Here's a gif of those Firey guys everyone hates, if you want better memes you'll have to post them yourself
Ok, let's do this thing. I will try to be Jay unless Jay shows up or until we vote on a different Jay.
IT IS TIME FOR SUMMER SEKRET SUMMER SOMETHING 2020: THE SUMMER THAT SEKRET FORGOT, BUT WE'RE STILL THINKING OF A BETTER NAME.
What is SSSS2020:STSF,BWSTOABN; heretofore shortened to Summer Sisyphus?Summer Sisyphus is the smaller, looser cousin of AW's yearly winter Sisyphus event, started two years ago by JA Rama. It's a fun way to stretch your writing muscles in mid-summer and generally pal around and have a righteous time.
HOW IT WORKS
1. All participants will choose three prompts
2. At the end of the submission period, we will vote on said prompts.
3.The top three prompts will be revealed and we will write stories.
4. Typical writing fun followed by deadline glum and then guessing fun.
5. Stories will be shared and disseminated in some manner, via the magic of the Interwebz.
RULE STUFF
Mostly just Jay's rules from last year, we can discuss finer points but I think things like 'Please Communicate' and 'We're All Adults But Please No Bigotry' are good rules. Also, if you beta for someone, please don't guess their story. Some joker did this last year and he ended up winning the Guessination, but his reputation was in tatters and he got dragged mercilessly for it.
1. To sign up, you must post in this thread during the sign-up period with your prompts. You may post up to 3 prompts. If you wish to serve as a beta for this challenge, please include that. You must also rep me with your email and some form of 'word is bond' that you agree to these rules, and at some point I will get myself organized and make a list of the participants.
2. Please do not submit overly long, specific, or detailed prompts. Different people work differently, so it is courteous to leave wiggle room to allow for differences of genre and style.
3. You can only vote on a prompt if you are a participant.
4. Signing up with a prompt and a rep with your email, and then voting on a prompt, is a commitment to participate. [Kevin] Will [impotently sulk at you] For Voting And Then Not Participating.
5. You may only vote once. To vote, rep [Kevin] with up to 3 favorite prompts. The top 3 will be selected for the competition. You may only vote for up to (1) of your own prompts. Please do not use all 3 of your votes on your own prompts.
5b. Each participant will have a total of five votes to allocate between the three prompts, so that if you have one (or two) prompts you particularly like you can weigh it using additional points.
6. You may write your story using any combination of the Three Chosen Prompts that you want. Bonus, if any of the other prompts catches your eye, you are welcome to throw them in as well! LET THE CHAOS REIGN!
7. PLEASE COMMUNICATE if something comes up. I realize that life gets busy/crazy/stressful. I am certainly willing to work with you in that case, but please don't make me hunt you down. If you ghost without a word, it delays the guessing thread for everyone, and we don't want that, do we?
8. You must submit your story by emailing it to me in .PDF, .DOC, or .DOCX format OR a Google Docs link. All content will still belong to you. Along with your story, please provide an excerpt of about 200 words for the Guessing Thread. You can format your doc however you'd like, but please be sure you include any content or trigger warnings at the top of your story as necessary.
9. Once every story has been guessed, you may request to read other people's stories or share your own. You can share in the formats mentioned above (usually those are easiest for everyone) or a Google Docs link. Sharing a link means that people can download your doc to their Kindle or other e-reader to read offline, which is allowed for ease of reading, especially for those without constant internet access. However, all content belongs to the original writer! No sharing with anyone outside of this group without the written permission of the author. If a lurker wants to read someone's story and emails them, it's up to that individual whether they want to share with someone who isn't playing. If you are not comfortable sharing your story, you absolutely do not have to.
10. If you beta a story, or are otherwise aware of who wrote what story before the guessing opens, you are not allowed to guess that story in the Guessing Thread.
11. We know you guys are all Mature Adults (TM), but please play nice. Hatred, flaming, bigotry, and intolerance will not be tolerated.
12. Special Request: Please include any appropriate content or trigger warnings for violence, explicit sex, any other phobias, etc. Thank you.
12b. It is a *really* difficult time in many people's lives right now. I have total, unyielding trust in this community's ability to respect each other's sensitivities. I also love writing about gross, pessimistic, horrifying stuff, and plan to this year. But I am going to humbly suggest that if you are covering certain subjects [eg. plague, generational trauma, the collapse of civilization] then that's a good thing to mention in your content warning.
Schedule
July 17: Close date for sign-ups.
September 25th: Story deadline followed by Guessination
Personal note: Both Sisyphus and its newer summer cousin are super-special to me. They've been endlessly fun, challenging, and a great way to make friends. Every time I do one I feel like I level up my writing and find new ways to experiment with ideas I've had. It might be a small one this year and I'm going by the seat of my pants, but I hope everyone can have a great time & PLEASE let me know if you have any suggestions/idea/opinions on how this should be run.
Participants of Glory
1) Woollybear
2) Kinokonoronin
3) Sue77
4) Eyeblink
5) Brightdreamer
6) Shortstorymachinist
7) Ajaye
8) Jaymz Connelly
9) Friendly Frog
10) SarahSciTops
11) Albedo
12) Norman Mjadwesch
13) Coddiwomple
14) AnnieColleen
15) Armgrab
16) Blinkk
17) Dredd Pirate Rabbits
18) Kjbartolotta
*plz let me know if I miss anyone, the site can be laggy when editing and I distracc easily.
Betas
Kjbartolotta
SciSarahTops- No violence/gore
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