MagiStream

The 100 themes challenge is something that I've seen getting very popular among artists and writers these days.  In a nutshell, this challenge gives you one hundred prompts, and you have to write or draw something for each one, using the prompt as your central theme.

So I've decided to base a contest off of that.

Wait, you're asking me to write for one hundred  prompts?

No!  What's going to happen is that you'll pick five prompts from a huge list and write a story themed around them.
Now that I think about it, calling it '100 Themes' was kinda misleading.
The rest will be explained below...

NOTE: I did not create these prompts. They were created, to the best of my knowledge, by #100themes on DeviantArt, and used with their permission

Again, you only have to pick five of these.

o1. Introduction

o2. Complicated

o3. Making History

o4. Rivalry

o5. Unbreakable

o6. Obsession

o7. Eternity

o8. Gateway

o9. Death

o10. Opportunities

o11. 33%

o12. Dead Wrong

o13. Running Away

o14. Judgment

o15. Seeking Solace

o16. Excuses

o17. Vengeance

o18. Love

o19. Tears

o20. My Inspiration

o21. Never Again

o22. Online

o23. Failure

o24. Rebirth

o25. Breaking Away

o26. Forever and a day

o27. Lost and Found

o28. Light

o29. Dark

o30. Faith

o31. Colors

o32. Exploration

o33. Seeing Red

o34. Shades of Grey

o35. Forgotten

o36. Dreamer

o37. Mist

o38. Burning

o39. Out of Time

o40. Knowing How

o41. Fork in the road

o42. Start

o43. Nature's Fury

o44. At Peace

o45. Heart Song

o46. Reflection

o47. Perfection

o48. Everyday Magic

o49. Umbrella

o50. Party

o51. Troubling Thoughts

o52. Stirring of the Wind

o53. Future

o54. Health and Healing

o55. Separation

o56. Everything For You

o57. Slow Down

o58. Heartfelt Apology

o59. Challenged

o60. Exhaustion

o61. Accuracy

o62. Irregular Orbit

o63. Cold Embrace

o64. Frost

o65. A Moment in Time

o66. Dangerous Territory

o67. Boundaries

o68. Unsettling Revelations

o69. Shattered

o70. Bitter Silence

o71. The True You

o72. Pretence

o73. Patience

o74. Midnight

o75. Shadows

o76. Summer Haze

o77. Memories

o78. Change in the Weather

o79. Illogical

o80. Only Human

o81. A Place to Belong

o82. Advantage

o83. Breakfast

o84. Echoes

o85. Falling

o86. Picking up the Pieces

o87. Gunshot

o88. Possession

o89. Twilight

o90. Nowhere and Nothing

o91. Answers

o92. Innocence

o93. Simplicity

o94. Reality

o95. Acceptance

o96. Lesson

o97. Enthusiasm

o98. Game

o99. Friendship

o100. Endings

o1. First off: Follow all Magistream rules.  Including the set of ones specifically for the Tea House.  No content higher than PG-13.  No plagiarism.

o2. This bears repeating: No plagarism.

o3. For now, this thread is only for questions about the contest and/or announcing your intent to enter.

o4. If you are going to enter, please post here, even if it's just 'I'm entering kthxbye."  This is for me to keep track of how many people are entering.

o5. I will be making another thread for entries.  Again, do not post them here! The thread for entries can be found here.

o6. As mentioned above, you do not have to write for all 100 prompts.  You do, however, have to write for five of them.  You may pick any five.

o7. The deadline is May 25, 2012, 8:00 P.M. EST.  You have over three months to write five stories (as of Feb. 20), which I think is plenty of time.. The extended deadline for this contest is June 25, 2012, 8:00 P.M. EST.

o8. This contest is for short stories only.  No poetry will be accepted, simply because I want to see stories based around these prompts.

o9. As this is a contest for original works, please don't write fanfiction/scenes for a previously existing work.

o9. Stories must be in the range of one to three thousand words.  Have nine hundred?  Okay.  3,100?  That's fine, too.  Just don't write a novel.

o10. Please, please, please only enter your best work.  I don't mean for you to spend weeks stressing out, but don't throw something together in ten minutes either.

o11: I forget this one. I'll add it in later.

o12. Have fun!  This is just supposed to be a fun little contest to give you inspiration.  So have a great time writing them!

Currently, Symie, Crazyflight, and I are the only judges..  If you would like to help with the judging, PM me and I'll tell you the details.

What are you looking for in a winning entry?

Originality: Obviously, don't plagiarize.  More than that, I'm looking for something that hasn't been done before.  Did you twist the prompt in ways that I've never seen before?  Is it totally unique?

Creativity and artistic skill: This goes hand-in-hand with the requirement above.  More than that, it's about how well you can write.  I'm not looking for you to be Shakespeare, but here are the things that I'm looking for:
a. A strong beginning. Did the beginning line draw me in?  Do I want to keep reading?
b. Character voice.  Does your character have a clearly defined voice?
c. A good ending.  Did I feel happy/sad/[insert appropriate feeling here] at your ending?  If it's a cliffhanger, did it leave me wanting to read more?

Decent grammar and spelling skills.  At least try.  If this is a problem for you, try using MS Word or downloading Google Chrome and/or Firefox, both of which use spellcheck.

Prizes will be awarded for first - third place.

Currently trying to get these together.

First place: One unnamed, unfrozen Khatash: (Not hidden in trade, click at your own risk.) I have the Khatash and three Leviathans that are also used as prizes here.

Second place: Two bronze Crystalwings, courtesy of Fox. *hatching*

Third place: I will use 20k (hidden in a trade) to buy you any three shopworn creatures of your liking.

This is for me to keep track of the people who are planning to enter, the people who have one or more of their submissions completed, and the people who have completed their submissions.  Post here if you plan to enter.

emeralddawn: 0/5 themes completed.

Kestrad: 0/5 themes completed.

Fox: 0/5 themes completed.

BBkat: 0/5 themes completed.

Pumah: 0/5 themes completed.

TOrideleKeto: 0/5 themes completed.

BlueCherryPlur: 0/5 themes completed.

Morgaln: 0/5 themes completed.

ShaiNeko: 0/5 themes completed.

PhoenixFireDream: 0/5 themes completed.

Scottei: 0/5 themes completed.

wolfeyedangel: 0/5 themes completed.

Lunaheart: 0/5 themes completed.

Whelp, here's a list of the awesome people who helped me with his:

#100themes: The DA group that created the original list.  They allowed me to use their themes for this contest.

Fox: Where do I start...?  She helped me complete this contest; offered advice and honest opinions.  As I don not have a DeviantArt account, she was the one who messaged the group about using their list.  She also donated the Crystalwings.  Thanks so much!

Symie: For offering to become a judge. Thanks!

So...some questions that you guys'll probably have.  If I didn't answer them, leave your question here and I'll add it to the list.

Is this open?
No, not at the moment.  I'm still getting prizes together and making adjustments.  I'll let you know when it is, if you wish.

I love these themes!  May I write for all 100?
Of course you can!  I will not judge more than five, though.  If you write for all one hundred prompts, pick your best five.

Do you mean we write one story based around five themes, or five flash-fictions each based around one theme?
Five different stories based around five themes.

I want to be a judge!  What do I have to do?  Any qualifications?
PM me, and we'll take it from there.  The only qualification is that you have to be able to recognize a good story.  I know that there are some people who just are not good at writing, but love to read, and that's just fine.

Can I write for a prompt that someone else has already chosen?
Yes.  Everybody could choose the same five prompts and it would still be within the rules.

Where do I post my stories again?
Not here.  I'll be creating a separate thread.

What do I do with this thread, then?
Post here if you plan to enter so that I can keep track of the people who've completed their themes and those who haven't.
If you have any questions, post here as well.

Why do you have a FAQ?
Because it makes me feel special.

I have a question: Do you mean we write one story based around five themes, or five flash-fictions each based around one theme?

Also, I'm going to tentatively offer my participation. :)

emeralddawn wrote:I have a question: Do you mean we write one story based around five themes, or five flash-fictions each based around one theme?

Also, I'm going to tentatively offer my participation. :)

Oh, shoulda clarified that. Five flash-fictions based around five themes.
Adding that to my awesome FAQ in the morning.

Edit: Yay! I'll add you to the list in the morning.