SGInc full-length Story Workshop 1.8 - Topic Suggestions

I’m going to so be burned at the stake for this in a light mint sauce, but….sometimes the choice giggle’s worth it. Suggestions for a SWM workshop? Holee Hangover Fatman! This is a job for--

“Hi, I’m Jerry Sikk”
“And I’m Phil Rhong.”
“And this is the Sikk and Rhong Show.”
“All the nudes that’s news, on your local cable access channel.”
“Scrambled side.”
“The travel show were we go there—“
“And go there”
“And soooo go there.”
“So Phil, what is up with costumes these days?”
“Getting skimpier, all the time.”
“Oooooh yeah. Which brings to mind the question—“
“Do they really need ‘em?”
“Is Wonder Babe’s bra really all that push up?”
“We the people want to know.”
“And see!”
“Oh…and TOUCH!”
“And….feeeeeell”
“Let’s have a moment of silence for all the oppressed mammaries out there…”
“I think we’re forgetting an important issue, Phil.”
“I think we’re building up to the issues, Jerry.”
“Panties, Phill, panties.”
“Let’s get into those. Tell me more.”
“I’m already wearing mine!”
“Then what’s the issue?”
“Supergirl for one. Trend setter, or just crotch wetter?”
“You decide.”
“Depends on where you stand on the issues, Jerry.”
“And who you look up to?”
“Who are our heroes today, Jerry?”
“Heroes, Phil?”
“Yeah, where is Superman these days?”
“In hiding, or in harem, we’d like to know.”
“The PEOPLE want to know.”
“Well, what would you be doing if you were Superman right now?”
“It’s more a ‘who’, Phil.”
“We’d like to know how, Jerry.”
“Indeed we wood.”
“Send us your stories.”
“And your costumes, ladies!”
“We’ll clean ‘em!”
“That’s right, Phil and Jerry’s costume wash ‘n wax!”
“Where the service is slow, and mostly stain free.”
“Can I get a ‘giggity’?”
“GIGGITY!”
“And who’s to stop them, Phil?”
“Certainly not the police.”
“Or the Army!”
“Or the Navy!”
“Or the Marines!”
“Or the Fire Department!”
“Fire department?”
“That’s right, Phil, let’s not forget our heroes in rubber and their hoses.”
“Firetruck!”
“Yes, we all need a good shower now and again.”
“A cold, cold shower.”
“Especially after ‘working out’, eh Jerry?”
“I think I’m quitting my gym membership, Phil.”
“Why’s that?”
“The view sucks.”
“Where are you going with this, Phil?”
“No, where do all the hot super chicks go, Jerry? That’s what I want to know.”
“The PEOPLE want to know, Phil.”
“They should come to us, Jerry!”
“That’s right, Phil! Grand opening! Phil and Jerry’s super babe wash and wax!”
“That’s right ladies, we’ll scrub ya”
“And suds ya!”
“AND rub ya!”
“And rubba-dub-dubb ya.”
“So where do they all go after working out?”
“Or just working?”
“Do they have day jobs?”
“Working on the railroad, Jerry?”
“Riveting MY Rosie, Phil.”
“You should be arrested for that development, Jerry.”
“With all the bad girls in the slammer nowadays?”
“Don’t forget the prisoners, Jerry.”
“Clank me and spank me Phil.”
“I think they’ve separate prisons for women, Jerry.”
“Do they, Phil? Do they? Where do I sign up?”
“You have to commit a crime, Jerry.”
“Can’t I just play with one for a bit?”
“In THAT outfit?”
“What outfit?”
“And on that note we turn to our fashion reporter in the field, Uncle Auldfor, Uncle?”
“Don’t give up yet, Phil, I’m here at this year's Kablamies, where the little alien girl that could has won the best unsupported actress award for her role in muffing out last year’s World Terrorist Federation plot with both hands tied behind her back.”
“They had a plot?”
“Yes, something about electing a Texan to office, nobody’s really sure anymore, but we all know she looked hot doing it.”
“But what was she wearing?”
“Wearing, Jerry? That was the tragedy of this story, a little wardrobe malfunction when that outfit by Sharpie of hers failed to smear or wash off under the lights tonight, not even the fire department and their hoses—Crayola next year, of that you can be sure.”

…

Sorry. Theres five or six story ideas in there--some of them almost original. Consider them more inspirations and sideways requests. I’d write more but I’m waughing so hard I can’t thype straight nok mor.

World Terrorist Federation…. Roflol. Perfect.

Wuf,
-WP.

Hmmm ... I'm not sure what WhitePaw is actually suggesting. :?

Nobody else? Well, I think many of the more obvious themes have already been suggested -- and maybe people are reluctant to keep posting unused ideas. So I've compiled a list of suggestions from previous threads. (Inclusion on this list does not necessarily imply my endorsement.)

1. ubergirl-themed TV reality show

2. ubergirl-themed episode of a TV series (of the writer's choice)

3. ubergirl vs uberman

4. transfer story

5. origin / transformation story

6. story set in another time, or in an alternate reality, or in a setting drawn from mythology, legend, or fantasy

7. "Uh-oh / Yippee! / Oh **** -- my wife / girlfriend has become super!"

And I'll toss in a new suggestion -- Add a chapter to our interactive story "Transformatrix 4000." For those who haven't been following the story, it involves a website called UberGirlFrenzy -- which features a forum called "If Only SHE Were Super." Members who post on the forum receive a gizmo that transforms the object of their fantasy into a super-girl. Some of the "transformees" are celebrities (e.g. Paris Hilton), others are ordinary young women who happen to have become the object of someone's "genre"-related imaginings. The workshop would call upon writers to add to the story's potentially unlimited cast of ubergirls by contributing a transformation story. The chapter I added a while back -- involving a high-school student and a history teacher he has a crush on -- is an example of what I have in mind. And even if this doesn't fly as a workshop theme, maybe it'll prod someone to get "T4K" rolling again.

A few ideas:

"The Edge of the Coin" A Legacy of Kain type of thing, have the ubergirl being faced with a momumental choice that will damn one side or another, but suppose she finds out a third option...

"The Zeppo" See Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode of the same name. Pretty much a day in life through one of the Ubergirl's 'jimmy olsens'.

"Beware the Alien" I'm toying around with the idea of a sterile super-powered alien queen, but pretty much is having a movie monster, or something not at all human (but female, of course) having powers beyond human comprehension.

"The Conquerer Cometh" Ubergirl conquers the world, for good or ill. Wither through slow cosilidation or all out carnage...

"Hell hath no wrath like a superwoman scorned" A love triangle reaches the breaking point between two ubergirls and a single, (un)lucky man...

I hate to say it, but I'm not overly impressed with the suggestions so far. WhitePaw, as usual, posted something that was interesting, but didn't make a point.

Ordo, I'm not quite sure what your first suggestion means. The last one is just a little too similar to the previous workshop theme about ubergirl's revenge for me, although I suppose it's different enough that it could be interesting, just because of the multiple ubergirl requirement.

The other three don't really appeal to me, just because I like the emphasis to be on the beautiful ubergirl and her direct interaction with the individuals around her. So taking the focus away from her, or making her too alien, or putting her in a world conquering situation where she's not interacting with individuals as much are suggestions that just don't appeal to me. But that's just me, I guess.

As for the recurring suggestions that Argonaut mentioned, some of them could be ok. The tv show theme could be ok, if the theme were kept vague enough to give all writers plenty of options. In other words, don't specify that it has to be a reality show (or not), and let the author decide what they want to do. Most of the others aren't too bad, either, but none of them really jumps out at me.

He forgot my recurring suggestion of an ubergirl with powers other than the old Kryptonian standards that everyone always uses. I'm not saying she shouldn't have super strength and invulnerability, I'm just saying add some more powers on top of that, just to force everyone to get creative. Not a great suggestion, I know, but it's a suggestion.

Like I said, none of them really stands out to me so far. But then, I haven't actually participated in a workshop yet, so I don't think my ramblings count as much as the suggestions by those of you who have.

And on that note, I'll get back to work on my story for workshop 2.4. I had to take a break because my job has been nuts the past week, so I'm only about halfway done with it. Just to remind everyone, the deadline for that one is Friday, March 24, so get to work now, while you still have almost two weeks left.

YAGS

Sorry about that, YAGS. Got a few more down to earth ones, though:

A ubergirl playing pranks ought to be good when we hit april.

The Adventures of a Klutzy Ubergirl...need I elaborate...? :twisted:

Overally, I think a look into an Ubergirl during an lucky or unlucky day ought to be nice for St. Patrick's Day, for those who celebrate...

I believe that a uber fem braking her restraints could be a good story. Perhaps super fems that have only recently gained their strength surprising those that gave them the power by braking the bonds that held them down or some other situations in which someone might try to restrain the super fem only to have her prove they aren’t nearly enough.

A good example that I can think of would be Kos-Mos in the Xenosaga anime. Near the end of the first episode you see her restrained by a heavy power suit and multiple bonds that are holding her down to a table. It is truly wonderful though whenever she begins to brake free. First easily tearing the bonds that actually her to the table away then standing up.

Her arm tightens and the restraint around her arm shatters. The others go a little too quickly for my liking but it is still wonderful to see all that power braking free. Well except the final one which is a heavy head piece. I just love it when she reaches up with her hand, her fingers easily sink into the metal and tear away the helmet.

Sigh. :? I should know better by now. :roll: Nobody can read between my lines--at least nobody I know who's willing to admit it to me or convince me that they 'get it'. It's gonna take some web archeologist in the year 4592 I'm afraid.

No worries. Pick your topic. Two or more from my skit will wind up in my offering, regardless: I'm thinking Fire Department and "WTF". :twisted: Much more than that will mulch it again. You'll see--but probably not. :?:

Wuv,
-White Paw.

I’m going to so be burned at the stake for this in a light mint sauce, but….sometimes the choice giggle’s worth it.

I've no idea who Jerry Sikk or Phil Rhong are, or might be, but could I just say let's not bother with the mint sauce?

Any word from Alexa regarding the next workshop theme?

Citizens demand workshop topic.

Citizens demand workshop topic.

Workshop 2.4 is "Ubergirl's Romantic Evening" in 1000 words or less, due this Friday, March 24. After that, you can worry about the topic for workshop 1.8.

YAGS

I'd already submitted a story for the short story workshop, and was hoping the regular length workshop topic would plant a new story idea in my head.

Ok, time to go for the really oddball suggestions for workshop themes:

1. Recycling workshop themes. I don't know about anyone else, but there were 2 or 3 workshop themes that made me want to join in, but I just didn't have time to write my stories at the time. Ok, so I'm a slow writer. So the theme could be that each writer has to pick any past workshop that they didn't participate in and write a story with that theme. Anyone who participated in all (or almost all?) could go with any of them, I guess.

2. Fan fiction. Ok, so it's already a staple of the genre, usually involving Supergirl, but what if it were forced? And what if it wasn't limited to comic book superheroes? Pick ANYTHING, from a superhero comic to a sci-fi tv show to someone else's past workshop story, and continue it the way you'd like to see it done.

3. Now there's an idea I didn't think of until I wrote that last sentence: Pick someone else's past workshop story and rewrite it. This could mean writing it in a way you think is better, or writing the same story from a different character's point of view, or whatever. Ok, so this could be weird, and some people might be insulted if their story is used, because they'd feel people were trying to improve upon their work because something was wrong with it. Maybe we could have a few writers offer up specific stories to use for this exercise.

Ok, so now that my hands are warmed up on the keyboard, I'm going to return to my regularly scheduled unsuccessful attempts to actually write a story.

YAGS

I like your first suggestion. I discovered SGInc too late to participate in the first workshop, and I have unfinished "ubergirl vs ubergirl" and "sibling rivalry" stories in the drawer. Allowing writers to use a theme from a previous workshop would give me a spur to finish one of them. Maybe it could even become a tradition -- every sixth workshop, say, writers would be allowed to use any of the previous five themes.

The problem with fan-fiction is that the writer must either assume that the reader is familiar with the source material or else spend a lot of time filling in the background. Not everyone watches Smallville, or follows The Legion of Super-Heroes, or reads the Harry Potter books, or has seen The Mask of Zorro. I've used the Legion, and Zorro, for two of my own workshop stories, so I'm not opposed to the format -- I'm just pointing out a dilemma it presents for the writer.

As for your third suggestion ... speaking for myself, I've developed a pretty possessive attitude toward my one series character and wouldn't care to have other writers handling her -- mainly because they might do a better job of it! And if I ever felt an itch to use another writer's character, I'd get his permission beforehand and run the finished product by him afterwards. So I give this a "thumbs down" as a workshop theme.

I quite like the "Recycle a previous topic" suggestion, especially if we gave entrants the option to chose from several past topics. Would anyone who entered the original workshop be entitled to resubmit their original entry?

I can't see too much enthusiasm for using other SWMers' characters though. Would Argo be happy with me sending Atalanta on a gratuitous blood-splattered rampage through her OWN people? Something tells me perhaps not...

No offense to LFan, but I like seeing brand new pieces submitted to the workshops. Especially if the theme is workshop repeats, I think allowing resubmissions would be a bad idea.

I love the idea of recycling past workshop topics. Often the hardest part of writing is coming up with inspiration and sometimes inspiration hits too late to meet a workshop deadline. Using a past topic means that people have probably already got ideas and can devote all their effort to writing.

Having said that, I think we should ban all resubmissions, and not just for this workshop. Having to reuse old material makes the workshop seem stale.

I love the idea of recycling past workshop topics. Often the hardest part of writing is coming up with inspiration and sometimes inspiration hits too late to meet a workshop deadline. Using a past topic means that people have probably already got ideas and can devote all their effort to writing.

Having said that, I think we should ban all resubmissions, and not just for this workshop. Having to reuse old material makes the workshop seem stale.

Yeah, that pretty much sums up my thinking when I suggested it. The whole point is to give folks a chance to write the stories that they didn't get around to the first time. We're recycling the topic, not the stories.

And I was thinking that people could use any previous topic that they chose, not just picking one and having everyone re-use the same one. So we'd end up with a wide variety of themes, because everyone would be writing different topics, but it makes it easier for writers to go with whichever past story idea they didn't have time to finish. I know I have several, being a slow writer.

I don't know about the idea of having this become a regular event, as Argonaut suggested, though. If people know they can just finish a story for the later "catchup" workshop, where's the motivation to work extra hard to finish in time for the current one? Of course, as someone who's such a slow writer that I have yet to actually enter a workshop, maybe I shouldn't complain. I would just hate for the regular writers to put off their entries and end up with workshops with even less than the 4-6 entries we're regularly getting now.

YAGS

Just to save you guys the virtual legwork, here are the previous workshop topics:

1.7 Sibling Rivalry
1.6 A Superwoman changes sides (Good <==> Bad)
1.5 An individual/group/organisation possesses/creates/obtains a weapon which he/she/they believe can bring down an ubergirl.
1.4 The origin of an ubergirl that makes someone else sorely upset
1.3 Ubergirl vs Ubergirl
1.2 Ubergirl vs. Army
1.1 ????

I can't find the theme for 1.1, though Brantley apparently dug up the poll results somehow, so maybe he can enlighten us.

1.1 ????

As I recall, the assignment was to write a story in which an unpowered (or underpowered) female character becomes super. It was based on an image gallery at SGInc called "I Wish I Was Super, Too." Most of the submissions used comic-book characters (Lois Lane, Zatanna, Kitty Pryde), though I think Brantley wrote a Lara Croft story -- so presumably writers could "superize" a female character from any medium. The entries are all in the StoryBank. (Lfan's "Zupergirl" won.)

But the decision is Alexa's. Has there been any word from her, admin?

Argo's right, the Workshop 1.1 stories were based around the "I wish I was super too" Gallery from Lfan's "Supergirls Incorporated" site which is sadly in temporary hiatus. Without the gallery, of course, re-using that particular topic is a non-starter. (All the 1.1 entries are in the SWM Storybank. Go to www.superwomenmania.com/storybank/index-d.html If you scroll down towards the bottom of the table, you'll find the stories - labelled as "Workshop 1.1" in the "Notes" column. While you're at it, check out the interesting physique of the main character in my 1.1 entry - www.conceptfan.com/images/fullsize/red_monika.jpg )

By the way, I wasn't being serious about re-submitting an old entry. I wouldn't be that lazy. Especially as not entering at all requires even less effort

Argo's right, the Workshop 1.1 stories were based around the "I wish I was super too" Gallery from Lfan's "Supergirls Incorporated" site which is sadly in temporary hiatus. Without the gallery, of course, re-using that particular topic is a non-starter.

Oh, I wouldn't say that -- especially since I have a work-in-progress that fits that theme nicely. For one thing, the assignment wasn't restricted to the specific images in the gallery. And many of those images can still be seen in SWM's ImageBank.

Still no word from Alexa?

Oh, I wouldn't say that

I would. In fact, I did. Without the specific gallery to point people at, I think re-running 1.1 is, well, pointless. But I think it's a great idea to allow folks to re-pick any of the topics from 1.2-1.7 inclusive.

Hello, Alexa? It's your call...

Not to beat a dead horse, but:

Citizens demand workshop topic.