the same conflict with it on my Substack. What would you suggest in such a situation?
Oh dang! 1- This is a good lesson learned for the future. 2- Good question!
So this puts you at a disadvantage (because you don't have something to work with and have to start from scratch), and at an advantage (because it doesn't restrain you in the same way as it restrains your competitors). So I think to balance things out, I have to add the criteria that the Argument must be a feature of your story.
You will be evaluated not just on the regular judging criteria, but also on the effectiveness of the argument. I don't know how reasonable this is to ask, but if you can highlight 250 words within your story that serve as a fulcrum, that can stand alone, I think that would be the icing on the cake. While everyone else is starting with 250 words and expanding to 2,000, you are writing 2,000 and have to pick out 250.
Does that sound fair? It's adding a little extra consideration, but I think that's a reasonable offset given the circumstances, and it's not burdening you too much as a result. Let me know--happy to talk about this some more if necessary!
Oh my god. I feel sick 😂 wow this is going to be... Wow. OK. See you on the 30th. Aaarrrggghhhh.
@Scoot, could I request that we be allowed to include the original story at the end of the post instead the start? My entry-story hasn't been published yet, and if I can I'd like to keep the ending unknown for my subscribers when they first enter into the story.
One more question: do you still want the argument to be the main meat of the story, or is it enough that it merely be featured/expanded/explained?
Thanks!
Yes, you can include it at the end! The main logic is just so we all have a point of comparison.
No--the argument is no longer the core feature here, now I just want you to expand the story. Of course, because the argument is part of what is being expanded, I am expecting to see the argument/core conflict of the application story included in some way, but you can revise how it is presented. Does that make sense?
Yes, it does, thanks.
Ohhhh, man. I guess that's my story concept picked for me. 😂 I was determined to do something different this time! I hope you enjoy another adventure story with even more running.
Good literary cardio!
This is hilarious 😂 but also, I love the way a tighter turnaround forces us to confront the type of story we always fall back on. Mine is the psychological/physiological drama. It was… illuminating 😅 to realize that was my instinctive reach-for plot
Same here. I was hoping to branch out in some way, but I guess we're getting monsters in three out of three of my stories 🙂
Scoot, after I mailed you the 250-word story, I extended it a bit and submitted it to a magazine, and it turns out that the story will be published in May. While the magazine stated that the story may be published on a personal website, it feels somewhat wrong to publish another story which shares the same conflict with it on my Substack. What would you suggest in such a situation?
Oh dang! 1- This is a good lesson learned for the future. 2- Good question!
So this puts you at a disadvantage (because you don't have something to work with and have to start from scratch), and at an advantage (because it doesn't restrain you in the same way as it restrains your competitors). So I think to balance things out, I have to add the criteria that the Argument must be a feature of your story.
You will be evaluated not just on the regular judging criteria, but also on the effectiveness of the argument. I don't know how reasonable this is to ask, but if you can highlight 250 words within your story that serve as a fulcrum, that can stand alone, I think that would be the icing on the cake. While everyone else is starting with 250 words and expanding to 2,000, you are writing 2,000 and have to pick out 250.
Does that sound fair? It's adding a little extra consideration, but I think that's a reasonable offset given the circumstances, and it's not burdening you too much as a result. Let me know--happy to talk about this some more if necessary!
Sounds fair enough! Thank you for the adjustment.
And congrats on getting the story published!
Thanks!
Ooh! this is interesting. Good luck to everyone. Looking forward to reading your work
Diabolical, brilliant. Nothing like forcing a writer to look back over old work for absolute suffering. Can't wait to see the results.
It is diabolical. I have had my first bout of writers block and it's awful 🙃
You can do this! Got tons of time— keep going!!
Aghhhh writers block 😭 you’ve got this!
Why did I not see this? You two obviously have magic powers because I did in fact write something. Thank you for the encouragement!
lmao mine would have been perfect for this— I actually had a longer version I snipped my application story from! Maybe I'll put it up...
DO THE THING!!
What an interesting prompt here...really forces you to think even more deeply about your work and expand it!