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Long Story Contest

04 Aug 2013 17:12 #32561 by castor
Long Story Contest was created by castor
Well here is my idea:

Starting December 31, we do a 1 year long contest in which the goal is to write a story thats 50,000 words minimium.

Actually story might be the wrong word. The typical defenition of a novel is that is longer the 50,000 words(okay some people use 40 but thats splitting hairs). The basic idea is that you try to write a novel in one year.

Now that can be a scary word. But what i hope this does is make it less scary. The idea of this entire thing is less of a contest then a workshop, a method where we can help each other form ideas and get it to paper We have a lot of great writers on this page, and to encourage them forward is what i want to do.

There in fact many novels-Deep Down inside is probabbly more then 60,000 words already plenty, Starfall, LittleFirebug, and others. Anon made a point recently about Going Super being a 130,000 words. Which is longer then several of the Harry Potter books. We can certainly do this.

However making it a contest with a fixed end point can focus it a bit. Some of the long stories on the site-i don't want to critque them but often have trouble finding there end With a fixed ending. A set endpoint can push you to it and focus it on the end.

Some may comment that this may distract from the other contest-but the idea is that this in the background. And we get 3 to 5 stories a week on the site which doesn't really distract anyway, people working on the novels in the background can help. I recently started working on a novel for funsies. Then to relax i started writing the Tales of An Mazing Girl stories between chapters.

Specifically heres my idea of the contest.

*For the first year instead of having one person pick the idea i was thinking maybe in november we open up a thread suggesting ideas. Then we do a poll that closes on the 31th. I think the poll we put up for the short story contest brought a lot of intrest to it.

*I was also thinking of someway through the site(not sure how) where people can post there notes early unfinished drafts ideas of stories so its not just a shebang in 2015. Let it be a workshop.

*If we want to find a way to make this a collaboration thats a great idea. Maybe open up a thread to people who want to do that, and see if we can get people to go for it.

*To Artists: I was wondering if anyone on the site would like to volenteer to do book cover like illustrations for all the entries. That could inspire people to write-and for an epic story epic art.

Agian this is my idea. I am but curious what other people think of it. Something like this only works if it has enthusiasm, so curious if People are out there who think this is neat.

Castor
The following user(s) said Thank You: SHTL

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04 Aug 2013 17:18 #32562 by SHTL
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agree Castor

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04 Aug 2013 19:37 #32563 by fats
Replied by fats on topic Long Story Contest
this is the perfect place to discuss the idea.

fats

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04 Aug 2013 22:52 #32566 by njae
Replied by njae on topic Long Story Contest
I actually find the idea of such a workshop interesting, but there are also a few points where I'm not sure if things will go well. One point would be that such a word limit requires a certain focus which can be distracting from other projects. It's very important to have some kind of milestones so that the deadline or even the workshop isn't forgotten and we end up with no submission. And while I hate to say it, but not every author can write as quickly as others.

About the theme: I'm not sure if we should constrict ourselves too much on that front. Maybe we don't need one here and the length as well as the requirement to be a complete story are enough here.

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05 Aug 2013 02:53 #32568 by castor
Replied by castor on topic Long Story Contest
Milestones would be very useful

i was thinking like every three months we do a checkin-not sure how we do it but maybe do a forum post that checks into a story on the site(maybe fat has an idea here) were people can submit drafts or just outlines, or just pitches of the story and we can give early feedback.

I think the idea of this is that there supose to be workshops-help people. Theres a lot of great writers here but also a lot of great readers. All of my stories i love to see notes on what to do-even critical notes help you. Its easier to do with a longer story then a shorter one in a way.

As for the themes-you may have a point, but i do think sometimes can help you along. Maybe a very general theme, or we just don't cut points if you ignore it.

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05 Aug 2013 06:54 #32573 by ace191
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It took Argo and I five years to get to 100k words, and there were several times we got a little burned out on it. This may be a lot harder than you think. No way I could do it as long as I have my present job.

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05 Aug 2013 14:56 #32578 by lfan
Replied by lfan on topic Long Story Contest

ace191 wrote: It took Argo and I five years to get to 100k words, and there were several times we got a little burned out on it. This may be a lot harder than you think. No way I could do it as long as I have my present job.


^^ This

While a good suggestion and a noble effort, I personally think the novel length types of tales are best suited to those who have the time and energy to do so at their own pace. I personally like the novels on SWM as they are -- released in installments. I think some of the authors like this as well and doesn't box them in as much.

I know the idea is that this is a "challenge", but the goal of the workshops is also to promote new writings and solicit new authors. I could be wrong, but based on past history and my experience, I only see a few people taking part in this challenge. As a reader, I would rather have more incremental tales and chapters (ala Supergirl of Smallville or DDI) rather than wait for one compiled tale.

I am currently working with another author on a story that we have been off and on with for over 3 years (yeah, we're slow). It will eventually get to novel length, but even with the head start (we're at 15K words in so far), I couldn't give a definitive timeline of "completing it". So we were gonna release it in blocks, hopefully soon....

I would LOVE to read a novel length ubergirl story, but I just fear that the final results (number of entries) might be somewhat disappointing.

My $.02
ElF

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05 Aug 2013 19:56 #32579 by njae
Replied by njae on topic Long Story Contest
The more I think about the whole situation, the more I wonder how many authors could actually keep up with that challenge. There WERE those that wanted to raise the limit for our SHORT workshop to the point that the difference to the normal workshop would be close to zero. These people should have no problem filling over 50k words, right?

But seriously, as for me I'm probably not cut out for this kind of challenge, having not even finished a single series (not to mention the creeping doubts that I ever will), so trying to write a whole story in this dimension sounds like too much of a challenge. Splitting it up into smaller installments for easier readin wouldn't be the problem in my eyes - it would still count as one story - but with my word output I would have to concentrate on this one project - and my brain has a nasty habit of thinking of everything but the story I want to work on right now.

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05 Aug 2013 21:22 #32580 by castor
Replied by castor on topic Long Story Contest
Well nothing focuses the mind like a deadline.

here have been quite sucseful contests to write 50,000 word stories-in a month. Granted this is often focused on people who want to write them. Writing a novel is one of those things that i think a lot of people have on there bucket list. I do think if we try will get some effort here.

I do think this is a good methodology. I think a problem with the stories on the site is that they don't end-and thats a trick. There can be a tendency to focus on making a really compelling chapter sometimes at the expense of the story as a whole. In this sense its similar to comicbooks that often go for years building to something-to well not finishing. Its easy to have a file on computer

True story: I started my first story for the site-about two and a half years ago. I wrote about 1000 words stoped for a year then wrote 500 more last year. . It still sitting on my computer. It will probabbly sit there for ever. However if you told me to have the story done...

A good novel, a compelling story as whole is a good methodology of looking at a story and finishing a story. Supehero stories when done well can really have a powerful conclusion.

If someone wants to do it, they will. And if we can help them do it i would be happy to. NJAE even if you don't i know your very helpful to writers on the site, as is LFAN. You don't have to write a story to help with a workshop.

As for the number of entities-well you can't be disapionted i think. I am going to do it i think, and if one other person does it that's twice a good number. in 2015 SWM will have more stories. Who cares how many?

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05 Aug 2013 21:55 #32582 by njae
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castor wrote: NJAE even if you don't i know your very helpful to writers on the site, as is LFAN. You don't have to write a story to help with a workshop-
.


And here I am trying to make good use of the deadline extension for the current workshop...

But seriously, I can't really follow you with that post.

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