Writer's Workshop 3: The Wrath of Mer!

yes folks… you read that correctly…

:mega: I’m bringing sexy the workshop back! :mega:

:confetti_ball: :astonished: :clap: :tada: now, one does not simply [s]walk into Mordor[/s] "reopen the workshop"... this will take some careful planning and cunning execution... however, given that I will be at the helm, we'll settle for moderately acceptable planning and passable execution... :sweat_smile:

as with the last re-launching, I do want to get some feedback from the community… what are your thoughts on how we can handle the competition this time around?

should we try for an entirely new approach to the format? should we stick with what “worked” from the previous competitions? let me know! :smiley:

ok folks, looking forward to getting this one off the ground once more… and I think we’ll see even more impressive contributions this time around, as the discourse has attracted an even larger audience of writers! :+1:

onward!


round one is underway!

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We need more people with titles, it has to be said. (Nudge nudge)

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Hmm. Today just became unexpectedly interesting for me.

Not very sure how we should do it this time around, I’m fine with either the original format or trying some new things. Are we still shooting for stories that can be turned into usable lore for that community mod you mentioned, @SteveAdamo? If not, we could try and shape it around the community’s playing experience or interpretations:

1. Craft a story around ‘X’ number of provided screenshots.
This might be a little work-intensive, just because we’d need someone to play a game beforehand and create snapshots and THEN a whole slew of people to write based on what they see. As for length…maybe 100-200 words per screenshot?

2. Take ‘X’ pictures of your OWN game, but it must achieve a certain goal/follow a certain premise.
We’re starting to get to the point where people’s games will be taking different directions and we’d be getting some diversity in the submitted stories. If the instructions are “Settle on the first and second tiers of mountains, but your farms and pastures must be on grass”, there’s some different ways it can be approached: Does the player mine and settle only in caves? Do they have houses and roads? Do they make an interior tunnel that leads to their farms, which could be surrounded by fences or walls to deter the goblin horde?

Granted, this latter idea may be more suited for a different, more gameplay-intensive workshop. If there’s a way to inject enough goal-oriented storytelling, though, it could be a neat way to diversify the weekly or monthly activities.

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I’ve been waiting impatiently for this :smiley:

I didn’t join the last one, so not much I can say here. I personally would rather a new format, but I wouldn’t mind either way.

That would be me I think :blush:

Great ending for a post :slight_smile:

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I like to write, so however you would like to prompt said writing will, I’m sure, be fine with me :slight_smile: . That being said, I’m not a fan of the required gameplay concept @Atralane suggested. Just sounds like it would be a lot more playing than it would be writing.

Now that I’m thinking about it, I would recommend that the writing be centered around short writing. I’ve been gone for a while, so maybe this has changed, but in my experience voting is always at a maximum when the people voting can read the entries in around a minute. Too much longer and you lose said readers/voters. Makes for a sad competition.

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A small problem with @Atralane’s idea is that not everyone will have the game.

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Seems to me we have an exactly appropriate amount of titles… ( :arrow_upper_left: ) :laughing:

Lies and heresy!

On my screen at least, that post doesn’t have the title by my name…poetic justice I guess :unamused:

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Uh take your time, still trying to wrap up my book - Here is hoping for a January release :stuck_out_tongue:

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[quote=“SteveAdamo, post:1, topic:9505”]:mega: I’m brining sexy the workshop back! :mega:
---------------------------------------------------------------[/quote]
Brining? Are we writing sea shanties now?

Sorry @SteveAdamo, couldn’t resist :wink: .



More seriously now, consider not centring it around Stonehearth itself - if someone has a different short story or piece they want to show or get comments on, I say let 'em.

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congratulations! you guessed the theme for the first round of the competition! :smile: :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

[quote=“Teleros, post:11, topic:9505”]
consider not centring it around Stonehearth itself
[/quote] indeed… I like the idea of more “open” competitions…

there obviously has to be some sort of central idea in order to have something to compare/contrast… but I do think the story itself doesn’t necessarily have to be in the SH setting…

Just vary it week by week (or whatever) IMHO. Maybe we start out with explorers in week one, then a space battle in week two, a speech (and response) in week three…

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Indeed that would challenge the writer’s to be creative :slight_smile:

bump! has any progress been made?

interesting you should ask… I was waiting to see just how much community “buzz” this would generate…

I wasn’t blown away, but I do think there’s enough interest to kick this thing off… send me a PM (if you don’t mind) and I will try to get something started tomorrow… :+1:

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ok folks… its “tomorrow”, so let’s do this thing! :smile:

in the interest of K.I.S.S., and given the recent additions to combat in SH, I think the “theme” for this first round should be conflict


Rules
we’re keeping it super simple this time folks… quicker “rounds” (which translates into shorter windows to write/vote) in the hopes that the pace will help improve the participation:

  • in 350 words or less, tell a tale of conflict/struggle as it relates to the SH setting (goblin attacks on a settlement, etc.)
  • 5 days to submit your story (deadline to enter this first round is Sunday, Feb 1st)
  • 3 days to vote (deadline to vote on entries for this first round is Wednesday, Feb 4th)

Rewards
as per usual, custom titles will be handed out for those that place in the top three positions (after all the “rounds” of this workshop have been completed)… as well as (potentially) some Steam swag… :wink:


as an example of the 350 word threshold/requirement, here’s an example entry:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer at tellus justo. Ut aliquet rutrum ex. Ut eget hendrerit dui, in lacinia massa. Aliquam non consequat orci. Proin sit amet dolor eget urna tempor rhoncus. Aenean lorem purus, vehicula id turpis nec, dignissim fringilla turpis. Nam in ligula a neque vulputate venenatis quis nec metus. Nulla faucibus libero a nunc mollis, a accumsan ante interdum. Nunc nibh metus, feugiat et urna vitae, fringilla dignissim tortor. Maecenas efficitur orci libero, in placerat est malesuada nec. Proin a tristique mi.

Donec sed facilisis lectus. Integer sed tellus at augue porttitor dignissim dictum sagittis erat. Suspendisse id sapien at felis tempus mollis. Donec pretium placerat gravida. In tincidunt malesuada dolor, id tincidunt diam ullamcorper eu. Etiam porttitor luctus mauris. Nulla faucibus erat placerat, tincidunt sem vel, rutrum nisl. Sed ultrices ante sed quam maximus, nec mollis ligula tincidunt. Aenean quis elementum arcu. Cras diam magna, luctus eu tristique pellentesque, ornare feugiat odio. Integer in dui egestas, euismod purus nec, sagittis turpis. Sed in enim leo. Suspendisse et volutpat erat. Duis tempor nunc sit amet libero ultricies pharetra.

Phasellus ipsum lacus, volutpat vitae turpis nec, tincidunt gravida orci. Vivamus magna dui, dictum ut nisi et, elementum tempus metus. Maecenas varius accumsan mi, nec ultricies elit finibus sed. Cras ullamcorper sed risus a pretium. Duis quis erat in urna vestibulum eleifend sit amet ut odio. Fusce et blandit odio. Pellentesque eu lorem sem. Quisque id erat sem. Phasellus tortor lectus, pharetra ac tristique at, ultricies at urna. Fusce venenatis sed est nec iaculis. Nunc ut ex tempor, iaculis sapien a, tempus felis. Nunc non urna hendrerit ex viverra feugiat. Vivamus velit nunc, suscipit ac neque eu, faucibus convallis nibh. Quisque nisi sapien, aliquam a venenatis eget, ultricies eget nisl.

Nunc eu dui auctor, maximus tellus quis, dignissim nunc. Sed in sem et lectus vulputate mattis. Curabitur massa massa, efficitur sit amet tellus suscipit, venenatis consequat diam. Nam quis lacus tellus. Maecenas luctus ipsum lorem. Nam in eros non sapien cursus elementum sed ac velit. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed urna nisl.

fairly easy to generate for the writer, and easily consumable by the reader… :+1:

have fun! :smile:

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Well, I put this through Google translate…

I was getting sentences like “Unfortunately, the price of real estate pregnant”, “Us live a great Pakistan”, and “Everyone that was the salad.”

This was genuinely entertaining. 10/10.

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Posted it, it’s a bit gloomy but I hope you all enjoy it! (I managed to get it down to 351 words as well)

Lorem ipsum is always entertaining
One more here:

“Poisoned photography” (Yikes remind me to never use a camera again)