(NOTE: Event start changed to Saturday due to popular demand.)
What the hell does that mean, Cereal?! Keep reading! Sheesh.
Among artists there is a concept called a speedpaint, wherein said artist will attempt to paint something in the shortest amount of time possible. This concept doesn't really exist for writing fiction, but quite frankly I'm confident enough in our writers to try out this challenge on you all. Think of this as a test run.
Here's the gist of it: on Saturday, June 25th, at a specific time, I will post a short, one-line story summary, determined by the poll on the side. For two hours, and for only two hours, I'll be accepting your best attempt to tell that story in whatever way you wish. This will not only test your ability to write on your feet, but to actually get an idea out onto paper quickly.
There is no word limit to these. If you think the story can be best told with five hundred words, then by all means, submit that- though, fair warning, I've tried to pick prompts that require a little more prose than that.
Click past the page break for the concrete details.
So here's how this is going to work.
Remember the poll? It's labeled with options A, B, and C. These each correspond to story prompts that I've written out already. Of course, I can't tell you which is which. That's what makes this fun. Whatever gets chosen is what gets used on Saturday.
Oh, and rest assured, there is no Trixie in there. Probably.
- The time that this event will take place is Saturday, June 25th, at 6:00PM blog (Pacific) time. The prompt will be posted exactly then.
- After the two hours is up (at 8:00PM), entries will no longer be accepted. I'll probably pick a few favorites!
- As always, no lewd or questionably cloppy material is allowed. Pre-written stories are also not allowed, but I don't think that will be a problem.
- Send your entries in Google Docs, FF.net, or DeviantArt format to CerealVelocity@equestriadaily.com. One entry per author.
That's pretty much it! Post any questions below and I'll do my best to answer them.
120 comments:
I can't even write without a time limit, but gl to those that participate.
What are the plots?
We'll know Friday
I may actually participate in this event. Now to figure out when the times are in my timezone...
Also: DAT. GEMSTONE.
Sounds good to me. I'll be here on Friday.
What time zone is the blog in?
Booo. Some of us have to work.
...Alright, if I finish writing what I'm currently writing, since I don't work that day, sure, I'll take the blog up on that challenge!
Man, I would really like to join in but I have work until 5:00. No matter what timezone it is, it wont work... T_T No chance of pushing it to Saturday if the demand is high enough???
Why do you make such things when I have to work?
Writing about something chosen at random by the people voting without any clue as to what it is and only given two hours to write it? Would be awesome to do if I didn't have plans this weekend. CURSE YOU PLANS! YOU RUIN MY WRITING AND FUN!
Good luck to those who participate though. Make sure you have fun with it.
I like Cereal Velocity enjoys reading. ;)
This looks interesting. Can't wait to see what the summary is!
If there's enough demand, I'll certainly push it back to Saturday. I just thought Friday At Noon sounded neat.
Maybe push the beggining time to 6 Pm blog time? That would let most people who has a job or school get home or to a computer.
Blog time = Pacific?
Yeah, uh, what TZ is the blog in?
Good thing I'm off of work on Friday. This should be interesting.
I'm with Asgard on this. The problem isn't the day, it's the time; most people are likely to be doing something at noon on any given day. An evening time would be more ideal.
The blog is on Pacific time, for those who are wondering.
Blog is indeed on Pacific time.
All in favor of Saturday at 6:00PM Pacific?
That's more doable I think, though I could do either :P
Oooh! I wanna do this!
Sounds like fun =)
That would be much better for me, yes.
Hrrm, seems like a good idea to me Cereal!
This is exciting! Participating will be my reward for finishing a paper on Thursday. (I know: reward writing with more writing? I'm clearly insane.) Also, I love short fic.
Time changed to Saturday!
Next question!
Oh no, people are picking B again...
Let's hear it for another Trixie fic.
Friday is my birthday. Does that mean I'll get extra time? Pretty lease with chocolate sprinkles on top?
It sounds like a good idea, but i don't think I'd be able to do it effectively. I can't even write a decent fanfiction with my own idea after thinking them over for weeks before hand, much less write one spur of the moment with someone else's ideas.
Sounds like a cool concept. Heck, if it ends up being a really cool theme, I might....might, even have to try it out
With my luck I will be a sleep and miss it :(
B is actually pretty fun.
Then again, I wrote them!
Sounds fun. I really enjoyed the 300-word story event.
Hopefully I won't have to work during event time.
Okay, I might try this. As long as there is no shipping. And it's not happy. I'm not good at happy. And I need to like the prompt...
Okay, yeah, definite maybe then.
Oooo, haven't done speedfic in a long, long time. Must try. Especially now that it isn't during work/commute time.
I've never written anything before, but I might try this one just for fun.
"This concept doesn't really exist for writing fiction"
yes it does, its called NaNoWrimo. Write a novel in one month. ^^ Look it up!
Can anyone participate, or just those who have proven to be half decent at writing?
I was all over the 300-word event, and I am all over this. It. Is. On!
Of course, it all depends on the eventual topic...
Sounds awesome. too bad i might not be able to do it on friday. any other day of the week would have been better.
^^nevermind my above thing about not doing it on friday. thanks for pushing it back
Any chance this'll become a regular thing? Like once a week?
Ooh, I hope I'm near a computer then. This sounds like it could be fun and/or interesting.
I've never written a fic before, maybe it's time to start.
Challenge accepted.
Hmm... I'd probably be interested in participating, but Saturday night is bad for me. Oh well. Guess I'll stick to attempting to draw for now.
I never attempted to write a story in english, perhaps i could try... maybe...
My guess is I would take forty minutes of writing and the rest of the time for editing.
I'm not really great with time limits and I react poorly to them, so I might not even be capable of joining this one or making it on time.
I'll wait and see when the subject is posted before I deny myself entrance.
And then the time gets changed and I can't do it because work starts then...gosh darn it. And the idea of this got me super excited too.
I come off of work just 30 minutes before it starts, so it's pretty good timing for me. I haven't contributed anything to the community yet (fanfics, drawings, etc.), I guess I might as well give this a try.
Scratch my previous comment. I work Saturday so I can't participate. Curse my schedule that I actually work weekends.
Gah. I didn't want to leave anypony out. You guys are making me feel terrible.
Whoops. Guess you can't please all of the people.
I booed, but if it's a time I can join, I will. If not, no sweat.
I'm in!
Fantastic to see the time and date changed. Now, for my next question... You say that I can "rest assured, there is no Trixie in there." Can I rest assured that none of the prompts explicitly PREVENT Trixie from appearing? That all the prompts are, in fact, Trixie-friendly?
@Cereal Velocity "Sometimes if you try pleasing everypony you often find yourself pleasing nopony, especially yourself."
I'll try.
@Cereal Velocity
If it's successful the first time, mayhaps it can go to multiple rounds in the future.
This really is a neat idea for the artistically impaired such as moi.
How about this, we all fraps our computer for a 2 hour period, and then we have to submit that with the fic as proof, and you give us a day to do it.... what? It's fool-proof.
@SIaanme
Points for you, sir-or-madam.
Ahhh crab apples, I'll be at work that entire time. Well I feel like writing something now, maybe publish it tomorrow.Figures this would get me motivated, a contest I can't enter.
@Cereal Velocity
It's alright Cereal, the people who will be around for the event will enjoy it a lot! I'd love to join in, but my schedule is so random I can't predict when I'll be around to do this particular event. So please, just pick a time and date when you think it'd be able to get as many people as you can in it, but also know you won't get everyone.
If you host the event again, I'd love to join it then as well, I'd certainly hope my schedule would be more accommodating to it as well.
So I know your event will be good because those who can participate will give it there all!
@Cereal Velocity
Well, I suppose it will just have to run more than once! :D
Actually back in the day, at least with anime fics, there were a lot of one hour challenges (or simply "one hour writing period" as it were). I even wrote one of my only fics in one of those.
As the writer of the most bats**t insane fanfic ever to be made for FiM, I can assure you that whatever the chosen plot is, I will make my story submission into something completely insane. This should help me get over my writers' block, too.
@Cereal Velocity No worries, it's impossible to accommodate everypony, what with the varying work schedules and all.
(Confound this work schedule, not being able to enjoy weekends like everypony else...)
DIAL C FOR CEREAL
Oh man, I'm so pumped for this for some reason. I'm not generally a good writer, more of an artist, but I can't turn down a crazy event like this, it's like a surprise bag!
Saturday at 6 P.M. PDT? But Cerial, that's 9 EST and I have to get up early on Sunday. Can't we do it earlier on Saturday? Pretty please? /whining
@Zarkanorf
You.
I have no idea who you are, but every time I see a comment by you, I laugh my ass off. I have never told you this, but I love you. Keep being awesome.
I don't want to come off as being cocky, but...
Challange Excepted!
Wo, Wait!!!!!
I'll be at BroNYcon on Saturday!!! D:
Yup, BroNYCon is right then! Which if it was a longer convention that would be awesome: we could have turned it into a panel. Unfortunately with us only having the venue space for 5 hours I don't want to spend 90-120 minutes of it writing when I could be rubbing up aga-- spending time with nice people. Curses!
@CupcakesNom
o.o....
I'll be sure that the security team keeps an extra close eye on you o3o
Hmm...I probably won't get home until about 7:30 or so (blog time) on Saturday...
Ah hell, I'll see if I can do something anyway. Cereal, I'm turning your two-hour challenge into a 30-minute one, I expect extra credit!
O_O Even with a time limit, I write adequate material. Let's see how unreadable a fanfiction of mine will be given only two hours to write it...
@FRiNKEL
Sorry. Correction. Even WITHOUT a time limit, I write adequate material. :P
Aw....I would so do this, but as a church youth leader, I have my responsibilities, oh well, look forward to seeing the results!
I'm definitely interested in this. But I am disappoint in the lack of Trixie.
Hopefully I'll actually be able to write something half decent.
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.
Now to find a place to hide myself when my unreadable fic gets posted.
I live in germany and I think I will acctually stay up for this at 3 am :)
Hurk, two hour time limit. I've never written anything fast in my life.
But, CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. For the ponies.
I... I'm going to try! It will suck, but I will try!
I think I'll do this. If I remember to.
Out of curiosity, how do we format the emails? Do we have to format them the same way we would for any other fan-fic?
Also, how strict are you going to be on the timing for this Cereal? Do we need to "synchronize our watches" so to speak, or will you give us a bit of lee-way if we're two minutes over?
thank heavens it's on a saturday cause that's my raid time! xD
As much as I love ponies it's bad for an element of loyalty to leave 24 other bronies/fillies hanging!
On that note I look forward to this as I haven't written much in a long time. I will try my best as this seems like great fun!
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFf
figures that i'll be working
That time effectively shuns us european bronies from entering the contest. I'd love to, but it'd be 3am to 5am here.
Maybe make 2 rounds 12 hours apart? That way we'd be able to join without difficulty.
@Kennet Brent
Ooooh, I concur! A second round 12 hours later would be wonderful! As a brony in South Korea, I'd really appreciate the chance to participate without having to wake up stupid-ass-early. :)
I'm waiting for Seth to come on, do another reverse psychology post on us and land us with Trixie again.
Buck you Seth.
Also, this is a good idea Cereal, to bad I have no idea when Pacific time on Saturday is, but if my calculations are correct, it's 9pm for me.
Saturday at 9 pm... I think I can do that.
I'll participate, even though my english sucks since I am from Germany. ;)
When is this in UST/GMT?
@Kennet Brent
Clearly you just don't love ponies enough to alter your sleep schedule. I didn't go to bed last night until 4 AM thanks to ponies.
I'm kidding (not about going to bed at 4 AM, though). That actually sounds like a cool idea.
Mostly because I'd be willing to stay up the 12 hours so that I could submit for both, though.
@Sind
In GMT, this starts 2am on Sunday. Rather awkward...
@Sind
Great breakdown on the timezones (for Americans at least).
http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/simpletime.html
I'll give it a shot, I guess, but I'll probably miss it. If worse comes to worse I'll type it directly on my phone...
But I've a question; would poetry be an acceptable submission or no?
I have a wedding that day, and there is also the MASSIVE Brony gathering in NYC at that time. x.x
There will be other events like this, of course- at different times. I didn't know this would be so well-received.
Also, note to self: put what you want written in B. Ponies always pick B.
@Anonymous
Actually, around there hours I'm helping newbies in Bronyville in Second Life, after having worked all day on the World of Tanks brony clans webpage and trying to finish another webpage for the Bronies, too...
Quite the pony-centered schedule I have, lately...
don'tbeshippingdon'tbeshippingdon'tbeshippingdon'tbeshippingdon'tbeshippingdon'tbeshippingdon'tbeshippingdon'tbeshippingdon'tbeshippingdon'tb~
Oh, hello.
I will try this.
And yes, I will try to force a plot in there somewhere...
Noon would have been so much nicer. I don't think I can stay away from this, though, it's the kind of challenge that's right up my alley!
@Cereal Velocity
Dammit, either Cereal is pulling a Seth or Seth hacked Cereals blogger account.
We're gonna end up with Trixie again T__T
You know, even if I can't be on when this happens, I'm still going to do the challenge on my own.
I'm goin' for it.
Time/date change, eh? Well 6pm pacific means 9pm eastern, so I'll be in the middle of Bridesmaidmania - where two dozen folks of various genders will be going on a pub crawl in tacky bridesmaid dresses - at that point. If I can get my hands on someone's phone that has internet access, a pub napkin, and a pen then I'll see what I can do! :)
I'd try this, but its from midnight till 2AM for me. I'll be up but anything remotely lucid at that time is... Unlikely.
I'd love to be involved in this, but I'm also in Europe and I've got work on Monday morning. Hope you do it again at another time!
Cereal posts Cupcakes plot.
+9000 LULZ
Can't participate on account of Midsummer, but I'm looking forwards to seeing what people can turn out in the span of two hours. :)
@Cereal Velocity
PROTIP: this applies to humans as well, and somewhat the reverse is true for tests.
See, since people have a tendency to take the middle entry, 'b' gets selected a lot on random lists (as is evident by our choices). Hence, on a test, 'b' will often not be the correct answer, since it is the one most likely chosen at random.
Then again, when A, B, C and D are available choices, 'C' seems to be the 'correct' one most of the time.
Aww man! This isn't gonna be until 9:00 for east coast bronies!
*calculates*
Gah! That's the middle of the night for me!
Welp, I'll try my best. If I'm awake.
Gave that B some votes. B's love votes.
Damn it, why do I have to be running lights for a play at this time?! WHY?!
Never writen under time pressure before, but I'll take a swing at it.
10 minutes till...
Hmmm.... nothing yet. Still on?
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