August 2007 Topics Are Here!

For all the INKsters oldies, sorry for all the rules and procedures listed below, but it's necessary to re-post them every month for our newbies.

************************************************************************************
INKsters Daily Writing Competition

I run this competition to make ME do more writing and hopefully to inspire YOU to do more writing. We're developing a vibrant new writer's community here in the Second Life metaverse, and we're bringing along a little bit of our real selves to spice things up a bit.

Most important step: Please hit Search on the bottom of your screen, select the Group tab, and join the INKsters. This is how we communicate with you. Sorry for all the rules that follow, but it makes it easier for all of us in the long run. Please read and follow them carefully.

TOPICS and DUE DATES:

You have until 11:59 p.m. Second Life time on each day to write one entry in English. Daily topics are on the bottom of this notecard.

PRIZES:

I award L$25 to the best entry as judged by me (ItsNaughtKnotty Cannned) after consultation with my secret inner circle or smart people. If I decide none of the entries are a winner, I reserve the right not to award a prize on a given day.

I am occasionally asked, "What are you looking for?" Short answer: Quality writing. I don't care if it's poetry, prose, fiction, essays, journalism, or alleged non-fiction. If your writing is the best today, you'll win. Please take the topics as starting points only. They're designed to expand your mind and suggest a possible direction for you today, rather than being a specific task for you to complete. Please think divergently and create something beautiful, funny, poignant, interesting or informative.

RULES:

1. Your notecard must be submitted on or before the due date to be eligible. I reserve the right in my sole discretion to grant a wee bit of wiggle room when necessary.

2. Your entry must be no more than 500 words. If it's a little over, I won't disqualify you; if it's a lot over, I will.

3. An illustration, photo or texture usable in Second Life to accompany the story is strongly encouraged, but not required. Please drop your illustration onto your notecard (make sure the properties are set to full permissions -- see below).

HOW TO ENTER:

1. From your Inventory, select the Create menu and then begin a New Note. Write your entry onto the notecard. You entry should have your name at the bottom. Rename the description on the notecard to be the same as the competition name and date. Save your notecard in your inventory and you MUST rename the notecard with your name first, then the title of the competition, then the due date.

2. Create an image to illustrate your writing and load it into your inventory. (Not required, but way more fun!)

3. Next, you MUST click on both the image and the notecard one at a time and select Properties. Make sure the toggle boxes are checked to allow future owners to modify, copy, AND give/transfer. In order to appear in our anthologies we must have full permissions from you.

4. When you have everything named correctly, and full permissions granted, open your notecard and drag-and-drop your photo (if you have one) onto your notecard. Now you're ready to submit!

5. Stop by the INKsters Lounge

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cookie/87/116/35

and drag and drop your finished notecard into our mailbox. Then send me an IM to let me know you've completed your entry. If you have any technical difficulties, please let me know and I will help you.

PROCEDURAL MUMBO JUMBO:

I publish the writing prompts monthly. William Shakespeare in the INKsters Lounge will always know what's what. Touch him, like he's touched you.

There is no fee to compete. All times are Second Life time. By entering, you grant me the permanent right to use your story in our Second Life anthologies and on our blog related to Second Life on the internet.

http://slinksters.blogspot.com/

You retain all other rights. I encourage you to submit your writing to other people and places in the real world and in Second Life.

We have occasional parties to release the anthologies and celebrate winners. All announcements are made through the INKsters group.

This month's topics are:

August 1, 2007: Diet Disasters
There are saboteurs everywhere! Tell us about someone, something, or sometime when your "diet" turns from vegetables and chicken to cheese burgers and fries.

August 2, 2007: It Is Alive
At first you were just a bunch of pixels looking for better shoes, but now your Second Life avatar looks a wee-bit different because the computers have finally taken over and your little basket of ones and zeros is suddenly developing a soul. Take a deep breath and tell us how your own avatar became a sentient being and what it will do now that it no longer needs you. What will you do without your avatar?

August 3, 2007: It's So Hard
What is the most difficult thing you've ever learned to do? Why was it tough? What made you persevere? Did you master it?

August 4, 2007: Rental Blues
You're the tenant and things aren't going so well, right? OR, you're the landlord and things REALLY aren't going so well. You, your best friend, your favorite character, or your avatar, have all been through this thing we call life. How is the roof-for-money program working?

August 5, 2007: Beaches
They're pretty good in Second Life, they're even better in real life. Lying on the nice white sand sipping an umbrella drink while on vacation and watching the waves, the birds, the kids, and those bronzed bodies ain't a bad way to spend a day. Been to any nice beaches lately? Walking with your significant other hand in hand on a moonlit night?

August 6, 2007: The Big Bang
In 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and ushered in the Cold War and the modern world. You take this topic anywhere you think it will go.

August 7, 2007: Smokey Bear
Smokey Bear's birthday is this month, and he still maintains only you can prevent forest fires. What do you smoke? Why are you such a bear? Couldn't God stop a few forest fires too?

August 8, 2007: Hotdogs
In the United States, when you attend a baseball game, you eat a hotdog. At the cinema, it's popcorn. In the bedroom, it's chocolates and strawberries or Cheese Nips depending on where you are on the romantic continuum. Pick a venue and pick a food and pick a narrative voice you haven't used before to tell the tale of your belly in space and time.

August 9, 2007: One for the Un-Indigenous
Today is International Day of the World's Indigenous People. Grab your didgeridoo and compose a song about being from the outback.

August 10, 2007: Rose Are ...
Against my better judgment, today's topic is about roses. Sure you could go Shakespearean and call them by another name, but isn't the phrase, "Roses are Red..." almost begging you to start there? Use the short form here and give us lots of "Roses are Red" takes.

August 11, 2007: Elvis Week
Elvis Week (and what week ISN'T Elvis week?) begins today at Graceland. What makes your suede shoes blue?

August 12, 2007: Science Fiction and Fantasy
For the next six days, try to investigate some of the major fictional genres. We start today (fittingly) with science fiction and fantasy. Create a short piece using characters, settings and story lines that rely on science or fantasy to make the story come alive.

August 13, 2007: Romance
We continue our six day investigation into literary genre with a romance story. Create a short piece using characters, settings and story lines that rely on romance to make the story come alive.

August 14, 2007: Horror
We continue our six day investigation into literary genre with a horror story. Create a short piece using characters, settings and story lines that rely on horror to make the story come alive.

August 15, 2007: Action Suspense Thriller
We continue our six day investigation into literary genre with an action suspense thriller. Create a short piece using characters, settings and story lines that rely on pure excitement to make the story come alive.

August 16, 2007: Western
We continue our six day investigation into literary genre with a cowboy story. Create a short piece using characters, settings and story lines that rely on the Marlboro man (or woman) to make the story come alive.

August 17, 2007: Sports
We continue our six day investigation into literary genre with the Johnny Come Lately genre of sports writing. Create a short piece using characters, settings and story lines that rely on some type of sporting event to make the story come alive.

August 18, 2007: Two Wheels
"The best (worst) experience I've ever had on two wheels was..."

August 19, 2007: Month of the Lefties
What do you do with your left hand? Are left handed people more creative? Should lefties be left behind for the wolves?

August 20, 2007: Ants in your Pants
Okay, so you've survived the Linden laboratories idea of metaverse maintenance, so we know you're tough, but a snake on a plane, ants in your pants, moths in your hair, a grasshopper in your mouth, or a spider in your sink turns you to a quivering bowl of jelly. What silly thing do you fear?

August 21, 2007: Tourists
What I did for my summer vacation.

August 22, 2007: Vacation from Hell
What I did for my WORST summer vacation ever.

August 23, 2007: Clouds
Soft billowy white ones drift by as you lie on the grass and stare up at them on a bright summer day with your best buddy in the whole world. Recreate your conversation. What do you see? What are you thinking?

August 24, 2007: Magic Bus
Where does it go? Why is it magic?

August 25, 2007: Beauty and the Beast
The dusty radio drones out another song from the 1970s while your hair dresser fusses with your mop. What's your beauty salon or barber shop story? Is your hair dresser or barber worthy of a first person narrative in their own voice?

August 26, 2007: Farmers
Last month you were Billy the Kid. This month you've settled down in a rural county to raise crops. How about a composition about a day in the life down on your farm? Or, how about the true life story of how you escaped the world of animal husbandry to wear those stylish shoes in your fancy downtown loft?

August 27, 2007: Office Supplies
I used to love going to work with my mom on Saturdays to her office supply store so I could play with all the gadgets we didn’t have at home or school. What are your favorite office supplies? Write about a day in the life of your favorite office gadget. A nice little opera would be fun to read.

August 28, 2007: The Lesson
What is the most important lesson you learned in an academic setting that had absolutely nothing to do with school?

August 29, 2007: Apologies
Saying you're sorry doesn't cut it anymore. Politicians these days are happy to apologize as long as there are no real consequences to doing so, and as long as they can restate their original position in the process. What are some of your worst (best) apologies you've given or received? Are you still sorry? Are they?

August 30, 2007: The Gambler
Nope, you can't do it in Second Life because it's against God or something. The federal police are standing outside of your door with a battering ram right now. They're going to begin enforcement in your local neighborhood against all your vices. How are you going to explain your arrest for all of your naughty habits to your mom?

August 31, 2007: The Piano
What is your "instrument" and why?

Thanks to Nebbisk Oh, ToryLynn Writer, Skye Soderstrom, Calliope Delgado, Deeter Decosta and a couple others who thought up inspirational topics but then I neglected to write down their names.