StoryMash Creative Storytelling Forum

Hi all of you mashers!

As the SM team prepares for the launch of the seventh contest, we wanted to see what you all thought about having a specific theme or genre for this contest. Since the past two contests have had a mystery/horror/almost sci-fi feel, what would you like for this contest to be like? Drama? Romance? Comedy? Spill it!

I'm good in the scifi genre. Horror is difficult for me though, and mystery starts to stump me if I'm trying to do one of the middle/ending chapters.

I like fractured fairy tales. Family situation could be interesting (or an "after school special").

Let's go with fantasy/speculative fiction, since that's the genre of the chapter I've almost finished. XD

:P If we're going to cheat like that, then I've got a chapter nearly done in the scifi-esque genre.

The vibe I get from Katrina's post is that they're trying to steer this contest away from speculative fiction which has already been done twice and seems to be the natural tendency of this crowd. I love spec. fic., but I can see why they'd want to have other flavors too.

Comedy would be interesting, as there have been a few comedic stories that were quite good. Though I'm not sure if I want to give my vote for comedy since I can see Beanpole and Nash winning at least one chapter each already...

I vote something off the wall - something that the majority of us find challenging to write. It is a contest and so shouldn't be easy. Also, this way we will expand our creative horizons and become better writers.

Ideas: Children’s fiction, historical fiction, faction.

We could also take a somewhat different approach and leave the genre open and have the story require different elements of writing such as alliteration, dialogue, action, certain character types, allegory, metaphor, connotation, etc. It could also require certain random words be used. There are so many options to choose from and any combination would be a challenge and something judges could look for when grading.

JD, I like the historical fiction idea. Either choose a real historical figure and write a fictional story or choose an era of history and create fictional characters. That way, the authors can add various elements specified by the SM team, be they comedic, romantic, allegoric, or alliterative, while staying true to the time period.

Another suggestion is to not suggesta genre, but write a chapter where one of the main characters is an inanimate object.

LOL... go to the thread "branching out"... find out which genre is most uncomfortable and pick that one.

Think it may be romance, but I haven't done a statistical analysis of it.

I suggest something along the True Crime alleyway. I haven't done that yet, I think.

I like the idea of going through an historic fiction or something to do with the dark ages or the Renaissance since those are two things that I could really milk.

Totally go with the history lesson. I love the idea of taking one historical figure, lets say Cleopatra, and making certain fictional events happen in her life. Maybe she was a secret lesbain? Or had a bad limp? Or she actually prefered dogs? Hmmmm......lol
I think it would be really neat and challenging. There's not alot of history, factional or fictional, posted here. It's new and different.

Hey Katrina, just throwing this out there so don't laugh!
Maybe.......uh......like a story through and animal's eyes. Or something.
You know, everything we have told has been through a human's perceptive, why not try something else?
Ever seen, "Bug's Life" or "Nemo"?

Much as I would like to do sci-fi/fantasy/horror, I agree, it's become almost cliched. Go on, surprise us. Make it something light-hearted.

In my opinion historical fiction is a really really good idea. It is a very challenging genre to work with, since you have to knowlegde and facts right when working with it.

I'm a history buff myself, so historical fiction will absolutely rock my world.

I want you all to know that I have so many things I want to really to each of you with, but I'm restraining myself until I make a decision :) You'll just have to sit tight and wait patiently (or not so patiently)...

I think, if doing historical fiction, we could pick some mysterious thing that happened in the past, and hasn't really been explained or nobody knows what really happens. Then we could take the basic facts that people know and do whatever we wanted with the,

Personal opinion on this end of the historic fiction line... how about each of us pick our own figure to write about and see who gets the best chapter. I have some amazing figures that I'm studying this year for World History and there's amazing story lines running through my head for each of them. That way none of us feel restricted in entering this contest. (just an opinion you don't have to take me serious if you don't want to;))

Themes or no themes...does it really matter? Here's what I feel: if the moderation rules that a contest will be on Historical Fiction (which will be very hard to mash,) Comedy (also very hard,) etc. The mashers are bound to follow the guidelines of the moderator likewise if the moderator rules that the contest will be about a dog named Toto dancing through the rain in Africa. Mashers will write on that topic.

Pick a topic the Mashers will follow.

It would be interesting to see a well-defined contest with very specific rules to see how the mashers engage the challenge. Anyone up to writing a 2nd person, iambic pentameter, who-done-it, mystery in 12th century Moorish Spain?

Awww, I was hoping for third person omniscient or first person prescient.

Anyone read Caleb Carr's historical fiction? He did an especially good one called 'The Alienist' involving Teddy Roosevelt seeking out a serial killer, & it played out as a very mysterious, while historically interesting piece.

I'd say Childrens's fiction because that can be some really inspiring stuff as well as sad stuff and I haven't seen much of that. Most stuff is really mature.

Historical fiction could also be really really good because there are so many events that could be played out or changed to make it interesting. I'd say one of those two.

My goodness, so many different opinions....in the end the, after all of this, the topic will probably be something like a research paper on the cellular structure of grubs (this is not at all interesting, at least in my opinion, but it was the only topic I could really think of that hadn't been mentioned yet...)

Historical fiction would be quite fun to write, but I don't know how having 5 people write different chapters would work. I guess it would work, just a lot of work :P

I like myster, or mysterious fictishery, or any other kind of dark thriller type story. Anything's fine with me (just not any Jane Austen stuff)

How about diary entries? Just a brainstorm, I don't even know if I like the idea yet or not

I also want to throw another idea out there.
What about Greek Mythology? Or something along the lines of that. It's historical fantasy, so all the folks wanting something to do with history will be happy.
Or....another idea. We could do something like "The Devinci Code". Conspiracy therories galore! lol A little bit of mystery, add some facts, throw in some history, and BAM! lol

LOL do we get to fictionalize historical events as much as Davinci Code did? :D

Why the f'n not?

Historical fiction doesn't have to be about a key figure in history. It could be about fictitious characters in a specific time. I.e. someone writes from the perspective of a prostitute during the time of Jack the Ripper, or someone writes about the Hebrew slaves before the time of Moses, or what about an Oregon trail style story. I'm not sure if I'm all for historical fiction - I just threw it out there as an idea. However, if it is chosen, the genre isn't as difficult to mash as some might think.

Funny you mention that - I was actually thinking of writing a story about Mary Jane Kelly, told from her perspective the night she died. Considering she was the Ripper's last, and most mutilated victim, I thought there might be an interesting story there.

Your right JD. Fictitous characters would be great. Hercules, Robin Hood- Robin of Locksley, Saint Nick? lol, on that last one! Oh, ok I should probably shut up on this subject now! lol

I like love stories (LOL, i no, i no LOL) any way, i like fiction, mystery, suspensful....well every thing i write i try to add suspence

I think history would be interesting!
HOW ABOUT HISTORY/DRAMA?
THAT WOULD BE DIFFERENT, RIGHT?

History/Drama would be different. I would do one surrounding the stories of Anastasia Romanov, who it was rumoured survived the murder of her family.

I have been in a comedy mood lately, but the historical fiction sounds interesting, too.

History/Comedy???

Let's do a contest...MEMENTO STYLE. BAM! Last chapter is first, climax, conclusion, everything. Then we work backwards. HOW CRAZY IS THAT?

Oh Cheese.....only you could come up with something like that! lol

That's a cool idea!

OH! Do the, through an animal's eyes, thing! That would be so creative and adventurous! You'd really have to get down and creative on the one! Good idea DKK. But 'Ants' or 'Monster's Inc.' would have been a better example, I think! LOL

Could do a combo thing - Children's fiction through the eyes of an animal placed in a historical setting. A horse during the civil war, a whale watching the titanic sink, Cleopatra's dog... there are possibilities galore.

LOL - hilariously bizarre idea! I kinda like it :)

Hey, that's a great idea too, and we could incorporate Cheese Momento Style idea.

Did you ever read those childhood books- one called "Ben and me" was a bio of ben Franklin through the eyes of a mouse that lived in his house- i think there was a Paul revere bio by his horse? clever with lots of kid appeal

Ok I'm going to do something that I don't do very often for the sake of my work...BEG! Please, please, please, please, please, can we do historic fiction because i just came up with the best idea in the world! (Well for me that is) And I'd give anything to do it... I'd be willing to give up the money on my account (even though it's not much) to do this theme!

Oh! JD! You are freakin' brillant! A horse during the civil war! Awesome idea! Or a mouse on Columbus's ship, or Hitler's bird.......wow, so many different stuff to do.
If this doesn't get picked up, me and you need to totally collaborate together.

LadyV, you crack me up...... if you're desperate to share, e-mail your idea. I'll give you my sage feedback as usual. lol

Thanks! I would love to collaborate.

How about a contest that alternates genres? Have everyone post the first chapter and the winner is selected as usual with voting. If it turns out being say, a Horror chapter, then for however long the contest lasts, no one else can write a Horror themed chapter. Round two people can submit any genre they want, as long as it is not Horror. So say, the chapter two winner continues the chapter one theme with a Romance theme. Etc. etc.
If you think about it, most decent works of fiction incorporate many aspects of all genres anyway. A good horror story or sci-fi story should have some mystery and romance in it.
Or you could also dump like 6 genres in a hat and then pull them out and assign them a chapter number. This way the chapters are already designated with a genre. Then those that love to write a specific genre would know exactly which chapter they were planning on writing. They could sit back and do their planning.
I think this would be a great workshop for writers not to mention it adds an extra challenge as you not only have to continue the storyline, but do it with a different or specific genre theme.
Thanks-

Sort of like Choose-your-own-adventure?

What happens if the winning chapter is about a cartoon robot that falls in love with a teenage vampire from the 13th century and they decide to rob a bank on Centauri-6 in order to fund research to stop the imminent destruction of their home planet?

Lets just do a Children's story theme and get this thing started!

Yeah, where exactly IS the contest?

How about a unique version of a fairy tale either modern day or alternative ending/ viewpoint? or has that been done too much?

I scanned through all of these ideas and I'm impressed with the variety. My vote? I like the 'momento' theme/idea- in whichever genre. Begin with the end - work our way backward.
You guys came up with some brilliant stuff, though! Really creative. ;)

Kind of like a 'Twilight Zone' thing huh? Yeah, it was a good idea. But what about your ideas? I know your vote and all, but give us another choice! ;)

By the way, where is Kung-fu? lol

I actually like the idea of pick whatever you want then the winning chapter decides the genera

I know, I know--I'm ready to get it up and going as well, but we're finalizing some extra options (such as the opt-in) that are necessary before we can start the first round.

Patience, my little grasshoppers.

Ultimate challenge - the best story written in any genre - the catch: Can't use a certain letter anywhere in the story. Letter chosen by judges and changes with each additional chapter. I.e. chapter one no one can use the letter F, chapter two no one can use the letter M. Final chapter is the ultimate of the ultimate challenge - can't use the vowel U.

I like it alot. Good idea.

I love it! We can also mix it up with punctuation: i.e. a chapter without periods, or commas, or quotation marks. Or how about a chapter where every sentence is written in the form of a question?

I could just cut and paste from my journals in that case. Hmmm... maybe I could win.

Heh, you haven't seen mine, synny.

What about starting with a chapter from a well-known story? Start with the first chapter from Cinderella or Catcher in the Rye or something? And then see what new directions people can take it in?

That might be a copyright issue, seeing as how money will be involved.

Ah, fair enough - good point.

Hey all! Check out Twitter.com/storymash for new info.
-HoneyG:)

Coool! Now what? All it said on Twitter was the contest theme is Historical Fiction. How many chapters? Or is it a complete story? Info, info, we need more info, honeychile! lol.

It'll be chapters definitely, but I'm not sure how many. Better get working on your opening chapter so you're all ready to post when the contest opens (and no, I don't know when that will be:p).
*giggle* I might have to change my name.. honeychile, I like it!

Do we know how much longer? I'd like to be able to gauge how quickly and how much I can write before the grand openning.

Well, you can always just start now. If the contest is a few weeks away you can be done and all set to be the first to post. :)

I'm still waiting on an exact date. I'll let you all know as soon as I hear!

Sweet! I can post that piece now!!!!

HISTORICAL FICTION!!! Definitely! Something about the holocaust! (no real reason, just my opinion ^^) I've never entered one of these contests before, so i don't know how it works...but i wanna learn!

KATRINAAAAAA!!!!!

So come on now! When, where (okay not that one obviously), WHAT, and why (yay, not that one either...)

8 months and counting, since the next contest has been in the chute. Have we passed the point of no return?

Considering that the SM owners can't afford to keep their "workers", honeygloom and katrina....they certainly can't afford another contest.

Too bad..but, that's the way it is (I believe).

I agree with Kingdom1990. It should be children's fiction. I'm really good at that. And it really gives the creative mind a good workout! I would love it if the theme was children's fiction!

Guys--I am still working with StoryMash. The next contest is on hold until I let you know anything else.

I hope you're all doing well.

hope it comes soon!