Writing For Themed Contests

[Chicklet]

Does anyone else have a problem being told what they're s'posed to write? In school when the "creative" writing teachers gave me an assignment, it was always "Okay, you're a man sitting on a bench. Write." and that always freaked me out. I need a clean slate, and to some extent to not know what's going on until I create it.

Themed contests are so much fun, and I really want to participate. But every time I try to start writing, it seems that I'm hampered by the fact that I have to write with the theme. Sure, I have a ton of freedom to decide on whatever subject I want, whichever characters I want to do what, but it seems that any guidance turns me off.

Anyone have any suggestions for getting over hurdles? My writers block just seems to keep making excuses for its own existance.

-Chicklet

 

[Cybotic]

Wordplay

I used to have a real problem with that myself, but my brother and I developed writing exercises that helped a lot. One of us would take a notebook and write four to six words on it. The words were always of relatively uncommon usage. Then the notebook would be passed to the other, who would try to write a short story that contained those words. The challenge of coming up with hard-to-use words was almost as much fun as writing a story around them. Eventually, you can teach yourself to incorporate particular characters, themes or concepts.

Other ways of getting past that kind of block are to choose a well-developed character from some other source and write a story about that character. You could also choose a title for your story before it's written, or have someone else choose it.

If you want to try the first method, write a story around these words:
Origami
Metallurgy
Octagon
Catapult

 

[Cybotic]

I read about a contest once held for a whole group of successful science fiction authors. A title was chosen and given to them and they each had to write an appropriate story. The results were compiled into a book and sold. I only ever read the Asimov version. It was re-published in a collection of his own stories. I don't remember the story title, but I always remembered the game.

 

[oggbashan]

Practise

The only way to be sure that you can do it to order is to practise writing to a theme even if you are sure you can't do it.

No matter how bad the attempts are, you will see what you can do and how to get better.

Og

 

[openthighs_sarah]

You could just write whatever you want, and then after you're done, go back and add something to make it fit the theme. For instance, if it's supposed to be a Halloween story, just end the story with one character saying to the other, "I completely forgot that today was Halloween." Then they both laugh and go back to their incestuous spanking or whatever.

I know what you mean about being unable to actually write on demand like that. I think the solution is to always be the one to suggest the themes in the first place.

 

[Sabledrake]

I like having an assigned theme for short stories. It's difficult for me to write something that doesn't want to turn into a novel. Having a set theme helps me stay focused and keep to a word limit. I don't often write short stories just for the sake of short stories. But when I see a call for submissions with a theme, I generally find I can come up with something.

That said, I must confess I haven't particpated yet in any of the Lit contests. Usually because I have so many irons in the fire that I don't have the time to suddenly add a new one. I hope to, since many of the themes have looked like fun.

Sabledrake

 

[gauchecritic]

Look up the durtgurl story about the submarine surprise or somesuch. Not only does it manage to be eligible for every holiday contest it also gives insight in how to apply this to your own stories.

Gauche

 

[MathGirl]

Look up the durtgurl story about the submarine surprise or somesuch. Not only does it manage to be eligible for every holiday contest it also gives insight in how to apply this to your own stories.

"Mom's Submarine Anal Birthday Surprise" truly was a masterpiece. I won't tell who wrote it, but it wasn't me.
MG

Ps. It was Dr M.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Listen to Gauchecritic. The contests--at least the holiday contests--are a joke.

Have them meet at an Xmas party and you've got an entry for the Xmas context. Make it a Ecology rally and you've got an earth day entry. A Halloween party... you get the idea. And that's no exaggeration. The entires have nothing more to do with the holidays than that. It's just silly.

Otherwise, I'm with you Chicklet. I hate contests and I hate challenges. It always seems to me that when you write something, you should pull out all the stops and let it go wherever it will.


---dr.M.

 

[Uther_Pendragon]

Chicklet says that she has a hangup, and my only honest
is that I don't share that particular one. As a matter
of fact, I *like* the challenge of *some* restrictions.
(OTOH, I didn't even try the Snippetieville universe --
the sort of restrictions I don't like.)
Once an author on ASSD complained about an odd piece of
fan mail (sound familiar?) the reader had taken her to task for not
mentioning contraception in a story of casual sex. She said
something like "I can't start a story with 'I'm five-feet
four and on the pill.'" In the same post, she asked "does
anyone have any insights on the problems of utilitarianism?"
(She was a college student at the time -- this was a paper
she had been assigned.) Now the major utilitarian
philosophers were Jeremy Bentham, his acolyte James Mill,
and James son, John Stuart Mill. So I started my story
"Problems of Utilitarianism" with "Johanna Mill was five
feet four and on the pill." (I had to change John's sex;
having a man on the pill would have been weird.)

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Wait a minute. Writing contests, Chicklet, the pill, utilitarianusm, a story about utilitarianism.

There's something I'm missing here.


---dr.M.

 

[gauchecritic]

"Johanna Mill was five
feet four and on the pill." (I had to change John's sex;
having a man on the pill would have been weird.)

If you consider that John Stuart managed to get drunk on half a pint of shandy and be particularly ill, then there's no wonder he wasn't on the pill.

(prizes available for how much more obscure that reference could possibly be)

Gauche

 

[MathGirl]

There's something I'm missing here.---dr.M.

Dear Dr M,
If you find it, please share it with me. I don't have a clue as to what that was all about.

Wasn't John Stuart Mill supposed to have had the all time highest IQ? I know that was before testing, but it was an estimate.
MG

 

[KillerMuffin]

Blah, who cares about IQ. I think you're smarter than John Stuart Mill, MG. Or at least you pack more brain power per ounce!

I'm a writer. Working within restrictions has never been a problem for me. "Writing freedom" isn't something I consider necessary anymore than having the editor contact me if s/he decides to make changes after purchase or accepting my work (I get angry, but I get over it).

Quite frankly, a lot of the attitudes I see from writers in their author's notes and here baffle me sometimes. Then I remember that this is porn spawned from alt.sex newsgroups and frequently stolen by porno sites. Then I shrug my shoulders and move on.

 

[MathGirl]

Blah, who cares about IQ. I think you're smarter than John Stuart Mill, MG. Or at least you pack more brain power per ounce!

Doubt that. I probably top out at about comfortable room temperature (Celcius).
MG

Ps. duhhh

 

[Whispersecret]

I've found the restrictions to be good for my writing. They challenge me to go beyond my first instincts, which are sometimes cliche. (That's assuming that my latter instincts aren't cliche!) My natural inclination is to BE DIFFERENT. So, in the holiday contests (I've only competed in one.) and the chain stories (2) I find myself thinking about what other people are doing, and then trying to really go beyond or in a completely different direction.

Sometimes complete freedom of creativity is like when I have a gigantic project I have to do and I don't know where to start, so I end up doing nothing.

 

[Alex De Kok]

Originally posted by Whispersecret <snipped> Sometimes complete freedom of creativity is like when I have a gigantic project I have to do and I don't know where to start, so I end up doing nothing.

Yup!

Alex

 

[MathGirl]

Yup!

Dear Alex,
I never cease to be astonished at the brilliance and brevity of your comments.
MG

 

[wildsweetone]

interesting topic Chicklet.

i have a perverse natural feeling to go against any rules/regulations/boundaries with my writing (hell, with life too). i loathe being put in a box and told to play within its walls only.

perhaps it's a feeling akin to WhisperSecret's 'be different' feeling. whatever it is, it's actually helped open my eyes to learning more writing skills than i ever dreamed i'd learn.

i don't write stories on specific request, mainly because when i have done this in the past, my version of the story has ended up nothing like the version requested.

i haven't entered the Literotica competitions because i don't want to have my stories voted on by someone who thinks my nickname makes them horny... and nope, i'm not changing my nick on here.

on writing to themes, have you tried brainstorming single words on the theme you can think of within a two minute time span and then offshooting from each of those until you come across an idea that piques your interest?

 

[Uther_Pendragon]

Wait a minute. Writing contests, Chicklet, the pill, utilitarianusm, a story about utilitarianism.

There's something I'm missing here.


---dr.M.

The connection was a challenge. The innocent comment of
another author gave me a challenge. (Write a story
involving utilitarianism and starting with the statement
that the heroine was on the pill.) Now, she didn't *mean*
to give me a challenge, but that's another question.
Some people enjoy challenges, some abhor them.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Okay, here's my challenge: write me a porn story involving neo-Platonism and resevoire-tip condoms. Someone wake up DurtGurl.

Just kidding, Uther.

There are contests and there are contests. (I think John Stuart Mill said that) The fact is, that people come here to read porn, not to read stories about Arbor Day, and porn is what they seem to vote on. From my admittedly limited experience with Lit contests, all I learned was that the story submitted right before the deadline has the best chance of winning, because the one-bombing has pretty much stopped. Anyhow, that's how it seemed to me.

And I wonder about the value of an 'excercise' that forces you to distort your natural writing style out of all recognition just to meet the contest's demands. The worst contests seem to do that. (Remember the guy who wrote an entire novel without using the lettewr 'E' just to show that it could be done?)

I too have that urge to disobey rules or be different just for the hell of it. I even know a name for that: thigmotaxis. Thigmotaxis is a term from neurology/psychology that describes the reflex of some organisms to resist a shove by shoving back. If you press against a dog, for example, the dog will press back against you. If you press against a cat however, the cat just kind of melts away. The dog's reaction is thigmotactic.

The same way, you put pressure on people and they press back against you just for the hell of pressing back against you.

Okay: Neo-Platonism and resevoire-tipped condoms. In 500 words or less.

---dr.M.

 

[DurtGurl]

Bonus nockers

Hiya, Dr M,
We missed you; high and to the right. How was the trippe?
DG
Ps. I caint inter your contest because I doant know what its about.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

The trippe was great. Take a tip from me though: leave your assault weapons home when you try and get on the plane! (Same goes for your illegal drugs.) These feds have absolutely no sense of humor.

I thought you might like to know, DG, that back when I was a bwah, smegma was also affectionately known as "dick cheese" or "penis butter". However, since as a member of the tribe of Abraham,I am neatly de-foreskinated, you'll have to look elsewhere for your foreskin feta.

Congrats on the latest opus as well. I'll finish it as soon as the dramamine kicks in.

---dr.M.

 

[DurtGurl]

Just what the Dr ordered

Congrats on the latest opus as well. I'll finish it as soon as the dramamine kicks in.

Dear Dr M,
I consider 'Me and Mom' the finest work in my short but tawdry carear. The howls of indignation Ive recieved make it all worthwhile.

We at the Group are expecting a few verses from you for the upcoming piece of epic poultry, "The Sons of Onan."

DG

 

[Svenskaflicka]

*boasting*

I've been through several courses in creative writing. They gave us special assignments, like "write an exciting story in no more than 500 words" or "write a 30-lines long poem where EVERY line rhymes witht he first one".

I find restrictions like that are challenging. It forces me to use my brain to extremes in order to find clever and not far-fetched solutions.