• Writer's Training Grounds: "The Mane Attraction" Prompts / "The Hooffields and the McColts" Submissions


    Which of Coloratura's appearances do you like better? Pop star or plain pony?  I've seen both opinions these last few days.

    Time for our second-last writer's training grounds this season.  Get your prompts below!


    Applejack and Coloratura reminisce about their adventures at Friendship Camp.

    Coloratura is confident that even without Svengallop's help, her career will go on... right?


    The Writer's Training Grounds is a weekly writing exercise in which authors of all skill levels are invited to craft a story based on the prompts provided above. Responses to these prompts are posted directly on Equestria Daily in a weekly compilation post that bypasses the pre-reading process. Authors are then highly encouraged to read comment on, and promote each others' stories -- if you've ever prepared a copy-paste comment for an episode followup, consider doing the same for a fellow WTG participant!

    If you have any questions, concerns, or prompt ideas for next week's WTG, feel free to send them to pegasusrescuebrigade@equestriadaily.com with the subject line "WTG Prompt Idea" or something similar.

    Rules:
    • Keep the content appropriate as defined by our submission guidelines.
    • Keep it between 1,000 - 7,000 words. >Greentexts and doorstoppers should apply elsewhere!
    • Keep it to two genres maximum. For the roundup, fics will be grouped by their primary genre.

    When you finish working on your fic, use this form to submit it to the Training Grounds. However, we will require much of the same information as if you were submitting a regular fic as follows, and this document explains what these requirements are.

    1. Story title
    2. Author name
    3. Story description (~1 paragraph maximum)
    4. Word count
    5. Genre tags
    6. Character tags
    7. Story URL (must be hosted on FimFiction, GDocs, dA, etc.)
    8. Email address

    The deadline for submission is >>>Sunday, November 29th, at 11:59pm EST <<< (We're starting this one a day later than usual, so we're ending a day later too)

    As always, please continue to leave us feedback with what works well for these events, what's not working well, your general satisfaction with these, etc. etc. and so on. Now get writing!


    Normal/Slice of Life

    Slice of Life[Normal] - 6219 words

    Author: RainBohDah

    Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy are sent to the Smokey Mountains to prove their fluency in friendship. They are successful once again, but how long can the cease fire last between the families that have only known distaste for one another? Big Daddy McColt undergoes a massive strike to his ego several months after Princess Twilight and her friend completed their duty when his sister comes for a visit and sees for herself what has been happening to him all this time.

    Pride Makes a Kingdom

    Characters: Big Daddy McColt, Ma Hooffield, OC
    Shipping/Romance

    [Shipping][Normal] - 7049 words

    Author: Zeck

    Buzzy, Bow, and Bertha McColt have been sneaking out of their home for years and going to a small pond in the valley to wash up and just relax. No pony besides them knew about the spot, or at least Buzzy thought no pony else did. But one night, she finds an unfamiliar pony playing in her pond--and she seems to be using some weird, white liquid on her bushy mane. Written for EQD Writer's Training Grounds "The Hooffields and McColts."

    Making Fire and Using Shampoo

    Characters: OC Buzzy McColt, OC Lucky Barrel Hooffield, 
    Romance - 2870 words

    Author: AlwaysDressesInStyle

    Since their discovery generations ago the Smokey Mountains of eastern Tenneighsee have been the exclusive domain of the Hooffields and the McColts. Very few ponies are crazy enough to venture into and risk becoming collateral damage in the war between the two clans. As a result, each successive generation has found it just a little bit harder to find a special somepony. And then one fine spring day Daisy May McColt found her true love in Gaitlinburg... ...Too bad he's a Hooffield.

    Sometimes (We Are All We Got)

    Characters: Daisy May McColt, White Lightning Hooffield, Big Daddy McColt