SA Prompt | SA Results | BB Code
Date: 4-10-2017
Word Limit: 1200
Words Written: 20,411
Judges (crits):
Sitting Here
sebmojo
Flesnolk
Audio Recap: Week 245
Sitting Here
sebmojo
Flesnolk
Audio Recap: Week 245
Week Archivist:
Kaishai
Kaishai
I stayed up way too late trying to come up with yet another way to squeeze blood out of the TD stone. The truth is, I just want to read stories that deal with topics that appeal to me. Normally this involves a lot of Googling and a lot of reading shitty previews on Amazon, but Thunderdome presents a unique opportunity. I can make the stuff I like come to me. So I am going to do my best to help you do that. I am going to present some topics, along with an explanation of stuff I don't want to see. You can choose to write about all of them or one of them or maybe just a couple.
STUFF I LIKE
the near future
I like stories that make a projection about what the world might be like over the next couple of decades. For this category, I don't want apocalyptic stories. I don't want to read about memes that exist IRL (though you can try to make up your own, if you're feeling brave). I don't want blatant political satire. I don't want a ripoff of an episode of Black Mirror. I don't want unrealistically advanced technology.
fungus!
Stories that deal with fungi in some way. I don't particularly want stories where the fungus is considered malevolent or harmful. I don't want stories about the time you took shrooms when you were 20 (although stories can still deal with the psychoactive properties of some fungi--just don't write a trip report). I don't want over-the-top body horror.
long-term relationships
I dunno, I think there tends to be too much focus on meeting/falling in love in a lot of stories. I enjoy reading about the challenges of long term commitment to a romantic partner. There aren't a whole lot of 'don'ts' for this category, except that I don't want to read about first meetings/falling in love.
Dreams, obvs
I've written a lot of dreamy bullshit for Thunderdome. I like stories that deal with the internal reality of our slumbering minds. I don't want stories that build up something cool only to say ~it was all a dream~. I don't want stories that use dream logic as an excuse to be pointless. I don't want stories where the protagonist(s) is passive and idle while interesting things happen around them.
mythologizing the ordinary
i'm fascinated by the personal myths and superstitions people hold, often without even realizing it. I'm actually having trouble thinking of the exact ways in which you could fuck this up, but I'm sure goons will make it obvious in hindsight.
non-human perspectives
i like stories that take me into the mind of something very unlike myself. I don't want to read about a dog who loves his master so much and is a Good Boy (you can write about dogs, I guess, but holy fuck don't do that trope). Don't do that thing where you spend the whole story having your non-human describe human things in awkward animal/alien terms, even when it's perfectly obvious to the reader what the character is seeing/experiencing. No talking animals. No stories where ~the humans were the real monsters all along~.
the broad concept of outsider art
so there's the 'real' definition of outsider art and the broad, slightly inaccurate one. I'm using the broad, slightly inaccurate one. Basically, i like art that expresses a cool concept in spite of lack of training, practice, or education. This isn't so much a topic I want people to write about (though you can, if you want) as it is a general flavor for the entire week. If I like your ideas, I won't necessarily hold poor writing against you.
BUT WAIT WHERE'S THE GIMMICK!?
well. Normally I would forgo having a word count, but I decided this would be a good opportunity to try out something I've been wanting to do for a while. Any time between now and when signups close, you may post a one sentence 'pitch' for your story. A good pitch will give me some idea of the characters and conflict in very few words. Step one of this article on the snowflake method has some good advice on writing one sentence summaries.
If you decide to pitch me your story summary, you get 300 extra words. I will also tell you whether your premise seems interesting to me or not, though I won't be giving any feedback beyond that. You can still write about a premise I don't find interesting, and anyone who pitches a summary will get the extra words. Because someone asked, yes you have to sign up to do a pitch.
STUFF I LIKE
the near future
I like stories that make a projection about what the world might be like over the next couple of decades. For this category, I don't want apocalyptic stories. I don't want to read about memes that exist IRL (though you can try to make up your own, if you're feeling brave). I don't want blatant political satire. I don't want a ripoff of an episode of Black Mirror. I don't want unrealistically advanced technology.
fungus!
Stories that deal with fungi in some way. I don't particularly want stories where the fungus is considered malevolent or harmful. I don't want stories about the time you took shrooms when you were 20 (although stories can still deal with the psychoactive properties of some fungi--just don't write a trip report). I don't want over-the-top body horror.
long-term relationships
I dunno, I think there tends to be too much focus on meeting/falling in love in a lot of stories. I enjoy reading about the challenges of long term commitment to a romantic partner. There aren't a whole lot of 'don'ts' for this category, except that I don't want to read about first meetings/falling in love.
Dreams, obvs
I've written a lot of dreamy bullshit for Thunderdome. I like stories that deal with the internal reality of our slumbering minds. I don't want stories that build up something cool only to say ~it was all a dream~. I don't want stories that use dream logic as an excuse to be pointless. I don't want stories where the protagonist(s) is passive and idle while interesting things happen around them.
mythologizing the ordinary
i'm fascinated by the personal myths and superstitions people hold, often without even realizing it. I'm actually having trouble thinking of the exact ways in which you could fuck this up, but I'm sure goons will make it obvious in hindsight.
non-human perspectives
i like stories that take me into the mind of something very unlike myself. I don't want to read about a dog who loves his master so much and is a Good Boy (you can write about dogs, I guess, but holy fuck don't do that trope). Don't do that thing where you spend the whole story having your non-human describe human things in awkward animal/alien terms, even when it's perfectly obvious to the reader what the character is seeing/experiencing. No talking animals. No stories where ~the humans were the real monsters all along~.
the broad concept of outsider art
so there's the 'real' definition of outsider art and the broad, slightly inaccurate one. I'm using the broad, slightly inaccurate one. Basically, i like art that expresses a cool concept in spite of lack of training, practice, or education. This isn't so much a topic I want people to write about (though you can, if you want) as it is a general flavor for the entire week. If I like your ideas, I won't necessarily hold poor writing against you.
BUT WAIT WHERE'S THE GIMMICK!?
well. Normally I would forgo having a word count, but I decided this would be a good opportunity to try out something I've been wanting to do for a while. Any time between now and when signups close, you may post a one sentence 'pitch' for your story. A good pitch will give me some idea of the characters and conflict in very few words. Step one of this article on the snowflake method has some good advice on writing one sentence summaries.
If you decide to pitch me your story summary, you get 300 extra words. I will also tell you whether your premise seems interesting to me or not, though I won't be giving any feedback beyond that. You can still write about a premise I don't find interesting, and anyone who pitches a summary will get the extra words. Because someone asked, yes you have to sign up to do a pitch.
Sitting Here posted:
A little more clarity: you aren't obligated to stick to your pitch, though it's more fun if you do. If I don't like your pitch, it might still be worth turning into a story! But if you decide to take my opinion to heart, you can certainly discard your shitty idea.
If you want to be really hardcore, you can to complete whatever you pitch to me, regardless of my opinion about it.
16 Total Submissions, 6 Total Failures:
5.
9.
11.
Failures who signed up but did not submit:
